Norway is a country I’ve already visited. During my semester abroad in Aarhus, Denmark, I visited on two occasions. My first visit was in October well before the sun disappeared from the horizon. I flew to Oslo, took the train to Bergen, then returned by train and flew to Honningsvåg via Kirkenes. During my layover in Kirkenes, I did my first solo hitch into town and back. I loved seeing all the signs in Russian since Russian has always been one of my target languages along with Spanish. I returned to Oslo via the same flight route and then hitchhiked the ferry from Larvik to Hirtshals in Denmark. That is why my experiences solo traveling in Norway are so fundamental to my development as a hitchhiker and a traveler.
A few weeks later in November, I rather spontaneously returned. This time, I hitchhiked from Kiruna in Sweden to Narvik in Norway via the Riksgränsen border. As a consequence of entering by land, I realized that Norway is actually neither a part of the European Union nor part of Schengen. There was a customs check and my Swedish driver who worked in Norway lost his two tins of ‘cheap’ Swedish snus. I still feel bad about that. And that’s also when I realized I should probably research a thing or two before I hitchhike across borders.
There was very little daylight, but plenty of absolutely magical snow scenes that will forever make me less afraid of the dry cold. I was about to travel to Lofoten but learned that my absent grandpa had died, so I had to return to the Netherlands as quickly as possible to attend the funeral. So you can see, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time studying in Denmark—and I regret nothing.
Things I’d Like to Do Next Time in Norway
- Hitchhike more with locals,✅ and hitchhike the country south to north or vice versa as I did during travels in Chile! The similarities between Norway and Chile are kind of out there because they’re both long countries with fjords. Consequently, I’m planning to take as many ferries/cruises and land routes as possible✅
- However, if I need to fly, I’ll try to take flights to places with cute small airports. For instance, Norway has loads of STOLports. Some of these are abandoned and good for urban exploring✅. From what I gathered, there are at least 7 abandoned airports in Norway in 2022. Moreover, some had seaplane bases as well as heliports, which I find very fascinating as well. If there are still reasonably-priced options to actually take a seaplane or helicopter somewhere useful (not scenic flight) in Norway, I’d be so down
- Visit Borgund Stave Church.✅ Simply because it’s the wonder of the Vikings in Age of Empires II
- Hike up or admire from below the highest sea cliff of Europe: Hornelen (860masl). Also, I’d like to enjoy fjords such as Sognefjord
- Likewise, I’d like to hike the easy route up the highest peak of Norway Galdhøpiggen (2469masl). It will require a guide as it crosses a glacier, though I’m not sure for how much longer this statement will be valid, and I’m shitty on ice
- Pass through Mo i Rana and perhaps contemplate hitchhiking the Blue Highway from Norway to Sweden, Finland, and Russia. However, such an Arctic trip will probably remain a forever dream since summers are short and one of these countries is not like the others
- So Norway has two three-country borders: one with Finland and Sweden, and the one with Finland and Russia. Though I’m not sure how accessible the latter is, the former is definitely well-visited for its remoteness and the fact that it’s in the water on an artificial island
- Finally, doing the thing I intended to do in 2012, visit the Lofoten Archipelago!✅
- Above all, there are many remote places in Norway that I’d love to hit up:
- Vegaøyan aka the Vega Archipelago
- Vardø. This is an extremity in Norway that is further east than Istanbul! I’m pretty sure I landed there in 2012 with the Widerøe flight that goes to Honningsvåg, but it doesn’t count because I didn’t leave the plane (it works like a bus)
- Sørøya
- After having visited Nordkapp in 2012, I’d like to do the challenging hike to Cape Nordkinn. However, I’ll probably regret doing that if my performance at Knivskjellodden is any indication; during that hike, I got lost and almost died of hypothermia and needed to be rescued
- That overlooked part of Norway between the ‘ears’ of Finland: Karasjok and Kautokeino (aka Finnmarksvidda)
- Røst island✅ looks just about remote enough and I’m looking forward to the bumpy ferry ride. Perhaps during a visit to Røst, I’d even could pursue a sidequest of a sidequest to Skomvær Lighthouse?✅
- Vikna
- And lastly, Kirkeøy and the archipelago close to Sweden in the south. Because the gap in the Oslo fjord is so huge, there must be some interesting border crossings in that area
- Lillehammer.✅ The only reason I want to go there is because of the TV show with the guy from the Sopranos and a very funny Norwegian comic relief
- Meanwhile, I’d love to admire or climb as many beautiful lighthouses as I can. Since most of the things I’ve mentioned thus far are in coastal/fjord areas, I think it will be easy to do so
- So, I really want to visit this sign and take a selfie:
But because I saw this photo on Facebook without context, I had no idea where it was besides “at the Norwegian border with Russia”. Well, there’s a river in the picture, which is a clue. As a result of lots of Google Streetview scanning along the Jakobselva/Voryema River, I found it:
To learn more, the Barents Observer has a story about this sign with a bit more context than “haha”. And if you want to dig even deeper, here’s a piece of law from when Norway still bordered the Soviet Union, which explains basically the same thing.
- It’s wishful thinking, but I really, really, really want to go to Svalbard✅ AND Jan Mayen AND Bjørnøya AND Bouvet Island (last one is in the southern hemisphere). But I’ll probably dedicate a separate page to them one day since they don’t really fit the theme of mainland Norway. Tips welcome!
If you know cool places and things to do in Norway or if you are Norwegian, comment at the bottom of this page so I can always find your suggestions again once I start plotting my return!
So you are a travel blogger and do you have good posts about Norway. Then drop them in a comment below and I’ll read them!
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