Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Everything you need to know about travel in Norway for Easter 2024

Whether you're driving to the in-laws in Bergen, taking the train, or flying to your family elsewhere in the world, here's everything we know about travel to, from, or around Norway this Easter.

Published: 19 March 2024 15:20 CET
Updated: 28 March 2024 10:34 CET
Everything you need to know about travel in Norway for Easter 2024
A woman studies the timetable to find out about replacement buses. Photo: Bane NOR

Travelling by road

Norwegian schools break up for påskeferie (Easter holidays) this Friday (March 22nd) so you can expect heavy traffic on the roads out of the big cities starting from Friday afternoon and continuing over the weekend.

Typically well over a million Norwegians take to the roads over Easter to stay in their cabins or visit relatives.

There is also likely to be heavy traffic between Maundy Thursday (March 28th) and Easter Saturday (March 30th), and again on Easter Monday (April 1st) as people return home.

The E6 in Gudbrandsdalen around Lillehammer and the E18 in Agder tend to see delays over Easter,

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has yet to issue its traffic prognosis for Easter (we will update this article when they do).

Rail lines closed over Easter

As fewer people in Norway tend to take the train on public holidays, Norway’s track operator Bane NOR tends to schedule major track works for these times, and this Easter is no exception, although this year only one line is affected. 

Bane NOR is closing the track between Drammen, south of Oslo, and Stokke between March 23rd and April 1st, with the segment replaced by buses.

Air travel

This year, there are no strikes directly affecting airports or airlines in Norway, but industrial action in Spain and the UK might affect Easter travel if you are venturing abroad.  

Workers at airports in Valencia and Madrid, two of Spain’s busiest, have announced that they will strike over the Easter period. At Madrid-Barajas airport, the UGT union has called a strike by employees of the Platform Management Service (SDP) for Wednesday 27th and Friday 29th March between 7am-12pm.

At Valencia airport, flights could be affected between Thursday March 28th and Monday April 1st, between 11am-13am, when workers will walk out and protest outside the Terminal 1 building in Manises.

The Lufthansa airline struck a deal with ground staff on Wednesday, March 27th, averting the risk of strikes over the Easter holidays, which might have affected flights to and from Germany from Norway. 

Finally, border force workers at the UK’s Heathrow Airport voted on March 22nd to strike over the Easter holidays, although walkouts will not happen until after April 8th, so Easter travel will not be affected. 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS

The things foreigners in Norway find confusing about May 17th 

Constitution Day, or May 17th, is a fantastic occasion in Norway. Foreigners living in the country also love getting in on the celebrations – but a few things about the day can be confusing. 

Published: 15 May 2024 16:06 CEST
The things foreigners in Norway find confusing about May 17th 

Often referred to as Norway’s national day, May 17th is much beloved in Norway. The parades and festivities are a must-see (and also pretty hard to miss) for anyone in Norway on the day. 

There are plenty of traditions that can seem strange from the outside looking in, including bunads, parades, singing the national anthem, and waving flags. Even after you’ve experienced them a few times, they can still feel puzzling. 

How to celebrate 

One aspect that can confuse foreigners, even those with a few May 17ths under the belt, is how exactly the date should be celebrated. 

While the parades are an obvious starting point, traditions can vary across families, cities and regions. 

Many will start May 17th with a combination of a typical Norwegian breakfast, with or without champagne, and then go to watch the parades. 

After that, things become more unclear. Some choose to celebrate the rest of the day with family, grilling or playing garden games. 

Others choose to party hard, whether at parties, bars, or special May 17th events. 

Meanwhile, some cities have large gatherings after the parades, torch processions, or fireworks in the evening. 

Our tip would be to choose what you like most about May 17th and go with the flow. 

Thankfully, as long as you don’t do something stupid like desecrate the Norwegian flag or spend the day antagonising people, there doesn’t appear to be a “right or wrong” way to celebrate the occasion. 

What to wear 

Outfit choice can be tricky on May 17th. People normally dress their best, be it in a traditional bunad, a suit, or other smart clothes. 

For foreigners, this can be tough. For starters, most probably do not feel Norwegian enough to wear a bunad but want to dress nicely for the occasion as a show of respect. 

Therefore, finding something that makes you feel comfortable, doesn’t feel underdressed, and is also appropriate for whatever the weather is can be a tricky balance. 

Some people wear folk costumes from where they are from, which for the most part goes down well as very few Norwegians hold an attitude of “this is our day and not yours”.

What other people are wearing

This is perhaps more the case for newcomers to Norway, but seeing a bunad for the first time can be strange. Seeing thousands of people decked out in “national costumes” (as they are sometimes referred to) can be overwhelming. 

Given that the costumes date back centuries, seeing the old mixed with the modern can also be surreal—for example, seeing someone in a bunad whizz by on an e-scooter. 

Even as you become more accustomed to seeing national costumes and learning more about them, you could confuse yourself trying to work out the origin of the bunad given the designs, colours and embroidery unique to different regions of Norway. 

The national pride

As the day marks the signing of the Norwegian constitution, it’s no surprise that its themes centre on national pride and identity and feature plenty of flag waving and singing of the national anthem. 

This can be puzzling for foreigners, as in some places, patriotism and national pride have been hijacked by populist and far-right movements and used as a tool to cause division.

Other foreigners may also be critical of the idea of a monarchy and how heavily they feature in the day’s proceedings. 

However, in Norway, no one really questions these things. This is just as well because, for the most part, May 17th demonstrates how you can celebrate a country’s essence without hijacking it for the wrong reasons. 

The locals in Norway generally choose to include those who also wish to celebrate May 17th rather than exclude them. 

It’s the fact that Norway is able to maintain a strong sense of national pride on May 17th while remaining inclusive that some may find confusing. 

SHOW COMMENTS