“ARGH!” the Vikings banged their ale with their mates.
“Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!” Oops, that’s for the pirates.
I cannot wait to meet the Vikings. They were so adventurous, I cannot believe I will actually be visiting their original ships.
Today, I am in Oslo, Norway learning more and more about the Viking wonders. Did you know Vikings were known for their excellent hygiene? That’s true. They would also bury their dead in their own boats. Gross!
The Norwegians were known to travel the world and to be one of the first to explore the Arctic. The name Norway means “Northern Way”. They were sea explorers and were really swell at navigating through the rough seas. They would survive the most hostile weather conditions easily.
Visit Norway during the summer like us and you will barely see the night sky. Welcome to the the Land of the Midnight Sun

Oslo

The capital city of Norway. The home of the Nobel Peace Prize. It is  awarded here in Oslo. The city is full of wonders. A 1000 year old ship still intact and who knows, maybe it can still go for a ride. The ship still intact.  Though called “The Land of The Midnight Sun”, in winter, it gets very cold and dark. But as they always say, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. Then again winter is perfect time to go further north to Tromsø to see the spectacular Northern Lights.


We set off in the morning to visit the Viking Ship Museum. What an interesting place. We saw the skulls of the vikings, their pocket money, and their weapons. We then went to the Fram Museum. Here you can go inside the ship and explore. You get to know how the sailors lived while sailing. 

After the Museum visits, we wanted to visit the Nobel Peace Center, but unfortunately it was under construction.
The next day we went to visit the Opera House. We needed to book the tickets beforehand, which we had not, so we only got to see it from outside. The outside looked spectacular. The building was made out of white marble.

 Hotels

Thon Hotel Ullevaal Stadion  This eco-friendly hotel is next to Norway’s national soccer arena, Ullevaal Stadium

  • ♿️Hotel Ullevaal is fully accessible, although there is a long walk to the breakfast area, even from the closest room.
  • ♿️The Hotel guests can also use two accessible parking in front of the hotel
  • ♿️The Viking Ship is completely accessible. A wheelchair may be helpful if you are on crutches, as many information boxes are located waist level and it would be very difficult to bend down to see all the information boxes.
  • ♿️The Fram Museum is accessible. But the entrance to the ship to see the inside is not accessible.
  • ♿️The Nobel Peace Center is fully accessible. Though call beforehand and someone will come and assist you.
  • ♿️The Opera House is fully accessible. All auditoriums have their own wheelchair seats. Call by telephone and get wheelchair tickets. There is no on line booking.

Norway in a nutshell – Flam, Aurland, Sojne Fjord, Naeroy Fjord

This is a day long drive that we covered while driving from Oslo to Bergen. A spectacular drive that is filled with tunnels. Some of the tunnels were so long that it even had rest areas. One such tunnel was 25 km long that had two rest areas.  As we drove along the lush green countryside, we found the landscape slowly changing to green hills with snow white caps.

We reached Flam in the afternoon. Flam is situated between Oslo and Bergen. Flam has many cruises to the Fjords. Fjord is Norwegian for Lakes. Flam is very touristy with many souvenir shops , restaurants and gift shops. Some of the Fjord Vista Points were very hard to reach because of the steep and thin roads. But they were really worth it. In fact, one of them (Stegastein) seemed like we were sitting on the edge of the earth looking down on the vast water body. Even though a lot of people take cruises to see the fjords, I will strongly recommend driving. Driving can take you to some of the beautiful corners that cannot be seen from cruises.

  • ♿️Flam is very accessible. Wheelchair may provide more flexibility than crutches as the ground is not very uniform. 
  • ♿️The train rides are all accessible. A makeshift ramp is provided to climb the train
  • ♿️The Fjord Cruises are fully accessible.
  • ♿️There is a tourist information office in Flam where you can get all information. You can also buy souvenir from here.  It also has an ♿️accessible restroom inside  

Bergen

Bergen is a very lively city on the western coast of Norway. We reached Bergen around midnight and we could see daylights. Some shops were still open at 2.00 AM. Bergen is the historic capital of Norway. Its picture perfect with colorful wooden houses lined up in the waterfront. Make sure to ride the funicular to the top and get a 360 degree view of Bergen.

Hotels

Hotel Radisson Blue A nice hotel right in the center of the city. Fully Accessible. The rooms with a good view are far from the reception and will need some walking.

  • There is an accessible parking just next to the hotel. This will save you lot of parking charges.
  • Quite a few accessible parking on Strandkaien. This street is also ideal for the famous photo of the Bergen Harbour.
  • The funicular is accessible. The wheelchair can be embarked and disembarked only at a few stops. But all the main stops are covered. The funicular can accommodate 4 wheelchairs.