Money and payments

The first thing to grasp: in Norway, you do not pay in cash. Or almost never. I have seen tourists arrive with a wad of freshly withdrawn kroner, and leave two weeks later with the same wad. Cash is still legal, but in daily life it has all but vanished. Café, museum, ferry, village corner shop: everything is paid by card or phone.

The right move is to bring a card that handles small amounts without charging you a fee on every transaction. A card like Revolut or Wise is ideal for this. And a tip I always repeat: bring two cards, one credit and one debit. If one is declined, for whatever reason, you have a backup. It sounds trivial, but it is what saves the start of a trip.

Good news: Apple Pay and Google Pay are accepted almost everywhere at terminals. Your phone is often enough. Visa and Mastercard work everywhere, even for a ticket costing a few kroner; American Express is more temperamental.

Norwegians' favourite payment method is called Vipps. It is the king of apps here, but it only works with a Scandinavian bank account: as a tourist, you will not be able to use it. Remember the name anyway, as you will see it everywhere, especially at car parks.

Which is exactly why, if you plan to hike or take excursions, keep a few hundred kroner in cash on you. One thing worth knowing: it is often hard to get hold of kroner at a bank abroad, which barely keeps any in stock any more. The simplest option is to withdraw this small amount from a cash machine once you are in Norway. At trailhead car parks, sometimes the only payment shown is Vipps, and those few notes will save you. Stay sensible, though: since almost everything is paid by card, you may well not use the cash, so do not convert too much.

Finally, plan your budget, because Norway is expensive. Restaurants, alcohol, fuel and parking add up fast. Non-residents can, on the other hand, reclaim part of the VAT on some purchases (“tax free”), worth considering for larger buys.