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So this year I like the idea of going to Scandinavia for a long weekend xc skiing. Having been to Norway before I am well aware of how expensive things can be over there, so can it be done "cheap"??
Are there enough areas/ snow etc close to the big cities? Where is best to hire kit? As a relative beginner will I benefit hugely from tuition or is it possible to flounder around with some basic skills?
Any tips welcome, thanks in advance!
One option is definitely Oslo itself. Just outside the city centre is a chugging great forest full of x-country (Nordic!) ski trails. It's known as Holmenkollen and you can get there by metro or bus.
There's lessons and kit hire and floodlights so pretty much everything you need for a good first trip. [url= http://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=400105 ]Oslo Nordic ski lessons[/url]
That's the good news. The bad news is cost. Nothing is cheap. Public transport for example is unbeatable in terms of efficincy and timeliness but basically London prices. Eating out is hard to do for less than £20 a head (Maccy D's is a tenner). Supermarket shopping is dear too. Alcohol in bars is pretty eye a
Go to Helsinki .
Ctd... Sorry, posting from mobile and is a pain.
...watering as everyone says.
Instintively, I would imagine that it won't be much cheaper out in the sticks, plus you'd have to figure in the cost of getting there. But I don't have any experience, so hopefully someone here can prove my instinct wrong.
Pretty much all you need for planning an Oslo trip should be online (in English!) before you go, so costing it should be straightforward. Good luck!
Not necessarily cheap, but not horrendous either. Fly to Oslo, train to Lillehammer (you walk from the plane to the platform, it's all very efficient and the trains are punctual), stay at http://www.gjestebu.no/ cook your own meals (supermarkets are more expensive than here, but cheaper in Lillehammer than a typical ski resort) bus up to ski area at Nordseter or Sjusjoen. Have done that several times - certainly one of the cheapest if not the cheapest way to ski in Norway. There is also a YHA at Lillehammer train station, but I think that's more expensive.
Sorry no idea about hiring kit or getting tuition - apart from that there are several good shops in Lillehammer or up the mountain at the two resorts I mention who presumably hire kit (I'm pretty sure the shop/cafe at Nordseter does). You will benefit a lot from getting some tuition - it makes the difference between walking on skis and gliding along.
aracer seems to have a plan. Absolutely agree with the steer on lessons. It's harder than it looks. Especially downhill. So a few hours with an instructor should help make the most of the weekend.
One other thought, would you consider the Baltic's? They're equally mad for xc skiing, and you can buy a beer without a mortgage.
Great advice, cheers all! Will look into the Oslo- Lillehammer train link especially!
IIRC the train from Oslo airport to Lillehammer is about 1 hour 45 minutes (not a huge amount longer than it would take to get anywhere in Oslo). If you get the early flight to Oslo you can be skiing by early afternoon, and I've certainly skied until after lunch before catching the late evening plane home.
Oh and if you want a drink, buy some wine in duty free on your way out.
You might be able to find a reasonably priced hotel and flight package to Levi in Finland, lots of people go there to see Santa and the reindeer, but there is also a fantastic network of XC ski trails. Last time I was there you could hire the skis from the same place that did the downhill skis.
+1 for Levi. We have been several times and I always look at the cross country skiers and think it must be amazing. The forests look incredibly beautiful and the trials disappear off into the distance.
We are going over Christmas and I intend to have a go this year - has anybody on here done it?