Overview: Norway is a wildly beautiful country of snow-capped mountains
and deep glacier-carved fjords. The astounding scenery of the
southwestern fjordland is the main draw card for tourists, but
there are many incentives to visit this sparsely inhabited country.
It offers remote wildernesses and outdoor activities, fairylike
forests, historic towns and charming fishing villages, down to
earth friendly people, and the lure of the Arctic Circle with its
famous Midnight Sun and surreal Northern Lights. It also boasts
some of the most scenic bus trips, boat cruises and train rides in
the world. 'The Land of the Midnight Sun', with its long summer days, is
not only for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts, but offers a
rich cultural heritage from the Vikings, the traditional nomadic
Sami people of the remote northern regions, and world-renowned
artists such as Edvard Munch. Principle cities of interest are
Oslo, the pretty capital; the historic trading port of Bergen,
situated on the fjords and gateway to the Fjordlands; and hilly
Tromsø within the Arctic Circle, the centre of the Northern Lights
activity. They are pleasant, low-key cities that offer a good range
of museums, historical sights and unique architecture. Norway's greatest impact on history was during the Viking Age,
when the sleek Viking ships crossed the Atlantic, and Europe was
subjected to numerous raids. Traditionally Norwegians were
explorers, and their influences are evident from the Viking
settlements established in Scotland, to the more recent
personalities like polar explorer Roald Amundsen, and the legendary
Pacific crossing of Thor Heyerdahl on his wooden raft, the
. Today Norwegians hold onto many of their cultural traditions,
most notably the art of storytelling that takes place around the
fireside to while away the long winter hours. Trolls figure
prominently in their folklore, some friendly and helpful, while
others are naughty characters that conveniently serve as a source
of blame for all of life's troubles.
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