tullemor1

We would love to come also and stay at the B&B. Can anybody tell us what is the nearest international airport? And what will be closer Birmingham or Manchester (both have direct flights from Oslo), but please tell me the closest if there is another one, we often also fly with KLM. Bente

We have again started to plan our annual canal boat holiday and thought we should try something new. We live in Norway, in a posh little village by the Oslo fjord. It is just marvellous here in the summer. We live in the middle of the forest about 45 minutes on the train from Oslo, I will be happy to send pictures of both our house and the surroundings for anybody interested. What we would like is to swap a boat for three weeks holidays with us (we have 6 guest beds, so you can bring your family). We would like our holidays in the spring (or late winter as it is now), and you can have your holidays whenever you like at our house. We will hold you with food also. You might have heard that Norway is f...ing expensive, and that is right. The most expensive as a tourist, however, is room and board, public transportation is in fact cheaper here than in UK. Alcoholic beverages are in a class for itself, but we live so close to Sweden that we buy that and cigs there, and they have prices much like in UK. Flight between Oslo and UK you can have as cheap as 50£ return ticket. If anybody are interested, please contact me and I will send picturs of our place. We have been canalboating three times before and we are very careful with the boats we rent. We have a plastic sailboat in the Oslo fjord which is rock bottom, and we treat your boat (which is probably iron on muddy ground) like our own. We also clean it inside and out after use. Sincerely Bente

I am glad this link came up, because we too would like to exchange our house (in the forest, 150 meters from the Oslo fjord and with beds for 8 - and right now the hottest place in Europe) for a boat some time. For a year or half a year, so it's no sense in buying one for such a short period. Woulden't it be smart to have a boat-swap (and sell and rent) page here in this forum? I am sure there are more people who are interested in renting/swapping/borrowing a boat than me and the guy from Florida.

.... and the price of diesel is on its way up..... For our SAILBOAT - which we obviously use less diesel for than for a motor boat, we count approximately about 75 £ per week in Scandinavia and then you have to add things like harbour fees (which vary from 25£ per night in Oslo to £ 15 per night in small harbours in Sweden) not to mention that the general price level is about 3 times as high as in UK. Of course you can get 3-4 holidays in Turkey for the price you rent a boat for, but who wants to do that in the summer after global heating kicked in? Canal boat renting is a top quality holiday and you get what you pay for.

They are letting you have a piece of very expensive equipent (check what you have to pay to buy a boat like that) They are offering you service around the clock (and they are normally there within a couple of hours no matter where you are) They teach you how to use the boat and all it's equipent. You don't have to buy diesel, gas or harbour fees. and You are not depending on good weather (which you will be for a beach holiday). If you speak English, you will be able to communicate with everybody you meet. You will get peace of soul and mind from the serene English landscape. You will sleep like a log because the nights will not be too hot for you and wake up to bird song if you have moored in a forest. Within a week you will be able to taste at least 15 different sorts of beer and if you hit the right pubs also to have a couple of really good meals. and last but not least, you will have a holiday to remember, so I'd say it's worth every penny.