Cheap travel discount

Norway is much feared as Europe's most costly corner. But it's not. By taking advantage of the current favorable exchange rate (7 kroner/$1) and some strategic sleeping options, Norway doesn't have to be more expensive than the rest of Northern Europe.

Here are some kroner-stretching and trip-enhancing tips for finding affordable accommodations.

Don't restrict your search to big hotels. Stay in humble country inns, hostels and private rooms in people's homes and enjoy twice the cultural intimacy for half the price.

Throughout Norway -- in big cities, small towns and in the countryside -- people rent rooms in their homes to travelers for about $50 per double. (Note that all prices listed in this article are rough dollar equivalents of the. local prices in kroner.) While some put out a "Hus Rum" sign, most operate solely through the local tourist office. Since the local tourist board gets a bigger commission from booking hotel rooms, they often keep B&Bs a secret until all hotel rooms are taken. You'll get your own key to a lived-in and generally simple but comfortable private room, with free access to the family shower and WC.

For years I had wondered why Norwegian B&B prices were so low until a local running a cash-only Hus Rum told me that in Europe's most highly taxed corner, "a small amount of cash can be a big amount of income."

Staying in B&Bs, you can keep to yourself or connect with the family. It's up to you. B&B hosts enjoy the world coming into their homes. If they're into horses, music, sports -- you can be, too. If you have a fine sweater on your shopping list, you have a local friend for advice. If you have Norwegian heritage, your host will likely know more about your last name than you do.

Norway's hostels -- another good budget option -- are among Europe's finest. They are ideal for young travelers on. a shoestring looking for an instant circle of friends. And families can take an entire room to themselves and save even more by cooking their meals in the members' kitchen.

Hostels offer breakfast buffets, cheap hot meals, plenty of doubles (for a few extra kroner) and, great people experiences. There's no age requirement for hosteling in Norway. In fact, you'll find lots of Volvos in hostel parking lots, as Norwegians know hostels provide the best $15 beds in town. Receptionists speak English and will usually hold a room if you promise to arrive by 6 p.m.

Buy a hostel membership card before you leave home (visit www. hiayh.org). Those without hostel cards are admitted for a $5-per-night guest membership fee. Sheets cost an extra $5.

Norway's rural hostels can be elegantly rustic in pristine environs. Its big-city hostels often are like big, modern university dormitories -- with double rooms rather than the bigger rooms lined with bunks so typical of hostels in the rest of Europe.

* Campgrounds in Norway are practical, comfortable and inexpensive (about $5-$7 per person with camping card, available on the spot). They also can be incredibly scenic. Imagine sharing a lush fjordside park under a towering waterfall backdrop with Norwegian nature-lovers.

The national tourist office has a fine brochure/map listing all their campgrounds. You also find a list online at the Norwegian Hospitality Association's website (www. camping.no).

This is the middle-class Scandinavian family way to travel -- cheap and safe, with great social fun and almost no reservation problems.

Many campgrounds provide hytter (huts) for wanna-be campers with no gear. Huts normally sleep four to six in bunk beds, come with blankets and a kitchenette and charge one fee (about $40, plus extra if you need sheets). The last hut I slept in came complete with a sod-munching goat on the rooftop.

If you're on a tight budget and are planning on sleeping in hostels, campground bungalows or mountain huts, take your own sheet or sleeping bag. Remote and rural places like these, which pay a ransom to send their laundry out, offer hefty discounts to travelers who don't add to their laundry load. This can save $10 per person per night.

* Many travelers will opt for the modern comforts and reliability of a big hotel. If you do so, you can avoid paying the sky-high rack rates by knowing what deals are available where and when.

In business centers like Bergen and Oslo, many of the upscale hotels cater to business travelers and offer their rooms at deep discounts during their slow times (that's weekends year-round and all of July and August). An $80 room in a no-frills hotel may be a fine value when business hotels are charging their regular rates. But on a day when those business-class hotels offer a plush $200 room for $100, that "budget hotel" is no longer such an exciting deal.

One way to take advantage of these bargains is to buy a hotel discount pass. Various hotel chains offer about a $40-a-night discount if you purchase a $12 Scan Plus discount card, sold at participating hotels (and kids sleep cheap or free; visit www.scanplus.no).

For convenience and modem comfort, I like the Rainbow hotel chain (www.rainbow-hotels.no). You need to request the discount, as receptionists don't volunteer it. These deals are generally also restricted to weekends and summer.

Many business-class hotels come with combi rooms -- "singles" with a sofa bed that traveling twosomes can rent for substantially less than a regular double or twin room.

The Oslo tourist office sells a package that includes business-class double rooms for $60-$ 100 per night. The "Oslo Package" is offered between mid-June and late August and on weekends year-round. It's a particularly good bargain for couples and families, since two kids sleep for free and breakfast is included. The deal also includes up to four Oslo Cards, which cover admission to sights and all public transportation for four days.

Buy the "Oslo Package" through your local travel agent, ScanAm World Tours in the United States at 800/545-2204 or upon arrival in Oslo at the tourist office. For details, log on to www.oslopro.no and click on "Accommodation."

Wherever you decide to lay your head, you'll want to get the most sleep for your dollar. Pull the dark shades -- and even consider wearing a sleep mask -- to keep out the early-morning Norwegian sun. That way, you'll be refreshed and relaxed for the next day's adventures.

RELATED ARTICLE: Eating cheap in norway

* For breakfast, take advantage of your hotel's included smorgasbord. If it's not included, visit a bakery to get a sandwich or pastry and cup of coffee. The cheapest breakfast is the one you make yourself. Many simple accommodations provide kitchenettes or at least hot pads and coffeepots.

* Coffee addicts can buy a thermos and get it filled in most hotels and hostels for about $4. While it's bad form to swipe food from the breakfast buffet, many hotels will provide you with wax paper and a plastic bag to pack yourself a lunch, legitimately, for about $7. Ask for a matpakke.

* For lunch, locals find dagens rett (daily specials) or just (grab a smorrebrod (open-face sandwich) and a cup of coffee at a small shop.

* For dinner, one main course and two salads or soups can fill up two travelers without emptying their pocketbooks. Alternate between cafeteria or fast-food dinners ($10) and atmospheric, carefully chosen restaurants popular with locals ($20).

In Scandinavia, a normal fill-the-tank dinner is eaten around 6 p.m. Anyone eating out later is "dining" and can expect to pay much more. Fancy lunches are often cheaper than fancy dinners.

* A $20 Scandinavian meal is not that much more than a $15 American meal, since tax and tip are included in the menu price (although it's polite to round up the bill for good service). In most restaurants, you can ask for more potatoes or vegetables at no extra charge.

* Go on a picnic. Colorful markets abound in Norway. Basements of big department stores have huge grocery. A picnic dinner in your hotel room can be a relaxing end to an intense day of sightseeing.

* You'll avoid a 12% tax by getting take-away food from a restaurant rather than eating inside. Fast-food places ask if you want to take-away before they ring up your order. You choose: a tray and tax or a bag and no tax.

Rick Steves is the host of the public television series "Rick Steves' Europe" and the author of 24 European travel guidebooks, including "Rick Steves' Scandinavia." His company offers. Europe tours, railpasses and travel information. Contact Europe Through the Back Door, Box 2009, Edmonds, WA 98020; phone 425/771-8303 or visit www.ricksteves.com.