Explore Norway's Fjords with Lonely Planet: Bergen and Stavanger Guidebook

Dizzy Den: This book is very informative coving the whole of Norway although I am only interested in where I intend going for Christmas this book covers so much more and I can read it and remember my previous trips there and I hope also plan new ones…..

United Kingdom on Sep 03, 2021

Trotter: We have just booked our holiday to Norway for September 2022. We bought the Lonely Planet Norway guide to swat up on what we are to see - and what we will miss. We have quite a library of Lonely Planet guides and trust them far more than other guide books which are often more about pretty pictures than practical information.

United Kingdom on Apr 17, 2021

Ryan Lewis: Bought this as a gift for someone going to Norway. Great book for an overview of The country or if you want info on a specific town.

United States on Mar 21, 2020

MonteTamaro: I have used this book to plan our vacation in Norway and I found it very practical. It's well organized and packed with useful tips and essential information. The only complaint I have is about the prices printed in the guide: although I have bought the 2019 edition, the prices of various sights (e.g. the Fløibanen Funicular in Bergen) or passes (e.g. the Bergen Card) etc. are already outdated now (July 2019).

United Kingdom on Jul 13, 2019

SHO50: This little book gives everything you could want in a guide. It is thorough, succinct, and well endowed with pictures, recommendations, and very good quality pull-out and inset maps, typical of the Lonely Planet series. Just what need for getting around.

Only downsides: information is mostly 2+ years old, and some specific things have changed, such as bus and train information. Also, to keep the guide small enough to easily haul around, detailed descriptions are sometimes less than complete.

United States on Jul 06, 2019

Jessica Sue: This book, a cellphone, and a tent got me through a great two week trip in Norway this summer. I took a loop of the south, and this book had everything I needed to get around and find places to sleep. Great lists of hostels and hotels with up to date contact info, nice maps for most of the cities I visited, and perfect instructions for finding the sights. I spent a huge amount of time with this book at my fingertips, referencing which bus to take, etc. The book is easy to navigate and provided great inspiration during the planning phase of my trip. I couldn't be happier with it.

United States on Feb 23, 2015

DocKatKrazy: Very good guide to Norway. Well written. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that it is wrong about ethnic restaurants being the cheapest place to eat. We found it cheaper walk a little away from the touristy areas and eat real Norwegian food. We didn't go to Norway to eat pizza! Also the restaurants it recommends are not good - one was downright disgusting. We found TripAdvisor's recommendations excellent for restaurants - all of their recommendations were top notch. The book also fails to point out that many restaurants are closed for July! That would have saved us a lot of time. We did most of their 'Top Experiences' and they were spot on. We did the Oslo-Bergen railway and stayed in beautiful Bergen for 5 nights taking in the Flam railway and the Sognefjorden. We took the Hurtigruten to Kirkennes, which brings you right into the Geirangerfjorde, Trollfjorden, Tronheim, the Lofoten Islands and Tromso. It was good for Oslo, except that it fails to mention that the very expensive Munch Museum is tiny and really not worth it. Otherwise an excellent guide.

United States on Aug 10, 2014

HappyNorwayTravelling: This book has been amazing. I am halfway through a two week tour across southern Norway and in each location from Oslo to Pulpit Rock, this book has been a wonderful, portable companion (not to mention water-resistant). Restaurant recommendations are accurate and the "Top Choice" attractions are gems, some of which we never would have found otherwise. While some price information was slightly off, who can expect a book to keep up with rapidly changing attraction prices based on seasonality? Lonely Planet has convinced us to buy a corresponding book for each vacation we take in the future. Thanks LP!

United States on Jun 20, 2012

Brett H: This is a review of the 5th Edition published in 2011.

We needed a Norway guide as we were planning to visit a number of ports off a cruise ship and wanted to do our own thing rather than pay the usual extortionate rates for trips. This book did the job just fine as there was generally a map of the town we were visiting and the main attractions were described and shown on the map. It was therefore easy to plan our own itinerary and to guage whether it could be done on foot.

My impression is that this is one of the better country guides I have come across. It was very easy to navigate around and find what I wanted. 90% plus of the book is devoted to places, as opposed to general observations about the country which I doubt anyone finds very interesting. For each place there is quite a lot of useful practical information on getting the best out of a visit. There is good information on transport for each location, which is particularly helpful in Norway.

My only niggle is that the book gives the appearance of being a very cheap print job. There is colour printing only on the first 13 pages and frankly it is of such a poor quality that you wonder why they bothered...

United Kingdom on Feb 16, 2012

Andy Wilson: I was going to give this 2 stars but on reflection that seemed mean-spirited, given the lowest rating is 1 star.

On the positive side, this is another forumula-written Lonely Planet tome, with all the usual stuff about getting there, where to stay and where to eat out (in the main towns). Its easy to follow and decipher. Some good background information too, about Norway's history and customs.

On the other hand this is one of the least densely populated countries in Europe, with a wealth of spectacular scenery, a diverse collection of national parks, world class mountaineering venues, hiking and cycling trails, all supported by a network of hostels and huts. And many travellers visit Norway for those reasons (though you might not think it, reading this guide).

If you're one of those travelling for outdoor activities, and maybe on a tight budget in this breathtakingly expensive country, this book will frustrate more than inform.

It provides a basic location map of the national parks, but not even outline maps of the parks themselves (a basic map of each, showing peaks and hut locations would have been great).

The page in the book devoted to...

United Kingdom on Jan 30, 2012