Ski vacations in Norway - skiing holidays
Skiing holidays to Norway from the UK are becoming more popular all the time, and the resorts are growing fast. You can find our guide to Norwegian skiing here. So what is the attraction, and is it true that it is expensive here?Fly to one of 7 airports in south west Norway. There are many direct flight links to Stavanger, Bergen and Oslo, some to Kristiansand, Haugesund and Torp (these last 2 have Ryanair flights from Stansted) and there are winter charter flights from Gatwick to Fagernes, which is handy for Hemsedal, Beitostolen and Lillehammer.
Sadly, since autumn 2008, arriving by ferry from the UK is not an easy option.
Fantastic family skiing
Norwegian families take their children with them skiing. If you go cross-country skiing, you will see babies out with the rest of the family, pulled along in a covered sledge called a pulk.Because of this culture, the skisenters welcome children and you will find good facilities for them - one of the reasons why so many Danish families choose to go north to Norway rather than south to Austria, for example.
After-ski
This is not Switzerland or Austria and with a few exceptions apres-ski is more of an after-thought.Most people settle down in their hytte for the evening.
Food and drink prices
Drinking alcohol in a pub or restaurant here IS expensive, and food is not cheap either, but prices in supermarkets -although high - are not so bad as some years ago.Main skiing vacation options
You have 3 main options for a skiing holiday here:- Book a hotel room in a resort area, possibly as a package;
- Book a hytte (cabin or cottage) or apartment in a resort area;
- Book a hotel (or other accommodation) in Stavanger - or another town - and take ski-bus or ski-boat services to the ski resort areas. This lets you make the most of the great restaurants and night-life in the cities (and good weekend hotel rates). This will suit younger people without children mostly of course, but is becoming quite popular.