Hiking in Norway: a practical guide from planning to the cabin

Planning: apps, maps and colour grades

Most trips start in the UT app or on ut.no, DNT's trip planner. It shows marked summer and winter routes, thousands of trip suggestions, cabins and how long a route usually takes. Check the forecast on Yr and, in winter and spring, the avalanche warning on Varsom from NVE. Install the Hjelp 113 app from Norsk Luftambulanse as well: it shows your coordinates and all the emergency numbers.

Routes are graded like ski slopes: green is easy, blue moderate, red demanding and black for experienced hikers only. The time on the signpost is for a fit walker without long breaks. Add breaks, photo stops and the descent, which takes longer than you think on steep, wet rock.

A sensible first summer: a few green and blue day trips near home, then one night at a cabin. Your phone battery drains fast in the cold and with GPS on all day, so download the map for offline use and bring a power bank. A paper map and a compass weigh almost nothing.

Reading the trail: the red T

DNT and local trail groups mark routes with a red T painted on rocks, trees and cairns (varder). In open mountain terrain you should be able to see the next mark from the last one. If you've walked a few minutes without seeing a T, go back to the last one instead of guessing.

Winter is different. The most used winter routes in the southern mountains are marked with birch sticks (kvister) pushed into the snow, often only for part of the season, and they don't always follow the summer path. They cross frozen lakes and bogs that you can't walk on in summer, and the summer path may cross slopes that are dangerous in winter. Never assume one is safe in the other season.

Paths near towns are often marked by the municipality or a local group in their own way, and some have no marks at all. Signposts at junctions show the destination and often the walking time.

DNT cabins: staffed, self-service and unstaffed

DNT and its member associations have close to 600 cabins. DNT's 2025 sustainability report lists 48 staffed (betjent), 178 self-service (selvbetjent) and 327 unstaffed (ubetjent) cabins. At a staffed cabin you get a bed, dinner and breakfast. Self-service cabins have a store of tinned and dried food you can buy; unstaffed ones have none, so you carry everything.

Most cabins without staff are locked with the DNT standard key. Only members can get one: you pay a deposit of 100 kroner and keep it as long as your membership is valid. At least one person in your group needs to be a member. You register and pay for the night and the food in the DNT app, which also works without mobile coverage.

Bring a sheet sleeping bag (lakenpose): many cabins don't allow sleeping bags in the beds, for hygiene reasons. You can book a bed at many cabins, but nobody is turned away from a DNT cabin even when it's full. You may end up on a mattress on the floor, and members get priority for the beds. Before you leave, wash up, sweep, fill the wood box and make sure the stove is out.

Packing list for a day trip

Dress in layers: wool or synthetic next to the skin (not cotton), a wool sweater or fleece, and a windproof, waterproof jacket and trousers. Take a hat and thin gloves even in July if you go above the tree line. Wear boots you've already walked in; new boots on a long trip mean blisters.

In the backpack: map and compass, phone with the map downloaded, power bank, head torch (it gets dark early in autumn), a first-aid kit with blister plasters (gnagsårplaster), sun cream and sunglasses, a water bottle, a thermos, a packed lunch plus extra food, a sit pad (sitteunderlag) and a dry extra layer.

Many Norwegians drink from fast-flowing mountain streams, but if there are sheep, cabins or many people upstream, bring your own water or a filter. In winter, anyone entering avalanche terrain carries a transceiver, probe and shovel and has learned to use them.

The famous hikes: honest difficulty

Preikestolen in Ryfylke: about 8 km there and back from Preikestolen Fjellstue, around four hours, ending on a rock shelf 604 metres above the Lysefjord with no railing. Moderate, with stone steps and some steep parts. In summer, go early or late to avoid the crowds.

Trolltunga above Odda is a long day: 27 km and 8–12 hours from P2 Skjeggedal, or 20 km and 7–10 hours from P3 Mågelitopp. The official site says only experienced hikers should go on their own, and only in the summer season from 1 June to 30 September; for the rest of the year it recommends a guided hike. Start early.

Besseggen in Jotunheimen is about 14 km and 6–8 hours including breaks. Most people take the Gjende boat from Gjendesheim to Memurubu and walk back over the ridge, which has a steep section where you need your hands. Romsdalseggen near Åndalsnes is about 10 km with 970 metres of ascent from Vengedalen, seven to eight hours. A special bus takes you to the start in summer, and you can save your knees by taking the Romsdalsgondolen down from Nesaksla. Neither is a good first hike.

Safety: weather, avalanches, turning back

In the mountains the weather can go from sunshine to fog and sleet in an hour, even in July. Check Yr the evening before and on the morning of the trip, pay more attention to the wind than to the temperature, and tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.

In winter and spring, read the avalanche warning on Varsom. The scale goes from 1 (low) to 5 (very high). Level 3, «betydelig» (considerable), sounds harmless, but Varsom says that travel in avalanche terrain then requires solid knowledge, and generally advises avoiding terrain steeper than 30 degrees.

Snu i tide, turn back in time: decide on a turnaround time before you set off, and keep to it even if the top looks close. If something goes wrong, call 113 for medical help or 112 for the police, who lead rescue operations. If you're lost, stay put, keep warm and keep your phone on.

Useful phrases

Hvor lang tid tar turen?How long does the hike take?
Er stien merket hele veien?Is the trail marked all the way?
Vi snur her og prøver igjen en annen dag.Let's turn back here and try again another day.
Er det ledige senger på hytta i natt?Are there any free beds at the cabin tonight?
Har noen av dere DNT-nøkkel?Does any of you have a DNT key?
Det er meldt tåke og sterk vind på fjellet.Fog and strong wind are forecast in the mountains.
Jeg har gått meg bort.I'm lost.
Har du et gnagsårplaster?Do you have a blister plaster?
Hvor kan jeg fylle vann?Where can I fill up with water?