Norway

Oslo in under eight hours

We had one night in Oslo, by the Central Station, which was handy for the train west the next morning. In a day we fitted in Vigeland Park, where everyone wants a photo holding the Angry Boy's hand, now worn shiny gold. We also put our feet up on the benches by the marina at Aker Brygge, saw the Opera House and Akershus Castle, and strolled the high street to the glowing clock opposite the station.

Tram 12 is an easy way to see the city on your own. It stops near Vigeland Park, Aker Brygge, City Hall and Akershus Fortress. Cards were accepted everywhere, so we never needed cash.

Aurland and the Flåm Railway

In our words, 2018You can't get any closer to nature. Forget the stress, enjoy ultimate bliss!

We flew into Oslo from Edinburgh on 22 August and spent our first night by the central station. The next day we went west by train. The Flåm Railway took us from high lakes and patches of old snow down a green valley, past waterfalls. When it stopped at the Kjosfossen falls, we piled out with everyone else for photos.

In Aurland we had one night at Vangsgaarden Gjestgiveri, in one of the white cabins along the water. Ours had a sign on the door that read The View, and its balcony sat right over the fjord. Low cloud lay along the mountains, and the water was still enough to mirror them.

We went up to the Stegastein viewpoint, where the fjord curls away far below, and took a boat out between the fjord's steep green walls.

Getting there took three legs: the train from Oslo to Myrdal, the Flåm Railway down to Flåm, then a 20-minute ride on to Aurland. The next day we checked out at noon and caught the 1 pm fjord ferry from Aurland's own pier.

Sogndal and Nigardsbreen

In our words, 2018Nigardsbreen is melting fast. Do not reconsider: pack your bags and go now!

Meenu found us an apartment in Sogndal on Airbnb, and it was our base for two nights. From there we went up to the Nigardsbreen glacier.

We crossed the meltwater river on a narrow footbridge and picked our way over smooth grey rock to the front of the glacier, where the river runs out from under the blue ice. We filled a bottle straight from the stream. We also roped up in crampons and walked out onto the ice in a single line.

Below the glacier the lake is a milky turquoise, and the valley floor is bare rock, polished smooth.

Meenu's birthday, 25 August, fell during our Sogndal stay. She blew out the candles on her cake on a deck by the water at dusk.

It took planning to reach, and we rewrote our itinerary a good few times to fit it in. We took NettBus NX450 from Flåm to Sogndal, then the summer-only Glacier Bus, with a quick change at Gaupne. A boat carried us across the lake, and a fast 30-minute walk with heavy backpacks brought us to the glacier arm, hearts racing. We joined the long blue-ice hike at 10:15, with crampons fitted to our shoe size and an ice axe each.

Bergen

We had two nights in Bergen, in another Airbnb apartment. We each flew tandem with a paragliding pilot. We took off from a grassy summit above the city, floated out over a lake and the rooftops, and landed on a field among the houses.

Back on the ground we rode the Fløibanen funicular, flew the drone over Bryggen's painted wharf houses, and stopped at the fish market, where a fishmonger held up a king crab from his tank.

Ålesund and the Atlantic Ocean Road

A short Widerøe flight on a small propeller plane took us from Bergen to Ålesund on 28 August, for one night at the Scandic Parken.

At sunset we went up to the viewpoint above the town. From the drone, the old town looked packed onto its islands, with the low sun across the sea. We stayed out until the lights came on.

We also made it to the Atlantic Ocean Road, which hops from islet to islet on a chain of bridges, and walked the path that loops around one of the islets.

The Hurtigruten to Bodø

We boarded MS Vesterålen in Ålesund on the evening of 29 August, for two nights up the coast to Bodø. We had an inside cabin with breakfast, and watched the coast go by from the big windows and the open deck.

In Trondheim we walked across the Old Town Bridge, with painted wharf houses lining the river below.

We stepped off in Bodø on 31 August, went out to Saltstraumen, and stood on the rocks above its whirlpools.

Lofoten

We had two nights in an Airbnb apartment in Svolvær, and picked up a hire car in town on the morning of 1 September.

The roads run through rock tunnels and covered galleries and over long bridges like Gimsøystraumen, with jagged peaks on every side. We found red fishermen's cabins on stilts at the water's edge, under huge cliffs. Some cabins are painted ochre, and Meenu posed against one.

On 2 September we drove to Evenes for a last night at the airport hotel. By the time we dropped the car the next morning, it had covered 455 km. Then we flew home through Oslo.

Tromsø

We flew Norwegian from Gatwick on 12 March 2022, over snow-covered mountains, and came in to land in golden light.

From a hotel room on the harbour we watched the last light turn the mountains pink, with the Arctic Cathedral across the water. At dusk we stood at the viewpoint high above the city as its lights came on. One evening we walked over the Tromsø Bridge and saw the cathedral lit up against the dark.

Chasing Lights found us a spot in the snow for the northern lights, with hot chocolate and dinner by the fire. The aurora swirled right across the sky.

Our last night was at the Radisson Blu, before the 06:10 flight home on the 16th.

Thank you, Chasing Lights. We'd highly recommend them.

Lyngen North

A coach took us out along fjords so still that the snowy mountains lay mirrored in them. Lyngen North looks across the water to a wall of jagged white peaks.

We stayed in their 360-degree and 180-degree igloos. One is a glass dome on a wooden frame, where we lay in bed looking out at the fjord. The other is a cabin walled in glass on every side, where we sat on loungers facing the mountains.

There was a show in the sky every night. We watched the aurora rise over the peaks from a bench on the shore, bundled up in big coats. The food was amazing too.

Thank you, Lyngen North. We'd highly recommend them too.