Questions about travelling in Norway

How can I travel around Norway?

The most cost effective way is to have friends or relatives take you around, but if you don't then the cheapest way would be to travel by air or catch the train.  Going from south to north, a return flight from Oslo to Kirkenes flying SAS costs about 1700 NOK (282 Australian dollars).  Going from south to west, a return flight from Oslo to Bergen costs about 750 NOK (124 Australian dollars) flying Norwegian Air, whereas a train provided by the national railway NSB costs 900 NOK (150 Australian dollars).  A return flight flying Norwegian Air from Oslo to Kristiansand on the southern coast costs 750 NOK (125 Australian dollars).  These prices are for the month of April, so the prices can vary, these prices provided are for your own estimates.

Resources

• NSB (Norway regional travel)
• Ruter (Oslo area)
• Norwegian Air
• SAS

How can I travel to Norway?

Probably the best way would be to use a flight search agent like zuji, travelocity, expedia, etc.  But it depends on where you're coming from.  From Australia, which is pretty far away, flights would obviously be more expensive.

Resources

• Zuji
• Travelocity
• Expedia

How can I find affordable accomodation in Norway?

The cheapest accommodation that I've found in Oslo is Anker Hostel, which is 210 NOK (35 Australian) per night in an 8 room dorm.  So if you don't mind keeping strange company that might suit you.  In the other areas I'm not so sure, but on average be expected to pay about 150 USD a night if not more.  There's no accommodation in pubs as far as I know.  Also I would not recommend staying in a pub especially if you want sleep.  I remember a time when I was in Launceston, Tasmania when we were next to a band playing music all night and it was pretty much impossible to sleep.  That was a really bad bad night.

How easy is it to get a job as a backpacker, traveller, etc?

Well you will need a visa if you're not from the European union.  If you're Australian, aged between 18 and 30, good news, Australia provides an Australia Norway working holiday visa.  Details are located on the Australian Norway embassy website.  It's probably easy to get a job working at a pub, club or snow field too.  I met an Australian waiter during my time in Bergen who was doing that.  If you're not Australian, well I don't know how you're going to get a job but you might if you speak English, just note that your job will probably not be one that requires high skills or norwegian.  You do not need a tax file number or anything before you move, but be prepared to save a lot before you come here without a job.  You need a national id number or norwegian personal number, with that you can get a norway tax file number, and then you can get paid.  Without the tax file number, you will get taxed half of your wages.  Maybe some places offer cash in hand, but generally that's not advisable. :)

Are there different dialects in Norway?

Yes, but people commonly speak Bokmal (which is really old Danish).  If you can speak that, then you will be generally understood everywhere.  There's also Nynorsk which is the "real Norwegian" but nobody really speaks it.  But Norwegian has its own dialects, just like the Chinese.  When I was in China there were areas where I could not understand a thing.  It was just so strange. :)