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Hi, I’m Monolith.
From July 29 to August 5, 2025, I went on an 8-day solo trip to Norway.
During those eight days, I was shocked by the prices, overwhelmed by the nature, and impressed again and again by the overall quality of life.
By the time I came home, I had completely fallen in love with Norway.
This article is a casual travel journal of that trip.
For practical information that may help with planning a trip to Norway, I’m also putting together a separate guide article.
- Purpose of the Trip: To Experience Norway’s Standard of Living Firsthand
- Day 1: Taking It Easy = Not Reaching Oslo in One Day
- Day 2 in Oslo: Eating Out Was So Expensive I Reached a State of Acceptance
- Day 3 in Oslo: At Granit, I Realized, “We Can’t Compete”
- Day 4 in Bergen: Affordable and Delicious Fish Soup
- Day 5: Sognefjord and a Sense of Awe
- Day 6: The Flåm Railway, and the Civil Engineer in Me Thought, “I Would Hate This Project”
- Day 7 in Oslo: I Meant to Stop By Briefly, Then Stayed at the Astrup Fearnley Museum Much Longer Than Expected
- Day 8: The Journey Home — 8,000 km Is Far
- Final Thoughts: The Expressions on People’s Faces in Norway
- Related Articles About My Norway Solo Trip
- Related Books : Lonely Planet Norway
Purpose of the Trip: To Experience Norway’s Standard of Living Firsthand
The main purpose of this trip was simple:
to experience Norway’s standard of living firsthand.
My secondary goals were:
- to find artworks I truly liked in museums
- to see the fjords
- to explore good coffee shops
Day 1: Taking It Easy = Not Reaching Oslo in One Day
I arrived at Fukuoka Airport at 8:00 a.m., and my flight departed at 10:00 a.m.
After transferring in Shanghai, I arrived in London at 6:30 p.m. local time.
Instead of forcing myself all the way to Oslo that same day, I decided to spend one night in London and rest. Part of the reason was that there simply wasn’t a convenient flight from Fukuoka, but it also made me realize that if you don’t want to push yourself too hard, you really can’t get to Oslo in one day from Fukuoka.
Norway is far.
Even though it was my first time in the UK, I felt almost none of that “I’m finally here!” excitement.
I took a bus to the hotel near the airport. It was one of those iconic London double-decker buses I had admired as a child. But because I was so mentally stuck in “London is just a stopover,” I completely forgot to go upstairs and ended up treating it as nothing more than transportation.
A victim of my “take it easy” policy.
I arrived at the hotel around 7:30 p.m., and the moment I got there, exhaustion hit me all at once. Back in Japan, it was already around 4:00 a.m.
Honestly, it was just a place to sleep.
I resisted the urge to think, “Since I’m in London, maybe I should go out and do something,” because I needed to wake up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning. So I went to bed at 8:30 p.m.
All for the sake of enjoying Norway to the fullest. No overdoing it.
And with that, Day 1 was over.
Day 2 in Oslo: Eating Out Was So Expensive I Reached a State of Acceptance
I arrived at Oslo Airport at 10:00 a.m.
It was chilly. A long-sleeve shirt and a light hoodie felt just right.
From the airport, I took the Vy train into the city.
The ticket system used a QR code purchased in advance, and there were no ticket gates at the station. Ticket checks seemed only occasional.
Visually.
I was honestly a little surprised that such a system worked so smoothly.
It felt like the kind of thing that only works in a country that is both wealthy and low in population density.
When I arrived at Oslo Central Station and stepped out into the plaza, I finally had that moment of:
“Whoa. I’m really here!”
First, I headed to my accommodation.
It was a room in an apartment, which felt like a good way to get even a faint sense of everyday life in Norway.
After dropping off my luggage, I set out to explore Oslo.
First priority: food.
I went to a bakery recommended by my host:
Baker Hansen Wessels gate
The inside was incredibly stylish.
Too stylish.
I picked three items and ate two of them in the shop.
The total came to 180 NOK.
That’s about 2,500 yen.
2,500 yen for three pieces of bread!!!
The price made me shrink a little inside, but after the first bite, I had to admit: it was good. Really good.
The flavor and aroma were so layered and pleasant that it didn’t feel like “just bread.” It made me want to slow down and savor each bite.
What a relief.
Maybe it’s not just expensive… maybe it’s actually good.
I then walked to the National Museum in Oslo.
On the way, I passed the Royal Palace and the Nobel Peace Center, but I wasn’t especially interested, so I just kept walking.
My favorite work there was this one:
I liked it so much that I stared at it for about 30 minutes.
Among Munch’s works, my favorite was:
There were many sculptures and pieces of furniture on display as well, and I felt a kind of continuity between Nordic design and historical painting.
After leaving the museum, I wandered around the harbor area.
The temperature was around 20°C, comfortable and pleasant, with a soft sea breeze.
People walking through the square, people sitting on benches, people working at stalls—
I don’t know how to put it exactly, but everyone looked fulfilled.
As if their hearts were full.
I found myself thinking:
Can a place really be this happy?
The museum was wonderful, but what left the strongest impression on me was the expressions on people’s faces in the harbor.
For dinner, I went to Mathallen Oslo and had sautéed reindeer.
The price?
About 8,500 yen.
…At that point, I had nothing left to say.
But it was genuinely delicious.
The way the meat was cooked, the choice of sides, the sauce—everything felt carefully considered.
Maybe it’s more accurate not to say, “The prices are high,” but rather, “The quality of life is high.”
In any case, the food was so good that I decided not to think too hard about the money.
And that was the end of Day 2.
Day 3 in Oslo: At Granit, I Realized, “We Can’t Compete”
In the morning, I visited Tim Wendelboe, the café of a world barista champion.
When I ordered the tasting set, the owner himself served it and explained everything in fluent, careful English.
I probably understood about one-third of it.
Still, the coffee was excellent.
With lightly roasted coffee, I often find that unpleasant acidity appears as it cools—but not here. It stayed delicious to the very end.
Also, the water was absurdly good.
After the coffee, when I drank some water, it actually tasted sweet.
Once properly caffeinated, I headed to the Munch Museum.
I had originally planned to use a shared bike, but the streets were simply too beautiful, so I decided to walk instead.
At the Munch Museum,
the area around The Scream was packed with people.
What really stayed with me, though, was Munch’s style itself—the way every person in the painting seemed to radiate some kind of aura.
I realized I liked his work more than I expected.
That said, my favorite piece in the museum was actually not by Munch:
For lunch, I went to Dougs Hamburger, near the museum.
I had a set with a burger, fries with pickles and Parmigiano, and a drink.
Delicious.
The beef was juicy, the bacon was astonishingly fragrant and flavorful, and even the fries were excellent—the sweet and spicy chili sauce and the acidity of the pickles worked perfectly together.
But it cost around 5,000 yen.
Expensive.
And yet, I didn’t feel ripped off.
The quality was obviously there.
After lunch, I walked to Ekebergparken, a sculpture park filled with artworks. Oslo has many parks like this, and many of them are free.
As I walked uphill, a spotless tram glided past beside me in silence.
A railway running on a slope like this?
That’s quietly impressive.
Again and again, Norway’s wealth and quality revealed themselves in small details.
My favorite sculpture in the park was Chloé.
It plays with human perception and leaves the viewer pleasantly confused.
After that, I headed to Grünerløkka, an area full of Nordic design shops.
I visited several interior and lifestyle stores, and all I could think was:
This is on another level.
I can’t explain it properly.
But the difference was obvious.
The shop I liked most was Granit, a Swedish brand with a minimalist atmosphere somewhat similar to MUJI.
But the balance between softness and austerity was so refined that it completely surpassed mere simplicity.
I had to admit it:
We can’t compete.
That made me understand exactly why the phrase “Nordic design” exists in the first place.
Day 4 in Bergen: Affordable and Delicious Fish Soup
I left at 6:00 a.m.
It’s just a one-hour flight from Oslo to Bergen.
From the airport, I took the light rail into the city.
Even the scenery from the train was beautiful.
What struck me was how spotless every station looked. They all felt almost brand new.
There was a quiet sense of abundance in that.
After dropping off my luggage at the hotel, I went for an early lunch.
I had fish soup at:
Hagelin sisters Fish Soup
This traditional Norwegian fish soup cost about 3,400 yen including a drink.
The soup was rich and thick, almost like a stew, with an intense depth of flavor from the fish.
It was amazing.
The bread that came with it was also, of course, excellent.
At that moment, something clicked for me.
Maybe in Norway, eating out isn’t something casual like, “Let’s just grab something instead of cooking.”
Maybe going out to eat is something people do when they are willing to spend proper time and money.
And maybe that’s why it costs what it does.
After lunch, I went to Kaffemisjonen for coffee and dessert.
The menu was only in Norwegian, but that’s exactly the kind of thing generative AI can handle now—it can even suggest what to order.
Technology is wonderful.
Then I took the funicular up Mount Fløyen.
Bergen is a harbor city with very little flat land before the mountains begin. It reminded me a little of Kobe and Sasebo.
The view from the top was beautiful.
After coming back down, I wandered through the residential streets.
Too beautiful.
At some point, I started to feel visually overwhelmed because literally everything I looked at was beautiful.
Then I visited Bryggen, the UNESCO World Heritage area where rows of colorful wooden buildings line the harbor.
I liked that.
There were also countless shops selling postcards and paintings.
Perfect.
To finish the day, I sat on a bench by the harbor and did nothing for a while.
This city feels like it has cast some kind of guaranteed-hit spell called “happiness.”
I wouldn’t say I was worn out before arriving, but in Bergen I felt my mind quietly settling into place.
If someone truly exhausted came here, I feel like they might be purified out of existence.
Day 5: Sognefjord and a Sense of Awe
Today was both a sightseeing day and a travel day.
From Bergen, I took trains and buses to Gudvangen.
The scenery along the way was beautiful the entire time.
After arriving, I had a bit of time before departure, so I stopped at a café.
I had a salmon sandwich for about 3,500 yen.
And once again, it was absurdly good.
The smoked salmon inside was thick and packed with flavor.
It felt as though this country simply takes high quality for granted.
Around noon, I boarded the Sognefjord cruise to Flåm, a journey of about two hours.
The sea, the mountains, the sky.
I had seen photos before, of course—but the real thing was completely different.
It wasn’t exactly “moving” in the sentimental sense.
It was more like a deep, physical trembling somewhere in the back of my mind.
So this is what people mean by awe.
It wasn’t just that nature was beautiful.
It was that nature made me feel that I could never possibly overcome it.
Like:
I am so small.
I stared out at the scenery for the full two hours and never got tired of it.
When I arrived in Flåm, it felt like no time had passed at all.
That night I stayed at Flam Camping og Vandrarheim, in an apartment-style building on the campground site.
For dinner, I went to:
The Garden – Smash Burgers & Tacos
I had a sausage sandwich for around 3,500 yen.
The bread was soft brioche, the sausage felt house-made and full of character, and it was absolutely delicious.
At that point, I had completely stopped caring about the prices.
Later, I sat and read on a grassy area near the shore.
People all around me were outside, relaxing.
Everything was quiet, calm, and full.
The fjord had really been something special.
Day 6: The Flåm Railway, and the Civil Engineer in Me Thought, “I Would Hate This Project”
Today I headed back toward Oslo by train.
From Flåm to Myrdal, I took the famous Flåm Railway, one of Norway’s best-known scenic railways.
The train climbs through the fjord valley, passing through tunnels, running along cliffs, and revealing one beautiful view after another.
As a ride, it was excellent.
But as a civil engineer, I couldn’t stop thinking about something else.
You built a railway through this terrain?
Would I want to work on a project like this?
Absolutely not.
It reminded me of the construction of Kurobe Dam in Japan.
The scenery was breathtaking, but behind it I could sense hardship and human obsession.
The day after being overwhelmed by nature and made to feel how powerless humans are, I found myself looking at this railway—seemingly forced through the mountains—and feeling the opposite:
the trace of human beings refusing to surrender to nature.
There was something rough, stubborn, and admirable about it.
The ride to Myrdal took only an hour.
Too short.
I wanted to stay on longer.
From there, it was another five hours to Oslo.
And then came one of those small but annoying travel incidents.
Someone was sitting in the window seat I had reserved.
When I asked, they said they wanted to sit next to their girlfriend.
For some reason, I accepted that at first and moved to the aisle seat.
But about an hour later, I came to my senses.
Why am I the one giving this up? I reserved the window seat because I wanted to enjoy the view.
So I asked for my seat back.
They looked annoyed.
Despite having absolutely no claim to it.
I was irritated not only by their arrogance, but also by the fact that I had initially given in.
Humans can be grand and petty at the same time.
夕方にオスロ到着。
After arriving, I stopped by the National Library of Norway.
The interior felt like a work of spatial art in itself. It was well worth visiting even as a tourist.
For dinner, I had fish and chips at Fiskeriet Youngstorget.ンドチップスをいただきました。
And once again, it was unbelievably good.
The crispy coating, the white fish itself, even the fries underneath—it all tasted incredible.
It was the kind of meal that makes you think:
I may never have fish and chips this good again.
Awe, irritation, all of it—
in the end, none of it could compete with really good food.
Day 7 in Oslo: I Meant to Stop By Briefly, Then Stayed at the Astrup Fearnley Museum Much Longer Than Expected
Since my flight from Oslo was in the evening, this was effectively my last day.
I planned to spend it visiting coffee shops, buying souvenirs, and finishing at a museum.
First stop: Hakone Coffee.
It was quiet, careful, and thoughtful—just like the cup they served.
This trip had begun with coffee, and now it would end with coffee too.
For souvenirs, I went back to Grünerløkka.
And for the first time on the trip, I tried an electric scooter.
Starting off while adjusting to right-hand traffic was nerve-racking.
There was a certain thrill in speeding through an unfamiliar city, but I quickly realized that it left no room to actually enjoy the streets.
For sightseeing, walking is still best.
After shopping, I stopped at my second coffee shop of the day:
Supreme Roastworks
Delicious.
Finally, I went to the Astrup Fearnley Museum, a contemporary art museum.
My favorite works there were:
There were more works I liked than I had expected, and before I knew it, I had stayed much longer than planned.
It wasn’t flashy, but it lingered in the mind.
At 2:00 p.m., I left central Oslo.
At 5:30 p.m., I left Norway.
As I looked down from the plane, I thought again of what had stayed with me:
quality, overwhelming nature, human determination, and quiet happiness.
It was not a flashy trip.
But it was one that stayed with me deeply.
Day 8: The Journey Home — 8,000 km Is Far
The return route was:
Oslo → London → Shanghai → Fukuoka
About 20 hours in total.
A distance of roughly 8,000 km.
If you think about the era before airplanes, covering that distance in 20 hours is basically a miracle.
But when you are the one sitting on the flights, 20 hours still feels very long.
8,000 km is far.
I arrived at Fukuoka Airport at 9:00 p.m.
Hot.
I’m back in reality.
Alright then—back to work tomorrow.
Final Thoughts: The Expressions on People’s Faces in Norway
What left the deepest impression on me was not the scenery or even the food.
It was the expressions on people’s faces.
After enduring the harsh winter, and then living through a summer where it stays bright until 10:00 p.m., there must be a real sense of release in the air.
A feeling of:
“We made it through winter.”
People looked excited, cheerful, content, fulfilled.
And somehow, seeing that made me feel happy too.
Summer in Norway felt like a country that was quiet, fulfilled, and just a little enviable.
I definitely want to go back.
Related Articles About My Norway Solo Trip
Cafés I’m Glad I Visited in Norway (coming soon) Recommended
Restaurants in Norway (coming soon)
