Luxury holidays to Norway

Our Hotels

Each hotel in Norway featured by Expressions Holidays has been selected to deliver exceptionally high standards of comfort, service and cuisine. Many of our luxury hotels are among the most highly acclaimed in Norway. Some have more local or rustic charm and character, but all are authentic and typical of their region. Although most of our portfolio of hotels tend to be 4-star hotels, each hotel has unique qualities and an authentic individuality. We offer you a choice of room types at each hotel, so whilst the sample prices we quote are usually just based on a standard or entry-level room, we can offer you upgraded rooms, junior suites and suites. In Norway, we almost always include bed and breakfast in the basic holiday price but if the hotel offers half board, then we can offer you half board at a supplement. Some hotels include all meals and activities, particularly in the Arctic resorts.

Travel

The travel options we provide reflect the diversity of our holidays to Norway. Most of our holidays will start with a flight to Oslo or another regional city. Within Norway we recommend a mixture of train services, the Hurtigruten coastal ferry service and hire-car for exploring in more depth Within Norway, and part of its attraction is this, there are many different travel options, and we find that most of our holidays will consist of several types of travel within Norway.

By air

There are direct flights to Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Alesund and Tromsø, from London and some other UK airports, although some are seasonal. Otherwise for all other Norwegian regional airports you can fly via Oslo or Bergen or Trondheim. There are many domestic flights making it easy to combine regions such as Vestlandet and Northern Norway, or Oslo and the Lofoten islands.

By rail

The train network is excellent throughout southern Norway and is a good option for getting from Oslo to Bergen. Just off the Oslo to Bergen route is the Flåmsbana from Myrdal to Flåm on the Sognefjord. There is also a direct train from Oslo to Trondheim which takes about 7 hours. From Trondheim to Bodø within the Arctic Circle there is the Nordland scenic train, a journey of about 10 hours. North of Bodø there is not a railway network as such, although there is a sleeper train from Narvik via Kiruna in Sweden to Stockholm. It is also possible to travel to Norway from the UK by train. We recommend about three overnight stops on the way, and it makes sense to break the journey in Cologne, Hamburg and Copenhagen. You can always take the train one way and fly the other.

By boat

The Hurtigruten line is one of the most famous and covers the coastal distance from Bergen to Kirkenes (over 2,500 kms) with 34 stops. Bergen to Kirkenes takes seven days and you can choose from a variety of cabins on board. We recommend that you do part of the journey by boat, perhaps Bergen to Trondheim, which takes 3 days, or Bodø to Svolvaer in the Lofoten Islands which can be done within one day. You can time your voyage to do parts of it by day and parts overnight. There are also ferries along the fjords, for example from Bergen to Flåm along the Sognefjord, which takes about five hours. There is also the Havila coastal voyages that cover the route from Bergen to Kirkenes, also with 34 stops. You can travel on day-time services or on longer journeys overnight with a comfortable cabin. Havila operate new ships and pride themselves on being the most sustainable including four hours' sailing with zero emissions, heat recovery from the sea and engines, NOx emissions reduced by 90% and using charging current on the quay from hydropower. Cabins reflect Nordic standards of decoration and most have sea views. All cabins have Wi-Fi and USB ports. Superior and deluxe cabins and suites have double beds. Panoramic cabins have floor-to-ceiling windows. If taking a longer journey along the coast, the Havila ship docks in a port for a few hours so you can disembark and experience the town.

Hire-car

To explore within an area or to cover parts of the country, it’s recommended to have the use of a hire-car. Roads in Norway are good, and you will need to board ferries for many routes. In fact, over 100 public roadways require cars to board a ferry. You don’t book ahead for these but you need to allow for extra time but this is part of the charm of driving yourself around Norway.