Some countries you visit simply remain etched on your retina as beautiful postcards. Then there is Norway—which settles in your chest like a heavy, sweet stone of awe. It is a place where the earth exhales glacial chills, where fjords bite into the land like the teeth of an ancient leviathan, and where every other resident walks around with a personal bank account filled with money earned from... oil. Yet this is not the kind of oil that sheikhs brag about. It is the kind that Norwegians have handled with a frightening, almost surgical sobriety.
Nature that takes your breath away
Let’s start with the most important thing. The reason people fly across half the world to get here.
The Fjords. These are not merely bays. They are scars left on the planet's body by glaciers that crawled across the landscape millions of years ago, grinding mountains into dust. When you stand on the deck of a ferry with sheer cliffs rising kilometers into the sky on either side and the water beneath you is dark, almost black, you realize one thing: man is but a guest here. Not the master. A guest who should speak in whispers.
Then you ascend Preikestolen—a giant stone cliff 25 by 25 meters, hanging over the Lysefjord at a height of 600 meters. An abyss is under your feet. Infinity is ahead. And you stand on the edge of the world, and the wind tears at your jacket, and it seems that one more step—and you will fly. Not down. Up. Into that very Scandinavian fairy tale, where Vikings drank mead from the skulls of their enemies, and gods lived in halls of gold and ash.
The oil gold that did not consume the country
Now, let’s talk about money. And this is where the true Norwegian magic—the magic of self-restraint—begins.
Norway is one of Europe’s largest producers of oil and gas. It would seem like a classic scenario: pump it, sell it, and spend it all. That is how nearly everyone does it. But the Norwegians are different. They looked at the black gold and said: “No. We will not pour this money into the economy. We do not want inflation. We do not want our people to grow lazy.”
Instead, they created the National Oil Fund—the largest in the world. It holds more than $1 trillion. That is 1,300,000,000,000. A trillion with twelve zeros. The fund owns shares in Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Nestlé, and another 9,200 companies. It owns approximately 1.5% of all shares in the world. Imagine: every Norwegian, from infants to the elderly, is a co-owner of planet Earth. If this fund were split equally, every citizen would have $220,000.
At the same time, gasoline in Norway costs as much as it does in the most expensive countries on earth. Taxes are high. Visible luxury is kept to a minimum. This is because Norwegians have grasped one simple truth: wealth is not about what you spend. Wealth is about not losing your head.
The country where your wallet cries
Get ready. Norway is the most expensive country I have ever visited. A cup of coffee? Certainly. A bottle of water? Go ahead and take out a mortgage. Dinner at a restaurant? You’d best sell a kidney in advance.
But you know what? You pay—and you don't get angry. Because you see exactly where that money is going. Toward perfect roads. Toward tunnels carved through granite cliffs. Toward schools where children are taught to think, not just to memorize. Toward hospitals where treatment is free. Toward the purest rivers where salmon splash.
Salmon and a restaurant at the bottom of the sea
Norway is the world leader in salmon farming. This is their second gold. And when you see these farms in the fjords, where a silver army of fish splashes in the pens, you realize that Norwegians know how to turn even water into money.
And then there is Under—the first underwater restaurant in Europe. Designed by the Snohetta firm, this 35-meter concrete monolith is half-submerged in the sea. Its rough walls have become an artificial reef—mussels, algae, and sea urchins have clung to it like coral. Inside, 40 guests dine while looking through a giant window into the underwater world. Ten months after it opened—a Michelin star. It is not just a restaurant. It is a portal to another universe.
The Kingdom of Tunnels
Switzerland is proud of its tunnels? So be it. Norway is the true Kingdom of Tunnels. In a country with a population of only 5 million people, there are 1,240 of them. They are everywhere. You drive along the road—and suddenly a rock opens its mouth, and you dive into it like a rabbit hole.
This is where you will find the Lærdal Tunnel, the longest road tunnel in the world. It stretches for 24 kilometers underground! To keep drivers from falling asleep at the wheel, it was designed alongside psychologists: the interior features multi-colored lighting and special rest areas where you can mentally "surface." It is brilliant.
A country that outpaces the future
Norway is not just an "eco-friendly country." It is a country already living in 2050.
They are building Powerhouses here—buildings with a negative carbon footprint. What does that mean? They produce more energy than they consume over their entire lifespan. Solar panels on roofs and facades generate 256,000 kWh per year. The surplus goes into the grid. The building becomes a power plant. A house that feeds the city.
Electric vehicles? There are more of them here than gasoline ones. Battery-powered ferries? They are already plying the fjords. Norwegians do not wait for the rest of the world to wake up. They just go ahead and do it.
Norway is a paradox of a country. The most expensive—and one of the happiest. An oil producer—and the greenest. Wealthy—and without a single hint of boastfulness.
Nature here is so magnificent that you feel like a grain of sand. And the people are so sensible that this grain of sand feels safe.
The Norwegians have proven one simple thing: it is possible to be a wealthy nation without losing your mind. You can extract oil without poisoning the planet. You can live at the edge of the world and be the center of common sense.
And when you leave, looking through the window at the endless fjords, cliffs, and snow-capped mountains, you realize there are places on earth where humanity is doing everything right. And one of those places is Norway.
