Found it! Top places to go geocaching

In the larger cities

In cities like Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Tromsø, and Kristiansand, the cache count is high, and you get both easy finds and creative inventions. Also, four of Norway’s five oldest caches are hidden in Bergen and Oslo.

The beauty of a large city is of course that it offers so much more than geocaching – museums, concerts, shops and parks, and an abundance of restaurants in all price ranges. Want to go for pizza with your mates or the children after a long day of caching? Check! Or do you and your spouse prefer gourmet food in a Michelin restaurant? Check! No matter where you go, you’ll probably find a cache near your restaurant.

Get insider tips from locals for an exciting long weekend in Norway’s main cities.

Along the coast

You want to see the fjords while you’re here, right? The UNESCO fjords on the western coast have geocaches in all the famous and not-so-famous spots. Some are easy to get to by car, others demand a longer hike. For the latter, you’ll want to bring lunch – so why not try the area’s world-famous ciders and cheeses?

Actually, you can find caches of high quality all along the Norwegian coast. If you want to stay near the capital, the area around the Oslofjord is absolutely packed with caches both on the mainland and on many of the islands. From there, you can cache your way southwards to the summer island paradise of Southern Norway.

If you want to really explore the coastline of Norway, a hot tip is to board the coastal express Hurtigruten in Bergen and try to find a cache in all the 34 ports on your way to Kirkenes near the Russian border in Northern Norway.

By the Norwegian Scenic Routes

Take your time and go municipality or county caching with a view. Along Norway’s 18 Scenic Routes, natural wonders are amplified by art, design, and architecture meant to bring you closer to nature in new and surprising ways. Unbeknownst to the creators, though, there is also a myriad of geocaches in close proximity to the roads. And when it takes longer to find all your planned caches than you thought, you can stop somewhere and eat delicious local food, or even camp for the night in a camping cabin, a guest house, or a hotel in a small town.

Beware that on some of the roads you might have to wait in line for a ferry or six to cross the fjords. But fear not – a cache is almost certainly strategically placed to keep you from being bored.

In Telemark

The Grenland mafia, or “Geocaching in Grenland”, is one of the most enthusiastic geocaching groups in the country. Thus Telemark, where they reside, is full of both quality caches and power trails.

Cache your way to the top of Mount Gaustatoppen, where you can see one sixth of Norway while eating a mandatory waffle, or through the UNESCO city Rjukan. Go cycling along the Telemark canal (can be combined with a cruise through a series of 18 locks), or cache in Edvard Munch’s footsteps in Kragerø, which he named the “Jewel of the coastal towns”.

In Northern Norway

The beauty of Northern Norway, at least in the summertime, is that you can cache through the night in broad daylight. As a matter of fact, the midnight sun – and the northern lights in winter – guarantee that your stay will be unforgettable no matter the season.

Visit the famous Lofoten Islands or The North Cape, or explore some of the places with fewer people and more space: Join a whale safari in Vesterålen, go island hopping along the Helgeland coast, or get to know the Sami culture in Karasjok and Kautokeino.

In the mountains

In the mountains all over the country, you get rewarded with caches if you decide to go for a hike. You don’t even have to reach the top, even though there is usually a cache there as well.

Just note that the weather can change quickly – always bring extra clothes, food, and water, and make sure that you stay safe. Go with a guide or join an arranged trip if you’re not an experienced mountain hiker.