Norway/ Sweden

ScottySmog

Just to let you know you can buy your duty free on arrival into Norway to save you a bit of carrying - just follow the crowds on arrival! However, I do not remember the beer allowance being as generous as you state - considerably less infact.

Beer can be bought at most supermarkets but wines and spirits can only be bought from the "Vinmonopolet" - most locals will be able to point you in the right direction - it's not cheap though.

Bottles are refundable (look for the word "pant" on the bottle - I'm not making this up!). There's normally a machine in the supermarkets you feed the bottles into and it will print a voucher for the value of the refund which you can use against anything you buy in the supermarket.

In Bergen, the funicular railway is worth a trip as is an excursion to Flam - which you'll pass on the way from Oslo.

blue_haddock

I also recommend the funicular railway for some great views over the bergen area, you can then take lovely walk back down through the woodland down into the town area.

For a cheap dinner time eat the market stalls on market stall do some great fresh fish dishes like salmon rolls and tubs of prawns

Smiley82

We stayed at Citybox in Bergen - It's a cheap new hotel which has no reception office, you check in via a machine which prints out your room keys. Novel concept, place was clean, reasonably good location, near a supermarket as well. We stayed two nights and it more than met our requirements - but it is a basic hotel concept, nothing flash.

Definately the funicular at Bergen - great views.

You can hire the bikes in Oslo by getting a card from tourist information offices. They will lend you a visitors's hire card, which you can swipe around each of the hire stations when you want to get a bike. I think it was about 80NOK/24 hours. All the sights have hire bike stations, so you can just bike to a stop, then drop off the bike, see the sights, then pick up a new bike.....great fun too!

We did 2 nights in Oslo, then the Norway in a Nutshell tour, 2 nights in Bergen, then caught the ferry to Stavanger and down the coast. It was a great experience, and as with any country, there are always options for making things cheaper....just be conscious of prices and choose wisely!!

Oh, and we stayed at the Thon Hotel chain quite a bit as we travelled around, we booked well in advance and got some great special deals.....worth a look!

Have a great trip!

husheechee

have you tried "hostelbookers"?this can keepthe cost down and you could even join the YHA for even more discount,dont be put off by the YHA image they are far more modern than they used to be and the varying levels of accomodation is there to suit most peeps budget or expensive,great choices and you can do a virtual tour with most of them,also you will get kitchen facillities so you can cook a meal if you wish,one warning..we booked into the hostel ZINKENSDAMM in Stockholm and i thought we were getting a double bed,single room turned out to be 2 bunk beds!!!! we even had to put a "cleaning deposit"down,they inspect the room before you leace and if you havent cleaned it properly then it would cost 50sec,bit extreme!!!you MUST visit the VASA museum,truly amazing!and yes things are EXPENSIVE!
google Vasa for info