The Infamous Harrytur

The very Norwegian tradition of hopping over to Sweden to buy cheaper groceries, especially meat and booze.

Introducing harrytur, or harryhandel. It's the great Norwegian habit of driving, riding, flying, sailing, or whatever else, to another country in order to buy goods, namely alcohol, tobacco, and bacon, at a slightly cheaper price.

(Relax; I know this isn’t only a Norwegian tradition. Most countries have their version of harrytur too)

You can witness a miniature version of harrytur at any Norwegian airport if you’re flying internationally.

As soon as you get through security or off the plane, you might see a little bit more hustle in the steps of the blonde haired people around you as they make a b-line straight for that glorious ‘Tax-Free’ zone for their candy, tobacco, and liquor needs.

Read more: Shopping in Norway

What does harrytur mean?

Directly translated Harrytur means Harry Trip. Harry is a term to generally describe something as unsophisticated, though it has a plethora of other definitions. But in the case of this article Harry means unsophisticated, of poor taste, less than classy, etc…

According to the Internet, the etymology of the word Harry comes from upper-class kids in Oslo calling their lower-class counterparts Harry.

This came to be due to people in lower and middle classes giving their children English names, such as Harry, whereas upper-class kids got to be called Sven and stuff with more traditional Scandinavian names, with the occasional French or German name sprinkled here and there.

Where do you go?

Because of simple geography, Sweden is the most common destination for Norwegians on a harrytur. From many places in Norway, you can get to the border with Sweden in a relatively short time. Denmark isn’t out of the question either.

Conveniently located just a few meters across the Norway-Sweden border are large supermarkets filled with all the needs of the every day Norwegian. Imagine a warehouse-sized building filled with rows and rows of candy, and all around this building is a slew of state-run liquor stores, tobacco outlets, sporting goods and clothing stores.

You can find a few of these across the border from Oslo. There's even one across the border from Trondheim, albeit a little smaller.

How do you get there?

Harrytur can take many different forms. A large portion of people will jam into a car with close friends or family. Traveling by car gives the added benefit of marveling at the (slightly) higher speed limits and glorious wide highways that apparently start as soon as you cross the border.

A student’s version of harrytur might mean packing themselves onto one of the free buses that run from the universities. But don’t feel left out if you’re not a student, there are often busses that fulfill the same mission for us regular folk as well.

Given the amount of shopping a harrytur requires, taking a train across the border might be a little difficult, but if you’re just stocking up for a weekend, a harrytur by rail could still be a viable option.

Plenty of ferries make the trip from South-eastern Norway and on into Sweden. You can also make a holiday out of it by hopping on the Danskebåten for a pseudo-cruise day-trip to Copenhagen. These boats run daily, take the trip in the morning, spend the day shopping, and jet back across the water in the afternoon.

Is it really that much cheaper?

Well, sort of. The majority of stuff will be marginally cheaper. Standard groceries such as meat and dairy products, and of course smågodt, will also be a tad cheaper. Alcohol is significantly cheaper thanks to lower taxes. You can also save a pretty penny on some products such as tobacco.

But let's not forget that Norway is one of the most expensive countries on the planet. Spending money pretty much anywhere else makes it feel like you’re getting some great deals.

Tolls

Be wary all ye’ who go to Sweden and come back to Norway. There are laws that prescribe how much meat, dairy, alcohol, and tobacco you can bring back over the border.

Though these limits are still quite high, think twice before filling up the entire trunk of your car with spare ribs and beer. These limits are calculated per person. That's one of the reasons why there are so many full cars crossing the borders on weekends and before holidays.

Harrytur is a good time

While the end goal is to save a few kroner on things you are going to be purchasing anyway, the reason many people go on a harrytur is simply that it is fun. Often times the cost of petrol and lunch at the infamous Max Burger offset the actual savings on the trip!