LAKE MJOSA, NORWAY:
A 5-night Travel Guide for Families with Autistic Children
Useful information for Families Travelling with Autistic / ADHD Children
IN-GUIDE QUICK LINKS
Our Itinerary
DAY ONE
An early flight from Gatwick to Oslo with Norwegian Air.
We booked special assistance which really made a difference to our experience. Find out how to book special assistance here.
Collect hire car from airport before heading to Lake Mjosa (about a 60min drive north of Oslo). Stop off at a supermarket for supplies - boys let off steam in the small playground out the front. Arrive at our summer cabin around 3pm and settle in.
Drinks on the deck to admire the lake views, dinner self-catered.
DAY TWO
Start the day with a relaxed breakfast on the decking.
Drive into the mountains for around 15 minutes to the start of the Nynnaben Trail.
A thoroughly enjoyable 3 mile round trip forest hike with the boys through stunning scenery.
Lunch back at the cabin
Afternoon drive into Stange to visit (and shop) in an organic farmshop and explore the beautiful grounds of the nearby Stange Church. Another the playground for the boys to enjoy
Dinner self-catered in the cabin.
DAY THREE
A very wet day!
Morning spent walking around the Lake Mjosli Nature reserve (where the cabin is located).
Discovered a woodland playground in the valley with a fierce zip wire along with a French Boule pitch, so we taught the boys to play.
Lunch on the deck in the gazebo. Afternoon spent indoors in the cabin.
Dinner self-catered in the cabin.
DAY FOUR
A day trip to Oslo to visit the Fram museum, an immersive experience with lots of exhibits and the opportunity to explore on board the famous arctic explorer ship.
Picnic lunch at the Fram museum, then walk down to the harbour edge.
Drive over to Malmoya Island. Find the viewing point looking back towards Oslo, short walk through the wooded landscape. Picnic of Norwegian pastries.
Dinner self-catered in the cabin.
DAY FIVE
Day trip to Hamar to visit the Norwegian National Railway Museum.
Lunch and coffee at the museum.
Stop off at supermarket for supplies before packing for flight to Tromso, Norway the next day.
Dinner self-catered in the cabin.
DAY SIX
Early start to get to Oslo Airport to catch flight to Tromso then transfer to Sommaroy where we will spend the next 6 nights. Both Tromso and Sommaroy are located 300 miles inside the Arctic Circle.
GETTING THERE & SPECIAL ASSISTANCE
BY PLANE
We flew to Oslo Gardemon Airport from Gatwick with Norwegian Air. The flight took 2hrs 10mins
AIRPORT TRANSFERS
Lake Mjosa is about a 45min drive north from Oslo airport so we opted to pick up a hire car. The drive was pretty straightforward and the directions to the summer cabin were easy to follow.
SUPPORTING YOUR AUTISTIC CHILD'S SENSORY & ACCESS NEEDS WHILE TRAVELLING
Lake Mjosa is a very calm and peaceful place to visit, and it was very accessible to our autistic family.
The rural aspect of this trip offered lots of ways to help keep our boys relaxed and we found with that we all benefitted from the time spent together outside.
NATURE ACTIVITIES
Walking in the forest and woods, running around on the organic farm, and walking by the many harbour waterways made this a wonderful trip for the boys. They had plenty of space to run, move, climb and play and they loved spending time by the water, even though we didn’t go swimming! Just being outside in the fresh air, feeling the wind and the sun was very uplifting. The large decking space at the cabin with its comfy seating was a wonderfully relaxing space for the boys to chill out and have some downtime.
NO CROWDS
We visited during the third week of August, which is the first week of the new school year in Norway. This meant there were hardly any families around, just other tourists like us so the museums were pretty quiet compared to what you would see in London in August. In fact, for most of the morning I am sure we were the only family in the Railway museum!
The only downside to all this lovely quiet space was that quite a few of the child oriented activities in the area had closed for the summer the weekend before we arrived, for instance there were no rides available on the miniature train in the Railway Museum.
FAMILY FRIENDLY
We found all the people that we met to be very patient and friendly with the boys. There were also lots of hands on opportunities to play and explore in the Fram and Railway Museums, and they had clearly been designed with the child experience in mind. They really were excellent family attractions, and their were signs up saying that we were welcome to eat our own picnics on site!
LAKE MJOSA PHOTO GALLERY
We really loved our stay in the hills above Lake Mjosa. We would definitely come back, maybe in April next time so we can have some fun in the snow!
We feel lucky we were able to stay in such a beautiful location. Despite the rainy weather there was plenty to do and we got out every day. The boys had great fun at the Fram Museum in Oslo and the Norwegian Railway Museum in Hamar, while I enjoyed hiking the Nynnaben trail and all the farm shop treats!
IF YOUR FAMILY NEEDS MEDICAL HELP WHILE TRAVELLING ABROAD
There is the pan-European emergency number and can be called for any type of emergency. It is a free number which can be dialled from any landline or mobile phone.
If you need urgent or emergency help
in Norway call 112
If you know you want an ambulance you can call 113 directly
Operators speak English and will connect you to local services. If in doubt, or if you are worried about being able to explain the emergency in French, this is the number to use.
The number 114 provides the same pan-European assistance for people with hearing difficulties.
FAMILY ACCOMMODATION IN LAKE MJOSA
3 bed summer cabin in the hills of the Mjosli Nature Reserve. It had stunning views over Lake Mjosa and surrounding landscape.
LAKEVIEW HOUSE
Booked through Vrbo
We stayed in what the owners called a summer cabin – but it was more like a huge house! As soon as we walked in to the main open plan lounge we all fell in love with the stunning view off Lake Mjosa.
The owner was responsive and kind, going out of her way to help us with a special request to wash the bed linen for the boys using non-biological washing detergent.
LOCATION
We chose to stay by Lake Mjosa because it looked very beautiful and offered the chance to see the Norwegian countryside and enjoy some forest walking with the boys. It was also not too far from Oslo, so we could still do a day trip.
There were plenty of holiday rental options and one we chose was at the top of a hill in the Mjoslie Nature reserve. It took about 10minutes to get up to the property from the main road at the bottom.
Once back on the main road it was an easy drive to visit the nearest towns of Hamar and Stange and it was only a short drive to the local supermarket (15 mins).
It looked like a lot of the houses were for holiday makers, and there were some nice walks you could do either from the front door, or in forests nearby.
Our day trip into Oslo was a long day, it took us nearly 2hours each way in the traffic. This is not the place to stay if you have lots you want to do in Oslo, but fine for a single day trip.
INTERIOR
The inside of the house looked exactly like the photos, only the view of the lake was even better in real life! It was so beautiful.
We spent many happy hours looking out at the view and eating outside on the decking.
We also loved the open plan lounge with its lovely soft blankets and rugs and underfloor heating. The kitchen was well equipped but lacked a peeler and a toaster (which seems to be normal for Norway). At least it had a kettle, which is another item that is often missing.
EATING & DRINKING
SELF CATERING
Our plan for our stay by Lake Mjosa was to self-cater our meals, mainly as a way of helping to keep costs down, and because the boys don’t do well in restaurants. To make sure Charlie would feel relaxed enough to eat we packed plenty of his safe foods from home including marmite, oat cakes, oat milk, corn snacks and fruit yoyo's. He seemed ok to eat the equivalent branded breakfast products bought from the Norwegian supermarkets e.g. Kellogs cornflakes and rice Krispies.
SUPERMARKETS
Coop Extra, Kiwi, Bunnpris
We stuck to our self-catering plan and visited each of the supermarkets listed above during our days out. Our nearest was the Kiwi which did a good range of fresh products. We did treat ourselves to the occasional Norwegian pastry.
FARM SHOPS
However I have a total weak spot when it comes to farm shops and was very happy to discover an organic farm a short drive away. We improved our supermarket buys with produce from the farm shop; fresh organic heritage vegetables (pink cauliflower anyone!), cheese, artisan crackers and lots of freshly laid eggs!
ALCOHOL
There are strict rules governing the sale of alcohol in Norway, and they can take a bit of time to get your head around.
Wine and spirits can only be bought from a government run shop called Vinmonopolet - https://www.vinmonopolet.no/
The nearest Vinmonopolet’s to where we were staying were in Stange and Hamar.
Both shops were open Monday – Friday from 10am – 6pm and on Saturday from 10am – 4pm.
Beer and cider under 4.7% can be bought from supermarkets Monday – Friday until 8pm and until 6pm on Saturday.
The sale of all alcohol is banned on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
TRANSPORT OPTIONS FOR FAMILIES
The most practical form of transport for enjoying a holiday stay in or around Lake Mjosa is to have your own car. We hired ours from Europcar and collected it at the airport on arrival.
If you are staying near a train station (unlike us - we were up in the hills) then it is possible to get around the region on public transport. See below for some examples:
Stange to Oslo central by train takes from 1hr. To the airport is 40 mins.
Stange to Hamar by train takes 10 mins, by bus it is 25 mins, by car 13 mins.
GENERAL HEALTHCARE FOR FAMILIES ABROAD
We strongly recommend that every person in your family is covered by comprehensive travel insurance that also includes health cover.
FREE HEALTHCARE
As of Jan 2024 UK residents can access medically necessary healthcare when visiting Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein if they have obtained an EHIC, Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) or a UK European Health Insurance Card (UK EHIC) issued by the UK government.
EVERY member of the family needs their own card.
However you SHOULD STILL take out travel insurance as this may not cover all medical costs e.g. repatriation.
You will need to pay a fee to access non-urgent public medical services in Norway.
DOCTORS
You can access a GP using a private provider such as Dr Dropin - there are clinics in Oslo. In person consultations from c. £50
OUT OF HOURS
Call 116 117 around the clock to be put in touch with your local out-of-hours medical centre. It's free to call.
PHARMACIES
These are located throughout the region and are a good place to start for advice. There is an Apotek 1 pharmacy and a Boots branded pharmacy in Stange. Both are open until 5pm on weekdays and 2pm on Saturday. Closed Sunday.
HOSPITALS
There is an A&E department a Hamar Hospital
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS....
Choosing to stay outside of Oslo and just visit for the day was a great choice for our family. We so enjoyed being able to get out and see rural Norway and its stunning scenery. We loved Lake Mjosa, and there was plenty to do. We would definitely come back to the area to keep exploring the mountains and lakes.