Norway – The Place to Be?

Norway is an incredibly beautiful country and if you’re as much into nature and hiking as I am, you have probably thought about visiting Norway. I went there in July/August and came back with mixed feelings. Landscape-wise it was everything I had hoped for and even more. I did a roadtrip in the south. The scenery changed all the time and I never stopped being amazed.

However, there are a few things you should be aware of before you travel to Norway:
First of all, it is crazy expensive. The food, the parking, the hotels and hostels – everything. And yes, there is the “everyman’s right” which allows everybody including tourists to camp everywhere and have access to nature and uncultivated land. This is great, no doubt. But keep my next point in mind: The weather. In Nordic countries there is just no guarantee for good weather. When I was there, there wasn’t one day where it didn’t rain. Camping and hiking just isn’t so much fun when it rains and rains and rains. The temperature was only 9°C some days – at daytime. Imagine how cold it got in the night. Nevertheless, there were a few sunny hours now and then and I managed to do my planned activities during that time.
The last point is that Norway has become very popular over the last years and some spots became famous through Instagram etc. This means that there were hikes when I thought I was taking part in a mass migration or something! An endless stream of people and when you reached that beautiful sight or view you had to stand in line to take a photo. Of course, you can’t get mad because you’re just as much a tourist as all the others. Anyway, I was not aware of that before I got to Norway and I think you should know.
However, Norway is huge and if you stay away from those spots you have a great experience.

Part One

Brufjell Caves

This was a hike I enjoyed very much. The caves are not very far away from Kristiansand where I arrived via ferry. So this was one of the first things I did in Norway.

First, I hiked a rather easy path up the Brufjell mountain. It was really muddy though because of the never-ending rain but the view over the North Sea was amazing.

From there, I really wanted to climb down to the caves, but my travel buddy didn’t want to because the path was marked black and as very difficult. So I befriended a couple on top of the mountain and asked them if they’d climb with me to the caves. It was not advised to go alone or in wet weather (I kind of ignored the last part).

So we began the steep climb down to the caves. And when I say climb I mean it. At some points there was just vertical, blank rock with a few metal steps hammered into the stone and sometimes a rope to hold onto. When we reached the first of those difficult passages I found out that the couple had never hiked before in their lives – not to speak of climbing in the mountains!
I was a little scared myself, but now I needed to motivate them to go further and had to appear fearless.
At one point, the girl started to cry and blame her boyfriend for everything. She wanted to go home and hated Norway and her boyfriend for making her do that and much more. I thought: “Oh my goodness, what have I done to them?! It’ll be my fault if they break up!” Fortunately, it didn’t come to that and we reached the caves all in one piece. To be completely honest my legs were shaking a little bit as well. The climbing grids were very slippery because of all the rain and I understood why they put up the warning signs.

Still, the caves and the view over the ocean were worth everything. And as soon as we got there, the couple reconciled (phew!). I felt bad for taking them on the hike nevertheless. But at least they made a lasting memory, didn't they?

Climbing back up was easier than the way down, but it was getting late and my travel companion had been waiting for me at the car during my little adventure - which took a couple of hours. So, I parted with the couple (as they had no hiking experience they were very very slow) and I quickly made my way back.
I was all alone now and I really enjoyed it - until the point I got a little bit lost. Hiking trails in Norway are sometimes not very well marked. To get back I was supposed to take the same path I came. But somehow I went a completely different way which was much steeper and went down to a little beach. Luckily, it turned out to be a shorter route and I made it back just fine!

I'd recommend this hike to everyone who likes a little thrill and sore muscles from climbing!

If you want to read more about my experiences in Norway and my travels, leave an upvote and follow! Thanks!

earthlingvera

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Check out my introduction post:

Yet another blogger

And how to travel with little money:

Six ways to afford travelling

Five ways to travel cheap