Trine & Halvor from Norway - Frequent Up Norway travellers

We asked: What did you hope to get out of your journey in Norway by contacting us, rather than booking directly?

In 2020 - the year we both turned 60 - all our international travel plans were cancelled. We decided we wanted to take this as an opportunity to see more of Norway. We had some places in Norway that were on our Bucket List, including Steilneset Memorial; the witch monument by Peter Zumthor in Vardø in Finnmark. We have also had a tradition since we got married to hunt our own grouse for Christmas dinner, and we thought it would be fun to combine grouse hunting in Finnmark with a cultural visit to Vardø.

As we didn't know Finnmark very well, we got in touch with Up Norway, expecting that they would be able to tailor a journey with the best of what Norway had to offer in Finnmark.

We asked: What were the experiences you enjoyed the most about your trip?

Dinner with the Sami couple Ailu and Ellinor offered a deeper dive into our Sami past and we slowly began to understand what Norwegianization and Christianity had done to Sami culture. This reality cannot be fully understood without these personal meetings and stories told by those who themselves have experienced them. Our last stop was Vardø where we also had great experiences and met wonderful people with a visible passion for their town. Gry Anita and Frank Cato told us fascinating stories and showed us places we had never found on our own.

So our best experiences were related to human encounters - people we wouldn’t have been introduced to had it not been for Torunn and Up Norway.

With such a great first experience with Up Norway, it was an easy choice to book our next trip with them too - a trip to Trøndelag. Hotel Britannia had been on our wishlist ever since it was renovated. We could have made the reservation here ourselves, but we wanted more out of our stay in the area.

One of the experiences we would not have gotten had we booked this trip on our own was the lunch at Isak Sellanraa with tea tasting with the ‘babe’ from the tea company ‘Blinde Bonde og babe’. A fun and tasty experience where we learnt a lot about tea and how one can use tea instead of alcohol as pairings for different foods.

What were the experiences you enjoyed the most about your trip?

This is such a tough question. I loved it all. However, the place that got to me the most was Vardø. The witch museum was just extraordinary...in fact the whole Varanger area was exceptional.

What is your top tip to travellers who want to venture on a dream holiday to Norway in 2021 / 22?

Be willing to explore. Even in the "tourist" areas of Norway, there are so many hidden gems if you have a willingness to take a look. Talk to locals, take that road that suddenly appears....just be willing and have an open mind. Norway is FAR more than the fjords and the high country. Norway is truly one of the most magical places I have had the privilege of visiting. Take your time and be willing to follow the magic wherever it wants to take you.