It’s the land of the midnight sun, National Geographic think it’s the best travel destination in the world, and it’s only an hour’s flight from Scotland.
In 1973, The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided Henry Kissinger had done the most to further world peace that year, prompting the musical satirist Tom Lehrer to retire, declaring it the moment satire died.
In 2009, the same committee decided the just-elected President Barack Obama had done the most to further world peace, before he’d had a chance to get his feet under the Oval Office desk. At least he wasn’t accused of genocide.
The inscrutable politics of their most famous committee may divide people, but opinion is united over Norway’s scenery it’s among the most stunning in the world.
A pleasantly short flight across the North Sea took me to Bergen, Norway’s second city in terms of size, and its first in terms of beauty. Surrounded by seven hills, though the locals insist they are mountains, with a fjord sweeping into the centre of the city, Bergen’s 250,000 inhabitants live in charming wooden houses that spill down the slopes to the water’s edge.
A UNESCO World Heritage City since 1979, Bergen is vibrant and beautiful with origins going back almost 1000 years.
If time is tight, you should probably make your first stop Bryggen, which was an important capital for the Hanseatic League, a powerful group of German traders who maintained a monopoly over northern European trade for four centuries. The canny merchants settled in this plum harbourside location and made it their own. Gates were put up at either end of the district and they were not allowed to marry or even mix with the Norwegians.
This understandably caused a degree of tension between the Hansas and the locals, so much so that instead of having its cannon guarding the seaward direction, the medieval tower at the harbour’s edge pointed its weapons towards the Hanseatic quarter, a none-too-subtle warning for the tolerated visitors not to get too uppity.Craft traditionsToday, Bryggen is a charming cultural district, where some of the city’s oldest and best preserved houses are home to the workshops of traditional craftsmen.
A massive fire in 1955 gutted a large section. However, so painstakingly have the wooden buildings been restored, it’s hard to tell where the old Bryggen ends and the new begins.
Bergen is home to a large number of fine bars and restaurants. Given that this article will primarily be read by Scottish people, and given Scots’ love of alcohol, it’s perhaps prudent to point out that beer costs at least £6 a glass in Norway. A drinker’s paradise it is not.
Not having a hangover frees you up to appreciate the cultural delights of the city, one of which is a visit to the home of the composer Edvard Grieg. A diminutive man (a tiny statue of him turns out to be life size at only five feet tall), Grieg composed some of the best-known classical tunes of the 19th century, including his Piano Concerto in A Minor, Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King.
Visitors can take a tour of the clifftop house at Troldhaugen where he spent the last 20 years of his life, and look around the concert hall that was built there in 1985 and which holds regular classical performances.
We spent the night in the Augustin Hotel, a stone’s throw from the waterfront. The next day saw us take the short flight to Sogndal, the gateway to Norway’s greatest natural wonders its fjords and glaciers.
Jostedalsbreen is mainland Europe’s largest glacier, covering an area of 500 square kilometers. That’s a lot of ice. To cross the whole thing requires three day and overnight stays on the ice. We’re only climbing one arm of it, Nigardsbreem, and not even all of that.
Even so, we’re given crampons, harnesses and mean looking ice axes. Getting to the glacier involves a 30-minute scramble over rocks at the side of a lake, after which we’re roped together by our fearless guide Steinar Bruheim who looks like a cross between Bjorn Borg and Thor, the god of thunder. I can think of no one I’d rather have by my side on a glacier.
The crampons make walking on ice easier than you might think. There’s an other-worldly feel to the glacial heights, which shift every day so even guides like Steinar have to be alert. There are no yawning chasms, merely narrow gaps between six and 12 inches wide. A glance down some of these reveals that they drop into darkness, making me glad they’re not any wider.
We reach halfway up the glacier before the less fit members of our group begin puffing and we turn back towards the bus, now just a twinkling dot in the distance beside the blue expanse of the lake below.
That evening we have a delicious, and well-earned meal at the Walakar Hotel. Owned by the delightfully eccentric Ole Henrik Nitter, it’s been in his family since the late 17th century and is the oldest hotel in Norway.
The next day dawns bright and sunny. It’s a Sunday, so we head to church, but no ordinary church. Urnes Church is a UNESCO listed heritage site dating back to the 12th century.
It’s one of the finest example of the handful of stave churches built entirely of timber with huge, load bearing posts still in existence. Urnes was built in 1130 and contains timbers from an even older structure. With its animal wood carvings, it provides a link between Christianity and the Viking age.
We were the first visitors to the church, which has recently been reopened following an extensive refurbishment. Strolling down from the church to the pier below, we board our boat which follows the Lustrafjord inland, taking us past a stunning waterfall whose spray has frozen, creating a massive mound of ice, many times the size of a house, at its base that will not melt until July.
We eat lunch at Trvis, a grand old building dating back to 1660 that would have been Norway’s oldest hotel had it not been closed for three years until 2008, allowing the pipsqueak Walakar (built circa 1690) to take the title. With full bellies, it’s time to leave the magnificent fjord country and fly back to Bergen. When we left the city, its streets were wet after a night of torrential rain.
We arrive back to a glorious late spring evening and take the gondola up to the tallest of the city’s mountains-not-hills for a splendid meal at the mountain-top skyscraper restaurant.
Watching the sun fade to dusk and the city light up, it’s hard not to think of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s catchphrase: “I’ll be back”.Norwegian airline Widere operates flights from Aberdeen to Bergen twice daily and has a summer service from Edinburgh to Bergen on Tuesdays and Saturdays from June 26 until August 21. Widere’s Explore Norway ticket includes return tickets from Scotland and a week’s unlimited air travel in Norway, covering up to 35 destinations. It’s £312 for one zone, £376 for two zones and £446 for the entire country, with an extra week costing £197. Widere also has one-way flights from Aberdeen to Bergen from £69. See www.wideroe.no/explorenorway for details. Other helpful sites: fjordnorway.com, visitbergen.com, sognefjord.no.Images used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user padraic woods, Wikimedia Commons user Wiegels and Flickr user Today is a good day.
Even so, we’re given crampons, harnesses and mean looking ice axes. Getting to the glacier involves a 30-minute scramble over rocks at the side of a lake, after which we’re roped together by our fearless guide Steinar Bruheim who looks like a cross between Bjorn Borg and Thor, the god of thunder. I can think of no one I’d rather have by my side on a glacier.
The crampons make walking on ice easier than you might think. There’s an other-worldly feel to the glacial heights, which shift every day so even guides like Steinar have to be alert. There are no yawning chasms, merely narrow gaps between six and 12 inches wide. A glance down some of these reveals that they drop into darkness, making me glad they’re not any wider.
We reach halfway up the glacier before the less fit members of our group begin puffing and we turn back towards the bus, now just a twinkling dot in the distance beside the blue expanse of the lake below.
That evening we have a delicious, and well-earned meal at the Walakar Hotel. Owned by the delightfully eccentric Ole Henrik Nitter, it’s been in his family since the late 17th century and is the oldest hotel in Norway.
The next day dawns bright and sunny. It’s a Sunday, so we head to church, but no ordinary church. Urnes Church is a UNESCO listed heritage site dating back to the 12th century.
It’s one of the finest example of the handful of stave churches built entirely of timber with huge, load bearing posts still in existence. Urnes was built in 1130 and contains timbers from an even older structure. With its animal wood carvings, it provides a link between Christianity and the Viking age.
We were the first visitors to the church, which has recently been reopened following an extensive refurbishment. Strolling down from the church to the pier below, we board our boat which follows the Lustrafjord inland, taking us past a stunning waterfall whose spray has frozen, creating a massive mound of ice, many times the size of a house, at its base that will not melt until July.
We eat lunch at Trvis, a grand old building dating back to 1660 that would have been Norway’s oldest hotel had it not been closed for three years until 2008, allowing the pipsqueak Walakar (built circa 1690) to take the title. With full bellies, it’s time to leave the magnificent fjord country and fly back to Bergen. When we left the city, its streets were wet after a night of torrential rain.
We arrive back to a glorious late spring evening and take the gondola up to the tallest of the city’s mountains-not-hills for a splendid meal at the mountain-top skyscraper restaurant.
Watching the sun fade to dusk and the city light up, it’s hard not to think of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s catchphrase: “I’ll be back”.Norwegian airline Widere operates flights from Aberdeen to Bergen twice daily and has a summer service from Edinburgh to Bergen on Tuesdays and Saturdays from June 26 until August 21. Widere’s Explore Norway ticket includes return tickets from Scotland and a week’s unlimited air travel in Norway, covering up to 35 destinations. It’s £312 for one zone, £376 for two zones and £446 for the entire country, with an extra week costing £197. Widere also has one-way flights from Aberdeen to Bergen from £69. See www.wideroe.no/explorenorway for details. Other helpful sites: fjordnorway.com, visitbergen.com, sognefjord.no.Images used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user padraic woods, Wikimedia Commons user Wiegels and Flickr user Today is a good day.
Even so, we’re given crampons, harnesses and mean looking ice axes. Getting to the glacier involves a 30-minute scramble over rocks at the side of a lake, after which we’re roped together by our fearless guide Steinar Bruheim who looks like a cross between Bjorn Borg and Thor, the god of thunder. I can think of no one I’d rather have by my side on a glacier.
The crampons make walking on ice easier than you might think. There’s an other-worldly feel to the glacial heights, which shift every day so even guides like Steinar have to be alert. There are no yawning chasms, merely narrow gaps between six and 12 inches wide. A glance down some of these reveals that they drop into darkness, making me glad they’re not any wider.
We reach halfway up the glacier before the less fit members of our group begin puffing and we turn back towards the bus, now just a twinkling dot in the distance beside the blue expanse of the lake below.
That evening we have a delicious, and well-earned meal at the Walakar Hotel. Owned by the delightfully eccentric Ole Henrik Nitter, it’s been in his family since the late 17th century and is the oldest hotel in Norway.
The next day dawns bright and sunny. It’s a Sunday, so we head to church, but no ordinary church. Urnes Church is a UNESCO listed heritage site dating back to the 12th century.
It’s one of the finest example of the handful of stave churches built entirely of timber with huge, load bearing posts still in existence. Urnes was built in 1130 and contains timbers from an even older structure. With its animal wood carvings, it provides a link between Christianity and the Viking age.
We were the first visitors to the church, which has recently been reopened following an extensive refurbishment. Strolling down from the church to the pier below, we board our boat which follows the Lustrafjord inland, taking us past a stunning waterfall whose spray has frozen, creating a massive mound of ice, many times the size of a house, at its base that will not melt until July.
We eat lunch at Trvis, a grand old building dating back to 1660 that would have been Norway’s oldest hotel had it not been closed for three years until 2008, allowing the pipsqueak Walakar (built circa 1690) to take the title. With full bellies, it’s time to leave the magnificent fjord country and fly back to Bergen. When we left the city, its streets were wet after a night of torrential rain.
We arrive back to a glorious late spring evening and take the gondola up to the tallest of the city’s mountains-not-hills for a splendid meal at the mountain-top skyscraper restaurant.
Watching the sun fade to dusk and the city light up, it’s hard not to think of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s catchphrase: “I’ll be back”.Norwegian airline Widere operates flights from Aberdeen to Bergen twice daily and has a summer service from Edinburgh to Bergen on Tuesdays and Saturdays from June 26 until August 21. Widere’s Explore Norway ticket includes return tickets from Scotland and a week’s unlimited air travel in Norway, covering up to 35 destinations. It’s £312 for one zone, £376 for two zones and £446 for the entire country, with an extra week costing £197. Widere also has one-way flights from Aberdeen to Bergen from £69. See www.wideroe.no/explorenorway for details. Other helpful sites: fjordnorway.com, visitbergen.com, sognefjord.no.Images used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user padraic woods, Wikimedia Commons user Wiegels and Flickr user Today is a good day.