Useful Websites - Online Toolkit

Here’s a compilation of most useful websites that could be of immense help while here at Norway:

1. www.norway.no  – One stop Government portal for everything that you would like to know about Norway
2. http://ruter.no/en/ - Public transport Planner. Lets you plan your travel from any place in Norway to any other place in Norway, using public transport. It also contains real time transport information.
3. www.finn.no - (Norwegian only) From Jobs to Housing, this is the single largest website for posting classifieds in Norway
4. http://www.skatteetaten.no/en/International-pages/ - Tax Information
5. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/translate-this/ A Firefox addon that will make your life much easier by auto translation of website. Almost, all of the websites, with a very few exceptions, will be in Norwegian
6. http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Oslo/Oslo/Oslo_S/ - Weather forecast website
7. http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate-of-Immigration/ - Norwegian Directorate of Immigration
8. www.Frukt.no (Norwegian only)  – Government  website to promote Fruits and Vegetables in Norway. You can use this website to identify the Norwegian names of most vegetables and fruits
9. http://use-it.no/ - Loads of information about everything for budget travellers in Oslo
10. http://www.visitnorway.com/en/What-to-do/  Norway Tourist Information 
11. http://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/ Norway Tourist Information.
12. http://norwayguide.blogspot.com – Last but not the least, your first hand practical information about Norway 
    

Other most important information/ Personal Tips

Here’s some miscellaneous but very nice to know information, which you normally won’t find elsewhere:

• Public Toilets: Remember to relieve yourself while leaving home. One thing that is particularly hard to find, and is expensive, is public toilets. I don’t know why, but there aren’t many of them in Oslo. Only public toilets, which I have been able to find in the downtown is at Oslo Central station (10NOK/usage) and at Grønland T-Bane station (10NOK/usage and closes at 7pm). If you really have the urge, your best bet would be head for nearest bar and request the bartender to allow you to use the facilities!!

• There is no ticket checking, either at entry or exit, for any of the public transport means within inner Zone, including all Metros, Trams, Boats and buses (Red city bus). However, do not be tempted to travel without ticket, assuming that there is no check. I have seen surprise checks called as “Ticket Control” at most unsuspecting places and most unsuspecting times, including late midnight. If caught without proper ticket, in addition to humiliation, the penalty is 750 NOK on spot and 900 NOK, if paid later.

• Office Timings: Most of the Government offices are open from 09:00-03:30 pm and the Private ones from 08:00-4:00 pm, Monday to Fridays. Banks have different working hours for Mon-Wed, Thursday, Friday and Saturday!!  Almost everything is closed on Sundays. 

• Tap water is very safe and can be drunk, without any additional treatment. However, remember to take your water bottle with you, whenever you are out of home because generally, there no public taps or water sources. You may have to buy a bottle from nearest kiosk in the market and it is about 25 NOK for half liter bottle!!

• During the winters, Sun rises at around 9 am and sets around 3 pm, so it becomes dark pretty early. Be prepared for very less daylight during winters, which can be very depressing for some people and lead them into SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

• Also, based on my limited exposure, unless it is important and you know the other person very well, it may not be considered polite to call anybody after business hours or during weekends.

• When you buy most plastic/tin/glass bottles, you pay a surcharge (called Pant) ranging from NOK 1 to 2.5. This surcharge can be recovered by returning the bottle back to designated machines in any of the supermarket/kiosks. You can return the bottle to any machine that you wish to and not necessarily, from where you purchased.