The Rough Guide to Norway 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

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Review

A SUPERB SERIES THAT NEVER MISSES A BEAT

New York Newsday

Product Description

INTRODUCTION

In a tamed and heavily populated continent, Norway remains a wilderness outpost. Everything here is on a grand scale, with some of Europe’s finest and wildest land- and seascapes. From the Skagerrak – the choppy channel that separates the country from Denmark – Norway stretches north in a long, slender band along the Atlantic seaboard, up across the Arctic Circle to the Barents Sea and the Russian border. Behind this rough and rocky coast are great mountain ranges, harsh upland plateaux, plunging river valleys, rippling glaciers, deep forests and, most famously, the mighty fjords which gash deep inland.

The fjords are the apple of the tourist industry’s eye, and they are indeed magnificent, but except for the lively capital, Oslo, and perhaps historic Bergen, the rest of the country might as well be blank for all that many visitors know. Few seem aware of the sheer variety of the landscape or the lovely little towns that are sprinkled over it. Neither are the Norwegians given nearly enough credit for their careful construction of one of the most civilized, educated and tolerant societies in the world – one whose even-handed internationalism has set standards that few other European nations can approach. With every justification, the bulk of the population have a deep loyalty for – and pride in – their country, partly at least because independence was so long in coming: after the heady days of the Vikings, Norway was governed by the Danes for four centuries and was then passed to the Swedes, who only left in 1905.

It is the Vikings who continue to grab the historical headlines, prompting book after book and film upon (foreign) film. These formidable warriors burst upon an unsuspecting Europe from the remoteness of Scandinavia in the ninth century. The Norwegian Vikings sailed west, raiding every seaboard from the Shetlands to Sicily, even venturing as far as Greenland and Newfoundland. Wherever they settled, the speed of their assimilation into the indigenous population was extraordinary – William the Conqueror, the archetypal Norman baron, was only a few generations removed from his Viking ancestors – and in the unpopulated Faroes and Iceland, the settlers could begin from scratch, creating societies which then developed in a similar fashion to that of their original homeland.

Norway’s so-called "period of greatness" came to an abrupt end: in 1349, an English ship unwittingly brought the Black Death to the country, and in the next two years somewhere between half and two-thirds of the population was wiped out. The enfeebled country was easy meat for the Danes, who took control at the end of the fourteenth century and remained in command until 1814. As colonial powers go, the Danes were comparatively benign, but everything specifically "Norwegian" – from language to dress – became associated with the primitive and uncouth. To redress this state of affairs, Norway’s bourgeois nationalists of the mid- to late nineteenth century sought to rediscover – and sometimes to reinvent – a national identity. This ambitious enterprise, enthusiastically undertaken, fuelled a cultural renaissance which formed the backdrop to the work of acclaimed painters, writers and musicians, most notably Munch, Ibsen and Grieg, and the endeavours of explorers like Amundsen and Nansen. Its reverberations can be felt to this day, for example in Norway’s "No" vote on EU membership.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 3rd edition (June 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843530546
• ISBN-13: 978-1843530541
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,673,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Norway for travelers, June 26, 2000

By	Alan Barrow (Powder Springs, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Norway: The Rough Guide, First Edition (1997) (Paperback)

The Rough Guide to Norway is a well researched and written travel handbook. Like most books in the Rough Guide series, it strike a nice balance between "Hostel & Backpack" information for budget travelers and more conventional Hotel/Restaurant/Sightseeing entries. Norway has many small towns and cities, and this guide covers them in detail. As convention tourist attractions are somewhat scarce in Norway, this level of detail is critical to an enjoyable trip.

We utilized this book and the Lonely Planet Norway guide, and found ourselves using the Rough Guide more (The Lonely Planet series tended to oriented more toward backpackers/hostel travel). It is nice to have both for balance.

If you are headed for Norway, the Rough Guide would be a good one to take with you!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I had the previous edition, but it was OK...(3.5 points), February 13, 2002

By	Anthony (Vancouver, CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Norway, 2nd Edition (Norway (Rough Guides)) (Paperback)

The previous edition of the Rough Guide-Norway was the first guide book I ever got. I was planning a trip to Norway then, but, I found out that there weren't enough information in it. Then, I got the Lonely Planet version, and I fulfilled a lot more than the Rough Guide's.

First of all, the information about Svalbard was quite outdated. Longyearbyen has quite a bit more than what I have read there. Also, throughout the book, it never gave much information on anywhere. In the Lonely Planet one, you could find A LOT more descriptions of different towns and places, while, the Rough Guide would almost only MENTION THE NAMES of the towns without saying anything more about them (where to stay, etc). Sure, they MAY NOT be as interesting to a lot of people, but a guide book's job is to provide as much information as possible, because there ARE travellers with different interests. The Rough Guide also lacks a lot of useful information such as accomodations and eateries. The Lonely Planet seemed like they weren't as lazy into researching on that part. I also have to thank the Lonely Planet for advertising my friend's restaurant in Tromsø for free basically, without him even acknowledging it until I told him!! I didn't know him until I decided to go to his restaurant for the first time. Withoout the Lonely Planet book, I wouldnt have met such a great friend.

Anyway, overall, the Rough Guide was OK...but I will definately prefer buying the Lonely Planet books. The Rough Guide seems to NOT give enough information. If some info is outdated, it is understandable (things change all the time), but Lonely Planet definately did put more effort into it. Both the Rough Guide edition of mine and the Lonely Planet were the '97 series.

I suggest you to do a comparison of the 2 books at a bookstore or something first, if possible. Hopefully the newest edition of the Rough Guide-Norway is a lot better than the previous one. Good luck.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid, Relyable Guide... One of the Best Out on Norway., October 5, 2001

By	Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Norway, 2nd Edition (Norway (Rough Guides)) (Paperback)

Is this the best guide for Norway? Almost (see my Lonely Planet: Norway review). The information that Lee gives you regarding the "Basics" (flights, travel companies, visas, etc.) is the best out in a guide. The maps (a critical element in any guide) are adequate, but not great. Also, the maps only show the locations of the noted hotels, but omit locating restaurants. Go figure.

An ongoing peeve that I have about Rough Guides is their use of a number system to quote the price range of a hotel, ie. a Hotel costs a '2', then you have to flip back to the numeric legion to find out that 2 = 500-700kr, which you then divide by the current rate of exchange. As other guides demonstrate, there are betters ways to help your reader gage approximate cost.

I am disappointed that the 'boxed' vignettes that usually embellish other Rough Guides are few and far between in this guide. Finally, this guide omits an accommodations or a restaurants index. Thus, if you have a recommended restaurant you want to look up you have to go through all the restaurant pages 'til you stumble across the name you seek or miss seeing it completely.

The profile of Oslo is the best out, and if you are only going to Oslo, then "Norway: The Rough Guide" is the preferable guide. Phil Lee has included an excellent section on recommended books to read and a good piece on Norwegian Literature. Though not complete there is a scattering of website and email addresses for travel companies and some hotels, Although all hotels have their phone and fax numbers listed, nothing beats email.

If you are going to explore this wonderful country then "Norway: The Rough Guide' will be a welcome companion. Recommended