Winter holidays in Norway, ski holidays and Christmas breaks

Imagine a winter holiday in Norway, take a sleigh ride through magical snow-dusted forests, then return to your cosy cabin or hotel with a roaring log fire, or brave the clear night air to watch the spectacular Northern Lights.

Whether you want an action packed ski break, or to escape with the family for a guaranteed white Christmas, a winter holiday in Norway has it all.

If you are flying into Oslo, there are many opportunities to enjoy a winter holiday within a couple of hours drive of the main Oslo Gardermoen and Oslo Torp airports, including ski centres at Drammen or Gautefall, or if you want your own private winter escape we have a hand picked selection of traditional cabins all within easy reach of Oslo.

For those wanting to visit Lapland or see the Northern Lights, we recommend you fly into Tromso - Tromso is a delightful city and puts you within easy reach of Lapland.  There are regular flights to Tromso from London Gatwick airport with budget airline Norwegian - click here to search for flights to Tromso.

Christmas in Norway

Few countries do Christmas quite like the Norwegians, after all, which other country can claim to be the home of Father Christmas? With crisp white snow covering much of the country, in winter Norway is transformed into a land of dramatic snow covered mountains, crystal clear icy fjords, and fairytale norwegian log cabins with log fires, saunas and even outdoor hot-tubs for the brave!

Norway celebrates St Lucia Day on December 13th which marks the beginning of the Christmas festivities. ‘Merry Christmas' in Norwegian is ‘Gledelig Jul,' or ‘God Jul'. Although Norway is one of the most secular countries in Europe, when the church bells peal at 5pm on Christmas Eve, everyone turns out en masse for the service.

After that everyone heads home for a family dinner of roast lamb or pork served with potatoes, cabbage à la norvégienne, sprouts, mashed swede, carrots, prunes and brown gravy. The alternative Norwegian feast is lutefish (dried codfish) with a bacon and pea stew. Rice pudding is the traditional dessert, but cherry mousse and caramel pudding are lighter options served with whipped cream blended with multer (orange, raspberry-like berries found on the mountain).