Norway is a thriving, industrialized country as well, but its cities are comparatively small, friendly and manageable. The 1994 Winter Olympics drew many Americans to Lillehammer, and most returned home with glowing reports about Norway, its sights, activities and people.

Who goes there? Norway’s visitors represent all personality types, winter sports enthusiasts and people with Scandinavian heritage. Nonetheless, it appeals most to the venturesome traveler, although authentics can be quite happy there, with welcoming hosts, many of whom speak English, and a country where a visitor can happily spend a holiday just drinking in the scenery. When do they go? Obviously, the most comfortable weather is high summer, when you can also experience the endless light of the midnight sun. However, winter is a wonderland there, and at that time, there are fewer tourists to stumble over.

Stay at the Alta Igloo Hotel near Alta. Rooms, the bar and a chapel are made of ice; even the glasses in the bar are ice.

Cycle your way around the country. The most popular route is the Rallarvegan, or the Navvies’ Road, which had been used to build the Bergen Railway. The cycling route leads from Haugastol over the mountains via Finse station and down to the fjord at Flam. This is a two-day trip.

Overnight in the lavvos, which are traditional tents for the Sami (or Lapp) reindeer herders, built for use in winter. Go to Alta Friluftspark for the experience, which includes reindeer meat for dinner. Go ice skating, too.

Go kayaking or canoeing in the fjords or on any of a number of rivers or lakes.

For a real challenge, go whitewater rafting on the Numedalslagen River.

Consider spending time at Eidfjord where you can take a daylong kayak trip and attend a rock-climbing class. Then, sign on for a combined fjord cruise and fishing trip on a cutter from Norheimsund.

Sail the coast of Norway on an old sloop, the Mathilde, built in 1884. Passengers help with cooking, fishing, hoisting the sails, navigating and steering. For a softer adventure, book with Norwegian Coastal Voyages to sail the coast on a larger and more modern vessel.

Try ice climbing, snow scooters and snow rafting — or take it easy with a horse-drawn sleigh ride — at the Magical Winter Park near Lillehammer. To ratchet up the adrenaline, ride the quad bikes (helmets provided, driver’s license required).

For a different kind of journey, get married in the park’s ice cathedral.

Bungee jump from Vemork Bridge in Rjukan.

Go skiing at Lillehammer, or any other resort; or sharpen your snowboarding skills, or go ice skating. If you like urban amenities (read: nightlife) with your skiing, make Oslo your base. Also a former Olympics host (1952), Oslo is half an hour from ski resorts by subway. Or ski in Telemark County, the cradle of modern skiing.

Get a fishing permit in Hemsedal and try your luck in the Grondola River or the mountain lakes in the area.

Dress up like a Norse man or woman and attend the Viking market at the Viking museum in Borg, way up north in Lofoten. See reenactors as entertainers, musicians, traders and warriors. Also, see participants who are expert in handicrafts of the Viking era. Alternatively, visit one of several other Viking museums in the country; try to make your visit coincide with an entertaining event, whether handicraft demonstrations, a market or theater.


Try horseback riding in the mountains.

Combine a dramatic rail trip with a bike outing. Take the Flam Railway from Myrdal for a one-hour, 2,838-foot descent to Flam covering a distance of only 12.4 miles. Then bike back to Myrdal. Alternatively, you could board in Flam with your bike and ride down rather than up. You decide.

Take a themed self-drive trip. Norway’s Web site highlights tours called Adventure Roads, plus a number of National Tourist Routes.

Go on a moose safari in the forests.

On summer Thursdays (mid-June to mid-August), see exhibitions of folk dancing and folklore in Ulvik. Also, three days a week, Upphelm Farm is open for talks on farming, served up with coffee and baked goods. Drop by.

Ski in summer at Folgetonna Summer Ski Centre at Jondal. The center is on a glacier. Options include cross-country and downhill skiing, glacier trekking and snowboarding.

Take a guided excursion to and walk on one of Norway’s ice caps.

Take a cruise on the Sognefjord, the country’s longest fjord at 127 miles, traveling through the villages of Aurland and Undredal before entering the narrow Naeroyfjord, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

See works of Edvard Munch, one of Scandinavia's leading artists, at the Munch Museum in Oslo. It’s a fine facility with an enormous collection of this talented, tormented man’s work.

Take the train between Oslo and Bergen for what some call the world’s most beautiful train ride. Add a side trip on the Flam Railway, starting from the Myrdal station.

See composer Edvard Grieg’s home in Bergen; attend a concert there.

Eat what Norway produces, lots of fish. Also, plan to eat plenty of open-face sandwiches, even at breakfast.

Visit the Medieval Park in Gol, which explores superstition and the transition from the Norse gods to Christianity. See a museum devoted to the Norse gods and a replica of the 13th century Gol Stave Church. Attend services in the church. You can see stave churches elsewhere that are not reproductions, among them the 12th century Borgund and Undredal churches.).

Drop in for hot food. Visit Agatunet to see a hamlet of 30 to 40 houses that have survived from the Middle Ages, but show up on Friday, the day residents bake traditional food. (Also, the open-air Hardanger Folk Museum in Utne has Tuesday baking days in July.)

Take an organized tour called Norway in a Nutshell, which packages the Flam Railway trip, a cruise on the Sognefjord and the drive on Stalheimskleiva road’s 13 hairpin turns (www.fjord-tours.com/default.asp).

Visit the Bergen fish market and don’t miss the nearby Hanseatic League merchants’ quarters. For great views, take the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen or a cable car to Ulriken.

Visit Lyngor, called Europe’s best-preserved village, then see a number of other small well-preserved southern villages, too.

For more information, consult Innovation Norway - Tourism at www.visitnorway.com

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