Advice on short break in Norway.

My wife wants us to go to Norway for a few days. I dont know much about Norway, i.e best way to get there, where to stay, what to see and best time to go. We are on a tightish budget and would be glad to hear any ideas.

I don't think its a great place for a tight budget. Went to Bergen last year, fantastic place but fantastic high prices too. If you do go, you must visit the Fjords which are mainly on the West coast, Bergen is good spot for picking up the boat trips. However, Ryanair only fly into the East coast from Dublin but you can get a second internal flight from that airport to Bergen for less than €80 each with a local airline. The view from the flight is magnificant.
Beer and food is v pricy, even more so than Dublin so dont plan for that type of w/e. Just enjoy the scenery.

over €10 a pint in norway, we went to lillehammer last year skiing. no brits , no larger louts.....top spot

See this thread http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=84292&highlight=norway

My advice is and not being smart iss don't go. Its over priced, cold and Dark.

We were invited to a wedding in Norway a couple of years ago so I spent some time on planning the most economical route. Decided to fly to Gothenburg in Sweden as car hire and fuel costs would be cheaper and we were only a couple of hours from the border. Wedding was cancelled! after buying the tickets so we spent most of our week in Sweden which was excellent value for money. Gothenburg is a lovely city. We went over to Denmark on the ferry to go to Legoland which was good, however the cost of staying in Denmark totally shot the budget. That was in July when we had a heatwave everywhere in Europe, so I would avoid high summer in Scandinavia as only very expensive hotels have airconditioning. Other family members went to Oslo at that time as flights were booked and it was equally uncomfortable but expensive. I read an article a while back in the Sunday Times travel section about a ferry/cruise that goes from north of Scotland up to Norwegian coast. I remember it because it is something I would like to do myself.

Bergen is a beautiful place and is close enough to the fjords... plus the train journey to Olso is classed as one of the best in the world... northern lights are a must...

Have recently spent time working in Norway. Unless you are going for a very specific purpose - see the fjords, winter sports etc - my advice is to give it a skip. Sweden is a better Nordic destination.

That said, Norway is a beautiful country and scenery is amazing.
Unless you are big into winter sports or want to visit an ice hotel, then wait until late spring. Most tourist stuff in Oslo (ferries, tours etc) does not get going until April/May

If you go to Oslo
via Ryanair into Torp - 2 hours by train to Oslo (about 25 euro one way)
or into Oslo via SAS - twenty minutes by express train (20 euro).

things to do on a long weekend....
"Norway in a nutshell" - fly to Bergen via Norwegian Air and train back via Fram or do the train there and back. It includes a 2 hour boat trip down a great Fjord.
In Norway take the number 1 Metro to the the top of the hill (Frognerseteren). Great walks and a great view. (only 3 euro and 30 minutes).
Stroll around Oslo, see the Palace, The Scream and Aker Brygger (harbour area), the Sculpture Park and the Opera House.
Treat yourself to a (bowl of) Hot Chocolate at one of the many Coffee Shops and Bakeries.
Bergen is about the same size as Cork but not as interesting!

Overall it is very very expensive. Dining out, drinking, cinema, hotels etc.
Try the Thon Hotel group for a room with a kitchen.
However coffee houses, supermarkets etc are comparable to Ireland.
Dining out starts and finishes early. The whole place is dead on Sundays.
Also when you arrive you can buy duty free at the airport.

If your in Norway for just a weekend, you will most likely only get to see Oslo. Or at best take in the Norway in a nutshell tour (round trip bus, train, boat trip from Oslo to Bergan) that takes in a lot of the postcard scenery.

If your here longer there are plenty of sights to see, only problem is everywhere requires a lot of driving to get to.

On the west coast you can see

Prekistolen (located near stavanger) 2 hour hike to the top.. http://www.preikestolen.no/
Bergen - Nice town on west coast. http://www.visitbergen.com/default.asp?sp=NO
Trollsteigen, road that winds down mountain
Gerianger fjord (located between bergen and trondheim) .. post card fjord

East
Oslo - Frogner park, nobel peace prize museum, ski jump, frognerseteren, arker brygre. www.visitoslo.no, www.norway.com

South
The south is nice too, its more sea side towns though, not the kind of thing norway is known for..

North
Lofoten (near bødo) -- , Tromso...

Its very expensive but if you avoid eating and drinking out, and travel off season you can get some good deals