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PracticalitiesDownload as PDF

VISA questions

Norway is part of the Schengen area. Participants from countries which do NOT need a VISA to travel to Schengen are listed here:

VISA exempted countries

NB: Citizens of Japan do NOT require a VISA to travel to the Schengen area, and therefore to Norway.

Air travel

Conference attendees who travel by air will be landing at Oslo airport Gardermoen, the largest airport in Norway handling about 18 mill. passengers per year. For a list of airline companies with regular flights to / from Gardermoen click here (note that US Airways has recently opened a direct route between Oslo and Philadelphia, PA).

From the airport to the conference venue

Transport from Gardermoen to the conference venue and hotel will be serviced by a company called "Askeladden" / "Gardermobussen", with busses marked "Hønefoss" in their destination display, and they will drive the route marked in the map below. The travel time is estimated to less than 1 hr. The exact bus schedule for the conference buses and information on price can be download here:

Bus schedule

The bus leaves from platform 29 outside the arrivals area at the airport and also stops directly at Sundvolden Hotel. The schedule for this bus service is listed in the tables below. Estimated travel time is 1.5 hrs.

Gardermobussen: From Gardermoen (platform 29) to Sundvolden Hotel
Aug 29WeekdaysSaturdays
-08:1508:15
09:3009:30-
11:4511:4511:45
13:4513:45-
14:45--
15:4515:4515:45
17:00--
18:1518:15-
19:30--
20:4520:45-




For a more detailed map of the area and bus route, see the Google map embedded below (A is Gardermoen and B is the conference venue).


Vis større kart

Alternative bus schedule Price: 290 - 320 NOK.

An alternative bus route is to go from Gardermoen to Sundvolden Hotel through downtown Oslo, with a bus change at the bus terminal.

First, take either of these services to downtown Oslo,
  • The SAS airport express bus (140 NOK).
    • NB: NOT the bus service called NOR-WAY "Flybussekspressen".
    • Pay on the bus. Major credit cards are accepted.
    • Ask for a ticket to the bus terminal.
    • Departures about every 20 minutes.
    • Trip lasts about 45 minutes.

  • The airport express train (170 NOK).
    • Use a ticket machine or ticket booth. Major credit cards are accepted.
    • Departures about every 20 minutes.
    • Trip lasts about 20 minutes.

If you take the train, you should find the central bus station ("Bussterminalen") right next door to the central train station, see map below. There is a more detailed map in the downloadable travel guide PDF.
Download PDF

Click to open larger map. A is the train station, B is the bus station.

The bus service from Oslo to Sundvolden Hotel is called "Timeekspressen - Hønefoss / Oslo" route 171, so the destination display should say "Hønefoss". Take the bus to the stop called "Sundvollen", which is very close to the hotel. The service costs about 150 NOK.
    The schedule for this bus service is listed in the table below, while the time table for the return trip is available at the hotel.

Timeekspressen 4/171: From Oslo buss terminal to Sundvolden Hotel
Aug 29Aug 30 / 31Sept 1 / 2
-06:4006:40
07:4007:4007:40
-08:4008:40
09:4009:4009:40
-10:4010:40
11:4011:4011:40
-12:4012:40
13:4013:4013:40
14:4014:4014:40
-14:5514:55
-15:1015:10
-15:2515:25
15:4015:4015:40
-15:5515:55
-16:1016:10
-16:2516:25
16:4016:4016:40
-16:5516:55
-17:2017:20
17:4017:4017:40
-18:4018:40
18:55--
19:4019:4019:40
20:4020:4020:40
21:4021:4021:40
22:4022:4022:40
23:4023:4023:40

Currency

The currency in Norway is the Norwegian krone (Eng. "crown", abbr. NOK), and the exchange rate from the euro is typically about 8, and from yen and US dollars it's about 6-7. To give you an idea of the price level / value of the currency, about 20 NOK will get you a coffee at a cafè.
    It is possible to pay with most common credit cards (VISA, MasterCard, often American Express) in most restaurants, shops, petrol / gas stations, etc. However, since cash may be more practical in certain situations (e.g. vending machines), if you wish to exchange your own currency into NOK or withdraw NOK from an ATM machine, this is possible in the banking area at the airport. Practically any ATM will let you withdraw NOK by using a credit card.

The NOK banknotes are illustrated above (the rarely used 1000-bill excluded). Coins are in values from 0.50 (50 øre), 1, 5, 10 and 20 NOK.

Telephone

The formatting of Norwegian telephone numbers are listed below. The yellow and white pages are available on-line in English here and here, respectively.
Country code: 00 47 (or +47)
Number format: 8 digits



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