Hi!

I would write about the wonderful traditions of using “folkdress” (national costumes) that the Norwegians use at different occations.

Regards!
/Lars

Well, as Lars says, the Bunad is very important, but maybe not so much in winter. It’s not something you want to drag around in the snow.
Well, we have 6 months of winter, so it’s a good theme. The nature and the cross country skiing is very important to us, maaaany people have a cabin in the mountains they go to, with no power or water installed, and stay there for a week at the time. Crazy people… Some winters the only thing you see of your cabin when you get there is the roof. How wonderful it is to start digging for the door… Kids have both Vinterferie, 1 week off school in february (winter holiday), and then 1 1/2 weeks of school for Easter, whenever that is, it changes from year to year.
We are crazy about christmas of course, but many of us are not into the Jesus-version, we have had our Jul since the Vikings, it’s a celebration of the sun coming back. In the northern parts of Norway there are no sun at all for months, so it really is something to celebrate.

The article is about the things you definately have to see and do when you spend your winter holiday in Norway…

So far I have the topics:

• Geiranger Fjord (although I just read that the ships don’t go there in winter, so not sure about that)
• Killer whale safaris at Tysfjord or Lofoten
• Northern lights
• Alta Igloo hotel (but can’t find any good high resolution pics)
• Celebrating New Year’s eve in Oslo

any suggestions?

The Hurtigrute does not go into Geirangerfjord in the winter. If I went back to Norway in the winter, I would want to go to Ishavskatedralen in Tromsø. I would go to Christmas markets, especially in Bergen. One can go dog sled riding in Northern Norway, and also see reindeer and learn about Sami culture. One can visit Lillehammer and the Olympic sites there in winter. Go to Telemark to ski. I don’t know if any of the stave churches are open in winter (a lot of places close for that season), but if they were open, I would go to them (especially the Borglund stave church).

I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never traveled to the north of Norway (being from Norway and all), and I think that that’s a good place to start (I’m from the south-west of Norway, and we don’t have winter like they have it in the north. We basically have autumn from september to may, with maybe 1 week of snow if we’re lucky. lol!)
I’ve always wanted to travel to Svalbard, a collection of islands to the north of Norway. There are about 2600 inhabitants, and it’s basically a mini North Pole – only not as cold.=)