Lonely Planet Norway

by Anthony Ham, Oliver Berry, Donna Wheeler

Lonely Planet’s Norway is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Explore the Lofoten Islands, marvel at the northern lights, and take a Hurtigruten ferry; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Norway and begin your journey now!   Inside Lonely Planet’s Norway Travel   Up-to-date information - all businesses were rechecked before publication to ensure they are still open after 2020’s COVID-19 outbreak NEW top experiences feature - a visually inspiring collection of Norway’s best experiences and where to have them NEW pull-out, passport-size 'Just Landed' card with wi-fi, ATM and transport info - all you need for a smooth journey from airport to hotel Planning tools for family travellers - where to go, how to save money, plus fun stuff just for kids Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, politics Over 55 maps   Cov ers Oslo, Southern Norway, Central Norway, Bergen, the Southwestern Fjords, the Western Fjords, Trondelag, Nordland, the Far North, Svalbard   The Perfect Lonely Planet’s Norway , our most comprehensive guide to Norway, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled.    Looking for just the highlights? Check out Pocket Oslo , a handy-sized guide focused on the can't-miss sights for a quick trip.
About Lonely Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day.    'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' – New York Times   'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' – Fairfax Media (Australia)

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Research, Guides

448 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Anthony Ham is an Australian nature and travel writer with nearly three decades of experience reporting from remote regions, including Africa, the Amazon, the Arctic, and Outback Australia. He is the author of The Last Lions of Africa (2021) and The Man Who Loved Pink Dolphins (2023). His work has appeared in major international publications, including The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler. He has also written or co-written over 200 Lonely Planet travel guides and divides his time between Madrid and Melbourne.

Reviews

[Tricia Hooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great travel guide - using it for honeymoon planning! :)

[Maddy Speal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curious what the crowd thinks - is it okay to mark this as read? And count to my goal???

[Ferio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Voy a repetir lo que he dicho en otras guías, porque la reflexión es la misma y la estructura también:

Las guías de viaje de este estilo ya solo tienen sentido en el siglo XXI por la conveniencia de tener casi toda la información necesaria en un único sitio porque, por lo demás, carecen de la fluidez y la velocidad de actualización (particularmente en lo hostelero) que nos pueden ofrecer nuestro portal favorito. Evidentemente, el modelo está cambiando y, por muy actualizada que esté una guía, los países son conjuntos que evolucionan cada día más y lo que ayer molaba puede que hoy no: la única forma de saberlo es a través de Internet.

Pero a mí me gustan mucho las guías Lonely Planet porque te dejan bien claro cuáles son las cosas que no debes perderte a nivel cultural en cada sitio y, siendo cosas que muchas veces tienen siglos, es difícil que su importancia cambie de un día para otro; también me gusta mucho que te dicen en qué atracciones compensa comprar la entrada previamente para evitar horas de cola, los trasfondos artístico-históricos de todas y cada una de ellas... De otra manera, es muy complicado que todo estos datos se ofrezcan en una única página.

También hay que tener en cuenta que una guía de estas características no se lee de cabo a rabo como un libro cualquiera, sino que se usa para organizar un viaje pero no para aprenderlo y, llegado el momento de estar allí, leer con mucho más detenimiento las descripciones de cada lugar. Lo bueno que tienen estas es que también tienen un acercamiento histórico y artístico completo de cada región que sirve como introducción a todas las especificidades que se desarrollan. ¡Es material valioso!

Supongo que, con el paso del tiempo, este tipo de guías desaparecerán completamente en beneficio de páginas web que ofrecerán lo mismo a través de GPS, incluyendo audioguías y otra serie de cosas muy beneficiosas. El progreso es imparable pero, mientras tanto, cada vez que salgo de viaje me llevo mi Lonely Planet, que tampoco está de más.

Finalmente, he de destacar que esta edición digital solo lo es en su formato, porque para los efectos es una traslación directa de la guía en papel a un PDF. Sabía que tenía que haberla comprado en inglés.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can never really be sure until you have travelled and seen for yourself whether it works - this was a fun read, it helped me plan a potential trip, figure out the budget and inspired me for a lot of things to see and do.

One criticism that I have had for other LP guides and which applies to this one as well is that they are getting more and more limited. The travelling with children sections just get bigger and bigger while any sense of adventure is slowly diminished. For example: Norway is one of the centres of Metal music, it is a mecca for black metal and has a world wide reputation, both good and bad on the topic. This guide may never have even heard of Metal for all the mention of this music general they make. Though they burble about jazz festivals a bit.

[Brendygirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book saved me $500 by telling me to wait to book the Norway in a Nutshell tour til the night before. Since then I use Lonely Planet books and online blogger itineraries to plan my trips. The LP books are all included with my amazon kindle unlimited membership.

[Ash Mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential to this mythic country.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader]

I have to stop reading this! I am getting way too excited about Norway and I am not even sure whether I can afford to also go there yet. I need an equally inspiring book about Finland or Sweden! 2012

[Dan Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great travel guide that will enhance the experience.

Using for honeymoon planning/inspiration…maybe the other reviewer will want to join the trip!

[Bari Dzomba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kindleunlimited read for free

Timely and current information. Good info and organized well. I don't think I'd pay for the hard copy but definitely worth recommended kindle unlimited.

[Michelle Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love lonely planet

I find all the lonely planet books so helpfully when planning vacations. Love that amazon kindle offers them unlimited! Great

[Kei · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read book that's highly informative and useful. Definitely a great resource to help plan my wife's birthday trip.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This travel guide is amazing! It is well structured and easy to follow, colour coding is super helpful, too. The guide offers a good range of insights ranging from hikes to museums, wild spots, cities, and small villages. There is a lot of information in this book but it is not large or heavy which means I can easily take it with me when travelling. Of course, some information pieces are brief, but this is to be expected - I can easily find more information online about various places after discovering them in this guide.

Another thing I really like about this book is the pictures - they are stunning! The quality is great, the editing is also very neat and tidy. This guide is very enjoyable to read, thanks to the great editing. Definitely 5/5 stars, this is a great travel guide.

[DavSchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been enjoying lonely planet travel books, I am hoping they update this one to the new format soon. The new format is a lot easier to find specific cities/towns. There was a lack of photographs compared to the newer format. This format reads too much like a phone book and was difficult to find specific towns within the pages and pages of text. Still has all the interesting history and maps I appreciate.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

€160 a day Budget, seriously?

I couldn't believe the budget traveler was recommened a €160 a day budget in Norway. I did two weeks of hiking and camping for $180 all in, so happy i found the tiny budget norway guide and didn't follow this ludacriosuly expensive take on travelling norway.

[Elda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good guide to Norway, my critic goes to the iBook version as a graphic problem, not of course about content.
The titles are written in a light blue colour impossible to read for the lack of contrast on white.
Lonely Planet should do something about it.

[Aileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an adequate book especially for trying to get a temperature on what's to see, do, and eat in Oslo and Tromsø. Oslo is outdated in terms of restaurants, but I got the 2015 book so that can't be helped.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always a good guide to get to know a holiday destination a lot better.
There i a part about Norway in general and there are chapters about certain parts of Norway with there places to visit and highlights.

Useful book.

[kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love how this is organized. Though I mainly used it to refer to the Oslo area, I appreciated how it separated winter and summer activities clearly -- important when planning a trip in most parts of the country.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Norway is EXPENSIVE. But at least I know that before I go and I have some tips on how to find some budget friendly alternatives thanks to this Lonely Planet Guide. It's the right size to take with me on an overseas trip!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful guide to visiting Norway. Unfortunately, my trip will be fairly short and I will not be able to explore very much of this fascinating country. I believe I can make the most of my trip with help from this book.

[Caitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

It had a section on the Bodø and the Lofoten Islands, which the Rick Steve's Scandinavia guide was missing, but unfortunately there wasn't much information overall, and some of the restaurant recommendations were outdated. Didn't much love the format, either.

[Ian Lindstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good guide, provides opening times and detailed maps. Became very useful.

[Antti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful

[JoJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good all-round review of information and descriptions of places and options. Plus nice summaries of itineraries, culture, history and similar. This is the one I am packing in my luggage.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait to go back.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got some good information to start discovering what to do when I am in Norway.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

current edition and complete. Will check it out again when going to other places in Norway or Svalbard.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was good, useful.
TPL e-book.

[Vanessa Petsuch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this to prep me for my upcoming trip to Norway. So excited to explore this "new to me" country! Great guide with lots of valuable nuggets!