Norway

Before kids, my husband’s bucket list was to see the northern lights. Now it just consists of getting a full night’s sleep!

For his 40^th, I surprised him with a trip to Tromso (considered the best place in the world to see the Northern Lights). Covid hit and we never went.

When my son was 15 months and daughter 3-years-old, we tried to rebook the trip but needed to make it more kid friendly.

We flew into Tromso, drove down to Tjeldsund to stay for a week and then back up to Tromso to spend a few nights before flying back home.

The 3 hour drive down with our 15-month-old was, quite frankly, hell.

He, very conveniently, was going through that phase of hating being in a car seat. This matched with icy, windy roads, after a flight with two kids, was a recipe for disaster.

We thought after flying to Canada, a short haul flight to Norway would be a walk in the park. But flying with toddlers never is.

Staying in Tjeldsund fjord with toddlers

We hit jackpot with our Airbnb and this find really made Norway one of our most magical trips.

Our accommodation was a typical Norwegian Lakehouse surrounded by mountains and can only imagine it is just as beautiful in the summer.

No, this is not a windows screensaver, this was the view from our accomodation.

In addition to the most stunning location, We had the most hospitable host I have ever encountered. He went above and beyond to make our trip magical.

One morning, he sent us a Google pin and told us to take some digestive biscuits to feed his friend’s reindeer.

Even though I have seen the film Taken, I frikkin’ love a reindeer – or maybe the 3 hour drive from hell had just tipped me over the edge.

Still, we went with digestives and hope. Fortunately, there were in fact biscuit-loving reindeer and my children absolutely loved feeding them.

Just as we thought we’d escaped the reindeer trap, out trots a fully kitted traditional Norwegian Sami. Have you ever seen Frozen?

…Yoo-hoo! Big Summer Blowout!

Still, he greeted us with a smile, gave our children some moss to feed the reindeer and invited us in his Lavvu tent.

Here he taught us all about his way of living, traditions and showed the children some reindeer hooves and fur.

By the end, my husband awkwardly asked what we owed him as it felt like we had just been on a TUI excursion. He said our host had taken care of it.

As we happily headed back to our car, we saw our host. We asked what we owed him. And he merely wanted us to learn about the culture and his country. It was so humbling and gave me huge guilt that I thought we were going to be murdered in a Lavvu.

He even took hold of my 15-month-old and walked him back to the car as he could see I was uneasy on the icy paths.

I know we were super lucky with our host and this experience, but this is why I like finding independently owned accommodations as you would never experience this in a hotel chain.

If you want to find unique, family-friendly accommodation off the beaten track but don’t have time to scroll through thousands of listings then check out my travel advice page where I would be happy to help find the perfect accommodation for your family.

Staying in a fjord cabin with toddlers

Though our location was truly stunning, a lake cabin did not feel the most practical accommodation for a baby and toddler.

Most cabins have steep stairs or a hill leading down to the fjord. All this means is you just need your wits about you and be extra vigilant when exploring outside with little ones.

One of the reasons I booked this accommodation was because it had a hot tub. I thought our little water babies would love splashing with their toys whilst we look out for fjord wildlife. Do note that most cabin hot tubs are fire-powered, meaning in the cold depths of winter, they will never be warm enough to dip a toe in.

Due to the remote location there was also no WIFI, which we actually quite liked as escapism but this did mean the children could not even watch TV whilst eating breakfast. Still, if this means that I don’t have to hear that bitchy little Peppa Pig I might even move here!

To keep our toddlers occupied this really meant playing in the snow and entertaining them in the holiday home.

Here are some additional links to my travel advice that will be useful if you are planning a winter trip with toddlers:

• Winter packing list
• Keeping toddlers warm on winter holidays
• Toddler toys for holiday homes
• Road trips with toddlers

I used to fish with my Dad so have a bit of experience gutting small fish but I did not expect my novice Husband to catch a bleeding shark!

Ok it was a cod but I am sure it was the understudy for Jaws.

Without going into the grim detail, I am sure that when my children grow up they will take a trauma test from a Facebook ad that will uncover the supressed memory of when their mother wrestled a cod and made them eat it.

Joking aside, the fish was absolutely delicious and it was a chicken nugget free meal!

Narvik Arctic Train

My husband is a train driver so whenever there is any type of train activity on our holidays we just have to do it. And what toddler doesn’t love a little train ride?

In Narvik, I found the Arctic Train. A beautiful journey on the Ofoten line from Narvik to Bjørnfjell, the last station before the Swedish border.

As adults, we really enjoyed it. It was a scenic drive through snowy mountains, fjords, and we even saw some reindeer. For toddlers, it was a little too long with not enough to do.

You can get out at Bjørnfjell station to stretch your legs and admire the view. Plus my train loving husband could geek over the train – don’t worry – this unsexy obsession is better contraception than getting a vasectomy.

My son was only 15-months-old so perhaps older toddlers or mega train obsessed children would be more engaged with this train journey.

They also offer Northern light journeys, but we thought this would be too late and long for our two.

After our train journey we strolled around Narvik, found a few gift shops, and a little pizza restaurant that had a small kids play area to keep them entertained whilst we had some lunch.

Viewing the Northern Lights with toddlers

We were lucky to see the northern lights on our drive down, from our accommodation and on our flight home from Tromso.

Another amazing perk of our Airbnb host is he would message us each night to say if you could see the Northern Lights and what direction to view them.

When considering a Northern Lights trip with young children I definitely would focus on choosing accommodation where viewing is possible. This way, they can sleep whilst you look out for Aurora.

I wouldn’t dream of taking my toddlers on an organised Northern Light Excursion as they are just too late and don’t think it would be fair on the other passengers.

Renting a car and finding them yourselves is a good option if your children sleep in the car or are good passengers.

There are lots of good apps that tell you where the Northern Lights are and their visibility.

We were lucky that a few nights, whilst our toddlers were fast asleep, we sat out on the balcony and watched the Aurora dance above us.

This felt like a truly magical moment that we never thought we could achieve with young children. But making a few tweaks to our original trip meant we could experience a beautiful moment as a couple and expose our children to a stunning new environment.

Don’t get me wrong, it is still a trip with toddlers. There were still tears, terrors and tantrums. But the sound of a toddler screaming is much more enjoyable surround by beautiful Norwegian mountains.

If you have a dream destination in mind but just don’t see it working with young children then contact me or send a quotation request and I can help make it a reality.

Visiting Polar Park Animal Park with Toddlers

We wanted to break up the 3 hour drive back to Tromso so found a mid-way zoo: Polar Park, the world’s northernmost animal park. Located in Salangsdalen (Bardu), it is about a 1.5-hour drive from Evenes Airport. 

A zoo is always a nice activity for young children and this felt extra special with arctic animals in a winter wonderland.

There is also a play area for some free play, with or without snow.

The enclosures were well kept and felt like you could get really close to the animals.

However, the snow made it quite a slog as the whole animal park is rather hilly and sparse.

I would not go out of my way to visit this zoo but this was a welcome break from a long drive.

Visiting Tromso with toddlers

I had read that Tromso is really kid friendly. It wasn’t. We only spent a few nights here and thank goodness as it was the worst part of our trip!

It is really expensive, including accommodation so we found a basic two bedroom Airbnb. It was quite odd as a couple actually lived there and they moved out for the duration of our stay but apparently this is quite common.

I really didn’t rate Tromso and found it was merely a snowy city.

Apart from the sea and bridge I didn’t find it attractive and the town itself felt quite industrial.

It was full of very rude tourists and I am saddened that many people visit this part of Norway and not somewhere like Harstad, where we had stayed previously.

The only positive about Tromso is we can now say we have been to the most northern McDonalds!

Tromso Whale Watching boat trip with toddlers

Aka hell.

I love wildlife and so does my daughter, so during our trip we booked a whale watching tour.

It lasted about 5-6 hours and the only thing I can compare it to in enjoyment was my 36-hour labour.

I think we were really unlucky with the lack of whales and the sea conditions.

We all got really seasick. I think our son was auditioning for the remake of The Exorcist. And last nights most northern McDonalds managed to get even more northern.

Even if there was a pod of orca performing the YMCA, I don’t think I would have been able to focus long enough to enjoy it!

Do really consider boat trips with toddlers as we have never had a good experience and think this unfortunately is just one to save for when they are older.

Is Norway a toddler friendly country?

We found Norway, as a country, so toddler friendly and it is definitely a place I would like to return to, possibly in the summer. For a relatively short flight, you feel transported to a magical portal that feels further than Europe.

Overall, I would really recommend Norway for your next toddler adventure and can help plan this via my travel advice page.