Norway

This summer I went road tripping to the Lindesnes region in Norway with my family. We drove up though a variety of European countries before taking the ferry from Denmark to Kirstensand. For the week in Norway I had found us a lighthouse to stay in on the southern most point of Norway, Lindesnes Fyr, built in 1916 where at the time three families lived on site and is now a listed building. We stayed in one of the lighthouse keepers cabin right next to the lighthouse. Even though there were tourists coming and going, it felt really secluded and so peaceful. Photos from Views of a Lighthouse.

Norway is expensive, coffee and cake for four people was on average about thirty pounds in a fairly standard place. We didn't eat out, for a family of four it really was just too expensive, we shopped in local supermarkets and cooked at home. I was warned that alcohol in Norway was again, expensive and strangely hard to come by. We avoided the cost and hassle of finding any by buying our wine for the week from France - I highly recommend doing the same to anyone driving to Norway.

Around the lighthouse there were a few different walking trails that we embarked on as a family and that we all completed. A very pretty country, lots of greenery and water where everyone seems to have a boat or at least access to one. Onward from Lindesnes, we went up the coast to Stavangar, a main port for cruise ships as the take hoards of people up, in and around the most northern parts of the coast of Norway. We took a boat trip to Pulpit Rock a famous view point, unfortunately for us the weather the day we took the trip was pretty rubbish and visibility was terrible, clouds were covering the high sides of the fjord so we couldn't see the famous platform.

For me, the highlight of Norway, was a place called Skreli, a secluded fjord not far from the lighthouse. It was recommend as the 'most beautiful view in this area' from a guy who we met at the supermarket trying to find a different walking trail. The track to Skreli was a dirt trail and we didn't believe it was leading anywhere, we stopped to ask a farmer and he just motioned down the trail. When we finally came to the parking it seemed like there was nothing even there, but if you head up the trail and follow the signs it opens up to the top of a gentle waterfall down into the fjord. It really was stunning. We took a little stroll around the flat part then went back to soak up the sun and the view. Compared the to the fjords in Stavangar, yes, they may have been bigger, deeper, but they were a lot more crowded and not nearly so intimate. Photos from Norway.