Weekend breaks in Norway

Looking for a weekend break with a difference? Norway's main towns offer a breath of fresh air. Richard Cree explores four places that combine the buzz of the city with the atmosphere of village life

Oslo—the capital city

Norway is perhaps best known as an outdoors kind of country. And wherever you go, it's hard to escape nature. Even here, in what is easily Norway's largest city, it never feels quite as relentlessly urban, as it does in say New York or London. In Oslo there is a freshness in the air that lets you know you are close to mountains and open water.

A short walk from my hotel—right in the heart of the city, opposite the National Theatre—was the waterfront, where ferries arrive by the hour from the surrounding islands, Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. A short hop in a taxi took me up to the hills and forests of the lookout point.

While many Norwegian cities have such lookouts, Oslo also boasts its famous Holmenkollen ski jump. Take the lift and stairs up to the top and Oslo's compact good looks become apparent. What also becomes clear from way up the top (besides how crazy ski jumpers have to be) is the scale of one of the city's main attractions—the Vigeland Sculpture Park.

The park is testament to the work ethic of local sculptor Gustav Vigeland, who designed every aspect of it, from the planting and landscaping through to the 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and iron thoughtfully placed throughout the park. On a bright, crisp Sunday November morning it was almost empty of people and a joy to walk through. As a million people visit the park every year, this was a rare treat.

Although Oslo is small for a capital, there's a lot for the tourist to do. The Norwegians are very proud of their culture and heritage and as a result go to great lengths to preserve it. This explains the abundance in Norway of museums. Almost every corner of every town has a museum on it. And, as you might expect, the capital is no exception. Oslo is big (very big) on museums.

I managed to fit in the excellent Ibsen museum, the slightly confused (but still enjoyable) Nobel Peace Centre in the city centre, the Norwegian Folk Museum and the Viking Ship Museum (both on the Bygdøy peninsula, itself home to a weekend's worth of museums).
There are also museums to local heroes Vigeland and the painter Edvard Munch. But rather than visit the latter, for a change of pace I'd suggest the excellent room of his work at the National Gallery (and, yes, it does include The Scream).

In the next few years Oslo will also boast one of Scandanavia's finest opera houses, and as the work on the redevelopment of this area of the city progresses, the idea of the new opera house "floating" on the fjord is already apparent.

Oslo also has several fine restaurants and makes much of its boast of having more Michelin stars per capita than any capital city in the world. But for lunch, take the time to stop at one of the city's many cafés. After local advice, I opted for the splendid United Bakeries, a small coffee shop and bakery situated in the Paleet shopping centre on Karl Johan's Gate. Baskets of freshly baked bread are sent up from the kitchen on a pulley system and swing fragrantly overhead. The coffee was magnificent, while the three-chocolate scone was a thing of wonder.

The Norwegian economy is booming and the capital is a clear reflection of this. There's a bustle and a hum about the city and, from the new buildings around the soon-to-open opera house, to the general buzz in the shopping centres in the town centre, to the waterside development Aker Brygge, there's no shortage of excitement.

For those keen on the outdoors, there are plenty of parks and the extensive natural wilderness area of the nearby forests. It's the ideal combination of the natural and the urban.

Stavanger—a heaven for foodies

It's tricky to tell city from town in Norway (with only one word for both in Norwegian, the locals slip between the two in English), but Stavanger, nestling at the southern end of the fjord region, has the feel of a quaint fishing village.

The town dates back to the 10th century, when a monk called Reginald arrived from Winchester, set himself up as the local bishop and built a replica of his home cathedral, with the support of the king whom he had helped secure a divorce. The cathedral may not be on the scale of Europe's grand churches, but it's worth a visit.

Thanks to a lack of the city-wide fires that destroyed many of Norway's other towns (notably Bergen and Ålesund), Stavanger has retained most of its original buildings and has more wooden buildings than any town in Northern Europe. This is what gives the place its charm. But the town is expanding and is home to the Norwegian Culinary Institute and boasts a university.

The region—Rogaland—has the best agriculture, and there is a strong fishing industry. The Culinary Institute set up in Stavanger because it's the source of the finest ingredients. And the restaurants have followed. At every turn in Stavanger, there's a place to eat. And the range is equal to many of Europe's fine-dining capitals. Although you can get everything from Thai to Tandoori, with a stop in Mexico along the way, your best bet is to check out some of Norway's finest fish restaurants, or pop down for fresh seafood on the dockside.

In 2008, Stavanger is a European Capital of Culture. One of the reasons must be its museums. There are 27 in total. I only managed to fit in the Nowegian Canning Museum and the Petroleum Museum, an excellent showcase of both the old-style, low-key approach (Canning) and the high-tech approach (Petroleum) to museums.

There is also plenty to see in the surrounding countryside. From 70km of fabulous beaches, to the spectacular Lysefjord (which often tops the polls of the most visited natural spots in Norway). Lysefjord is also home to the Pulpit Rock. Daily boat trips leave from the harbour at the centre of town.

Bergen—the cultural capital

After a lovely day of travelling through some breathtaking scenery, using a variety of trains, a boat, a bus and a taxi, I arrived in Bergen.
It was raining, something it does a lot in Bergen, thanks to its coastal location and the proximity of mountains. Perhaps that's why a very early Norwegian king moved the capital from Bergen to Oslo. But best not to ask about that. There is something appealing about the way Bergen manages to be at once an exciting city but also a small fishing town. It's not quite the centre that Oslo is, and that seems to rub a little; there's an almost sibling-like rivalry between Norway's cities.

Oslo is the settled older sibling, while Stavanger is the pushy young upstart with a surprising talent for food. This makes Bergen the slightly bohemian, but annoyingly clever, middle sibling.

Bergen has had a habit of riling other Norwegians, notably when it was the first to style itself "gateway to the fjords". Its other big claim is that it is the "cultural capital" of Norway. This is based on a tradition for music. From celebrated classical composer Grieg to modern-day pop and dance outfits, such as Röyksopp, Bergen locals say its music festivals are that bit better. But then they also claim the fjords and mountains around Bergen are more beautiful.

The city boasts a UNESCO world heritage site on its waterfront—the beguiling Bryggen wharf—where in the 13th century the German merchants of the Hanseatic League set up shop. Today, many of the original buildings are still here. It's worth strolling through the area and visiting the museum.

The tourist information office in Bergen deserves a look, too. Housed in the old stock exchange, it has murals depicting the city's trading history.

When it comes to city lookouts, Bergen trumps Oslo's ski-jump with a funicular that runs from not far beyond the harbour, up Mount Fløyen. The view from the re-built lookout is said to be sensational—as I arrived, the first snows of winter meant there wasn't a lot to see.
Having looked out briefly from the top, where there is a decent restaurant, we took a taxi to investigate the house of Edvard Grieg, probably the most celebrated local lad. The house—during Grieg's lifetime an isolated lakeside retreat miles from the city—is now in a popular residential area. There's a museum, his old house, his tomb (where his and his wife's ashes are interred in a rock looking out over the lake) and a small concert hall.

ÅlEsund—the Art Nouveau centre

My final destination on this whistlestop tour of Norway's towns and cities was Ålesund. Until 1904, Ålesund was another of those wooden fishing towns. Then in the space of a few hours the entire population of 11,000 saw their homes destroyed by one of the worst city fires in Norwegian history. Tough as it was at the time, this proved to be the making of the town. The reconstruction attracted workmen from across Norway and surrounding countries, and the new houses were sensibly built in brick.

It's rare for an entire town to be built on such a scale within just a year or so. As a result, Ålesund today boasts Scandinavia's finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings. There's an Art Nouveau centre and museum. Housed in an old apothecary's shop it is an outstanding example of the Art Nouveau style. It also includes a "time machine" exhibit that takes you back to the night of the fire. To get the full story of the fire itself, walk up the hill and stop in at the town's other museum.
It's also worth taking a trip out to the Sunnmøre museum. Located on the edge of a nearby lake, it was the site of the earliest settlement in the region and has examples of old Norwegian houses as well as a selection of ships and boats.

This area is perhaps most famous for the nearby Geirangerfjord (one of two fjords on UNESCO's world heritage list). The local tour operator 62°Nord run a number of excellent tours by land and on the fjord that really make the most of this outstandingly beautiful landscape.

There is also a local aquarium. Although not the biggest, it is focused on the local marine life and offers a glimpse of life under the surface of the fjords. The town also has a lookout point, where it is easy to understand how the story of the city fire unfolded. This is also a good place to view the many islands off the coast, one of which is a bird sanctuary.

Sea eagles were soaring and swooping off the cliffs on the morning I was there. Once again, the proximity between Norway's towns and the great outdoors was very obvious.