*Today’s blog post is contributed by a team of Trip and Travel Blog. Let’s see how they managed to explore the Aurora Borealis on a budget like real tramps!*
Is it possible to make a trip to Norway and manage to spend a week there with a very tight budget? To be honest, it’s difficult, but it is certainly possible. The purpose of the trip this time was to see the aurora borealis. Something that had always been dismissed due to the price of the trip but once I started to calculate how much it would actually cost I saw that it was more affordable than I initially thought.
The most expensive part of the trip was the flight tickets. With the airline Norwegian we could fly to Oslo for €50 per person. The return was also €50. This was the price to travel there from most European cities. The cost of living is high in Norway, and everything is much more expensive than what we spent, but with small sacrifices, after reading many reviews on a travel blog and the desire to fulfill a dream, we did it.
The accommodation is the second biggest cost of this trip so we skipped it altogether. Yes, it wasn’t as elegant or comfortable as sleeping in a hotels bed, but it was certainly more adventurous not knowing where we’d sleep each night. Some of the nights we camped in open areas we were allowed to. It was a little cold but very beautiful to sleep under the stars. Thankfully we brought a lot of food with us, so the first days we didn’t need to cook anything. The rest, we went to the supermarket and got few things we needed, such as bread for sandwiches and something to drink. It was pleasant to find that water and toilets were free.
However, we did spend a few of the coldest nights of the week in hostels. Some of the cheapest ones we considered were Anker Hostel in Storgata 55, Grunerlokka, 0182, Oslo which was €23 per night to sleep in a 4 bed dormitory, Oslo Vandrerhjem Haraldsheim in Haraldsheimveien 4, 0587 which was €30 per night in a 6 bed dormitory and finally Saga Poshtel Oslo Central in Kongens Gate 7, 0153 which was €36 per night in a 8 bed dormitory. We used the first option for two nights.
As for the best places to dine, we’d definitely recommend the Dovrehallen Bar & Restaurant which is located in Storgata 22, close to our hostel, a very good place for people who want to try traditional food but also don’t want to spend much. Each dish cost approximately €12. Another top dining spot is Rorbua in Stranden 71, where you can dine for €14 per person.
Transportation can be expensive too. Taking the bus can cost up to €5. We ended up hitching a ride the few times we needed a car to move. We walked a lot but that allowed us to see some very beautiful Norwegian landscapes.
Lofoten Islands
This was one of the best parts of the trip. There are many things to see in Norway but this was the best for me. Here is where I spent one of the happiest nights of my life, having seen the aurora borealis for the first time. It was extremely beautiful. Having eaten ready food the previous days, we decided to spoil ourselves and eat at a restaurant. Nothing fancy mind you, but it seemed very delicious considering the circumstances. The place was called Krambua Restaurant located in Hamnøy 8390. We spent €20 which was very good and we had a nice view while eating.
After that we walked around exploring the natural beauty of the area until we settled and camped to prepare for the destined night of the Aurora.
Oslo
We booked the cheapest hostel in Oslo for our final days in Norway as mentioned earlier. It costed us €23 per night and we shared a dormitory with 2 other people. We tried to eat well in the morning so that we could explore the magical capital of Norway during the rest of the day. It was amazing and there were so many attractions to see. The tickets for some of them were very expensive, unless you are an EU citizen or a student in which case it was for free. Luckily we could take up that offer and check some of the local museums filled with century’s worth of history.
One thing we loved about Oslo was the architecture. In the future we hope to visit again in order to explore it more extensively. It was definitely worth the time!
What do you think? How much would you need to make a trip to Norway?
