One look at a map of Norway and you know what the country is about: a coastline so deeply cut by fjords that it runs to 25,000 km, backed by mountains that push settlements into narrow strips of flat land wherever they can find one. It's an expensive country to visit — a beer can run you the equivalent of $12 — but the compensation is a coast and interior with almost no equal for scenery.
Oslo, the capital, sits at the head of its own fjord, ringed by forest close enough to reach by tram. West along the coast, Bergen is the historic gateway to the fjords, its Hanseatic wharves at Bryggen dating back to the 14th century, and the obvious base for reaching Sognefjorden and Geirangerfjord, Norway's two grandest fjords, or the boat trip into Lysefjord further south from Stavanger. Trondheim, the old medieval capital further north, is built around Nidaros Cathedral, Scandinavia's largest medieval building.
Past Trondheim the country narrows and the light gets stranger. Tromsø, the "Gateway to the Arctic," is the natural base for the far north — northern lights in winter, sun that never sets in summer — and from there the country's real edge cases begin: the mountainous, midnight-sun-lit Lofoten and Vesterålen archipelagos, the cliffs of North Cape, and, further out to sea still, the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen — polar bear country, and about as far as you can travel and still call it Norway.
Highlights
Nidaros Cathedral — Trondheim's Gothic cathedral, the largest medieval building in Scandinavia, has been a pilgrimage destination and national shrine since the 12th century. The Crown Jewels are on display in summer, and the west front is covered in a great gallery of carved statues, restored and replaced piece by piece since the 19th century.
Geirangerfjord and Sognefjorden — Norway's two most celebrated fjords, both UNESCO-listed, both reachable by boat with waterfalls dropping straight into the water from sheer walls. Combine either with the Flåm railway and a fjord cruise for the classic "Norway in a Nutshell" day.
Pulpit Rock and Kjerag — Two of the most photographed spots in the country sit above the same fjord near Stavanger: a flat-topped cliff 604 metres over Lysefjord, and further inland, a boulder wedged in a crevasse that hikers queue up to stand on.
Lofoten and Vesterålen — Jagged Arctic peaks rising straight from the sea, fishing villages of red-painted rorbu huts you can rent for the night, and the midnight sun from late May to mid-July. Lofoten gets the crowds; neighbouring Vesterålen has the same scenery, sperm whales year-round off Andenes, and far fewer visitors.
Saltstraumen — The strongest tidal current on earth, just outside Bodø: four times a day, the tide forces enormous volumes of water through a narrow strait, throwing up whirlpools and standing waves loud enough to hear before you see them.
North Cape and Spitsbergen — For travellers who want to keep going north, North Cape's cliffs mark the continent's edge, and Spitsbergen, out in the Arctic Ocean, is glaciers, polar bears, and the midnight sun taken about as far as it goes.
