Best products from r/Norway

My husband and I honeymooned in Norway and Sweden in December a few years back. We were coming from Washington, D.C., and the climate and darkness in Oslo/Stockholm was indeed very similar to DC (it will be darker the further north you go, of course). We had a great time! Who knew we'd end up living here a few years later... I think you'll have a wonderful visit, even if you're here when it's cold and dark. The special things to do in Norway mostly relate to the outdoors (hiking, cross-country skiing, floating around the fjords) or seeing the famous Stave churches or museums relating to Viking culture, though there are excellent art and music venues in the larger cities (you can see Munch's "The Scream" in Oslo!).

Even in the snow and rain, the fjords are gorgeous, so I would look into visits in Bergen or Stavanger. These are also two of the largest cities in Norway (and very charming), so you will have good lodging options if you stay there a bit. Oslo is a fun city with great museums, outdoor spaces and parks (we went to the Vigeland sculpture garden after it had snowed and it was gorgeous, if freaking cold), and a pretty thriving cultural scene.

Epic scenery describes most of Norway and the outdoors isn't far from anywhere you'll go. The country is fairly rural and there's a robust hiking/outdoor culture, so you can find great opportunities to hike, ski, etc. no matter where you go - I mean, you end up in the woods if you take the tram 15 minutes north in Oslo, which is the most built-up part of Norway. So any place you choose is probably going to meet your scenery requirements, both from the train window and once you arrive.

The Arctic Circle is not trivial to get to and will be really dark in Jan/Feb. If you want to go (it's during the season for the Northern Lights), note that the train will only go as far as Bodø, so you'll likely need to fly if you want to see Svalbard or Tromsø. (I mean, you could drive, but it's a 24 hour drive from Oslo to Tromsø - quite a commitment for a time-limited trip.)

Overall, it's pretty easy to travel around Norway without a car. Most towns are pretty pedestrian-friendly and there's an excellent train system linking most of the country together. Buses are affordable, there's a 130 year-old boating company (Hurtigruten) that connects the cities along the coast, etc. However, traveling between cities will take some time: Norway is about 1500 miles long and 250 miles across with mountains in between, so although the view is gorgeous, it will take a while to get from one place to another unless you fly. Both Norwegian and SAS fly between Norwegian cities, so if you're short on time or don't want to spend half a day on the train, look into flights.

I loved visiting here on our honeymoon and really enjoy living here. It's a country with a spectacular landscape, a very enthusiastic outdoor culture, and charming little towns. A few things to consider: it is a slightly expensive place to visit (on par with Manhattan in terms of food and lodging), so plan out your expenses accordingly; the quality of the food is good but Norwegian food culture is much simpler than you'll find in southern Europe (in fact, you might be surprised by the number of Italian restaurants in Oslo - I was); and basically everything is closed on Sunday, so plan accordingly.

Honestly, if your prep time is limited, I'd recommend buying a good travel book (I like the DK series) and seeing what catches your eye. Rick Steves also has good recs for visiting Norway, so check out his site. Otherwise, I read a few histories of Norway and Oslo before we came, which helped guide what I found most interesting here.

Good luck and congratulations! I'm sure you'll have a fantastic trip.

You don't write where you are from or price range so it is a bit difficult to answer your question.

Juhls in Bergen is an internationally acclaimed and excellent jeweller and designer. This is where I got my wife something for our 10yrs anniversary a while back. See http://www.juhls.no

For something more tasty but not as lasting... good quality smoked trout or salmon, or dried cod for bacalao (klippfisk). Specialties like cheeses ("brunost", "gamalost"), or meats like smoked cured lamb (fenalår) or reindeer are also an option. Artisan quality jams, flours etc are an option too. Meny, Mega, Ultra are three of the higher end grocery chains that typically have a broader selection of foods.

Cheese slicer, for hard cheese? We like to think it is unique... http://www.bjorklund-1925.no/index.php/en/

Waffle iron? Just kidding. But do try waffles with sour cream and jam. Or Svele with butter and sugar. Or flatbreads. And fårikål, lapskaus, grandiosa (uh, no, skip that last one), well prepared fresh fish at a high end restaurant, traditional rice porridge, Skillingsbolle (mandatory in Bergen, it is a spiral bun with cinnamon).

We have a couple of michelin star restaurants that are worth a visit. And some that are close. See the slightly more inclusive http://www.whiteguide-nordic.com/ Look up the place you are going to before eating, Norway has just too many crappy restaurants.

Not sure about what to recommend regarding bread, as too many bakeries in Norway are crap, but if you get to Lom, there is some really nice eating to be done...

The Nordic Cook Book, or something by Andreas Viestad, Ingrid Espelid Hovig or Eyvind Hellstrøm om Norwegian or Nordic cuisine should be available in English.

High quality woolen mittens, caps, sweaters. Wool underwear/longs are probably the best you can get anywhere, but get them where the locals go (sporting stores). Dale, Oleana, Devold, Aclima are some brands of various quality and purpose.. ("Pierre Robert" on the other hand is supermarket imported stuff.)

All weather and rain gear ... in Loen, Olden and Stryn and a couple of other places you have factory outlets of major Norwegian brands for outdoor apparel. Skogstad for example have outlets that have some good deals (e.g. minor defects major discounts). Look up factory outlets (fabrikkutsalg) on google.

There are a few Norwegian artists of international acclaim, like painters, illustrators and such.

Most of all do try to get the experiences, the nature and sights are our best "goods" to offer.

Norwegians celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. Dinner is usually served around 5 pm, and presents are opened when everyone are able to move again after stuffing themselves. We do of course still celebrate Christmas on the 25th (Første Juledag) and 26th (Andre Juledag) as well, but Christmas "starts" on Christmas Eve.

On the 23rd, or "Lille Julaften" (Small/Lesser Christmas Eve), we eat christmas porridge (Julegrøt), with a single hidden almond (Remember to blanch it to get rid of the skin so that it's nearly invisible). Whomever finds the almond wins a marzipan candy treat, usually in the shape of a pig. (Yeah that's just fucking weird, no idea how that started.)
Then, in the evening (or after the children have gone to bed) we decorate the Christmas tree (Laboriously dragged into the livingroom the day before). Designs vary a lot, I'm a fan of lots and lots of colored christmas balls, glitter garlands, lights, and of course norwegian flags. Supplement with australian flags as well for extra awesome.

This list from Goodreads, mentioned some other place in this tread have alot of book you want to read, if you'r trying to read up on Norwegian litterature.

I can recommende:

hunger and growth of the soil by hamsun. Those two are classics. Personaly I also enjoyed pan and Victoria.

Then there are Beatles and the half brother from saaby-christensen. Half brother is on my favorit list.

the same can be said about "out stealing horses" deffinitivt a favorit of mine.That one stays with you.

Shyness and dignity is written by Dag Solstad. Lydia Davis learned norwegian reading his books. I love them all.

The sharks by Bjoernebo is really good although i liked "history of beastiality" better. Solstad is, by the way, married to Bjoernebos daughter.

Then i just would like to supplement with a must-read

Jon Fosse - Triology

There's some good news, and bad news.

The good news is that there is an effective language learning system out there. Pimsleur. It's pretty much the best you can get to learn any language.

The bad news is Simon & Schuster, who publish language courses based on the Pimsleur method, don't have a complete set of Norwegian courses yet. They only have level one, out of three total levels. I also think it is prohibitively expensive, but you can torrent it.

As background information, avoid Rosetta Stone. Read How to Remember Everything you Ever Learn (praphrased title) on Wired. Note the part "The most popular learning systems sold today — for instance, foreign language software like Rosetta Stone — cheerfully defy every one of the psychologists' warnings."

This site also has good background information on learning languages, in general.

You must remember that learning to understand and speak a language is an entirely different skill from reading and writing it. You must keep them separate, for the benefit of each. Therefore, avoid any language learning that involves written text. Your brain is so highly developed, that it will automatically assign your native phonemes to the foreign text, making your accent terrible. Use an audio course.

Perhaps The Seducer by Jan Kjærstad. If I remember correctly, the main character is fairly non-typical of a Norwegian, and this is pointed out often through his actions.

Jo Nesbø is a very famous contemporary crime/thriller writer, with huge success abroad too. "Rødstrupe" or Redbreast, is my favourite of his. You'll gain some insight, I think.

Not personal favourites, but writers like Lars Saabye Christensen and Roy Jacobsen have written masterpieces about growing up in Norway in the 60s-70s.

Definitely more broad than you sound like you are looking for but I really enjoyed Byron Nordstrom's Scandinavia since 1500. There is so much in English about the Viking era, this had a lot of value to me just for excluding that era and focusing on how the modern Scandinavia came to be. It looks like it is available on questia (a single month sub is a bit cheaper than buying the book from Amazon).

I've been taking a class from a native Norwegian in San Francisco (They teach Danish, Sweedish, and Norwegian at their location). We're using Complete Norwegian. It seems to suit our class very well. I like it quite a bit. I'm currently using it to teach my fiance as well.

I've also been using an online self-study through NTNU (University in Trondheim)

Good luck!

This is apparently quite good. I'd check out some websites that offers easy exercises like sentence building, vocabulary tests and audio clips too. There are tons of sites that offers this for free.
I'd also check this page out.

Lykke til! :)

Yes, I do. Taking a random example
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-R240HY-bidx-23-8-Inch-Widescreen/dp/B0148NNKTC/
For this 110$ monitor shipping+import fees is 50$ to the UK and 100$ to Norway

Thanks for the link though, it looks pretty useful!

There are two books, written by an Australian women, which are kind of the outsiders perspective on Norwegians. They are hillarious. I was able to find them on Amazon, but they're pretty expensive on there. The first one is called "Brown Cheese Please" and the second one is "Norsk, Ikke Sant? Norge, Nordmenn and All Things Norsk". The author is Jenny K. Blake. Personally I prefer the first book. Links to the books on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Brown-Cheese-Please-Jenny-Blake/dp/8251620422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418323378&sr=8-1&keywords=Brown+cheese+please and
http://www.amazon.com/Norsk-Ikke-Norge-Nordmenn-Things/dp/8251622794/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=04PVJFCRHCEGC3ZKY4YC

Well there are few movies that should be available to you. Dead snow is a hilarious Norwegian zombie comedy that should be available in most well stocked American DVD shops. If not then it is here: ( http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Snow-Vegar-Hoel/dp/B002VKB0KG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289680001&sr=8-1 )

And then there is "The Troll hunter" (Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy2nAOdBUlw ) which is supposed to be relaesed in the US soon.

And then there is thestate broadcaster, NRK, who has a youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/nrk?blend=2&ob=4

Good Luck with learning Norwegian!

I don't know about cool and unique, but:

A pocket dictionary, perhaps? Or traditional Norwegian folktales? Or a bilingual edition of A Doll's House? Bilingual books are wonderful!

There are also some good Norwegian movies, like The Bothersome Man (2006) and Blind (2014).

You could also get him an over-priced waffle iron for making tractor shaped waffles.

I'm a big fan of The self sufficient life and how to live it. I grew up on a ranch with several goats--they're extremely destructive animals but definitely fun to watch.

European Travel Plug Adapter, TESSAN International Power Plug with 2 USB, Outlet Adaptor for US to Most of Europe EU Spain Iceland Italy (Type C) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FJWLLDB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P9mBDb1RN0NPW


Dk if link will work but i use this one.. pretty nice. Also defends on what your charging.. they use different types of power here. Like don’t uses a hair dryer or straightener with one of these types without a converter.

You could beg the company help you out: forbrukerservice@mills.no
It is also my favourite, but in crises - I turn to the swedish producer ABBA and their "Kalles kaviar". And lucky you - they are on sale on Amazone: http://www.amazon.com/Kalles-Kaviar-cod-roe-6-pack/dp/B00CB8IIGM/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1412243341&sr=1-1&keywords=mills+kaviar

I’m English, and enjoy a WW2 romp. Can recommend the ‘Shetland Bus’.

Not sure if you’re looking further back than that though.

https://www.amazon.com/Shetland-Bus-Escape-Survival-Adventure/dp/1599213214

For charging electronics an adapter without converter is good enough. If you read the fine print on the chargers, they should say something like ”Input: 100-240V", so voltage shouldn't be an issue.

I'd use something like this and bring a (US) power strip.

Note that I cannot vouch for that specific adapter, as I haven't tried it. It's just an example of the style I prefer, since it's compact.

how about a book on the Norwegian heavy water sabotage

https://www.amazon.com/Assault-Norway-Sabotaging-Nuclear-Program/dp/1599219123

note: have not read this book, but its a story about land, people, culture, fjords and survival :)

https://www.netflix.com/title/80073754

Why not a viking sword... maybe do some research about how similar to their original counterparts they are before buying.

A collection of folktales.

Flåklypa on dvd in English.

Knives.

Maybe a troll.

Books? In English?

Some suggestions:

• When the robbers came to Cardamom town
  
• Karius_and_Bactus
  
• Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns (perhaps not a classic yet, but very Norwegian)
  
• Mrs. Pepperpot
  
• Norwegian Folktales
  
• How Strange