Norway - How Expensive for Tourists?

[BORDER REIVER]

On our forthcoming cruise to Norway, we'll be doing a fair bit of "our own thing" in many ports,. We were wondering how much it is likely to cost us for basics like coffee, waffles, ice cream etc. as we explore ports. We intend to use the ship's facilities for meals, but will probably want to try out local fare & use public toilets. We're unlikely to want to buy souvenirs though.

Have any seasoned Norway travellers got any idea of current prices? - and are there any things that we really should try out.

[aquilegia]

Well, Norway has always been known to be expensive. It's about 3 years since I've been and I can't remember the prices exactly. But today by coincidence I've been reading an online article about Starbucks prices across the globe, showing that Norway is the most expensive place to have coffee.

 

A grande latte in Starbucks in the UK will apparently cost you £2.56 whereas in Oslo it will cost you the equivalent of - wait for it - £6.60!

[kaisatsu]

Here are my best estimates...

 

coffee -- 10-20 NOK for black coffee from a convenience store; 30-45 for an espresso drink from a cafe

waffles -- ~25 NOK each

ice cream -- 15-20 NOK for a packaged ice cream (Cornetto, popsicle, ice cream sandwich, etc); ~20 for soft serve from a convenience store or fast food restaurant; 30-50 for a cone at an ice cream shop

public toilets -- free at most museums/restaurants; 5-10 NOK for coin-op pay toilets in cities and parks

 

If you're interested in local fare, a few things off the top of my head that you might find at kiosks/convenience stores:

boller -- Buns flavored with cardamom. A Norwegian on-the-go snack/breakfast staple. The debate rages about whether they're better with raisins or chocolate bits (I vote raisins), much to the dismay of the purists who believe they should contain neither! ;)

Kvikk Lunsj -- Norway's most popular hiking chocolate! (It's really just a Kit-Kat bar with better chocolate, but don't tell them that.) This has long been the choice for hiking and cross-country skiing, because it's "packed with energy" (like most chocolate). The inside of the wrappers feature famous Norwegian trails and hikers.

Freia chocolate -- This famous chocolate brand is now owned by Kraft, but public outcry has prevented them from changing the recipe much. It's very good milk chocolate.

kokosboller -- Small mounds of soft coconut fluff coated in chocolate.

Pølse with lompe -- Hot dogs are one of the most popular snacks and can be served in either bread (a bun) or lompe (a potato-based tortilla-style flat bread).

[shoreham01]

Be prepared.....Norway is the most expensive place we have visited, and the most lovely. Everything costs much much much more than in UK. Even a burger will cost you an arm and a leg.

 

I would say forget about having a meal there, unless you don't mind paying for it. Depending on where you are visiting you can always go into a hotel to use their toilets. We usually have a coffee during the day and make that another toilet stop, talk about spend a penny.....more like spend £15.

 

We really love Norway and do not let the prices put us off. We are just very very careful and only book excursions that we really want to go on. If you take the shuttle bus from the ship to the centre then you wander around. Some ships charge you $15 for shuttle bus which is nice!

 

Enjoy yourselves, take plenty of photos, you will no doubt fall in love with Norway like we have.

[KirkNC]

Yes it is pricey!

[BORDER REIVER]

Here are my best estimates...

 

coffee -- 10-20 NOK for black coffee from a convenience store; 30-45 for an espresso drink from a cafe

waffles -- ~25 NOK each

ice cream -- 15-20 NOK for a packaged ice cream (Cornetto, popsicle, ice cream sandwich, etc); ~20 for soft serve from a convenience store or fast food restaurant; 30-50 for a cone at an ice cream shop

public toilets -- free at most museums/restaurants; 5-10 NOK for coin-op pay toilets in cities and parks

 

If you're interested in local fare, a few things off the top of my head that you might find at kiosks/convenience stores:

boller -- Buns flavored with cardamom. A Norwegian on-the-go snack/breakfast staple. The debate rages about whether they're better with raisins or chocolate bits (I vote raisins), much to the dismay of the purists who believe they should contain neither! ;)

Kvikk Lunsj -- Norway's most popular hiking chocolate! (It's really just a Kit-Kat bar with better chocolate, but don't tell them that.) This has long been the choice for hiking and cross-country skiing, because it's "packed with energy" (like most chocolate). The inside of the wrappers feature famous Norwegian trails and hikers.

Freia chocolate -- This famous chocolate brand is now owned by Kraft, but public outcry has prevented them from changing the recipe much. It's very good milk chocolate.

kokosboller -- Small mounds of soft coconut fluff coated in chocolate.

Pølse with lompe -- Hot dogs are one of the most popular snacks and can be served in either bread (a bun) or lompe (a potato-based tortilla-style flat bread).

 

Thank you. Just the kind of information we were looking for - now we will have a rough idea how many Nkr to take with us.

[BORDER REIVER]

Be prepared.....Norway is the most expensive place we have visited, and the most lovely. Everything costs much much much more than in UK. Even a burger will cost you an arm and a leg.

 

I would say forget about having a meal there, unless you don't mind paying for it. Depending on where you are visiting you can always go into a hotel to use their toilets. We usually have a coffee during the day and make that another toilet stop, talk about spend a penny.....more like spend £15.

 

We really love Norway and do not let the prices put us off. We are just very very careful and only book excursions that we really want to go on. If you take the shuttle bus from the ship to the centre then you wander around. Some ships charge you $15 for shuttle bus which is nice!

 

Enjoy yourselves, take plenty of photos, you will no doubt fall in love with Norway like we have.

Thanks for your input, more things to bear in mind. My wife and I visited Norway (Bergen, Stavanger, Alesund and Geiranger) 3 years ago & did all the excursions we could, but would like to explore a little on foot in places where we have already "passed through". In the first 3 of that list, we were berthed pretty much in or very near to the town centre & hope to be this year. As you say, it's a beautiful country & we were spoiled that year by 4 dry, warm and sunny days.

[ILoveScotland]

I returned this past Wednesday from my first visit to Norway. I did the 12 night Norway Coastal Voyage on the Hurtigruten Polarlys.

 

I stayed in Bergen two nights pre cruise and one night post cruyise. I didn't have coffee anywhere, but I can tell you that my first night I had a large pot of steamed mussels, some bread and a beer, and it was about 250 NOK! The last night I had a pizza and a beer, and that was about 160 NOK. I would have paid half that here in the US.

 

But...the trip was one of the best of my life and worth every NOK or dollar or pound or Euro or whatever currency someone has at home.

[John Bull]

There are lots of threads on CC about smuggling alcohol onto cruise ships.

But in Norway, the art is smuggling it off the ship :D

 

JB :)

[ILoveScotland]

There are lots of threads on CC about smuggling alcohol onto cruise ships.

But in Norway, the art is smuggling it off the ship :D

 

JB :)

 

 

Well, I took alcohol on the ship with no problems and even drank it out of my cabin at night when the lounges were dark so we could see outside. No problems, thank goodness!

[Traveling Library]

Norway is beautiful but expensive. Last year in Olden we bought a beer and a bottle of water. I commented how refreshing the water was and I was told to "drink up!" Since it cost $4. My response was it was the first time the beer on the ship cost less than on shore.

(The beer was $6) That being said Norway and the fjords are more amazing than I ever imagined. In fact we liked Norway so much we're cruising them again this summer.

[Essexlass2]

There are lots of threads on CC about smuggling alcohol onto cruise ships.

But in Norway, the art is smuggling it off the ship :D

 

JB :)

 

That I like! My sense of humour :D

[Jules 1970]

Are bars of chocolate expensive in Norway and do they sell U.K. brands ?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFw8NjZF-Qk

[I-Cruiser]

This is such an amusing thread :)

 

 

***

 

Sorry, no Kit Kat here but we do have Kvikk Lunsj.

I cant remember any UK chocolate brands - its 7 years since I live in the UK.

But we do have snickers, some places will have Cadbury........I can recall, sorry.

You should try: Melkesjokolade, Helnøtt, fruktnøtt.....all YUMMI:)

[Jules 1970]

You know it's the little things that'll make this Holiday Great ! :)

[I-Cruiser]

You know it's the little things that'll make this Holiday Great ! :)

 

That is so very very true:)

[gosport11]

We bought a filled roll n a cold drink at a supermarket in Bergen(off the beaten track) and found it reasonably cheap in nowergian terms otherwise an arm n leg comes to mind :D:):)

[The_Big_M]

There are lots of threads on CC about smuggling alcohol onto cruise ships.

But in Norway, the art is smuggling it off the ship :D

 

JB :)

 

Haha, I like that one (and definitely agree with the sentiment!).

 

At least the Vinmonopolet has been liberalised somewhat..

[Syrreal]

Last year the cheapest foo I bought was a schoolbread at a bakery in Molde. It was NOK$16 (about US$3 at the time). It's a sweet bread covered in coconut and has a kind of custard in the middle. There's a pic of it in my review that's listed on my signature.

Norway is very expensive and if you go into it itch that mindset you won't get sticker shock too badly, but there are some good finds too :)

[Syrreal]

That was supposed to b with the mindset not itch

[ILoveScotland]

Last year the cheapest foo I bought was a schoolbread at a bakery in Molde. It was NOK$16 (about US$3 at the time). It's a sweet bread covered in coconut and has a kind of custard in the middle. There's a pic of it in my review that's listed on my signature.

Norway is very expensive and if you go into it itch that mindset you won't get sticker shock too badly, but there are some good finds too :)

 

 

I agree about the mindset. It helped, but I was still in shock when I paid the equivalent of $30 for a small, thin crust vegetarian pizza in Bergen.

[Jules 1970]

What I Like about this review is that you've included yourselves in the photos.

Also you've taken not only the Beautiful Scenery of Norway but the Lovely food as well.

So I'm learning if you go off the beaten track in Norway,

you get the best bargains !

[TLCOhio]

On my live/blog connected below, I posted on this question: “What did we learn about Norway and its economy during this visit?”

 

Norway is very, very costly. That's one of the key advantages for doing a cruise there to lessen some of those higher lodging, food and local transportation costs when attempting a land tour. From my research, there are three main factors. First, that 25% VAT tax hidden in the cost of all products and services does really add up. Second, their taxes are very high and those costs all get added into things and drive up labor, etc., costs. Third, since so many of their goods need to be imported (with decent tariffs added on), it all makes these costs higher and higher. Without all of the oil wealth since 1969, Norway would have a fiscal mess. Thanks to that oil money, it has driven up labor costs in many parts of their country. That wealth, however, means they have no national debt, have enjoyed lots of infrastructure improvements and have a "sovereign fund" equaling about $100K per person. Much better, in some ways, compared to other countries I will not name now. It's an interesting country and financial situation. And then there is the beauty of these coasts with their expected fjords, plus the mountains, green fields, etc.

 

What might things cost in Norway? Here are a range of examples. At a 7-11 (yes they have those there) in Alesund, a Snickers candy bar would be $4. A beer in front of the historic warehouses in Bergen was $13.25. Lunch for two with a small pizza, hamburger and two drinks was $65 in Tromso. You get the idea? Not cheap. Sorry! Far from it. A Toyota RAV4 that costs around $23,000 here would have been $62K at the showroom in Leknes on the Lofoten Island.

 

Our guide in Bergen also explained that there are serious labor and people “imbalances” in Norway. Women are in larger numbers (compared to men) in the cities, while in the more rural/country and more northern areas, it is the men in much larger proportion. The country also needs more people as its population is aging, quickly. About 8% of the population is immigrants. Our guide said there is a phrase of “we need more hands” to reflect the future question/challenge of who will do the work and services in the future for Norway.

 

BEST SHOPPING: We liked Bergen best with it various woolen items. The prices were fairly reasonable and provided nice and enjoyable item to give and share as memories of our trip to Norway. You can see a couple of pictures below on that fun of shopping in the heart of charming Bergen.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 100,719 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Where do you shop in Norway? Here are a couple of examples in Bergen if looking for woolen items in the charming area right near the Fish Market. As you can tell by the friendly smiles, both my wife and Sharon were enjoying themselves. :

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another view of the “action” in Fish Market that is right next to Bergen’s main harbor. Looking and watching are totally "priceless". Most can afford that cost!:

 

 

 

In Bergen, Norway, here is a McDonald’s in a 1700’s wooden building near the Fish Market. Didn't check the prices, but I don't think they had many of the dollar specials we can find now in the U.S.:

 

[I-Cruiser]

That was supposed to b with the mindset not itch

 

Thank you for the trip report !!! :) I really enjoyed reading it.

It was especially fun since I am from Norway myself. We live in Ålesund but our family also have an old farm in Geiranger.

 

For those of you who has been to Geiranger I am sure you have seen it;)

[Janec16]

We are cruising Norway in August with our 16 and 20 year old both of which have hollow legs when it comes to food lol, I didn't realise when I booked Norway was so expensive and to be honest booked just because it was a really good price for the school summer holidays ( it's their first cruise and wanted them to experience one of the big ships).

 

So we will not be doing any excursions as the prices for 4 adults was expensive and we prefer to do our own thing just wandering round the shop etc, and get them (not that they need any encouragement ) to make the most of the breakfast buffet before we go ashore, hopefully we can keep the cost down and the bank of mum and dad won't be too badly hit.

 

Janec16