Norwegian airways flew us to Oslo from Gatwick, comparable to other European low cost airlines. Over night in the Radisson Blu good and the hotel is practically on the airport apron, a five minute walk, as well as the railway station to get to Oslo. We arrived early afternoon so opted to take to 125 mph train into Oslo, well worth the extra cost, even though you only save 5 minutes on the standard journey. It's amazing how everything is kept running, road, rail and air. No wrong kind of snow or more than 2 cms deep which usually brings the UK to a grinding halt. Every town/city has what we would call Christmas lights and very good they are too, however, they are not Christmas light but winter lights and are switched on at the winter soltise to make the shopping experience more enjoyable during the winter darkness, usually only about 1 to 4 hours of daylight.

All Norwegian airports have auto check-in and baggage drop and the system is very good. A person walking around to spot first time users would be helpful as it does take a little thinking about when first using the system but, after that, future use is a breeze.

Pick up at Kirkenes airport was a little late and the transfer service used is the every day bus service so we had stops along the route to the harbour and Hurtigruten pier. Read more