Norway: The Rough Guide, First Edition

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

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!