Norway
Earth > Europe > Northern Europe > Scandinavia > Norway
 Norway | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Language: | Norwegian, Sami, Finnish |
| Capital: | Oslo |
| Population: | 4,770,000 |
| Currency: | Norwegian Krone (NOK) |
| Hitchability: |  (average) to  (good)
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| Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots | |
| <map lat='65.33017791526852' lng='15.556640625' zoom='4' view='0' float='right' width='270' height='375' country='Norway'/> | |
Norway is a good country to hitch in, of course depending on location! It is a member state of the Schengen Agreement, but is not part of the European Union. Its neighbouring countries are Sweden, Finland and Russia.
Even though haike is not too common in Norway, Norwegians are very likely to pick you up and can be very friendly and helpful. People have a tendency to always be in a rush on weekdays. The main thing to be aware of is the rapidly shifting weather, so be prepared for anything, as they say in Norway: There is nothing called bad weather, only bad clothing. Most people speak English well enough for reasonable communication. 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. Be aware that traffic may be very light at times.
It is illegal to hitch on the expressway in Norway, but not illegal from rest stops or at on-ramps. It is legal to camp out almost anywhere if it is a good distance from a private house, but not permanently.
Norwegians will often offer to take you so many Norwegian miles. One Norwegian mile is 10km. Recently there have been some Roma / Romanian people faking broken down cars and then robbing people who stop to help, police confirm this as so, so try not waiting near cars. Also asking people directly at service stations is more likely to get a result than just thumbing as result of this.
Cities
Regions of Norway
Language
- north - nord
- south - sør
- West - vest
- East - øst
Vowels: Vowels are pronounced very differently in Norwegian as opposed to English
- A pronounsed "ah" as in bar
- E pronounsed "eh" as in heck
- I pronounsed "e" as in here or "i" as in hill
- O pronounsed "w" as in willy and in other times, "o" as in hockey
- U pronounsed "oo" as in poop
- Y pronounsed "y" as in young
- Æ pronounsed "a" as in hack
- Ø pronounsed "uh" as in hull
- Å pronounsed "o" as in hockey
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".
User Experiences
- markus is a dude and hitched from Stavangar to Mandal (1 day), Mandal to Oslo (1 day) Oslo to Trondheim (1 day) Trondheim to Mor e Rana (1 day) and Mor e Rana to Karlsøya (1 day) sequentially. Long rides and easy hitching, some big waits outside Oslo. English speaking was seen as a good thing and several drivers told me they dropped silent, drunk or drugged people quickly. He also hitched back from Karlsøya to Tampere in 1 day and night non-stop, but thinks it should take 2 days for any normal hitcher.
- ReZz is a dude, and he has found that Trondheim one of the worst places to hitch from. Still, he has done it, even in the winter, all the way to Oslo in the South and Hammerfest/North Cape in the extreme North. Sadly, I must say that one steadfast rule of hitchhiking has to be amended. Although I am a polyglot and love language, I must say that if you are not white, speak English to people. Norwegians are extremely wary of foreigners and any non-white who speaks English is assumed to be a refugee. Still, a lot of white women tell me that truckers 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. This has not worked for me. They love foreign tourists, though, as long as you keep telling them that you love Norway.
- abstorz is a dude, and hitched from Trondheim to Oslo and back in March/April. Both trips took one day. From Oslo he was able to hitch a ride onto the motorway behind the tunnel in the area of Etterstad, from Trondheim he took the bus to Heimdal and walked another couple of miles to a bus stop. Once on the motorway everything went fine. He took the route over Oppdal/Dombås. Check Liftershalte for exact locations, or find better ones!
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[Bergen to Noordkapp in Winter (October - November)] Jai is probably a dude and he hitched rides from Bergen all the way North stopping in Bangsund (near Steinkjer), Bodo, Tromso, Alta and Sarnes. People might look at you a little funny, but it is possible to hitch North this late after the main tourist season, and don't let anyone tell you there is nothing to see. Total darkness doesn't really set in until mid November. Be prepared for long waits though and a good quilted, wind resistant jacket, boots, gloves and a hat are imperative (goes without saying really). May be easier with one person because keep in mind Trucks and some cars in Norway (green license plates) can only have 2 people in the cabin (driver and one passenger). Also this is low season, so you are relying on just locals mainly and its generally only people who have hitch hiked themselves once before that will probably stop. A lone traveller traveller looks more helpless and sorry, and two people looks a little intimidating for a driver new to hitchhikers unless perhaps you are a guy and girl. Not fair I know but just seems to be the way it is. If you tire of freezing your butt off, and I am not sure if it is legal but try asking around at truck parks, loading bays, docks for trucks going to where you want. They can tell you when the truck leaves and then its up to the driver if he wants to take you. Remember super politeness and a good outward appearance go a long way. Most places didn't seem to mind me asking around and I had a lot of success this way. It works particularly well in the larger cities. Around four in the afternoon seems to be the time when divers have loaded incomng goods from that day and are leaving for a late/overnight haul to the next major city. Sure beats the uncertainty and you can get a time to plan towards and wait somewhere out of the cold. Happy trails !
