Lonely Planet Norway 2/E

I'm still patiently waiting for a good Norway Tour Guide to be written. The Eyewitness Book is terrible. But out of a bad lot, perhaps the only one worth mentioning as worthy of taking along in a backpack is the Lonely Planet Norway. This book isn't great; maybe it isn't even very good, but at least it does spend some effort to describe many of the amazing sites Norway has to offer. It's still quite hard for me to imagine why this great country hasn't been covered by a good book. I for one borrowed the following books for my latest trip: Kon Tiki, The Moon is Down, A Collection of Plays by Ibsen, a Munch book, and the Lonely Planet Guide. I left the Eyewitness at home.

Deanna Swaney (along with and Mark Griffith's outstanding mapping and design) have produced the definitive travel guide on Norway.Deanna Swaney's writing is both engaging and descriptive. In my "must have" list, to qualify a guide as "excellent", are easy to read maps. This book has the best maps found in any Norway travel guide. The superb information and recommendations are reliable and though the publication date is 1999 (thus the information is pre '99). Norway is a stable nation with very low inflation and the prices are close to the quotes. "Lonely Planet Norway" has a solid introduction section that covers Norway's history, government, economy, ecology, climate etc. This guide has an informative, practical, travel section and, most important, a reliable and up to date listing of recommendations that Swaney has checked out (lodging, restaurants, entertainment, places to see and things to do). At the start of each section is a regional map, more maps, and a list of highlights or "must see" for that region. Great! Deanna must not be a motorcycle afficionado for there is no mention in her book of motorcycle rental in Norway. I rented a Harley in Trondheim for a week of travel through the Western Fjords, Central Norway and the Trondelag region. Brilliant way to see this glorious country, but, beware the weather is more temperamental than a manic Chihuahua. It can and will go from warm to cold to wet back to sun in the space and distance of one hours travel. My motorcycle rental did include the all-purpose riding gear, I brought my own helmet. A weak area is the intermittent use of email/web site addresses. These are very helpful, especially for hotel quotes and reservations. I am sure this will be addressed when the next edition comes out. This is the best guide out on Norway, my second choice is Norway: The Rough Guide (see my review). If you are heading to Norway, get `Lonely Planet', you will be glad you did. Highly Recommended

I went to Norway in the summers of 2000 and 2001, and both times I brought a Lonely Planet book. I found them to be very informative, and when I went from Oslo-Bergen-Trondheim-Oslo, they were very helpful in finding hostels and places to eat. Overall, it was a good buy. Compared to the Fodor's guide, this one was aimed more to budget travellers (i.e. students).

During my two-week whirlwind driving tour around southern Norway, I used both LP Norway along with Fodor's Norway, and found Lonely Planet to be much more informative and better at capturing the essence of the country. I'm basing my opinion on both this trip and my previous experience living in Stavanger for 3 years as a teenager. This year's journey covered a lot of ground, originating in Stavanger, heading south along the coast through Kristiansand, northeast through Oslo, north through Lillehammer, and west through Lom to Geiranger, and then south through Gudvangen, Stalheim, and Bergen and back to Stavanger. In most regards, this book was pretty much right on the mark.One aspect of the book which bothered me was the fact that it placed too much emphasis on Svalbard, an island archipelago halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, and not enough emphasis on central and southern Norway, where over 98% of the population lives and the bulk of the tourist kroner are spent.