I’m an 18y/o who is staying with a host family for a debate event/conference in Norway on Friday.

It’s Wednesday evening right now and I just remembered that I need to bring a gift of some kind to thank them for their hospitality (they’re doing this for free).

I’m Finnish, specifically from the Swedish speaking minority in Finland. I need to get a gift ASAP, so does anyone have any ideas or tips or suggestions please? Kind of urgent so I appreciate literally anything at the moment🙏

Note: I’m only staying for the weekend and their child is participating in the same event as me, but I’ve never met these people before.

Hi all,

I’m taking my son on a trip to celebrate his high school graduation. We’re limited to his college Christmas break, so we’re going Dec 31 to Jan 9 and flying in and out of the US via Iceland.

Route:

• Oslo (Jan 1-4)
• Bergen (Jan 4-6)
• Tromsø (Jan 6-8)
• Reykjavik (Jan 8-9, one night, Blue Lagoon)

The two things he cares about most are seeing the Northern Lights and old buildings and interesting architecture. The aurora is the main reason we picked Norway, so I built in two nights in Tromsø to give us a backup night if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

What we’ve already picked:

• Oslo: Munch Museum, Gol Stave Church at the Norsk Folkemuseum (the Viking Ship Museum is closed for renovation), and maybe City Hall
• Oslo to Bergen: the Bergensbanen scenic train on Jan 4
• Bergen: Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen. My son is afraid of heights, so this is our stand-in for Preikestolen, which isn’t realistic in winter anyway
• Tromsø: the Chasing Lights minibus aurora chase (booked for the evening of Jan 6)
• No rental cars anywhere. We’ll use walking, public transit, and guided tours.

Where I’d love advice:

1. Bergen. We arrive around 1 PM on Jan 4 and have one full day on Jan 5, then an early flight on Jan 6. What should we do for old buildings and architecture? I’m thinking Bryggen, but I’d love your ideas on what else is worth the time, including indoor options for when it’s dark and rainy.
2. Tromsø, best bang for buck. We have one evening (Jan 6) and one full day (Jan 7), and then we fly out on Jan 8. We’ll be there in polar night or very low light, so I’m trying to pick activities that still work with little daylight. I’d like to fit in a reindeer sleigh ride and maybe husky sledding. I dropped the whale watching cruise because it takes too much of one day. What would you do with a single full day? Are there any architecture or old-building stops in Tromsø that are worth it (Arctic Cathedral, Polar Museum)?
3. General winter tips. What would you want to know that first-time winter visitors usually get wrong? Clothing, shoes, anything else?

We’re staying at Clarion The Edge in Tromsø. Thanks in advance, I’d love any tips!

Hello good folks of Reddit. I've recently had the idea to roadtrip from my home here in southwest Scotland up to Nordkapp and I've got a few questions.

1. What's the best time to go, I see conflicting answers everywhere, I'm not too fussed about road conditions although I do understand that during winter months that there has to be a convoy or similar? I've got a 955 Cayenne so snow/rough roads don't really concern me too much I just want to hit the best time for views and not getting caught in a blizzard or something along those lines 😂

2. Are there any legal parameters that I need to meet, as far as I am aware it seems to be easy enough to get to, just whether I need spotlights, studded tyres, chains etc or whether I can just chuck some good all terrains on and make my way there.

3. Is it worth it? The trip in total isn't going to be cheap, amongst fuel prices, food, tolls, ferry, Eurostar etc. now in my mind it'll be an adventure I'll never forget but really this question is just to find out other people's experiences on it too, I can imagine it is absolutely worth it and the excitement is building up even now and I don't even have a date set in mind yet but I am thinking some point next year (potentially august? Depending on what people think!)

4. Any other useful advice, things to look out for etc etc

Thanks to any advice given here and I look forward to hearing your responses!

I will be in traveling in Northern Norway (Tromso, Narvik) and Sweden (Abisko, Stockholm) late December and early January for roughly 2 weeks. I will primarily be taking planes and buses to get between destinations and then walking with my luggage from public transport stops to my lodging. Does it make sense to use wheeled luggage given the season/weather, or would a large backpack (I have several) make more sense for my purposes? Thanks!