World Heritage
Urnes Stave Church
Church in Vestland, Norway
A stave church of the 12th century at Ornes, on the Lustrafjorden, in Luster Municipality, Vestland county, Norway.
Photo: Superbass, CC BY-SA 4.0
NO · Curated travel guide
Norway: 10 places worth the journey
Urnes Stave Church, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Galdhøpiggen and 7 more — what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.
- Places
- 10
- World Heritage
- 1
- Language
- Norwegian
- Currency
- NOK
What to see in Norway
Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Norway and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets. One is on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
World Heritage
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Globally accessible seed bank on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway
A secure backup store for the world's crop diversity on Spitsbergen, a Norwegian island in the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. It keeps duplicate seeds, held in gene banks around the world, for the long term.
Photo: Michael Major for Crop Trust, CC BY-SA 2.0
Galdhøpiggen
Mountain in Innlandet, Norway
Rising 2,469-metre-tall (8,100 ft) in Lom Municipality, Innlandet county: the tallest mountain not only of Norway but of all Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
Photo: Jojo, Public domain
Beerenberg
Volcano on Jan Mayen island
A stratovolcano towering over the northeastern end of Jan Mayen, a Norwegian island. It is 2,277 m (7,470 ft) high, the only active volcano in Norway, and the most northerly active volcano above sea level on Earth.
Photo: Dreizung, CC BY-SA 3.0
Oslo Opera House
National opera theatre in Norway
Home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and the country's national opera house, standing where the Oslofjord ends, in Bjørvika, a neighbourhood in the centre of Oslo.
Photo: Rafał Konieczny, CC BY-SA 4.0
Jostedal Glacier
Largest glacier in continental Europe
In Norwegian Jostedalsbreen, continental Europe's largest glacier, in Vestland county in Western Norway.
Photo: G.Lanting, CC BY 3.0
Preikestolen
Cliff and tourist attraction in Norway
Also spelled Prekestolen, a steep cliff rising 604 metres (1,982 ft) over Lysefjorden, and a tourist sight in Strand Municipality, Rogaland county, Norway.
Photo: Stefan Krause, Germany, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Munch Museum
Art museum in Oslo, Norway
Marketed since 2020 as MUNCH, an art museum in Bjørvika, Oslo, Norway, devoted to the life and work of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.
Photo: Premeditated, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Lærdal Tunnel
World's longest highway tunnel
A road tunnel 24.51-kilometre-long (15.23 mi) between Aurland and Lærdal municipalities in Vestland county, Norway; Bergen lies approximately 117 kilometres (73 mi) from its southwest end, in that direction. Carrying two lanes of European Route E16, it was the last link in the main road that now lets cars travel between Bergen and Oslo without ferries or hard mountain crossings in winter.
Photo: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0
Borgund Stave Church
Church in Vestland, Norway
A former parish church, first Catholic and then of the Church of Norway, in Lærdal Municipality, Vestland county, Norway. Built around 1200 as Borgund's village church, it belonged to Lærdal parish until 1868, when its religious role passed to a "new" Borgund Church built close by.
Photo: mendhak, CC BY-SA 2.0
About Norway
Officially the Kingdom of Norway, a Nordic country of Northern Europe taking in the western and northernmost parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the Svalbard archipelago. Bouvet Island, in the Subantarctic, is a dependency rather than part of the Kingdom, and Norway also claims two Antarctic territories, Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island. It has approximately 5.6 million people and covers 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi).
Officially The Kingdom of Norway. Known locally as Norge.
Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.
Questions travellers ask
What is worth seeing in Norway?
This guide lists 10: Urnes Stave Church, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Galdhøpiggen and Beerenberg and others. Urnes Stave Church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
How were these places chosen?
By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Norway that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.
Which places here are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
1 of the 10 in this guide: Urnes Stave Church. That is not the full count for Norway, only the listed sites that made this guide.
What language is spoken in Norway, and what currency?
Norwegian. The currency is NOK.
How do I get mobile data in Norway?
A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $1.81 for 2GB per day. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.
Which networks would my phone use in Norway?
Telia and Telenor. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.
One practical note: staying online
Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to Telia and Telenor once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.
See 11 Computatus eSIM plans for Norway from $1.81
| Plan | Data | Valid | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2GB per day Cheapest | 2 GB | 1 day | $1.81 | Get it → |
| 2GB per day | 2 GB | 1 day | $2.15 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 15 days | 3 GB | 15 days | $2.69 | Get it → |
| 3GB for 30 days | 3 GB | 30 days | $2.86 | Get it → |
| 3GB per day | 3 GB | 1 day | $3.04 | Get it → |
| 5GB per day | 5 GB | 1 day | $3.67 | Get it → |
No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.
Telia 5GTelenor 5G
A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.