If you are planning your next trip in the Norwegian fjords, this post may interest you :). We are providing a lot of details on the costs of our total road trip and described our key expenses categories. It should help you to plan your future trip by giving you an overview of how much it will cost you.
In total, we stayed 6 days in Norway in summer 2019. Some travellers skip Scandinavian countries because of how expensive it is. Let’s be clear it is true that Norway is not a budget destination. Even if you are careful with how you spend your money, the total cost of the trip will be quite expensive compared to some other of your trips. We travelled in Iceland the year before so we get used to the expensive prices in Nordic countries. But we also knew that we could do some savings with the food expenses.
It would be a pity to skip Norway due to the higher prices compared with some other European countries. In short, Norway is so amazingly beautiful and majestic that it was worth spending more money for this trip that for some of our other ones.
In this post, we are telling you everything about our budget. All of the expenses are detailed below for both of us.
Table of Contents
Our budget at a glance
I detailed below a lot of information regarding our budget. Just for information, we cooked almost all our diners and breakfasts. Hence, we bought the majority of our food from the supermarket. On the opposite, we chose to sleep in confortable cabins.
The local currency is the Norwegian krone – NOK. The rate was about £1 = 11NOK; €1 = 10 NOK; $1 = 9NOK as of end of August 2019.
Our total budget was £1,600 = 17,600 NOK for 6 days for the two of us. In an average it was about 110 GBP = 1220 NOK = 122 EUR = 135 USD / day / person without the cost of our European flight.
See the detail of our expenses by categories:
Transport expenses – 9,625 NOK (£875)
The transport accounted for 55% of our full budget, so it means more than half of our total budget. But it was expected as it is a road trip! And without any doubt the best way to enjoy your trip in Norway is by car. You can stop whenever you want and see some cool waterfalls along the way, enjoy drive on tiny scenic road. But you have to be prepared, renting a car in Norway is expensive!
Flights and car rental
2,970 NOK (£270) – European flights from London to Bergen for both of us. We flew with Wizz Air, which is a low cost company.
3,900 NOK (£355) – Car rental. Alexis did some long searches to compare the prices between the different rental companies. Nevertheless, we suggest not to limit you search to the price. For example, it is also important to consider the feedback from other customers and to check what kind of insurance is included and can be purchased (e.g. tyres, windscreen and glass etc). Finally we booked it with Sixt.
880 NOK (£80) – Fuel. We drove about 650 kilometres during this trip. See our post about with our itinerary for our road trip.
Tolls and ferries
880 NOK (£80) – Other transportations, it means essentially ferries. The average cost of a ferry is between 110 NOK to 165 NOK. You can’t avoid them as the ferry are often the only option. It can also save you more than half day driving by using this shortcut as it shortens the distance. One of the main question you usually have on the ferry, should I book them. The answer is no, in fact usually you can’t. We suggest to try to arrive 10 to 15 minutes before the ferry leaves to ensure you get a spot on the ferry. You usually pay during the journey. Someone will wave you onto the ferry and let you know exactly where to park.
990 NOK (£90) – Tolls. We didn’t expect to see so many tolls. But during your trip in Norway you will likely see a couple of them, especially at the end of the tunnels. There is a camera, which takes a photo of your license plate automatically. Sometimes there is a sign at the entrance of the tunnel with the prices or sometimes it is just a surprise that you discover at the end. So if you are renting a car you will receive an extra bill a few weeks after the check out. This happens automatically, so you don’t even need to slow down as you pass under the toll cameras.
Accommodation expenses – 4,465 NOK (£405)
The accommodation accounted for 25% of our full budget.
Of course the prices for hotel really depend on location but also if you are travelling on a peak season or not. Not surprisingly the most expensive accommodation was in Bergen and cost about 1,100 NOK. Otherwise during our fjord expedition, each night cost on average about 660 NOK. If you want to limit your budget but you don’t want to camp. There are alternatives options with simple wooden cabins. We booked the majority of our nights with Airbnb. If you are travelling in summer, we really recommend that you book your different nights at least 2 months in advance.
Food expenses – 3,520 NOK (£320)
The food accounted for 20% of our full budget.
Food is quite expensive in Norway, especially at the restaurants. However, as mentioned we were willing to comprise a little on our confort. So we bought the majority of our food in the supermarket and prepared our own breakfast and diners. But it was pretty cool because we rented several cottages with everything you need to cook basic meals but enjoying nice view from the terrace :). We also stopped almost every day at a coffee shop just to enjoy some pastries and hot chocolate, tea or latte ;).
Buns Brunost – brown cheese Whale burger
Note – you don’t really need cash in Norway as you can pay pretty much always with your card. We always withdraw money when we arrive in a country but it is just a precaution and essentially to get some local banknotes and coins :).
Like it? Pin it 🙂
