Accommodation…..where to stay
Variety of accomodation is available and I normaly prefer 3 star or above hotels only because the breakfast spread is generally better and the rooms more comfortable. Rooms typically cost upwards of INR 9 to 10k per night for a couple. Many of the Norwegian hotels have rooms that are only 15m3 or smaller…good for a solo traveller but not necessarily good for a couple. So do check the room size once and not get carried away by lower price for such rooms.
In Bergen, if you chose your hotel wisely, you could simply walk to all most of the attractions. Look at the illustrative map of Bergen below where I have drawn rough boundaries within which you could look for hotels.
Bergen map
In Tromso, almost all the major hotels, tourist pick up points for tours are located in City Centre on Tromsoya island, either in the harbour area or around Storgata, the main walking street. In terms of landmark, the areas surrounding and between Tromso Cathedral and The Polar Museum would be very nice. Hence it makes sense to stay here, and be able to walk around the town. More importantly, there are a variety of restaurants in this area and finding vegetarian food is not difficult.
Tromso map
It goes without saying your budget will override these boundaries!
In Oslo, I chose the Park Inn next to the Airport as I was spending only one night.
Vegetarian food
Getting vegetarian food is not much of a problem in major towns but it is good to mark the locations on a map. In Bergen, there are Indian restaurants such as Taj Mahal which is located near the railway station on a very beautiful shopping street but the food was not good and Maharaja, in the Bryggen area which was very good. And then there are Subways, McDonald’s, Mexican, Thai and Italian restaurants. I was told even Norwegian restaurants will have vegetarian options though more in the form of salads which unfortunately is not lunch/dinner for most Indians, including me!
Even in Tromso, there is actually an Indian restaurant called Elephant but I suspect they served only the ready to eat vegetarian food. But then, when you are 10,000 kms away from home, and with a specific dietary needs, who cares? Other than Elephant, I preferred an Italian casual restaurant Da Pinocchio that served very tasty vegetrain food. And yes, they had red chilly flakes.
A typical vegetarian meal with some wine/beer can cost over INR6k for a couple.
When travelling on day trips, it would be best for vegetarians to pack something as finding vegetarian food on the way is difficult. Unless you can survive on chips, coffee, ice-cream and the like. Hot water is available in cafes and something like cup noodles can be very filling if had with coffee and cookies.
Travel into and within Norway
The capital city of Oslo is the main gateway to Norway. Oslo is served by two airports –Gardermoen (OSL) and Torp-Sandfjord(TRF). OSL is larger and closer to the city with better connectivity and has 2 hotels in its premises-Radisson Blu and Park Inn. Both are walking distance and hence very convenient even though the tariff may be slightly higher. There are other hotels nearby but you need the free shuttle or taxi. It makes sense to stay at the airport hotel if you are spending only one night in Oslo. Further, OSL has far more domestic connections than TRP that gives lot of flexibility in planning.
Consider options other than Oslo
It is also possible to fly into few other towns such as Bergen, the second largest city in Norway, or Tromso, the artic town and the go to place for Northern Lights, though the number of international flights is very limited. Air travel within Norway is fairly expensive and the fares keep increasing as seats are taken. When planning a trip, it makes sense to look at options other than Oslo for both entry and exit as international airfares vary marginally if the fly in and fly out airports are different but in the same country.
Air is best option for longer domestic travel
For domestic travel between 2 cities, Air is the best option but if you have extra days, you could also look at Rail/Road options for few locations. Looking at the map of Norway, if you wish to head North, air is the best option. Flexible Airfares can start at around Euros 120-150 and goes beyond Euros 400 plus for a single adult per trip as seats get filled. The airlines typically offer 2-3 fare options. Fares vary by the day and time of flight.
SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe are the major airlines operate domestic flights.
One could also rent a car but the routing would need more elaborate planning and time due to possible ferry crossings, speed limits in the 16mountainous regions etc. Similarly, trains may take a circuitous route. For local travel, in the absence of public transport, renting a car is very useful.
Related posts on Norway
Norway, the land of Midnight sun, fjords and northern lights
Flam rail, one of the top rail journeys in the world