 Poster: A snowHead
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Would love any and all thoughts on Norway. Apologies if there is a thread on this but haven’t managed to work that out yet! I’ve had lots of advice re Austria - then saw a very cheap looking advert for skiing in Norway…. Unfortunately Crystal Ski prices seem to fluctuate hourly so my idea of Half Board (at Gaustablikk Gausta or Vestlia Geilo) is currently back in the too extortionate category so I’m looking at either self-catering/B&B BUT just how expensive is eating out ?? I would like breakfast but happy to cook tea if I could go out for pizza a couple of nights. The HB upgrade seems to add nearly £1000 for the week which seems mental (considering we don’t eat meat and don’t really want a 3 course dinner every night). I’m also trying to cobble a home-made package together but not sure how feasible that is - eg had a quote for transfer to resort for over £400 one way….. would love to do train but again, can it be done cheapish? Hoping to keep the whole thing under/around the £4k mark for family of 4. And I don’t want to share a room with my teens!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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And looking mainly at those resorts as I want cruisey blues/reds for confidence/ease and kids want reds/blacks/speed/jumps the usual teenage boy stuff
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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And looking mainly at those resorts as I want cruisey blues/reds for confidence/ease and kids want reds/blacks/speed/jumps the usual teenage boy stuff
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Dont book via an TO, doing it yourself is easy.
Eating out is expensive, booze extortionate. its been HB or SC when we’ve been.
Look at renting a car, driving is very easy there. Or Trysil has a direct bus from Oslo airport. Train is a bit awkward for most resorts or long.
When you looking to go? You should be able to easily get a decent sized apartment so no sharing for E1-1.5k maybe less.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Geilo is lovely if up to intermediate standard. The Scandinavian mountains are older and rounder than the Alps so there are not many steep slopes in general hence all the Scandis in the Alps over winter.
Eating and drinking out is basically extortionate. Every single person in Norway is given a basic income from the state Oil fund which means that everything is priced up accordingly.
I would seriously look for an all inclusive deal or at least half board if you don’t drink very much.
You also need to consider what time of year you’re going to Ski, which I don’t think you said in your original post. If you’re going in December or January that far north you will get a very short Skiing day of maybe 5 to 6 hours which you need to factor in if you are wanting to ski a full day every day, there is a significant effect on the price per hour Skiing. If you are aiming for March or April then you will get in much longer Ski period.
Best of luck whatever
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Thinking January-mainly as seems to be cheaper. we’re fairly flexible but assuming Feb is expensive and March seems more too. Any later than that and I am kind of done with Winter  . Last year went to Chatel in Feb & it was almost 20 C on some days and lots of thaw/freeze - though will probably miss that if it’s - 18 in Norway…..!
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I also don’t mind a shorter day - still gaining back confidence after a big accident and kind of relieved when I’d made it through each day last year! Thinking kids can do the night skiing…
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| rickboden wrote: |
| ...Eating and drinking out is basically extortionate. ...I would seriously look for an all inclusive deal... |
I guess everyone's experience is different, but afraid I have to somewhat disagree...(apart from the cost of alcohol)
Stayed in the very excellent Hemsedal in March 2023 - BA flights to Oslo were very reasonable; car hire to the resort cheaper than from Alpine airports; lift passes were much cheaper; d.i.y booking of B&B Skogstad Hotel comparable to the Alps; didn't think eating costs much different from elsewhere (things like hot choc etc certainly much cheaper than eg. France)
We bought beer at the duty free at the airport so could have some cheaper beers before evening meals, but beers weren't hideously expensive compared to some UK city pub prices.
GBP/NOK rates were unexpectedly very much in our favour, which may have helped with comparative costs 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I'm a big fan of skiing in Norway. The GBP/NOK exchange rate is the best it has ever been, and the cost of eating out now isn't any more of a rip-off than London or an Alpine ski resort.
Beer in the supermarket is expensive, and crap, and limited to 4.7%.
Wine and spirits (and decent beers) have to be purchased in a special government shop with restricted opening hours. However they'll sell you a bottle of Campo Viejo Rioja, for example, for just under £10. This is cheaper than you might pay in a convenience store the UK.
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| HilbertSpace wrote: |
I'm a big fan of skiing in Norway. The GBP/NOK exchange rate is the best it has ever been, and the cost of eating out now isn't any more of a rip-off than London or an Alpine ski resort.
Beer in the supermarket is expensive, and crap, and limited to 4.7%.
Wine and spirits (and decent beers) have to be purchased in a special government shop with restricted opening hours. However they'll sell you a bottle of Campo Viejo Rioja, for example, for just under £10. This is cheaper than you might pay in a convenience store the UK. |
We must ski in Norway one day. Would rather not travel between resorts. Which resort/s do you rate the best for confident piste skiers?
I assume that Geilo and Voss would be more prone to cloudy/precipitous Atlantic weather?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Snow&skifan wrote: |
| Which resort/s do you rate the best for confident piste skiers? |
Hemsexal is highly recommended - Norway's 2nd largest resort, very Alpine feel with some excellent off -piste
https://hemsedal.com/en/skistar-hemsedal
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Just one point about alcohol, it does depend what you are comparing to, a bar in Norway isn't that dissimilar to London prices. A glass of wine is around £12 - £16 and a large beer is around £9 - £12.
Also you if doing self catering you are allowed to purchase a couple of bottles on arrival in duty free, which can save a lot (plus as others have mentioned the government alcohol shops aren't as bad as bars, where the premium is higher).
In terms of food (thinking specifically about Geilo here as its fresh in my memory), a dish in the Chinese restaurant was around £16, but the portion size was pretty good. A pizza cost around £14 - £20 (depending on which restaurant), burgers are typically around £18 - £20.
In terms of the terrain, Trysil and Geilo (to a lesser extent) have what you want, the reds tend to be milder than France and Austria (and most runs are shorter), they additionally have terrain parks (with jumps that look huge to me, but of course kids were happily flying off them and a few blacks.
In terms of when to go, remember Norway stays colder for longer, we went in Easter last year to Geilo and whilst the Geilo side did start closing up (not entirely sure why as it was still snowing and coverage seemed decent), the Vestlia side was fully open.
I would also say that although food and drink is more than the alps, lift passes and gear hire is often cheaper, so all in, the cost isn't vastly different (if self booked).
We typically get the train/coach from Oslo to wherever we are going (Trysil was about 3.5 hours by coach and Geilo about 4 by train, it can vary +/- 30 mins or so depending on timetables and conditions). If you're going to Voss, then its quicker from Bergen (just over an hour).
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You know it makes sense.
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We did a family self organised trip to Vestlia resort in Geilo in 2020 (just before Covid lockdowns!), was no hassle and worked out much cheaper than with tour operator. Booked direct with the hotel adding on the half board option, the food was fantastic. We are just a family of 3 and son was 10 at the time so we shared a room which would have helped. Train was easy to book directly on vy.no and was a highlight of our trip, I seem to remember the airport to city express train was expensive but we went for much cheaper local train which just took a few minutes more. We used skigeilo.com for ski school and rental gear, would recommend. Was one of our best holidays, haven't been back to Norway since but we are booked for next Easter. As others have said exchange rate has been good recently, was in Oslo earlier this year and it made a massive difference lowering the cost of food and drink to manageable levels.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@jaggycolin, we did exactly the same this Easter!
The train bookings open up about 3 months before and we booked a private cabin (not necessary of course, but it gives you more privacy and comfort for a 4 hour journey and also makes it easier to store cases), which came to around £280 return for 2 adults and 1 child.
There is a separate section where you can leave ski's / snowboards too if needed.
We to used skigeilo for lessons, but we rented from the shop by Dr Holmes Hotel as I think it worked out slightly cheaper.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have considered driving it at easter for a two week trip, probably Hemsedal. I have family in Denmark so would stop for a day or two there. The thing that I have most concerns about are car tyres, when I went to Levi and drove from Rovaniemi the hire car had studded tyres which are obviously far superior to winter tyres and enable you to drive at high speeds on equivalent of our A roads. Im just worried if I went on normal winter tyres and roads weren't clear then it would be a very difficult drive once past Oslo if roads are covered. Does anyone know if the roads from Oslo/Kristiansand would certainly be clear and suitable for normal winter tyres at Easter?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Winter tyres are perfectly fine, but you do not want to drive there without having chains. I have no problem driving with my Michelin CC2’s, although my car I a 4x4.
Four year ago Norway was extremely expensive, but do to exchange rate, it is now generally cheaper than here in Denmark.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@DanishRider, Ok thanks, yeah I do keep track of fx rates, been heading in the right direction for a while now, I have got 1 pair of chains but perhaps another pair and I think I will be ok. I do have new 2024 winter tyres with top test marks on ice also as im driving to Alps a few times this season. Might try norway next year. What about late November, a club we with ski with sometimes does a camp there then, they seem to drive over so I guess it is ok then also.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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They do a good job of keeping the roads clear considering the distances and snow fall involved. Once on coming back from Trysil to Oslo in April it snowed the day before (it snowed a decent amount in both the Aprils we have been there), and on the morning of driving. We passed quite a few snow ploughs going in both directions until it got far enough south where it was a bit warmer where it wasn’t snowing which was about half way.
I’m pretty sure the rental car had winters on it and wouldn’t have liked to be without them.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Glosterwolf wrote: |
| @DanishRider, Ok thanks, yeah I do keep track of fx rates, been heading in the right direction for a while now, I have got 1 pair of chains but perhaps another pair and I think I will be ok. I do have new 2024 winter tyres with top test marks on ice also as im driving to Alps a few times this season. Might try norway next year. What about late November, a club we with ski with sometimes does a camp there then, they seem to drive over so I guess it is ok then also. |
November can be quite snowy, and especially when going +75 km north of Oslo. The good thing is, that they really do good job on clearing the highways. The problematic part is usually the last km’a up to your accommodation:-)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| DanishRider wrote: |
| Glosterwolf wrote: |
| @DanishRider, Ok thanks, yeah I do keep track of fx rates, been heading in the right direction for a while now, I have got 1 pair of chains but perhaps another pair and I think I will be ok. I do have new 2024 winter tyres with top test marks on ice also as im driving to Alps a few times this season. Might try norway next year. What about late November, a club we with ski with sometimes does a camp there then, they seem to drive over so I guess it is ok then also. |
November can be quite snowy, and especially when going +75 km north of Oslo. The good thing is, that they really do good job on clearing the highways. The problematic part is usually the last km’s up to your accommodation:-) |
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@Mike Pow, you are a hero - thanks for the plug 
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| rickboden wrote: |
Every single person in Norway is given a basic income from the state Oil fund which means that everything is priced up accordingly.
r |
lol.wut? I have lived here for 26 years, and this is simply not true. The state oil fund is very rarely used for anything except for investment purposes. The average Norwegian doesn't see any of it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You undersold yourself
Excellent info
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Great report
That's when my brother was there
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FAQ
