Norway Travel Guide
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Norway is a wildly beautiful country of snow-capped mountains and deep
glacier-carved fjords. The astounding scenery of the southwestern fjordland and
the mysterious Northern Lights of the Arctic are the main draw cards for
tourists, but there are many incentives to visit this sparsely inhabited
country. It offers remote wildernesses and outdoor activities, fairylike
forests, historic towns and charming fishing villages, friendly people, and the
lure of the Arctic Circle. It also boasts some of the most scenic bus trips,
boat cruises and train rides in the world.
'The Land of the Midnight Sun', with its long summer days, is
not only for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts, but offers a rich cultural
heritage from the Vikings, the traditional nomadic Sami people of the remote
northern regions, and world-renowned artists such as Edvard Munch. Principle
cities of interest are Oslo, the pretty capital; the historic trading port of
Bergen, gateway to the Fjordlands; and hilly Tromsø, within the Arctic Circle,
the centre of the Northern Lights activity. They are pleasant, low-key cities
that offer a good range of museums, historical sights and unique architecture.
Norway's greatest impact on history was during the Viking
Age, when the sleek Viking ships crossed the Atlantic, and Europe was subjected
to numerous raids. Traditionally Norwegians are explorers, and their influence
is evident in the world-shaping history of the Vikings, and seen in the more
recent personalities like polar explorer Roald Amundsen, and the legendary
Pacific crossing of Thor Heyerdahl on his wooden raft, the . Today Norwegians
hold onto many of their cultural traditions, most notably the art of
storytelling that takes place around the fireside to while away the long winter
hours. Trolls figure prominently in their folklore, some friendly and helpful,
while others are naughty characters that conveniently serve as a source of
blame for all of life's troubles.
Norway is one of the best adventure-tourism destinations in
the world, with an intriguing folk culture to match its dramatic landscapes. It
is an expensive country to visit but provides once-in-a-lifetime experiences
that truly
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