Norway
Earth > Europe > Northern Europe > Scandinavia > Norway
Norway is a country in Europe. It is a member state of the Schengen Agreement, but is not part of the European Union. Its capital is Oslo. Its neighbouring countries are Sweden, Finland and Russia.
Information | |
Language: | Norwegian, Sami, Finnish |
Capital: | Oslo |
Population: | 4,848,474 |
Currency: | Norwegian Krone (NOK) |
Hitchability: | ![]() ![]() |
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<map lat='65.33017791526852' lng='15.556640625' zoom='4' view='0' float='right' width='270' height='375' country='Norway'/> |
The main challenge while travelling in Norway is the rapidly shifting weather, so be prepared for anything, as they say here: There is not such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
Most people speak English well enough for reasonable communication. People have been told to be wary from foreigners. Recently, it's been all over the news that some gypsies wait on the road with a broken car and steal cars from people stopping to help them, and it doesn't help much, especially if you're not quite white.
Hitchhiking culture
Norway is a good country to hitch in, of course depending on location! Even though haike is not too common in Norway, people are very likely to pick you up and can be very friendly and helpful. They have a tendency to always be on the rush on weekdays. Waiting times can be a bit longer around Oslo and in remote areas where traffic is very light. People expect some chatting since distances are long, and seem to have little tolerance for drug or alcohol use while on the road.
One thing that makes hitching easy in Norway is that almost all of the population lives near the E6 road, which extends from the Swedish border in the South to almost all the way North, so it's pretty hard to get lost, as long as you are headed the right way.
Hitching is much easier in the beautiful North (at least in the summer), where many locals hitch regularly to commute. Another challenge are the long winter nights, which make the hitchhiking day very short unless you are well equipped for night hitchhiking. In the North, total darkness sets in from around mid-November. Don't forget the specifics of winter hitchhiking.
It's common knowledge that truck drivers are very friendly and that the hitching is great if you go out to the shipping areas around Dyre Halsels Gate and north of Stradveien, but some hitchhikers have said otherwise. It's also much faster travelling alone considering that trucks and some commercial vehicle can only take 1 passenger. Around four in the afternoon, drivers have loaded incoming goods from that day and are leaving for a late/overnight haul to the next major city.
Distances
According to markus and abstorz, two dudes.
- Stavanger - Mandal (near Kristiansand) - 1 day
- Mandal - Oslo - 1 day
- Oslo - Trondheim - 1 day
- Trondheim - Mor e Rana - 1 day
- Mo i Rana - Karlsøya - 1 day
License Plates
There is a coding for areas: the two first letters identify the region in which the vehicle is registered, but as Norwegians travel pretty much all around the country, it's not something hitchhikers rely on
- List of codes on Wikipedia
Useful Language Bits
- north - nord
- south - sør
- West - vest
- East - øst
Vowels: Vowels are pronounced very differently in Norwegian as opposed to English
- A pronounced "ah" as in bar
- E pronounced "eh" as in heck
- I pronounced "e" as in here or "i" as in hill
- O pronounced "oo" as in moon and in other times, "aw" as in law
- U pronounced "ou" as in soup
- Y pronounced "ew" as in few (rounded lips)
- Æ pronounced "a" as in bag
- Ø pronounced "er" as in "her" without the R sound
- Å pronounced "aw" as in "law"
Additionally, the consonant J and the combination GJ is pronounced the same way you would pronounce Y (young). For instance, "jobb" (work) would be pronounced "yobb".
Regions & Cities
In the North
- Tromsø
- Alta
- Narvik
- Trofors
- Nordkapp, the Northernmost point of Europe
- Lofoten, an archipelago
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
Other Cities
Border Crossing
Norwegian border checks can be picky, especially if you're crossing it with a truck and even more if it's an empty one.
Eating & Drinking
Accommodation & Sleeping
Other Useful Info
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