CONSEJOS NORUEGA EN INVIERNO, TROMSO SVALBARD

Hello, my name is John and in this video I'm going to give you some tips if you've got any thoughts Travel to Norway, especially in winter, including the Svalbard Islands. He returned recently from a trip I made through northern Norway, specifically For the area of Tromsø, which is something more known, and for Svalbard, which are some islands that are I want to share some tips that I'm sure will help you. Come on, if you're planning on making a trip like this this time of year, yeah. As you know, you can imagine, Norway is one of the most expensive countries there is, If not the most, then, well, it's important to be able to optimize, right? The Commission has The first thing is to be clear which part of the country you want to visit, because Norway is A giant country, then you won't be able to cover it all in a single trip, a no be I know, six months of travel, I don't think that's the case, but yes. No, it is best to visit one or two zones, depending on the weather I'm going to go and explore this whole area, instead of trying to cover it. Because at the end you're going to be in a hurry, and at this time of year, in winter, It's not as easy to move as in other times. We, in our case, had about 12-13 days of travel, and we wanted to focus That's on the part of the Svalbard Islands, which is a place that made us very excited. Visit, and then the area of Tromsø, which is a place also very characteristic, about Everything a visit in winter, in this part of Norway, y traveling in winter takes quite a while The number of people who travel more than at other times of the year due to the state of the roads, no So frequently, for example, of flights, then, well, it's important to have everything This is in account, because, for example, a time of circulation, if in Google Maps says os I know it'll take you an hour to get from point A to point B. I'm gonna be closer to two hours than an hour, so you're gonna have to always Apply a multiplier at the time you say. One of the advantages of Norway is that you don't really have to plan In which you're going to cover a thousand sites that are so special to visit, because In general, everything in Norway is very special. The main thing to visit in Norway is nature, the landscapes, the mountains, the fjords, The glaciers, has a lot of sites that are worth muchísimo la visit, pero I don't have to write down all these sites and go through them and if not, I'm worried because No, I see, no. The best thing is to choose an area that you can cover in the days you're going to be there. And enjoying everything you find without any haste. In the end, it's not like other places on the planet, like Paris, that you know you have You have to visit the Eiffel Tower, you have to visit the Louvre and places like that, Norway is a place Where you can get lost in places that are not for tourists, that you have not I've heard never in my life, that no one ever left, I know, in popular guides and There are still places you'll love. As he said, one of the places we visited at the beginning of the trip was Las Islas. Svalbard, it's a place that made us very excited because it's not one of the places to You start to be more popular or more known, usually people when you talk about others parts of Norway such as Bergen, the Lofoten Islands, Tromso, the sonar Svalbard is usually a place that goes very unnoticed, probably because it's a zone that's very The most isolated of the planet because they remained far north of Norway until a few years ago Years ago, they were not so accessible, but they were islands that used to be basically dedicated to the sea. The main objective of the project is to develop a new methodology for the analysis of the environmental impact of the mining sector. It's tourism, but still not so popular, not so many people come. And also one of the reasons is probably that people tend to think that a site Tan Remote is very inaccessible, but the truth is that it's very easy to get to. There are flights every day with a couple of companies a day today that are Norwegian y SAS y can Moving for example from Tromso, from Oslo, from different points of the country A Svalbard. There are not many, I think there will be two flights a day maximum, but well you have that option And that in addition to airlines, especially Norwegian, it's a low-cost airline. We flew from Oslo to Svalbard and the return trip cost us around I'll give you 100 euros. I suppose it depends on the time of year or the advance I bought the tickets. Flights and such, but good for you to have an idea that it is not going to Greenland, a Antarctica or sites like that, which are remote places on the planet and cost you, for example The Antarctic is worth 5,000 euros to take a cruise to get there and see a by sites. Then this is much more accessible to everyone and if you like this kind of The places are going to be enchanting. Speaking of winter, it's a pretty inhospitable area, no vegetation at all. There are no trees, or sea, it's a tundra, everything is this area above you go a The capital, for example, Longyearbyen, is not really a city. It's a little town with a lot of hostels, some restaurants, some shops. I'm not sure if I can do it. activities that are a past, such as for example going to do what we did nosotros, that was There's a snowmobile for 10-12 hours, a glacier to the east of the island, you can see the snow. I'm also going to see some ghost town, which is Pyramiden, which is a Russian settlement. That was years ago, when they were still working there for the coal extraction. If you were doing this, you could do other excursions, more of walking in the mountains, Meteros en cavernas de hielo, etc., which deserve muchísimo la pena, really if you like This kind of adventures, experiences, this is the best place to do them, all this. Obviously you do it with a guide, because you can't leave the pueblo of Longyearbyen Without a guide, because you need to be armed for the danger of those polar bears, which is said a lot The risk is that there are polar bears and you can't leave the pueblo without a shotgun, And well, it's true, it's true that you can't leave the village of Longyearbyen armed, But well, it's very difficult for you to go see a bear especially near the pueblo, Finally, there are vigilantes who are dedicated to protecting the area, protecting the people and also a Protect the osos, prevent them from approaching the pueblo, hunt them, etc., then It's going to be practically impossible for you to see any of them, because it gives the feeling that you're A step outside the pueblo and you're going to attack seven osos, and no, no, no, no, it's for nothing like that. There are polar bears, there are many, in fact they say there are more polar bears than people, But, well, they're usually scattered around the island looking for food and stuff, so... Very rarely do they get close to the pueblo. But, well, one of the main reasons to visit these islands of Svalbard shouldn't be I'm going to see the polar bears, because there are no specific excursions to see them. Because what they're trying to do is protect them and minimize what the interactions are that might have between humans and polar bears, because it could get to generate a complicated situation In which you have to hunt a bear, you have to kill it and so on, then to avoid all These situations, because there is no type of excursion that is dedicated to this sighting. But, well, if what you're looking for is to do this kind of extreme activities in one of the The most remote places on the planet, it's a perfect place. It's true that it's not one of the cheapest places there is, but he said that the Flights may be economical and so, but it is true that activities are where they are most important. The price of being on these islands is going up. And the accommodations, for example, you can find everything, we stayed in a pension It's about 100 euros a night, but it's not more expensive than in other parts of the country. And the restaurants too, as in the rest of Norway, are quite more expensive than in But good, you can save money by going to the supermarket, buying There's food, there's carrying stuffed animals, etc. So in the end what costs the most to be here are the activities, Because in the end in Longyearbyen, in what is the capital, there is not much to do, You can visit him in an hour, then I won't travel here just to see him. Pueblo, the important thing here is to do the activities. And well, there are activities of all kinds, there are some activities like the ones we did The cost of a single day can be 300 and up to 100 euros, depending on the There are some a little cheaper, and then there are also some They are much more expensive, for example, there are expeditions of 3, 4 or 5 days, which can It's going to cost quietly 3,000, 4,000 euros, so well, it depends on the budget that You have the kind of excursion you want to do. Then it's not economical, the activities we did ourselves, like the snowmobiles, Walking on the mountain, more ice testing, are more economical, but still not too expensive. It costs between 100 and 300, 400 euros a full day's activity. There are other types of activities, such as going to make mushing, which are the sleighs pulled For dogs, going to see the auroras, etc., which can be a bit more expensive Economic because they are shorter activities, then good, depends on what you're looking for, I'll be able to do it here. I wouldn't do this kind of activity, like for example, mushing, sleigh riding. Tirados por perros, or see auroras borealis, no las haría en Svalbard, porque aprovecharía the benefits of the northern lights, and the benefits of the northern lights. The time you'll be here to do activities that are more complicated to do In other places, or they won't have the same experience. Finally the dog sled you can do in the area of Tromso, in any other part of the country, or for example to see auroras borealis, is much better to see in Tromso, Because it's the capital of the world of auroras borealis, it's where you see it best, then It's not worth spending this time and money doing it in Svalbard. We were for example 4 days in Svalbard and we didn't see auroras, in fact we had The sky was pretty cloudy all this time, and in Tromso we stayed for five or six nights. We've been seeing you a couple of days. If we go to the most continental part of the country, in the area of Tromso for example, It's a very good area to see the northern lights, but I don't recommend you hire them. Excursions that are, not if you are going to be alone a couple of days and have no Car for that time, then you can plant it, but really the auroras are visible From any side, it's best to get away from what is the city of Tromso to avoid Everything is light pollution, but nothing that will keep you 20 minutes from The city you'll be able to see perfectly, because are excursions that can cost you 100-150 euros for several hours and the only thing they do is fill a bus With 30-40-50 people, 20 minutes from the city, parked in rest areas By the road and there they dump all the people with the agony that is suddenly everything The world is putting their cameras on to see you not enjoying them the same way, So what I recommend is that you rent a car for several days, you can visit Everything is in the Tromso area and simply when it gets dark you can stop at any point You will see your air calmly and without any kind of haste. I recommend the car too as he said to visit because that, todo el paisaje What can this whole area of Tromso offer you, of fjords, beaches, mountains, everything that You can find out because at the end of Tromso what is the city too is very limited, Obviously it's bigger than Longyearbyen but also in a morning or two. See perfectly, then it is better that you can dedicate several days, rent a You'll be driving around the whole area and you'll almost never meet anyone. And so you don't have to depend on excursions, going with more people, the pressure of time And then you can go visiting the villages and stop halfway wherever you want. Suddenly you see a site that catches your eye. You stop the car, take a couple of pictures, You're going to visit. We were in our car, we stopped at a break because we started We'll see the northern lights, then we'll park, start taking pictures and then we'll go to the beach. A bus appeared that minutes later unloaded a bunch of people, not so much as a shock. We took the car and ran to another place where we were again alone and enjoying - I'm going to take a nap. And also the advantage you're gonna have of having the car is you can go picking up hotels durante el camino in the middle of nature, in the middle of the mountain for example that It'll leave you better situated for the next day besides being surrounded by landscape. As you wake up, as you walk out the door, as you look out the window, The window will show you some incredible views, too can be more economical because They 'll be cheaper than in the middle of the city. You 'll be alone. These points are very easy to see auroras, we stayed the first night. In a hotel in the middle of the mountain that was as good as some bungalows similar to that There was no one, only a family. And as we arrived, they were still there. Aurora borealis, Parcamos, the boy who carried him said look for auroras, In fact, he would warn us in the middle of the night that they were coming, so we would leave. And we could see it from the same, so it's a beastly advantage to have this independence to be able to have your own car. The car itself is not very expensive, it's true that it's not the most economical either, but good It is not more expensive than in other countries of Europe, it is true that this part there is no difference So big, so also why it's worth the money and especially if you go in winter either You need to take the most powerful car there is, you need to take a 4x4 for fear of how the state of the roads is, it's true that the state is mega The roads are not the best, there will be snow, there will be ice, whatever car you drive. The tenants will leave you well prepared for these conditions, we choose A very normal 4x4, it was a Suzuki that was already done with the nails put on the wheels. We didn't have any kind of problem. In addition to the rest of the people drive quite well, not as I know, in countries of the This is why people usually drive super fast, drive like crazy, in Norway people drive Very well, quite respectful, without creating any kind of pressure, for example the people What you usually do is when the car in the back is going faster than you, Instead of having to take a risk to get ahead with the ice on the road, etc., What people do is stop a second in the arc, let the car pass them from behind. They're still so quiet, and that's something that everybody does and in fact we do too. We did it, when the back was coming faster we were going a second to the side, We were so quiet, and vice versa, when they saw we were going faster. If they let us pass, the people have a lot of respect and cooperation. What's on the road? After the places to visit, as he said, the best thing is to have a plan. The points you want to visit, but simply to serve as a guide. I recommend you check my blogs if you want to pick up ideas of sites you can Visit, then look at that, point us in Google Maps the sites you want to see for Make a kind of a route that makes sense, or go to see several points During the day, at the end of this type of road trips are quite de ir en carretera, ir Stop, turn around, stand a little and follow. You can cover several points throughout the day, as long as you have no activity How to climb a mountain, etc., because you can take more time, I recommend you You make such a plan, but then you just enjoy it. What are you looking at? What we did was cover a lot of points and then we went at our own pace, I'm not sure if we're going to see any more points, but we're going to see fewer points. We filled it up, because we had a lot of room to see other sites, but in the end The important thing is that you simply enjoy the place, you'll see a lot of places What an impressive son. It's better that you have a general idea of what the country is, what its nature is, Instead of trying to cover a lot of points and going through that painful stuff I want to see this. Before the day is over, you better take a picture and just... Enjoy everything you visit, because then you'll be The number of days in which you travel is very dependent on the hours of daylight you have, for example, if you travel in winter as We did, we did when we were in the February era, dawned towards the 7 y media, 8 de la mañana y ya started a night towards the 4, 4 y media, 5 era At night, then, well, there are quite a few hours though I won't be able to visit, if you take advantage. Well, we were up early to start at 7: 30 or 8: 00 in the morning. And we could visit everything we could until the hour we left, we too. That's why we wanted to go this time of year, towards the middle of February, because that's when Start to dawn again, because if you go for example in December, January, it's going to be Always, it's going to be constantly night, it's true that it's not a complete darkness Every day, there are a few hours a day when there is light, but no day comes when there is no light. The sun doesn't come out, so I think you better start with the mediados. If you want to visit this area in winter, but you already have enough The light hours are to be used to make the most of the day, rather than to have a clear day. For hours and hours the rest of the day is in complete darkness, I'd only see him traveling. In this time of year, for example, at the end of December, if you are looking forward to visiting All that at Christmas or spend it there at the end of the year, but otherwise, if you're going in January, I think that's why it's best to go from mid-February, and we're out of time. We used to eat during the day, we used to take something with us. To pick up in the car, something that was quick, that won't take us time, to enjoy Well, what's the point of visiting the country in these hours of daylight, and then when it gets dark, From 5 o'clock at night, because we were looking for some restaurant or something to eat, and ya After we rested, we were exhausted, because we always met. Some activity of walking, climbing the mountain, etc., then we used to have quite days I'm going to complete. We in Senja, in the area of Tromso, did a couple of activities, one on our own I was going to make a route by Senja to the Siegla mountain, which is very good, I recommend it Much as in summer as in winter, in summer is a rutilla that can carry you Half an hour, one hour, not much, in winter it's more complicated, especially if you don't go Con raquetas. What is it? I recommend you go to Noruga with crampons mainly, crampons can You can find very cheap ones in any store, such as sports, mountaineering, etc. You'll be doing a great service because you're walking around town. Where the ground is covered with ice, or go to mountain areas where the snow is Very apple-flavored or frozen, they'll be great. And then if you want to go to the mountain where the snow covers more, which is normal, which There are areas with a meter of snow, it's very important that you go with rackets Of snow, but it takes up quite a bit more in the suitcase. You can rent them in hotels, hostels, visitor centres and so on. It's a shame that even if you don't take them with you, you ask for them in these places. We made the mistake of going without snow rackets and it took us a lot of time. If we climbed this peak of Siegla, we'd all be walking on our feet, it would be super. Tired, so you'll suffer more than necessary. And another activity we did was to go for a night out in an ice hotel. This activity is more expensive, it's quite expensive in fact, but in our case we deserved The penalty. We thought it was a super original idea to spend the night in an ice hotel. It was not only this, but it has other associated activities, such as making a route In the forest at night in that area of the mountain where the ice hotel is, do Hogueras in the middle of the snow, that explain a little legends of the area, the culture, The history, drinking a hot chocolate around the fire, then dining on a typical food The area in the cabin where they welcome you, but then you pass by. The night at the ice hotel, which is a hotel that's made 100% of ice, you sleep in ice beds, on a normal mattress and inside a sack, but the whole room It's freezing, it's at minus 5 degrees. It's an experience we've never had before, which I don't know if we'll ever do again, and we felt So original an experience that we wanted to carry it out even if it wasn't the cheapest. Then the next day we also included the musing, which is the sled pulled by dogs. During the night we saw the northern lights, and the next day we were given a typical meal. So you end up doing a few activities within this adventure. Then it's an activity that deserves a lot of the credit, at least for us, it's true It's not the cheapest activity, but it's something super original. Unrepeatable, so if you're really interested in the idea, it's something I really recommend. And on top of that, everything is included, apart from all these activities, also the collection of logs, They'll take you by bus to the place where you're going to sleep, where you're going to do all the things And then they'll take you back the next day. As I have already said, Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world and the That said, I recommend that you live quite what is the supermarket y tal, if you want Cut back on the expenses you might have. We carry embodied from here, from Spain, to be able to make bocatas there, Soaps are quick and easy. It's worth a lot of money to go to a supermarket like this. You can eat the days you are and then you can eat the days you are. A whim of going to some restaurant from time to time, so I can eat and something else. Hot food and something more elaborate, but good, so you get an idea that That a hamburger can cost you 25 euros quietly, a beer 20, a coffee 5, 7, or sea, then they are some precious ones that if you dedicate to make three meals a day In restaurants you'll be more expensive than the rest of the day. And then another important point to comment on is the money part. I recommend that you do not change anything before you leave here and pay Everything with card, ya sea card normal, en contactless llevándolo en el móvil, en el Clock, etc., because there is no problem of accepting a card or not, is that Everything is accepted by card, everything can be paid by card and in fact prefer the I'll pay by card or cash. Actually we had a problem, Alex who accompanied me on the trip, that I leave you His channel here in the description of the video, he for example brought quite a bit of money changed Since Spain had no money, it was difficult to spend it, because in fact the first In the days of travel there were many places where they didn't even accept it. Also it's true that it coincided with the era of COVID, then for matters, well, of hygiene And so, in fact, by 2025 they have the plan to get rid of all the banknotes and All the currencies and all the payments are made by card. And an important point I also wanted to comment on is the subject of clothing, above all If you go in winter it is a very important aspect because in areas like Tromso because there is less 10, minus 15, in areas of Svalbard can reach minus 20, minus 25, minus 30 even, then It is very important that you are well protected as far as clothing is concerned. I'm gonna leave you another video he made, I'm gonna leave you too in the playlist I'll leave you in the description where is all the videos that he made of the trip and I'll also leave you a video where I tell you about the clothes he used you or the clothes he wore He took you on the trip in case you wanted to know something more about it. And nothing more from me, until here are the tips, I hope they have served you Useful if you're planning this trip, if you're going to make it enjoyable muchísimo You'll love it, I can't stop recommending it, for I've spent a lot of time in my country. Favorites in the world and nothing that if you have any doubt leave it in the comments, On social media, on Instagram specifically, because nothing I'm charmed to answer you like this. Nothing that you enjoy and go and if not thank you very much for coming here See you in the next one.