Norway Travel Tips

Scandinavian Airlines
I cannot say enough positive things about Scandinavian Airlines (“SAS”). I decided to fly SAS both to and from Norway, and for all my flights within Norway. Best decision ever. The SAS flight attendants were polite, helpful, accomadating and practically jovial. The seats were clean and comfortable. The service on all of my flights was quick and efficient. The pilots were communicative—a consideration I very much appreciate when flying.

Okay, yes, SAS is not a magical airline from fairy town where there are no problems at all. There was a de-icing delay on my flight from Oslo to Bodø, but it was weather-related, and SAS handled it with routine precision. I was not worried at all and it was kind of fun to watch, if I’m being honest. There’s a lot of orange goo going on. Awesome show, great job everyone.

In case you’re wondering, SAS is considered one of the safest airlines in the world,[1] and I would fly them everywhere if I could. They only have three direct flights out of the United States leaving from Newark, New Jersey, going to Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm—but many other flights within Europe.

And, as an added bonus for those of you that enjoy an inflight cocktail, you’ll have no trouble purchasing a drink during your flight. Hey, you never know, your Norwegian seat companion might even speak to you after a round!

Eating and Drinking in Norway
If you’re looking to eat out in Norway, pay close attention to the day and time, especially if you’re traveling during the off-season.

Restaurants don’t stay open all that late in Norway. Many close by 10 pm. To top that off, some restaurants in more remote areas aren’t open at all unless you have a large enough group and you call ahead of time. Don’t go off the website description alone.

Perhaps the biggest issue you will encounter: Most restaurants and bars are closed on Sundays and Mondays. Even in Oslo, you should plan on calling ahead of time and eating before 6 pm. You might have better luck finding a restaurant or a bar in Tromsø bar that stays open later.

However, alcohol sales are the same all over the country—you can’t buy alcohol past 6 pm on Saturday, and not at all on Sunday. According to at least one grocery store owner, this policy only hurts tourists. Norwegians just stock up ahead of time. I guess I’m lucky I bought that aquavit at duty free in the Oslo airport and lugged it all the way to my hostel in Tromsø (read the story in my Norway travel blog).

Ruter
Ruter is the public transit app for Oslo that you should absolutely download and use. After you download the app, you can enter your credit card information and purchase public transit tickets in the app directly. You should make your ticket purchases before you board public transit.

Note that Norway uses the honor-code system, so you do not have to present any proof you purchased a ticket to your train conductor or bus driver. However, I strongly recommend purchasing your tickets on all public transit in Norway. Most Norwegians would be horrified to find out you tried to cheat the system. Also, they sometimes come around to check that you indeed purchased a ticket.

In addition to allowing in-app ticket purchases, Ruter also calculates the best route for you to take and how long it will take for you to get there. I do think Ruter is more accurate than Google Maps, but sometimes the routes Ruter suggests are a tad too complicated if you aren’t from, or familiar with, Oslo. Like five buses and a tram are all involved in a single trip. Google Maps might give you one bus, but you have to wait an additional five or ten minutes for it to arrive.

You can buy most of your public transit tickets on the Ruter app, except for the Airport Express Train to and from the airport, and a few other public transit options.[2] It seems widely accepted that you shouldn’t bother with the Airport Express Train because it’s more expensive than the local train and it’s not really any faster.[3]

Reis Nordland Apps
For anyone looking to take public transit in the “Reis Nordland” area in Norway, the Reis Nordland apps are just as handy as the Ruter app in Oslo although they are a tad more unwieldy. You must download two apps to competently use public transit in this area: the “Reis Nordland” app and the “Billett Nordland” app. You must download the “Billett Nordland” app to purchase a ticket. That’s about all that app does. Not a lot going on, but completely necessary.

The “Reis Nordland” app does not currently allow you to purchase tickets as of the date of this post, but it provides suggested routes and times. This feature is extremely handy and I would absolutely download this app for that purpose alone.However, be aware, while this app will provide you with the suggested travel route between point A and point B, both the beginning location and end destination have to be geographically within the area covered by “Reis Nordland” transit. Furthermore, the app does not contain the complete schedule for the busses or ferries.

For bus and ferry schedules, you have to go to the actual Reis Nordland website—www.reisnordland.no and click on the “Plan Your Trip” link, and then on the following tab that opens up, the “Route Tables.” Another issue here is that the Route Tables are only available in Norwegian. You can download them as PDFs, and having them is more helpful than not, but it is still somewhat confusing. If you can, I would ask the front desk at the hotel or hostel you are staying at to help you lookup timetables before leaving, ESPECIALLY if you plan on taking a ferry across a fjord and returning later that same day. I got stuck waiting on the other side of a fjord for about two hours, and I very nearly died of anxiety for the first half hour that the ferry simply wasn’t coming back and I would have to spend the night in my car. Luckily, none of that happened.

Entur
For suggested routes anywhere in Norway, download the “Entur” app. You cannot purchase tickets through the “Entur” app, but it will direct you to the websites where you can purchase tickets for each segment of your chosen route. I found this app to be extremely useful when navigating public transit routes throughout Norway. For example, if you are traveling through Lofoten and heading up further north, you will need to use Entur to check your complete public transit route options.

Oslo Travel Tips

Getting around Oslo City Center on the T-bane Line 5
If you plan to use the T-bane, line 5, to get around Oslo City Center, please take note that it is not as simple as catching the train in one direction or the other. Some line 5 trains run in a circle around Oslo City Center, called the Ringen, before veering off towards either Vestli, or in the other direction toward Sognsvann. Those are the two end stops on the line 5. The Ruter app refers to “T5” trains going around the circle as the “T5 Ringen via” some other stop on the line 5 that is within the circle.

I will provide an example to illustrate. If you would like to try and follow along with me, I strongly suggest you look at the system map below if you want to even attempt to understand what I’m about to try to explain to you. That or just skip this travel tip and hang on to your butt when you take the line 5.

Example: If you get on the line 5 at Nydalen and you would like to go to Tøyen, Ruter will tell you that you should take the T5 Ringen via Storo and get off at Tøyen. According to Ruter, the Retning (“direction” in English), of the T5 at Nydalen is Storo, not Vestli or Sognsvann. This isn’t all that helpful, but I seem to remember the actual line 5 trains in real life indicating whether they were going to Sognsvann or Vestli. Just pay close attention when you’re getting on a line 5 train, and whether you need to go somewhere within the Ringen or somewhere outside the Ringen.

Additionally, the line 5 doesn’t veer off the Ringen in both directions at Carl Berners plass and Nydalen.

Example. If you want to get from Nydalen to Hasle, you have to take the line 5 Ringen via Storo to Carl Berners plass and then switch to a line 5 train going in the direction of Vestli. Same thing in reverse, you can’t get from Hasle to Nydalen directly, you have to switch at Carl Berners plass.

This is also the case between Nydalen and Berg. You can’t go directly from Nydalen to Berg. You have to transfer at Ullevål stadion, and transfer to another line 5 train going in the direction of Sognsvann.

Disclaimer: This travel tip is based on my personal experience as a tourist riding, and getting lost on, the T-bane line 5. If you’re familiar with the T-bane in Oslo, please feel free to send me your comments: info@darkpuddlesrising.com

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[1] See, e.g., Van Van Cleave, “The Safest—and Least Safe—Airlines of 2023,” https://www.rd.com/article/safest-airlines/, Reader’s Digest (https://www.rd.com/travel/), Mar. 1, 2023; Johnny Jet, “The Top 20 Safest Airlines to Fly in 2023 According to New Airline Safety Ratings Results,” https://johnnyjet.com/the-top-20-safest-airlines-to-fly-in-2023-according-to-new-airline-safety-ratings-results/, Jan. 25, 2023; Christian W., “SAS Among Safest Airlines in the World,” https://cphpost.dk/2021-01-11/news/sas-among-safest-airlines-in-the-world/, Jan. 11, 2021.

[2] The following public transit services may not be available for purchase through the Ruter app, or may have a joint ticketing arrangement with Ruter—check first. These include “train services outside Oslo and parts of Viken (formerly Akershus), [] the Airport Express train, airport shuttle buses, Vy’s express buses, [and] the Bygdøy ferry.” Ruter, “Other companies tickets,” https://ruter.no/en/buying-tickets/tickets-and-fares/other/, Ruter# (https://ruter.no/en/), last accessed Feb. 27, 2023.

[3] See David Nikel, “Public Transport in Oslo,” https://www.lifeinnorway.net/public-transport-in-oslo/, Life in Norway (https://www.lifeinnorway.net/), Oct. 27, 2019.

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