Travel to Norway

I was born in Norway. Left after high school to emigrate to Montreal, Canada. I just got back from a trip with my new French Canadian partner, she's never been there before. We traveled from Vancouver to London and on to Oslo on British Airways. Great flight, great service. And the booze was free. More than I can say for Norway... A pint of everyday lager/pilsner is about 69 NOK = $12 CAN. Here in Vancouver it's $5-6. But that's ok.

Before we left we decided NOT to complain about prices, and just enjoy. Overall, everything is twice as expensive as Canada. A decent hotel is about 1,300 NOK = $223 CAN. But a great breakfast is included. So that's not so bad. Some hotels even have nightly buffets, and finding those and eating two meals in the hotel - takes the bite off. At the Clarion Folketeateret in Oslo we did that, and the room suddenly became quite affordable. And the food was great!

Gas is also twice as expensive, we rented a Peugeot diesel car and got 40 MPG. Put 2,600 KMS on the thing in two weeks. Cruised the fjords and mountains. I love showing off my country's scenery to an appreciative partner. She stated that the Canadian scenery is great, but the Norwegian views are dramatic. We took local ferries, which I used to take often when I grew up. We also went through the longest tunnel in the world - 24 KMS long.

Bergen is the most scenic city in Norway, even the day we were there it poured. We had planned for this and brought our west-coast rain gear. We also went down the Trollstigen, which is spectacular. From there we went up to Sunndalsøra where I have family. We took daytrips every day, especially to Kristiansund - my home town. Kristiansund is a coastal town that have progressed from a fishing town to an oil platform support base. Remembering having great fish and chips we went to the 'old "fishan" booth down by the harbour. It was as good as I remembered, even at $15 for your basic meal it was great.

Driving in Norway can get interesting. Especially on the secondary roads, where often there is no dividing lines and curvy. I was brought up on those roads and it came right back to me. A few scary encounters with big trucks, but we survived. Trick is to keep to the left and not to worry too much about approaching traffic. They will do the same.

Last time I went to Norway was in mid-may. The mountain passes were tricky, some snow and the Trollstigen was closed. This time, beginning of October - the country was absolutely magnificent. Fall colours and for the most part sunny and great. A little cold in the evening, but as I said - we were prepared. Most Norwegians speak good English. More than I thought actually. Even family members!

So - go to Norway. Don't think pricing. Just enjoy.

For some people November through to March can be a really miserable time if they live in countries where winters are cold, the days are short and the nights are long, and they can't wait until the spring when the weather is better and there's a few sunny days. There's even a recognised medical condition known to many as SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder - where the lack of sunshine in winter time can have profound effects on people's well being and state of mind.

And it's particularly prevalent in northern European countries such as Britain, Sweden, Norway and Denmark where the winters can be long, dark affairs, and special lights can be bought for the home that are supposed to replicate the sunshine seen in the summer and lift the moods of those with SAD. But happily for Europeans with SAD who have a bit of money and a week or two to spare a good natural answer is possible - sunshine while taking a holiday in Lanzarote, one of the Spanish Canary islands renowned for her holidays industry.

Due to the location of the Canary Islands, a winter holiday is just as desirable as one taken in the summer. Water temperatures reach about 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer months and 63 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter - not bad when all around at home is freezing! The island is well known with tourists for her volcanic origin. But because Lanzarote is volcanic it doesn't mean that all the favourite tourist activities so prevalent in other parts of Spain aren't possible - Lanzarote is good for golf for example.

The best course on Lanzarote is Golf Costa Teguise. The 18 hole golf course designed by John Harris and built in 1978 challenges beginners as well as expert golfers. The course is located at the base of an inactive volcano and surrounded by all natural flora. Lanzarote offers holiday guests a relaxed atmosphere, and often an 'olde worlde' experience - the common use of camels to transport goods for example, but then the island does have a desert like climate of course, and the Lanzarote weather is such a big plus for the island.

Lanzarote is full time home to more than a hundred thousand residents, and has her own international airport with direct flights from many regional airports in Northern Europe, including her main markets of the UK and Germany. Lanzarote relies on tourism as well as agriculture to maintain her economy, and the fact that it is able to offer winter as well as summer holidays is a real bonus for the island's tourism businesses. A lot of holidays sold are for the resort of Costa Teguise. Costa Teguise is the smallest of the three large resorts on Lanzarote. It is about 6 miles northeast of the capital city Arrecife. The entire resort is built on former lava fields and saltpans. The resort consists of several apartment blocks, bungalows and villas. Primary attractions are the golf course, a marina, commercial shops and entertainment.

But often for a winter holiday a villa holiday can be affordable, and many people who have visited Lanzarote in the past and had a look around the island prefer the Playa Blanca area. Playa Blanca was once a small fishing port. In recent years it has developed into the second largest town in Lanzarote. Playa Blanca is very popular with families due to its size and family friendly beaches. Two more beaches were recently added to Playa Blanca to help make up for the lack of space on the main central beach. Along the nicely manicured streets are a good choice of shops, restaurants and clubs. So if you've had enough of winter - visit Lanzarote, the island that has winter smiles.