Often overlooked in favour of the bigger municipal centres, Ålesund is home to an unparalleled collection of picturesque Art Nouveau buildings, built a century ago after its wooden edifices were razed by a fire. The city is also becoming increasingly accessible with a number of airlines serving it directly.
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Innovation Norway in the USA
Address: 655 Third Avenue, Suite 1810, New York, NY, 10017, United States
Tel: +1 202 885 9700.
www.innovasjonnorge.no
Innovation Norway in the UK
Address: West End House, 11 Hills Place, London, W1F 7SE, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 020 7839 8800.
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Ålesund
Northern Lights
Few sights are more hauntingly beautiful than that of the aurora borealis or Northern Lights – a natural phenomenon caused by magnetised particles emitted by the sun. You’ll have to brave the winter cold of Norway’s Arctic region (October to March) to see them but it’s well worth it.
Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock)
Perched on top of a jutting 600m-tall (1969 ft) cliff overlooking the cerulean blue waters of Lysefjord, Pulpit Rock is worth the hike for the stunning views alone. Just outside of Stavanger, the rock can also be reached via a cruise along Lysefjord from the city centre.
Svalbard
Made famous by Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy, Norway’s most northerly landmass, Svalbard, is the only place in Europe where the polar bear can still be seen. Although glaciers cover 60% of it, Svalbard’s soaring mountains and dramatic crags make it worth seeing whether you want wildlife or not.
Bergen funicular
Take a ride to the summit of one of the seven mountains surrounding the former Hanseatic port of Bergen (www.visitbergen.com), for panoramic views of the country’s longest fjord - Sognefjord – to the north and the beautiful Hardangerfjord in the south.
Bergen harbourside
Stroll around the picturesque wooden warehouses in Bergen's historic Bryggen harbourside area – a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979. Explore the fish market nearby (www.visitbergen.com), or take a trip out to Troldhaugen, former home of composer Edvard Grieg (griegmuseum.no).
Coastal voyage
Experience the midnight sun at the North Cape in the far Arctic and make the most of the extra daylight by enjoying the coastline from the deck of one of the Hurtigruten ships (www.hurtigruten.co.uk), which call at 35 different ports on the voyage north.
Folk culture
Experience traditional Norwegian folk culture, music, dance and food at one of the regular summer events at the Norske Folkemuseum (www.norskfolke.museum.no): an open-air collection of historic buildings on Bygdøy Island outside Oslo. The programme changes daily, so check the website before you go.
Fredrikstad
Check out Gamlebyen in Fredrikstad, one of Scandinavia's best-preserved fortress towns. Also of interest is the nearby Hvaler archipelago, a summer paradise made up of hundreds of tiny islands - and home to Norway's first marine national park, opened in 2009 (www.opplevfredrikstad.com).
Glacier hike
Take a hike on Jostedalsbreen, mainland Europe's largest glacier, and centrepiece of a large national park (www.jostedal.com). A mecca for outdoor adventure lovers, the park offers plenty of adrenaline sports such as mountain kayaking as well as the more sedate Glacier Bus.
Hardanger Fjord
Hardanger Fjord, which is located 75km (47 miles) east of Bergen, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Norway. This scenic area offers virtually every kind of natural landscape available in the country, from scenic waterways, apple and cherry orchards, and hiking trails, to mountain plateaux. The area also contains Hardangervidda, Norway's largest national park, two of Norway's largest glaciers, Folgefonna and Hardangerjøkulen, and some of Norway's most popular waterfalls, including Vøringfossen, Steinsdalsfossen and Låtefossen. There are also various museums in the area, including Hardanger folkemuseum (Hardanger Folk Museum) and Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter (Hardanger Ships Preservation Centre) treeboat museum.
Hardanger Fjord
Hardanger Fjord, which is located 75km (47 miles) east of Bergen, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Norway. This scenic area offers virtually every kind of natural landscape available in the country, from scenic waterways, apple and cherry orchards, and hiking trails, to mountain plateaux. The area also contains Hardangervidda, Norway's largest national park, two of Norway's largest glaciers, Folgefonna and Hardangerjøkulen, and some of Norway's most popular waterfalls, including Vøringfossen, Steinsdalsfossen and Låtefossen. There are also various museums in the area, including Hardanger folkemuseum (Hardanger Folk Museum) and Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter (Hardanger Ships Preservation Centre) treeboat museum.
Historic Oslo
Go royal-spotting at the Kongelige Slott (Royal Palace), which is open to visitors from late June to mid-August (www.kongehuset.no), or delve into the city's military past at Åkershus Castle (www.forsvarsbygg.no), which stands within walking distance of the city centre.
Ibsen's birthplace
For those in search of a literary treat, Skien, the birthplace of playwright Hendrik Ibsen (http://www.telemarkmuseum.no/en/henrik-ibsen-museum/), is a must visit. His childhood home provides a compelling insight into the life of this distinguished Norwegian and includes a comprehensive multimedia exhibition.
Lakeside cabin
Get away from it all and spend a few days in a lakeside mountain hytte, or cabin, enjoying fishing and nature walks. But beware of elk and other large wildlife (www.norgesbooking.com).
Maelstrom and Bodø
See the Saltstraumen - the world's most powerful whirlpool. A strong tidal current located some 30km (19 miles) east of the northern city of Bodø; careful timing is required as the action only happens four times a day. A multimedia visitor centre is nearby.
The port city of Bodø, north of the Arctic Circle on the west coast of Norway, will be the European Capital of Culture in 2024. More than 600 events will fill Bodø's cultural calendar in the event year. The program has many highlights, including music and arts festivals, an exhibition about Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun, a concert in a cave and a Sámi theatre trilogy. The grand opening ceremony will take place on February 3, 2024 in Bodø's inner harbour.
In addition to dance, theater and concerts as well as a few museums, Bodø also has a diverse gastronomic scene with numerous gourmet restaurants, cafés and bars. Fish dishes are naturally particularly delicious here, right by the sea. There is also a shopping center and a water park with a wellness area, which will reopen in late 2023, freshly renovated. Bodø has its special charm simply because of its location on a peninsula directly by the sea. The city feels like a lively cultural center surrounded by untouched wild nature - a contrast that many appreciate.
Bodø is in the Salten region, which is in Nordland county. With its many charms typical of Norway, this area fulfills all the wishes that its visitors usually bring with them. There are caves, glaciers, national parks, high mountains, beautiful hiking landscapes, breathtaking coastal landscapes with picturesque fjords and natural phenomena such as the Saltstraumen tidal current, the popular sky spectacles of the northern lights and the midnight sun.
Bodø is easily accessible, even though it is in the far north. The coastal city has road connections, a small airport, to which Scandinavian Airlines flights from Oslo go several times a day, a long-distance train station and a ferry terminal for Hurtigruten cruise and passenger ships as well as for ferries on their way to and from the offshore islands like the Lofoten.
Medieval wooden churches
Be sure to see one of Norway's 28 surviving wooden medieval stave churches (www.stavechurch.org), dotted around the southern half of the country. The oldest is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Urnes Stave Church, by Sognefjord, dating from 1130 (www.sognefjord.no).
Norway in a nutshell
Take a 'Norway in a Nutshell' tour from Bergen (www.norwaynutshell.com). You can choose to spend between one and three days on the trip, which takes in scenic rail and bus journeys as well as cruises along Norway's best fjords.
Oslo museums
Don't miss the capital's excellent collection of museums, including the Thor Heyerdahl Kon-tiki Museum (www.kon-tiki.no), the Munch Museum (http://munchmuseet.no/en/) and the Viking Ship Museum (www.khm.uio.no).
Røros
This small but picturesque mountain town near the Swedish border is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a copper mining and smelting settlement from the 17th century until the 1977 (www.verdensarvenroros.no). Discover the Old Town, the wooden church and the Mining Museum.
Saint Olav Festival
Enjoy the annual festival celebrating Christianity's arrival in Norway in 1024 at Stiklestad, a little over two hours' drive northwest from Trondheim. Centrepiece of the July event is the St Olav Drama, an open-air recreation of that occurred just prior to the Battle of Stiklestad (www.stiklestad.no).
Sami culture
Learn about the culture of the semi-nomadic Sami people of Norway's northern Lapland at the Várjjat Sámi Musea (www.varjjat.org) at Varangerbotn in eastern Finnmark. Or stay in a Sami tepee on an organised tour of Lapland (www.sami-siida.no, Norwegian only).
Skiing and snowboarding
Norway has thousands of kilometres of marked trails of varying difficulty for enthusiastic skiers and snowboarders, all of which take in stunningly pretty terrain. The 1994 Winter Olympics complex at Lillehammer (www.lillehammer.com) is just a couple of hours north of Oslo by road.
Tromsø brewery
Enjoy a beer or two at the world's most northerly brewery in Tromsø – which claims to be Europe’s most northerly city. Once you’ve had your fill of the local brew, head over to visit the picturesque university and cathedral, and revel in the scenic surroundings. (https://www.visittromso.no/en).
Trondheim
Relive Norway’s former capital city Trondheim's past glories at the magnificent Nidarosdomen (Nidaros Cathedral) (www.nidarosdomen.no), and visit the city's Ringve Museum (www.ringve.com), which is home to an extensive collection of historic musical instruments.
Vøringsfossen waterfall
Take in the stunning views at Norway's most famous waterfall, situated close to the main road between Oslo and Bergen. Another nearby waterfall, Mardalsfossen, boasts the longest drop in northern Europe clocking up almost 300m (984ft) from top to bottom. (www.fjordnorway.com).
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