Norway is a brilliant place but NEVER offer to buy a round in the pub. You will be everyone's friend if you do but you will also be needing CPR as you will have suffered a heart attack on being presented with the bill. Certain items in Norway will cost you an arm and a leg and beer is one of them, that's why the ferries from Bergen to Newcastle are often full of drunk Norwegians!

 Geilo - at the top of the south facing side of the valley

Norway is, in our opinion, the best snowkiting location in Europe. You can keep your Col du Lauteret, it's pants in comparison! We've been snowkiting twice in Norway, once in Geilo and once on a frozen lake at the top of a mountain near Hemsedal. A word of advice - it is generally BLOODY cold in Norway in winter so be prepared for your snot freezing when you go into the  -14 shade! That said, there's something strangely refreshing about jumping into the snow straight from the sauna...

 In the many years (about 6) since we went, snowkiting has properly taken off in Norway and the place to be seems to be Haugastol. Our most excellent (Bill & Ted again) friends at Turbulence will tell you more as they organise an annual snowkiting trip to Haugastol and there are some excellent pictures on their website if you're interested.

If you run out of wind, you can always swing from a tree...

Getting There

There are various flights and ferries that will get you to Bergen, Stavanger or Oslo. BA, Braathens and Wideroe all do flights and there are ferries from Newcastle. Once you get to Norway, there is an excellent range of internal flights, fabulously efficient trains and an excellent road network although you will need snow tires and snowchains  if you're going into the mountains in winter, it can get pretty scary. Any means of travelling around in Norway will inevitably take your breath away because it is a stunning country. In fact, I'd say it's almost as beautiful as Scotland. But only almost. And I (Isla) don't say that lightly.