Midnight Sunbeams; or, Bits of Travel Through the Land of the Norseman

What Did it Cost?—The Route and Time Allowed for the Journey—Clothing and Food—Ladies Travelling Alone—The Result of Politeness and Consideration—Conclusion.

The expense of a journey through Norway, Sweden, and Denmark is very moderate. We did not limit ourselves to a fixed amount, nor practise any especial economy; we travelled first class on steamers, and second class on the railway, that being the best accommodation furnished, as there is no first class; we stopped at the large hotels in the cities, and in the smaller places there was generally no choice of inns, for as a rule there was but one. We could easily have spent much more money than we did, but as we had previously visited most of the countries in Europe, thereby gaining experience, and learning how to travel and to get the most in return for our money, we had every comfort we cared for, saw everything to our complete satisfaction, and yet the journey of eight weeks, including every expense of travelling, hotels, and sight seeing, from Lübeck to Rotterdam, cost but two hundred dollars. We were surprised at the amount, for we had reckoned much more for the journey. In this amount is not included what we spent for photographs and articles purchased as souvenirs of the countries visited, which extra expense will of course depend wholly upon the individual; but every item that should properly come under the head of travelling expenses is included in the above amount.

I copy the expense of the trip from my cash account, giving the values in krone and öre, also in dollars and cents, reckoning the krone, the unit of value in the monetary system of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, at twenty-seven cents:—

At so small an expense, one who can spend a summer in Europe can obtain no better return for the money, than in devoting it to a trip through Norseland.

June is the most favorable time for a visit to Denmark and Sweden, as one can then enjoy the almost unending days, while the latter part of June and the month of July is the best season for Norway, as the weather is then more liable to be pleasant, the rainy season often commencing soon after the opening of August.

We made the trip to the North Cape the last of June, but I think it would be better to defer it till the latter part of July, leaving it for the last of the journey.

After one had visited Sweden he could go direct from Stockholm to Christiania by rail, then drive to Odde and proceed north to Molde; following this course the scenery grows grander as you advance northward, culminating in the voyage to the North Cape, which is a fitting termination to the trip, as on returning to Throndhjem one could go directly by rail to Christiania, then by steamer to Copenhagen, and thence southward. We would advise, that in place of the journey by steamer from Molde to Throndhjem, the route through the Romsdal and over the Dovrefjeld be substituted, as it is represented as being a fine drive amid beautiful scenery, while the steamer trip has few attractions; also, instead of going from Odde to Bergen and thence across the disagreeable North Sea to Rotterdam, we would recommend one to drive from Odde through Thelemarken to Christiania, or vice versa, and not visit Bergen, which contains little of interest compared with the attractions of the interior of the country.

One could devote several summers to Norway without exhausting it, for there is an endless number of fjords, valleys, waterfalls, and places interesting from their fine scenery. The intending traveller will at first be confused by the multiplicity of routes in Baedeker; and it requires much attentive and intelligent study to select, from this abundance, those taking one to the most interesting features of the country; especially is discriminating selection necessary if one’s time is limited and he cannot spend the whole summer there.

We saw the most prominent points of the countries visited, and enjoyed most of their grandest scenery during our journey; and our route, and time devoted to each place, may be of assistance to those who intend to visit these countries:—

Norway is not a country adapted to pedestrian tours like Switzerland, as the distances are too great, and the places of interest are too widely scattered; and as one can travel in carrioles and stolkjærres, most of the advantages of a pedestrian tour are obtained. Yet there are no more delightful walks in Europe than through the Romsdal, Naerödal, and Laerdal,—three valleys, with smooth hard roads winding through them, closed in by the grandest of mountain scenery. On a pleasant day one will find it a great rest, as well as pleasure, to leave the stolkjærre at a station and walk to the next, where he can continue his drive with a fresh horse.

In driving through the country one’s baggage must be limited, unless you hire an extra horse to carry it. It is far better to send all heavy baggage ahead by steamer, and, in the case of gentlemen, take only a knapsack, which is easily swung across the shoulder, and renders one perfectly independent, and free to take a tramp whenever fancy dictates.

One should be provided with thick, warm clothing for a journey in Norway, for even in July the weather is not very warm among the mountains; and as considerable time is spent upon the steamers on the fjords, and on the voyage to the North Cape, where there are cool ocean breezes, one should wear warm underclothing and a thick, serviceable suit. Ladies will need plenty of wraps and plain, heavy clothing that will stand all kinds of weather, and should be provided with waterproofs, and a tweed helmet in place of a hat or bonnet.

Gentlemen will find it necessary to wear their spring overcoats almost constantly, and a most important requisite is a rubber overcoat, to be worn when driving, visiting waterfalls, and during the frequent rains. We did not find it as cold as we anticipated in the Arctic Ocean, the day that we were at the North Cape being the warmest and pleasantest of the whole voyage; but during the trip there were many cold winds, yet we kept very comfortable by wearing a rubber coat over our spring overcoats, though some of the passengers had heavy winter overcoats, and one would find an ulster very acceptable at times.

Hardships, while travelling in Norway, will not be endured unless sought for in very remote districts, for on all the regular routes of travel, even at the smallest station inns, one finds comfortable beds and wholesome food.

Those who have travelled to any extent in America, who know the taste of the sandwiches and coffee often furnished at railway restaurants,—who, for instance, have crossed the continent to California, or in Southern and Western towns have vainly sought for palatable food at many of the meal stations and hotels, where “the Lord had sent an abundance of food, but the devil had sent the cooks,”—will have no cause to complain of the delicious coffee, rich cream, good butter and cheese, nice wheat, rye and graham bread, eggs, trout, and salmon, with which one is everywhere served, even at the smallest country inns. The meat is not of the best, and one misses the varied fruits and vegetables of other lands, but we never found a place in Norway, except at a sæter among the mountains where there was a lack of good bread and palatable food.

We met many English and Scotch ladies travelling without gentlemen in Norway, and saw several ladies who were travelling singly by themselves. Two ladies can go all over the route we took without the slightest trouble or inconvenience. In travelling through the country by stolkjærres, if they are not accustomed to driving, the boy who always accompanies them will drive from behind the seat; on the steamers, the officers who speak English will look out for their comfort, and at all of the large hotels and most of the little inns they will be sure to find some one speaking English, and if not, the natives know just what the traveller’s wants are, and will supply them; while from the little phrase book in the back of Baedeker one can easily learn a dozen Norse words that will make one understood and accomplish wonders.

A gentleman, alone, should not be deterred from taking the journey, for he is sure to make pleasant friends while travelling on the steamers or driving through the country, for in no land are travellers more sociable, or acquaintances more easily formed, than in Norway. In Sweden, on the regular routes of travel, and in Stockholm, English is quite generally spoken, and ladies alone will have no trouble. No one needs to be “personally conducted,” for if competent to travel anywhere by themselves, they can easily do so in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

Perhaps some may think that I have decidedly rose-colored views of Norway and its people, but I have simply given my own experiences, and I find they coincide with those of many other travellers. We were fortunate in having good weather the greater part of the time, which is the chief essential for the enjoyment of the journey; we made pleasant friends everywhere, and nothing happened to mar our pleasure.

The Norwegians whom we met, until we arrived in Bergen, were the nicest people we have ever been among. We were treated politely by every one, and there was such a personal interest in their attentions, such a desire that we should enjoy our stay in their country, and see its finest features, that we felt at times as though we were visiting among old friends.

It is said that the Swedes are a little jealous of the favor with which the Norwegians are regarded by travellers, but one naturally spends much more time in Norway, as its scenery is much finer, and its attractions far greater and more varied than those of Sweden; and while travelling through the country in such a leisurely old-fashioned way, one grows to know its people far more intimately than the Swedes or the Danes.

There is a certain independence in the Norwegian’s character that quickly rebels at being ordered about and commanded by a lordly domineering disposition, and the traveller will find that in Norway, as in all other lands, politeness, which costs but little, accomplishes much; and if you travel through the country with kind words, and the happy disposition to make the best of everything, the natives will give you no cause to complain of their treatment, and you will leave their land with the warmest regard for their kindness and hospitality.

Whoever has the time at his disposal, and the inclination to make a journey through Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, will return much benefited in health by the pure and invigorating sea and mountain air, with a rich store of unfading memory pictures of beautiful waterfalls, valleys with grand rock formations, winding fjords, stupendous glaciers, and a combination of ocean and mountain scenery such as is seen in no other land,—all illumined by days of unending light, and the midnight sunbeams of a sun which has no setting. The added remembrance of the interesting life and customs of the inhabitants of the North and their kindly treatment while sojourning among them, the pleasant memories of the charming city of Stockholm, with its unrivalled surroundings, Copenhagen with its treasury of art, and the historical and legendary souvenirs clustering around the old castles of Denmark, will always prove a source of unfailing enjoyment which neither time nor adversity can take away.