What you need to know about Christmas travel within Norway
In the coming days, hundreds of thousands will travel around Norway to where they will spend the holiday season. Here's what you need to know.
Christmas travel season is well underway, with several of the busiest days of the year for train, bus and air travel expected in Norway.
Avinor, which operates Norway's airports, is expecting Thursday, December 22nd, to be the busiest day of the Christmas period in airports.
Some 134,000 passengers will depart from Norway's six largest airports on Thursday, with Oslo airport alone seeing 74,600 travellers pass through its departure gates.
Below we'll round up a travel roundup of what should be expected when travelling in and out of Norway.
Airports
While Thursday is expected to be one of the busiest days of the year, Avinor currently does not expect any significant issues with queues.
The reason for this is that passenger numbers are still set to be around 20 percent less than compared to pre-pandemic years.
"It also means that we do not expect crowds and queues, even on the busiest day of the Christmas procession," press officer Øystein Løwer said.
January 2nd will be the busiest day for arrivals back into Norway, according to Avinor.
Despite Avinor saying it didn't expect queues, it advised passengers to arrive at the airport with plenty of time, come prepared and keep gifts in their luggage.
Travellers should also stay updated with the information issued by the airline they travel with.
Train travel
Recently, departures from Eastern Norway have been affected by cancellations and delays due to snow and errors along the rail network.
These issues may persist and affect Christmas travel to and from eastern Norway. Those who still need to book a train ticket may be disappointed as rail firms Vy, GoAhead and SJ Nord expect full trains from Thursday.
"On Christmas Eve, it is possible to sleep in via the night trains, and some departures have a few seats left. If you are willing to be there at the very last minute, there are also a few places left on Christmas Eve itself. There are no sold-out days during Christmas in romjul, except for New Year's Eve from Oslo," communications manager Åge-Christoffer Lundeby from Vy said.
By bus
Busses may offer an alternative to train travel over the Christmas holidays if you are still looking for a train ticket on time.
If you are bringing a lot of luggage, you may be required to pay to have extra bags in the bus's storage hold.
Punctuality may be affected by driving conditions. However, as buses stick to the main roads, this should be fine unless there is heavy snowfall or freezing rain.
Driving
Over the past few weeks, there have been several difficult days for driving due to icy roads and snowfall.
In the days leading up to Christmas, especially December 22nd and 23rd, you can expect the roads to be jam-packed as families finish work and school for the year and head to where they'll spend Christmas.
If there is substantial snowfall before Christmas, certain mountain passes and roads may be closed. Using a journey planner and checking for weather warnings will be essential. You can click here for an overview of road closures affecting mountain passes and weather-exposed roads. For a journey planner, click here, and here for weather warnings.
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Christmas travel season is well underway, with several of the busiest days of the year for train, bus and air travel expected in Norway.
Avinor, which operates Norway's airports, is expecting Thursday, December 22nd, to be the busiest day of the Christmas period in airports.
Some 134,000 passengers will depart from Norway's six largest airports on Thursday, with Oslo airport alone seeing 74,600 travellers pass through its departure gates.
Below we'll round up a travel roundup of what should be expected when travelling in and out of Norway.
Airports
While Thursday is expected to be one of the busiest days of the year, Avinor currently does not expect any significant issues with queues.
The reason for this is that passenger numbers are still set to be around 20 percent less than compared to pre-pandemic years.
"It also means that we do not expect crowds and queues, even on the busiest day of the Christmas procession," press officer Øystein Løwer said.
January 2nd will be the busiest day for arrivals back into Norway, according to Avinor.
Despite Avinor saying it didn't expect queues, it advised passengers to arrive at the airport with plenty of time, come prepared and keep gifts in their luggage.
Travellers should also stay updated with the information issued by the airline they travel with.
Train travel
Recently, departures from Eastern Norway have been affected by cancellations and delays due to snow and errors along the rail network.
These issues may persist and affect Christmas travel to and from eastern Norway. Those who still need to book a train ticket may be disappointed as rail firms Vy, GoAhead and SJ Nord expect full trains from Thursday.
"On Christmas Eve, it is possible to sleep in via the night trains, and some departures have a few seats left. If you are willing to be there at the very last minute, there are also a few places left on Christmas Eve itself. There are no sold-out days during Christmas in romjul, except for New Year's Eve from Oslo," communications manager Åge-Christoffer Lundeby from Vy said.
By bus
Busses may offer an alternative to train travel over the Christmas holidays if you are still looking for a train ticket on time.
If you are bringing a lot of luggage, you may be required to pay to have extra bags in the bus's storage hold.
Punctuality may be affected by driving conditions. However, as buses stick to the main roads, this should be fine unless there is heavy snowfall or freezing rain.
Driving
Over the past few weeks, there have been several difficult days for driving due to icy roads and snowfall.
In the days leading up to Christmas, especially December 22nd and 23rd, you can expect the roads to be jam-packed as families finish work and school for the year and head to where they'll spend Christmas.
If there is substantial snowfall before Christmas, certain mountain passes and roads may be closed. Using a journey planner and checking for weather warnings will be essential. You can click here for an overview of road closures affecting mountain passes and weather-exposed roads. For a journey planner, click here, and here for weather warnings.
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