Norway

Norway is a ruggedly beautiful country of mountains, fjords and glaciers. It offers incredible wilderness hiking, year-round skiing, and some of the world's most scenic ferry, bus and train rides.

The 'Land of the Midnight Sun' has delightfully long summer days well worth experiencing. Oslo sits at the head of the Oslofjord, an inlet of the Skagerrak. It is the oldest of the Scandinavian capitals, having been founded by Harald Hardrada in 1048. The Akershus Fortress, a medieval fortress and castle built around 1300, is well worth a visit while in Oslo. It contains dungeons possessing dark little cubby holes where the prisoners were formerly kept.

Norway's varied geography surprises many visitors who imagine the country as a frozen monolith. On the contrary, the temperate south includes rolling farmlands, enchanted forests and sunny beaches as well as the dramatic Western Fjords.

North of the Arctic Circle at Tromso, the population thins, the horizons grow wider and the temperature dips. Here the terrain ranges from soaring coastal peaks to vast boreal forests and barren treeless peninsulas. Known as the 'Gateway to the Arctic' adventurers can also experience the the stark, sober communities dotting the northern coast of Norway. It's a spirited town with street music, cultural happenings, more pubs per capita than any other place in the country and many 'northernmost' claims.

Snow-capped mountains provide the scenic backdrop, the town has a swag of period buildings and the Tromso Museum is a good place to learn about Lapp culture. There's also fine skiing here in winter and even further north to the Svalbard archipelago you can see seals, walruses and polar bears sunbathing on ice floes.

It's no wonder that Norway prizes its stunning natural wonders and retains a robust frontier character

International airlines link Oslo with most major European cities. Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim also have international airports.