Customer Reviews

Norway (Insight Guide Norway)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book as a gift for my Host Family in Minnesota, USA , when I went there as a foreign exchange student. The book is good, and tells a lot about Norway, but for a book being marked as printed in 2000, the pictures are really old. I would say some of the pictures in this book looks like they are from the 80's. One example is the Royal Family, where the Crown Prince looks like he is around 11-12 years old. He is now in his 20's and engaged. But the nature still looks the same, so if you don't care too much about pictures, you can buy this book.

The Insight Guide Norway is a beautiful book with well-written descriptions of the country and breathtaking photos. If you want to get an idea of what Norway is like, get ideas of which areas you want to visit, or are on a package or bus tour, this is your book. If your travel style is more like my husband and I where you just buy a plane ticket, rent a car and start driving across the country, this is not a terribly helpful book. The most frustrating thing I found with it is the tendency to describe a stunning hotel or excellent restaurant, and then not include any logistics for how to find it! The hotel/restaurant guide in the back is laughable. Even the sections on Oslo and Bergen had very limited information on where to stay and where to eat. I also purchased the Lonely Planet Norway and found this a much more useful guide for our style of travel. It's not exciting at all, very few color pictures and substandard maps, but the logistical information about each area was much more thorough. We found ourselves bookmarking the 2-page map of central Norway in the Insight Guide to help us get around, then using the Lonely Planet guide to actually find hotels, restaurants and landmarks. The Insight Guide is definitely a great book, I just wouldn't call it a guide per se.

We bought this book before traveling to Norway. It gave us so much valuable information. We traveled along the fjords, Bergen, and Oslo. We would have missed so much if it were not for this book. It even prepared us to expect the astronomic price of food. I think it made for a great trip because of the information in this book. Do not even think of traveling to Norway without this guide. It is worth every penny.

I purchased 4 popular tourbooks of Norway and this Insight Guide "NORWAY" was by far the best and is being passed around to many family members as just "a good read" Most of us knew Norway as Lief Erickson, the land of Norseman and Trolls and an occupied country in WW11. I am reading and rereading this book and learning so much more each time. It is written with humor as well as historical, geographical, social expertise and fantastic tips for travel and touring. I feel as if I had already visited Norway. If all the Insight Guides are this well written, anyone interested in a country, travel or not, should have an Insight Guide for their specific country of interest. What a great find.

We spent 10 days in Norway this past summer and the high recommendations of this book were absolutely correct! First, yes, the pictures are outdated. But who cares? If you are going there you'll take your own pictures anyway! Not only did this book provide great detail as to what to expect on our trip, we constantly used it to find out of the way places to visit and eat, and frequently used the city maps when our "highway" maps didn't do the job. We purchased the book in advance, which helped us to decide to stay in the Sogndal region and use that as our central hub. Unfortunately, we only used about 10% of what the book had to offer. Ten days WAS NOT long enough to spend in this beautiful country and we are hoping to go back in the future. Travel Tip: We stayed in a renovated 1930's farmhouse in Kaupangen (near Sogndal), 3 bedroom, 2 bath, kitchen, overlooking the Sognefjord for $130 per night.

I bought this book as a gift, to lure my friend to visit me in Norway. I have traveled to different parts of Norway several times before moving to Oslo for work last year. The information on this book is well structured and accurate. Unlike most travel guides I found, it doesn't simply list famous museums, the fjords or the eateries, the usual to-go places for tourists. But covers from the country's history to culture side and customs and outdoor life of the Norsk, with tales and anecdotes. Very well researched. And on the "Places" part, it offers the reader great travel tips and quite unique insights.

I wish I had read this book years back so I would have been much better informed on my first trips. If you are planning a trip to this amazing land, this book is not to be missed. Even if you are only interested to get some general info on Norway, this book, with the gorgeous photography and beautiful writing, is a pleasant read.

I found this book to be very informative, with wonderful photos, and it was in perfect condition. I love the Insight Guides.