Getting There

By Plane

All transatlantic flights from North America land at Oslo's Fornebu Airport. SAS (tel. 800/221-2350 in the U.S.; www.scandinavian.net) flies nonstop daily from Newark to Oslo. The trip takes about 7 1/2 hours. Most other SAS flights from North America go through Copenhagen. Flying time from Chicago is 11 hours; from Seattle, it's 12 hours, not including the layover in Copenhagen. From New York, Continental (tel. 800/525-0280; www.continental.com) flies 4 days a week in the summer (Thurs-Sun) to Oslo direct. In winter there are New York-to-Oslo flights on Saturday, Sunday, and Thursday.

If you fly to Norway on another airline, you'll be routed through a gateway city in Europe and will sometimes continue on a different airline. British Airways (tel. 800/AIRWAYS in the U.S.; www.britishairways.com), for example, has dozens of daily flights from many North American cities to London, where you can continue to Oslo. Icelandair (tel. 800/223-5500 in the U.S.; www.icelandair.com) can be an excellent choice, with connections through Reykjavik. KLM (tel. 800/225-2525 the U.S.; www.klm.com) serves Oslo through Amsterdam.

For passengers from the U.K., British Airways (tel. 0870/850-9850 in the U.K.) operates at least four daily nonstops to Oslo from London. SAS (tel. 0870/6072-7727 in the U.K.) runs four daily flights from Heathrow to Oslo. Flying time from London to Oslo on any airline is around 2 hours.

Summer (generally June-Sept) is the peak season and the most expensive. Norway's off season is in winter (about Nov 1-Mar 21). Shoulder season is in both spring and fall. In any season, midweek fares (Mon-Thurs) are lowest.

Effective September, 2006, SAS has imposed a maximum weight allowance of 70 pounds per bag. If any piece of baggage exceeds this weight, it must be repacked or sent as cargo.

By Car

If you're driving from the Continent, you must go through Sweden. From Copenhagen, take the E47/55 express highway north to Helsingør and catch the car ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden. From there, the E6 runs to Oslo. From Stockholm, drive across Sweden on E18 to Oslo.

By Ship & Ferry

From Denmark -- The trip from Frederikshavn at the northern port of Jutland in Denmark to Oslo takes 11 hours. Call Stena Line (tel. 96-20-02-00; www.stenaline.com) for general reservations.

From Sweded -- From Strømstad, Sweden, in the summer the daily crossing to Sandefjord, Norway, takes 2 1/2 hours. Bookings can be made through Color Line, Tollbugata 5, N-3210 Sandefjord (tel. 810-00-811; www.colorline.com).

From England -- SeaEurope Holidays, 6801 Lake Worth Rd., Suite 107, Lake Worth, Florida 33467 (tel. 800/533-3755; www.seaeurope.com), is a U.S.-based company that will arrange a variety of seagoing options for you, all before you land in mainland Europe. For example, if you'd like arrangements made for you to sail from Newcastle in England to Bergen in Norway, these trips can be arranged.

By Cruise Ship

Norway's fjords and mountain vistas are among the most spectacular panoramas in the world. Many ship owners and cruise lines offer excursions along the Norwegian coast.

One of the most prominent lines is Cunard (tel. 800/7CUNARD in the U.S. and Canada; www.cunard.com, or tel. 0845-071-0300; www.cunard.co.uk in the U.K.).

Eleven-day cruises are offered on the new Cunard flagship, Queen Mary 2 (from $1,899/£967 in summer). This new vessel re-creates the grandeur of those old queen liners, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, but on a larger, more modern scale. The 150,000-ton ship carries a total of 2,620 passengers.

Departing from Southampton, England, the ship calls at Oslo and Bergen and cruises the North Sea. En route it also stops at the most frequently visited fjords, including the Eidfjord. Prices for the 5-day cruise (starting at $999/£509 in summer) include round-trip airfare to London on British Airways from 79 gateway cities throughout the world.

In its tour of Baltic capitals, Norwegian Cruise Line (tel. 866/234-0292; ncl.com) stops at Helsinki, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, but, ironically, doesn't go as far as Norway itself.