Scottish guy living in Tønsberg, Vestfold

Hello davflem,

Welcome on board!

Until other members join the discussion, I suggest you check the in the Forum categories like networking

This may be helpful finding other expats.

Good Luck!

Marjorie

Hello! I just wanted to know how you like living in Tønsberg as my Australian boyfriend and I are thinking of moving there too? Have you met any nice people since you posted your post here? Do you think it is easy or hard to make friends in the area in general? Would you recommebd moving there?

Looking forward to hear about your experiences! It would be great to hear from someone who has gone through what we might go through!

Thanks,
Marie

Hi! thanks for the note :-) where are you thinking of moving from?

Tønsberg is a great town especially in the summer as there is always something going on at the weekends.. boat shows, triathlons, festivals, food shows etc etc so there is always a buzz around town.  In winter of course its a bit slower but that's quite normal here.
We moved here from Oslo due to our personal circumstances with two young kids and most of min samboer's family living here so it was an easy choice. Having that support function has made life much easier. It is also cheaper down here for property and we wanted space for a growing famiily which didnt cost the exhorbitant prices that Oslo offers for a house.

Surrounding area is fantastic. Islands, Beaches, boat trips and is only an hour or so away from Oslo and 30 mins from Sandjeford.

As for making friends like anywhere you have to throw yourself out there. It it definately less "international" down here that it is in Oslo so that makes it a bit harder but with the kids and barnehagen we are making some good friends. There are of course lots of clubs and actiivities going on so whatever interests you I'm sure you could find some folks throught that.

I would recommend moving here as its a beautiful place and some spots on Nøtterøy are trully idyllic. One bit of advice I will give you though is to find a job here before you come as the vacancies are slim (depending on what you do), otherwise if you don't mind travelling you can train to Oslo in just over an hour. Many people commute and with the train line being upgraded it should take 45 mins ina  few years, whcih will make the place more appealing to many wishing to escape the city life.

Ask anything you wish.. have been here over a year now and am much more familiar with whats going on... feel free to let me know when you are in town and we can meet for a beer or something.

Dave

Hello!

Great to hear from you! Your answers were of great help! We (or for the time being mostly me) are thinking of moving to Tønsberg from Stavanger. I'm from the east part of the country myself, and that's where I have most of my friends and family, plus I prefer the weather over there to here, so I actually really want to move! Unfortunately, my Australian husband don't seem to convinced. Some of his worries are that it'll be too quite, and that he won't get to know anyone, and certainly not any other expats. So, if you don't mind me asking for your expertise on the area once more; would you say he is right? Is it too quiet (he's been living in London and Singapore before this)? And is it really hard to get to know somebody? How about other expats? Have you met any of them? In Stavanger we have something called Internations, where people from pretty much all over the world meet up and socialise once a month or so. Do you have anything like this in Tønsberg? And lastly, I guess it's a weird question; are you happy to stay in Tønsberg forener, or do you want to go back to Scotland?

Sorry to bother you with all these questions! It's just really valuable to hear about your experiences when we're thinking of doing the same as you! Plus, if my husband knows there are other expats who has moved to Tønsberg, and lives there quite happily, he might be tempted to give it a try! Fingers crossed

Thank you so much again! And if we do end up moving there, which I really hope, we should definitely all meet up!

Cheers,
Marie

Hi !
Compared to singapore or London , for sure Norway isn't the same kind of life except of Oslo - depends of what kind of life you are expecting - scandinavia and norway especially is a "little country". population is of a little amount. and density is not high rate. the country is wide ... - on a general point of view scandinavian "spirit" is very cool and quite. So, it's not as in very urbanistic areas - but, there are very active people, talking about socializing , sport practise, outgoings , nature explorations and so on. There are a lot of things to be done over there. For sure, it's not Paris or N.Y city ! but if you like nature and wide country it's a very nice place to be seen and spending in Norway is very fine. But they are influenced by american way of life and in Oslo , and other great cities night live is an active one because of " cultural level" and level means too in general. They are one of the best worldwide.
Internations is a lively website for sure and they propose a lot of activities. but most of them in Oslo except for outgoings in countryside and discoverings of the touristical sites.
One of the problem is the distances in Norway with speed limit , climate conditions, it can take time to go from one point to another. But there are good main roads and it's O.k
So, the choice of a destination is depending of the kind of life you would like to spend over there.