Norway Tours & Holidays

Few places on earth match the spectacle that is the breathtaking natural beauty of our tours in Norway. Discover a land of magnificent fjords and mighty mountains, of charming cities and vast open spaces, where the midnight sun shines in the summer and the Aurora Borealis dances across the skies in winter.

Any organised holiday to Norway should probably begin with an exploration of the fjords - Norway's unique and most astonishing attraction. Stretching hundreds of miles from the striking coast to the pristine inland regions, their still, deep waters are fringed with picture-book settlements and backed by a breathtaking landscape of forests, glaciers and snow-capped peaks.

Particularly popular with customers of Newmarket tours in Norway, the fjords welcome their many awe-struck guests from early spring all the way into late autumn, each season revealing a different aspect of their glory – spring’s apple blossom and the freshness of the awakening year, summer’s warm days, which are perhaps the best time to venture inland to view the vast Briksdal Glacier, and autumn’s red and gold, when the plunging waterfalls are at their tumultuous best.

Nestled in the hidden coves and along the waterside meadows of the fjords, waiting to welcome visitors on a Norwegian tour, you'll find some of the country's most charming settlements. Mighty Sognefjord leads to Balestrand, where the Kviknes Hotel has been welcoming visitors (most famously Kaiser Wilhelm II) since the 19th Century, and remote Flam, terminus of the world famous Flamsbana Mountain Railway. Tiny Ulvik lies deep in the heart of Hardangerfjord, and Geirangerfjord is home to several picture-perfect fjord-side villages. 

In the south-eastern corner of the country, Norway's capital, Oslo (which stands at the far end of its own little fjord) is small but perfectly formed and offers a plethora of things do for even the most discerning traveller. Almost entirely at the other end of the country lies another of its most popular destinations - Tromsø. A little over 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle, this colourful city is a jumping-off point for tours of Norway's vast northern wilderness. It's a place of warm, welcoming bars and restaurants, and never-ending summer sunlight, dominated by the stunning, strikingly modern Ishavskatedralen (Arctic Cathedral) with its vast, triangular stained-glass window. 

Exploring Norway’s rugged wilderness and feeling that bracing Scandinavian breeze on your face will certainly build up an appetite for the country’s many delicious foods.

At first glance, Norwegian food is straightforward, hearty and entirely what you'd expect from a north European nation with a tendency for long, cold winters. But take a moment to look closer at the cuisine, and you’ll find a treasure trove of culinary surprises, one-off delicacies and dishes that are more complex and infinitely more delicious than they may at first seem.

Some dishes are certainly simple. Take Lefse, for example: simple flour and potato flatbreads cooked on a griddle, and yet they’re a traditional treat around Christmas and New Year and are delicious served as a sweet or savoury snack.The national dish, Farikal, is similar: a simple casserole of bone-in lamb or mutton and white cabbage, but what lifts it is the quality of the meat (Norwegians are very proud of their lamb) and the golf-ball-size bundle of whole peppercorns that adds a spicy depth to the dish.

Other dishes are more unusual: Pinnekjott is a traditional Christmas Eve dish of air-dried sheep ribs that are soaked and steamed over beechwood, then served with mashed kohlrabi (which despite looking like a turnip is actually a sort of cabbage and tastes like fragrant broccoli), while Lutefisk is cod that has been soaked with water, then lye, then more water and then finally cooked. It has a soft, jelly-like texture and a subtle fish flavour.More accessible, perhaps, are gravlax (salmon cured with sugar, salt, brandy and dill), or warm buttered Svele pancakes drizzled with syrup and served with coffee (or - if you're adventurous - with Norwegian brown cheese that has a texture similar to fudge).

Potatoes accompany almost everything in Norway, and meat is widely available, from tender roast reindeer, venison or even elk to moreish cured spekemat (which could be pork, lamb, beef or reindeer and is often served with creamy scrambled eggs). The most common fish dishes involve cod and shrimp, but pickled herring is less frequently offered than you might expect, although worth a try just for the experience!

If you're looking for a drink, expect to find coffee, traditionally enjoyed black and strong, everywhere you go on our Norway tours. The beer on offer in bars tends to be pils lagers, and to be rather more expensive than southern European countries, while wine is normally taken with meals. If you've a taste for something stronger, look out for Linie Aquavit, which is a version of the national spirit that has been aged in barrels at sea. The bottle should tell you where that particular batch went, on which ship and how long it spent at sea, and you’ll find the golden liquor it contains will be a pleasantly warming drink in that Nordic climate.