Norway

THE BEST OF NORWAY

FJORDS, NORTHERN LIGHTS AND ARCTIC ADVENTURE

If you’ve ever dreamed of standing at the edge of a sheer granite cliff above a mile-deep fjord, watching the northern lights ripple over a snow-dusted fishing village, or sailing into the realm of the polar bear, Norway should be next on your list. It’s a country where wild, otherworldly nature meets some of the most forward-thinking design on the planet. Picture emerald fjords framed by thundering waterfalls, jagged Arctic peaks rising straight out of the sea, and red fishermen’s cabins perched along the shoreline. Norway is a design lover’s dream, with architect-designed hotels that seem to disappear into the landscape, and it has quietly become one of the most exciting food destinations in the world, home to a Michelin-starred restaurant five meters beneath the sea and the very first starred restaurant north of the Arctic Circle. For outdoor adventure enthusiasts, Norway has everything you can imagine including ski touring, dog sledding, snowmobiling, sea kayaking, hiking, surfing under the midnight sun, and world-class salmon fishing.

Some of our favorite bespoke experiences in Norway include slipping into the water beside wild orcas as they hunt herring in the Arctic fjords, chasing the aurora by husky sled, and skiing from summit to sea in the Lyngen Alps before returning to a private yacht for a sauna and a seafood feast. In summer, we love sending our travelers to explore the UNESCO-listed Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord by private boat, seaplane or helicopter, ride the legendary Flåm Railway, and hike to dramatic viewpoints like Preikestolen, the Pulpit Rock that hangs 604 meters above the Lysefjord. Further off the beaten track in Norway, you can sail the remote Svalbard archipelago in search of polar bears and walruses, spend time with Sámi reindeer herders on the Arctic tundra of Finnmark, bask in the midnight sun on the white-sand beaches of Lofoten, and get lost among the colorful wooden wharves and cobblestone lanes of Bergen.

WHY TRAVEL TO NORWAY WITH THE LEGACY UNTOLD?

Norway rewards those who know it well. The light, the weather and the seasons change everything here, and the most extraordinary experiences are small, remote and often booked a year in advance. Beyond the well-worn cruise ship route there are infinite possibilities for experiences in Norway that would be impossible to arrange on your own, like a private boat to a hidden fjord-side farm for a lunch of just-caught langoustines, a helicopter landing on a glacier for champagne at the edge of the ice, a private dinner with a Sámi family inside a traditional lavvu, or a day at sea with a marine biologist following the winter orca migration. We design every trip to perfectly align with your taste and interests and make the most of your time in Norway, whether it’s a long weekend of Arctic adventure or a grand journey from Oslo all the way to Svalbard. We hand select every property and know exactly when and where to be for the northern lights, the orcas and the midnight sun. Our network of guides, skippers and mountain guides are also the most knowledgeable and passionate in the country. It’s why our founder, Mark Lakin, has been named a Travel + Leisure Top Travel Advisor every year since 2015.

Take me there

Husky Sledding under the Northern Lights

SIGNATURE EXPERIENCES IN NORWAY

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

OUR FAVORITE LUXURY HOTELS IN NORWAY

Norwegians have turned building in wild places into an art form, and the country’s finest properties are destinations in their own right, offering a perfect mix of breathtaking architecture, Nordic design, hyper-local cuisine and heartfelt hospitality. Picture glass-walled rooms tucked into a riverside forest in the fjords, cliff-edge sea cabins on an island owned by a polar explorer, heated glass domes facing a glacier that calves into the Arctic Sea, a former coastal radio station at the end of the world in Svalbard, and a grand fjord hotel that has welcomed royalty, writers and explorers since 1891.

OSLO

The Thief

Sommerro

BERGEN & THE FJORDS

Opus XVI

Hotel Union Øye

Storfjord Hotel

Juvet Landscape Hotel

TRONDHEIM

Britannia Hotel

LOFOTEN & THE NORTHERN ISLANDS

Hattvika Lodge

Manshausen Island Resort

Kvitnes Gård

ARCTIC NORWAY

Lyngen Lodge

Isbreen The Glacier

SVALBARD

Funken Lodge

Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel

PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO NORWAY

WHEN TO GO

Norway is a true year-round destination, and the season you choose will shape your entire journey. Summer, from late May through August, brings the midnight sun above the Arctic Circle, long golden evenings in the fjords, and the best conditions for hiking, sailing, kayaking and island hopping in Lofoten. June and early September are our favorite months for the fjords, with mild weather and far fewer people. Svalbard’s expedition season runs through the summer months, when the sea ice retreats and polar bear and walrus sightings are at their best.

Winter is pure magic in the Arctic north. The northern lights can be seen from late September through March, and during the polar night of December and January the landscape glows in deep blue twilight. Orcas arrive in the northern fjords to feed on herring from roughly November through January. Spring, from March to May, brings returning light, deep snow and the best ski touring in the Lyngen Alps, with a chance to catch the aurora in March.

GETTING THERE

Oslo is an easy overnight flight from the U.S., with nonstop service from the New York area, and it is the connecting hub for the fjords, the Arctic and Svalbard. Short domestic flights reach Bergen, Ålesund, Trondheim, Tromsø, Alta, the Lofoten Islands and Longyearbyen, and we often arrange private helicopter, seaplane or boat transfers to make the most of your time on the ground. Some of our favorite hideaways, like Isfjord Radio in Svalbard, can only be reached by boat or snowmobile, which is all part of the adventure.

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