Language and society
Culture
Dialects, holidays, food and working life – what you need to know to understand Norwegians, not just their grammar.
Traditions, holidays and leisure
Public holidays and time off in Norway: red days, fellesferie and holiday pay
Norwegians call public holidays «røde dager», red days, because they are printed in red in the calendar. There are only twelve of them besides ordinary Sundays, but they move from year to year, close almost every shop and shape how people plan the whole year. Here is how it works – from Easter maths to the three weeks in July when half the country is at the cabin.
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The Norwegian year month by month: from dark January to New Year fireworks
Norway runs on a seasonal rhythm that nobody explains to you. One week the office is empty because of winter break, the next everyone talks about crab or chanterelles. Here is the year as Norwegians live it – with dates, food and things you can join in.
Read the article →Skiing for beginners: cross-country, downhill and how to get started
You don't have to grow up in Norway to enjoy the winter here, but your first season goes much better with a plan. Here's which kind of skiing to choose, what gear you need, how to get it cheaply, where to start and how to behave in the tracks.
Read the article →Hiking in Norway: a practical guide from planning to the cabin
Norway's trails are free, well marked and quiet once you leave the famous viewpoints. What catches newcomers out is rarely fitness but planning: distances that look short on the map, weather that turns within an hour, and cabin rules nobody explains. Here is what experienced hikers do before and during a trip.
Read the article →Free time in Norway: cabins, knitting, fishing and club life
Ask a Norwegian what they did at the weekend and the answer is rarely «nothing». It's the cabin, a knitting project, choir practice or a dugnad at the kindergarten. Free time here is organised around clubs and associations, and that's good news for you: joining one is the quickest way to make friends and speak Norwegian every week.
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Holidays in Norway: 17 May, Christmas, Easter and Midsummer
If you live in Norway for a year, you will go through four big celebrations. Each has its own food, its own vocabulary and a few unwritten rules. Here is what you need to know to keep up – and to say the right thing at the right time.
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Everyday Norwegian food: from brown cheese to Taco Friday
Norwegian food is not famous for being exciting, but it says a lot about the country: a simple lunch, plenty of fish and lamb, and a few habits that surprise almost everyone who moves here. Here is what you will actually eat – and how to shop and order in Norwegian.
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Friluftsliv: the right to roam, DNT cabins and mountain sense
Friluftsliv means spending time outdoors in nature, without it having to be sport. A Sunday walk in the woods counts just as much as a week in the mountains. For Norwegians it is part of everyday life, and it is easier to get to know people on a hike than in a meeting room.
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The Sámi and Northern Norway: language, culture and Arctic light
Norway is not just one people. The Sámi lived in the north long before there were borders between Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. If you live in Norway, you will meet Sámi culture on road signs, in school books and on 6 February. Here are the basics – and a few words you can use.
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Sport in Norway
Sport is one of the easiest ways to get to know Norwegians. You don't have to be good at it. You just have to show up, and ideally know a little about cross-country skiing before you end up in a lunchroom debate in February.
Read the article →Everyday life and society
Small talk in Norwegian: weather, cabins and ‘takk for sist’
Norwegians have a reputation for being quiet, but that is only half true. They are happy to chat – just not with strangers on the bus. Here are the topics, phrases and unwritten rules that make it easier to get a conversation going.
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Norway's regions, counties and cities
Norway is a long country. Driving from Lindesnes in the south to the North Cape is roughly the same distance as going from Oslo to Rome. Here is a practical overview of the regions, the counties, the biggest cities and why the weather in Bergen and Tromsø has so little in common.
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A short history of Norway
Norway has been fully independent for just over a hundred years, but its history goes back much further. Learn a handful of dates – 1814, 1905, 1940 and 1969 – and you will suddenly understand why 17 May is celebrated the way it is, and why Norwegians talk about the oil fund over dinner.
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NAV, healthcare and tax: what you need to know
The Norwegian welfare system works well, but it assumes you are registered correctly and know where to turn. Here are the main offices, numbers and words, so you do not have to learn them on the day you are lying with a fever or your first payslip arrives without a tax card.
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Everyday life in Norway: housing, prices and winter
Your first months in Norway are mostly about practical things: finding somewhere to live, getting BankID, working out why the beer disappears from supermarket shelves at eight o'clock, and getting through your first dark winter. Here is the advice I wish someone had given me.
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Kindergarten and school in Norway
If you move to Norway with children, a big part of your new life will happen around the barnehage and the school gate. The system is simple once you see how it works, but it comes with plenty of unwritten rules. This is what I wish someone had told me in my first year.
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Art, literature and music
Norway is a small country with a surprising number of names the whole world knows. You don't need to read Ibsen to live here, but it helps to know who people are talking about. And some of the best Norwegian textbooks are actually TV series.
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Everyday etiquette in Norway
Nobody hands you a list of unwritten rules when you move to Norway. People are too polite to tell you, so you only notice it in the atmosphere. Here are the rules I've learned, some of them the hard way.
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Dating and relationships in Norway: from the first coffee to samboer
Norwegians have a reputation for being shy, and it is often true – right up until they get to know you. Here is a practical guide to how people meet, what a date actually is, who pays, and why so many couples live together without getting married.
Read the article →Language and exams
Norwegian dialects: why everyone speaks differently
Ask five Norwegians how they say ‘I’ and you may get five answers. Norway has two written standards but no official spoken one, and people use their dialect everywhere: at the bank, in Parliament and on the evening news.
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Bokmål and Nynorsk: two written languages in one country
At Bergen airport the sign says ‘Utgang’ (exit), the same in both standards – but on the bus into town you may read ‘Neste haldeplass’ instead of ‘Neste holdeplass’. Norway has two official written standards of Norwegian, and the law treats them as equal.
Read the article →Working life and business
Working life in Norway: packed lunch, July holidays and a flat structure
Your first working day in Norway can feel strange: the boss is called Kari, lunch is over in half an hour, and at four o’clock the office is empty. Here is what you need to know about Norwegian work culture – and the phrases that make everyday life easier.
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Office culture in Norway: how an ordinary workday really works
Nobody says «Mr Director», the boss queues in the canteen, and at 15:45 the office starts to empty. Norwegian office culture looks relaxed, but it runs on a lot of unwritten rules. Here are the ones that matter, from the meeting room to the Friday beer.
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Business in Norway: big companies, social partnership and business culture
Norway is a small country with a few very large companies, strong unions and a state that owns a lot. If you are going to work for, sell to or partner with Norwegians, it helps to understand how the economy fits together, and why a Norwegian «yes» is worth a great deal.
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Job hunting in Norway: from job ad to employment contract
Many people send a hundred applications and get two replies. It is rarely because they lack skills, but because they apply the wrong way. Here is how Norwegian employers actually read CVs, run interviews and write contracts.
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Starting your own business in Norway: ENK, AS and the paperwork you need
A great many immigrants in Norway run their own businesses: cleaning firms, carpentry companies, hair salons, delivery vans or restaurants. Registering a company takes only a few minutes online. The hard part is everything that comes after: tax, VAT, accounting and the rules for your particular industry.
Read the article →Norway in numbers
Norway's economy explained: oil, the krone, interest rates and jobs in 2026–2027
Norway is a small country with an unusually large savings account. Supermarket prices, the interest on your mortgage and your chances of getting a job are all linked to oil, the krone and interest rates. Here are the key figures as of October 2026, each with its source and year, so you can look up newer numbers yourself later.
Read the article →Salaries in Norway: what people earn and how pay works
The average salary in Norway sounds high, but most people earn less than the average. Here you can see what the SSB figures for 2025 actually show, what common immigrant jobs pay, how the wage settlement and minimum wages work, and which rules apply to holiday pay, overtime and payment.
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What does it cost to live in Norway? Rent, food, electricity and budgets for 2026
Norway has a reputation for being expensive, and for rent and eating out it is true. But the picture changes a lot with where you live and how you shop. Here are official figures with the year next to every number, and two example budgets for Oslo and a smaller town.
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Tax and payslips in Norway: tax deduction card, 2026 rates and a worked example
Your first Norwegian payslip can be a shock: a big number at the top, lines with strange abbreviations and much less at the bottom. Here is how to get a tax deduction card, which rates apply in 2026, how PAYE works and how to read your payslip – with a full calculation for a salary of 500,000 kroner.
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