Norway Hiking Tours

MORE ABOUT NORWAY HIKING VACATIONS

WHY A NORWAY HIKING VACATION?

Norway’s star is on the rise as an adventure travel destination. Since 2015 the homeplace of the Vikings has rapidly increased in popularity, and for good reason. It is one of the safest countries in the world. Transportation is easy and reliable. English is a second language, and most Norwegians can speak it and understand it proficiently. The country literally has endless hiking opportunities, and culturally, Norway has a very strong connection with nature which helps inspire Norway hiking and trekking tours. The scenery is breathtaking with fjords, towering ocean side peaks, alpine lakes, unique wildlife, charming fishing villages and more. Sustainability is a huge focus for Norway, which makes it in many ways an environmentally friendly place to visit, and hiking around the mountains is a long tradition for these northern European dwellers. Really, the question should be “why not a Norway hiking vacation?”

LOFOTEN OR HUT TO HUT TREK?

We offer two trips in Norway – our Lofoten Islands Lodge-based Tour and our Mountains to Fjords Hut to Hut Trek. Many guests wonder which trip is the right one for them, so we will offer some advice about that here. The first differentiator between these trips is right in the names – the accommodations. On the Lofoten tour we stay in hotels, many in seaside towns. The Hut to Hut Trek on the other hand stays in national park mountain huts in Jotunheimen National Park, which are very nice for backcountry accommodations but still very rustic and communal compared to hotels. The second major differentiator is difficulty level. The Hut to Hut Trek is a Level 4, Lofoten is Level 3. Both trips have light day packs, so the difference is 100% the quality and difficulty of the trails. You can expect long days of hiking with significant elevation gains and losses on the Hut to Hut Trek, where as Lofoten has shorter hikes but still plenty of elevation gains and losses.

FOOD IN NORWAY

Norwegians have a very unique approach to their three daily meals, and it’s important to understand these customs when traveling to Norway. Breakfasts and lunches are often very simple and normally consist of simple bread and cheese or bread and cold meat sandwiches. Dinners are much more elaborate and usually include meat or fish, vegetables, breads or potatoes and other side dishes. If you’re a vegetarian, there will often be one option – it will be very tasty, but don’t expect an abundance of choices. On our Norway tours we bring more of an American approach, but we still honor the Norwegian approach as part of the cultural experience. So you can expect a hybrid approach to the meals that incorporates American and Norwegian meal traditions.

HIKING IN NORWAY

The hiking trails in Norway are very unique and generally more difficult than other trails around the world. Our Lofoten Islands tour features short hikes with significant elevation gains and losses; the Hut to Hut Trek features longer hikes also with big elevation gains and losses. But the quality of the trails is the most notable characteristic of hiking in Norway. The trails are not carved out of the mountainsides by trail crews like they are in the USA, Canada and other places. They are formed organically by people using the same path for decades or even centuries. Because of this the trails tend to go straight up the mountainsides instead of switchbacking. So be prepared for steep, strenuous trails that will reward you with some of the most dramatic scenery in the world.

WHEN TO HIKE IN NORWAY

Norway is very much a summer destination if your main interest is hiking. Even in summer, you can expect the weather to be variable with rain, wind, sun and sudden and dramatic shifts from one to the other. Below is a table showing the average temperatures and rainfall in the summer months.