© Via Hansa & Borealis
The Norwegian government has started gradually to lift travel restrictions. EEA nationals, people from other countries who reside in the EEA and people who live in the UK and Switzerland are now able to enter Norway. Entry restrictions will also be lifted for people who live in purple countries, i.e., countries outside the EEA/Schengen area which the Norwegian authorities have determined can have lighter restrictions.
Nordic hotel infrastructure is moving fast towards sustainability. Recently is was announced that the Svart hotel, located within the Arctic Circle on the edge of Norway's Holandsfjord at the base of the Svartisen glacier, will be the world’s first energy-positive hotel.
Oslo’s New Opera House, beautifully constructed in glass and white granite and located by the waterfront, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a special performance by thousands of singers from all over Norway gathered to break the Largest Choir world record with a rendition of Slavekoret (Va pensiero) from Verdi’s opera Nabucco.
According to the magazine Lonely Planet, Northern Norway will "blow your mind" The famous travel guide has named the region one of the world's top ten regions to visit in 2015. "Northern Norway (Nord-Norge) will blow your mind with its heartbreakingly beautiful landscapes of glaciers and fjord-riven mountains, all bathed in crystal-clear light.
Stavanger invites 23-26 July 2014 to Scandinavia's largest food festival it’s a popular event, drawing some 250,000 visitors every year. Offering an arena for consumers and food producers to meet, the festival is a great place to discover niche products, taste local ingredients and get the lowdown on the latest culinary trends.
The downtown waterfront area in Oslo is reborn as a neighborhood blending museums, restaurants and chic urban living. The New York Times described Oslo as "ready to shine" including it on their list of top destinations of 2013. One of the reasons is definitely the new art island of Tjuvholmen, with Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art as the main focus point.
The three Norwegian restaurants that won stars in the prestigious Michelin Guide last year have won them again in the guide’s latest edition. Maaemo, the innovative Oslo restaurant that won two stars last year, kept both of them.
Norway’s only restaurant with two Michelin stars, Maaemo, has a very urban location at the top of these stairs in Oslo’s Grønland district, right next to the railroad tracks leading into Oslo’s central station.
Every designer-friendly city needs a boutique hotel. That's where The Thief comes in. The 120-room property opened its doors in downtown Oslo, Norway, near the waterfront and ground central for an urban-renewal project that has all of Scandinavia talking.
Curious about the name? It's actually rooted in history. During the 18th century in Oslo criminals were brought to the very island (then called "Thief Island") that the hotel now rests on, Tjuvholmen, now closer classified as a peninsula. Just steps from the hotel and in this up-and-coming area are car-free streets, art galleries, bars, cafes, restaurants, and eclectic shops—all the goods for an artsy stay.