http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32062 Buy a good map, pack your rucksack and take the T-bane up past Holmenkollen Ski Jump to Frognerseteren (perhaps stopping on the way to admire the jumpers’ daring). Then set off in your chosen direction. We decided to make a three day trip of it, staying at Kikutstua (www.kikutstua.no) for two nights' half board with lunch pack. DNT (www.turistforeningen.no) has accommodation up there too.
In summer enjoy the fruits of the forest – wild strawberries in late June or bilberries in July. In autumn enjoy the wild fungus - if you dare. And if the weather is hot, as it is surprisingly often in the Scandinavian summer, take frequent dips in the many lakes you pass en route. We must have swum seven or eight times on our short trip, and we scarcely saw a soul. That’s why we love the Nordic countries.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32062 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14500
We have just returned from a week hiking in Jontunheimen and cannot praise the DNT highly enough. I have never seen such an organisation so successful at making the wilderness accessible with minimal disturbance to the natural environment.

The trails are well-marked and maintained and where we used trails not maintained by the DNT, staff were nevertheless able to advise on them. The level of service at the fully staffed lodges we used was extraordinary and not too expensive (by Norwegian standards!). And how good is it to come off a mountain, knowing that a comfortable bed, three course meal, hot showers, and effective drying room are waiting for you? The DNT prides itself in never turning anyone away.

We were walking as a family with two under twelves, so didn't undertake any really major climbs, but the DNT also organises tours of the high peaks etc.

All the activities we undertook, we could have done as non-members, but joining the DNT meant serious discounts on accommodation costs as well as the ability to secure beds when the lodges were nearly full. If you are venturing deeper into the mountains and staying at unstaffed lodges, I think you need to be a member to get a key to the lodges.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14500 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/617 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/617