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The Atlas Obscura Guide To Norway

92 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Norway

Updated May 23, 2023

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  1. Aurland
  2. Bergen
  3. Bodo
  4. Flåm
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  8. Longyearbyen
  9. Luster
  10. Oslo
  11. Stavanger
  12. Tromsø

Unusual Attractions in Norway

See All 92 Things To Do in Norway

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Norway

See all 5 Places to Eat in Norway
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Explore Norway

Architectural Oddities 14
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Museums And Collections 8
Nature 8
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Stories About Norway

Lompe,or potato-flour flatbread, pairs well with hot dogs.

How Hot Dogs Became Norway's National Snack

Whether wrapped in flatbread, made with reindeer, or gone gourmet, Norwegians love them.
by Jessica Furseth
The fossegrim might just be the most diabolical violin teacher you’ll ever meet.

This Norwegian Water Spirit Just Wants to Teach You How to Fiddle

But make sure you bring the fossegrim the proper offering—or else.
by Diana Hubbell
Kish and Rogier Jensen work in the kitchen at Isfjord Radio.

The Restaurants at the End of the World

Some chefs seek adventure on distant islands and within far-flung forests.
by Anne Ewbank

This Arctic Ichthyosaur Should Not Exist

A marine reptile fossil from Svalbard challenges ideas about evolution and Earth’s greatest mass extinction.
by Gemma Tarlach
Vidar Haslum (center) has been collecting place names in southeastern Norway for decades. He is shown here in the 1980s with farmer Nils Vinsland (left), who was born 1904. He was "one of many good informants," Haslum says.

Meet the Man Collecting Fading Place Names

What do we lose when we forget about locations like "Troll's Cave" and "Window Claw"?
by Amy Crawford

Podcast: Urnes Stave Church

This intricately carved church is one of Norway’s great treasures of architecture.
by The Podcast Team
The Milky Way and curtain-like auroras fill a clear southern sky off Nugget Point, at the edge of New Zealand’s remote Catlins. While the island nation is too far north to see the aurora australis regularly, aurora-hunters flock to the Nugget Point lighthouse area for its dark skies and unobstructed view off the South Island’s southeastern coast.

Aurora Hunters Capture the Wonder of the Northern (and Southern) Lights

A curated collection of images shows why this natural phenomenon has fascinated and inspired humans for millennia.
by Gemma Tarlach
In a small village in southern Norway, a church wall is filled with thousands of tiny demons—and that's not the oddest thing about the mural.

The Curious Case of Norway’s Disturbing Demon Wall

A respected conservator restoring a centuries-old church mural saw the devil in the details—and created a wholly imagined, diabolical scene.
by Gemma Tarlach

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