A Week in Myrkdalen with a 13-Month-Old: Skiing, Huskies and Fjords

The Quick Version

Why Norway? (It Wasn't Our Idea)

We normally ski in Bulgaria. We've been twice together, and we got married in Borovets - well, technically at Gatwick registry office and then flew EasyJet to Bulgaria, but that's another story. Leila wanted to go back. She wanted to show Tallulah where we got married. It's got bars, it's lively, she knew what she was getting.

But my dad spotted a deal on Travelsoo that looked decent, and my mum very generously paid for a big chunk of it as a combined birthday and Christmas present. So we didn't really have a choice.

“I didn't particularly want to go to Norway because it looked a bit dead, it looked quiet. I just wasn't sold. Turns out I absolutely loved it and want to go back.”

— Leila

Liam saw it differently - more of a retreat than a boozy holiday. And once we saw the £14 pints, even my dad adjusted his expectations on that front.

Getting There (and Nearly Missing the Flight)

We stayed at the Copthorne Marriott at Gatwick the night before, which was the right call. We actually spent the afternoon visiting the area around where we got married, which was nice - taking Tallulah to see the place for the first time.

Left the hotel at 4am. Tallulah had been awake about three and a half hours by the time we boarded, running around the airport lounge, so she was knackered and ready to sleep.

And then Leila and my mum nearly missed the flight.

What happened was: me and my dad went to grab whisky from duty free while the women walked on ahead. Except they didn't walk to the gate - they were chatting away and just kept going. We got to the gate, sat down, and then went “shit, where are they?” They were the last three people to board. Classic.

The flight itself was another good Jet2 experience. Tallulah had about 10 minutes of restlessness before we took off, but she zonked out the moment we were in the air. We'd timed the milk perfectly.

The Coach Transfer

From Bergen, we had an Inghams coach transfer. Tallulah slept. She was awake for about 15 minutes and then zonked out again. Leila and my mum also fell asleep, which meant it was me and my dad seeing all the good stuff - frozen waterfalls, people skating on frozen lakes, little Norwegian villages as we passed through.

The bit that stuck with me was passing through Voss and seeing families out together, doing activities that were basically free - skating, walking, just being outdoors. It looked like a genuinely nice way of living.

One thing to know: Myrkdalen isn't a town. It's basically a hotel with some chalets on a mountain. There's no village to explore or shops to browse. You're there for the hotel, the slopes, and the activities - and honestly that's enough.

Myrkdalen Hotel with a Baby: Our Honest Review

They had a cot set up in our room before we arrived. Highchairs in the restaurant. Warm milk for Tallulah from the coffee shop whenever we asked - never charged for it once. That kind of thing makes a massive difference when you're travelling with a baby.

The Room

Fine for a holiday. Not huge. The cot was on Leila's side, touching the bed, so she got kicked a few times. The one genuine complaint: the bed was two singles pushed together with two separate duvets. For the price, it should be a proper king. We saw other rooms with sofas which might have been the family rooms, but we'd booked a standard double.

That said - modern, clean, comfy, lovely hot shower, cleaned every other day. Norwegian cartoons on the TV kept Tallulah entertained while we got ready. You don't spend much time in the room anyway.

The Playroom (Lifesaver)

This was the game-changer. One person would stay in the playroom with Tallulah while the other went skiing, then we'd switch. It gave her a change of scenery, she got to mingle with other kids, and we actually got talking to other parents in there. Much better than having her running around the hotel lobby going “uh-oh” with her teddy bear every two seconds while people were trying to relax.

Proper toys, clean, well-maintained - not just a sad box of broken Duplo in the corner.

The Food (Upgrade to Full Board - Trust Us)

We started on bed and breakfast and upgraded to full board for £480 for two people for the week. Best decision of the entire trip. Each evening meal would have cost up to £100 otherwise, so the maths just made sense. But more than that - it gave us routine. Every night at six, we'd sit down together, Tallulah would eat with us, then she'd go to the playroom to wear herself out, and then bed.

The first meal was the standout. Trout, beautifully cooked. Leila doesn't eat fish and she loved it - even ate the skin. That set the tone for the whole week.

Breakfast was massive. Full English range, porridge, pastries, pancakes, waffles, fruits, yogurts, granola, every bread going. The smoked salmon was incredible - I had it every day. Smoked mackerel, cheeses. So fresh. On transfer day home they gave us bags to make a packed lunch from the buffet. Lovely touch.

Tallulah had yogurt, toast, scrambled eggs, cucumber and oranges every morning. They filled up her bottles with milk from the coffee machine and never charged for any of it - breakfast or milk.

For evening meals she just ate whatever we were having, off our plates. She had trout, goat, and reindeer. She ate more reindeer than Leila on the last night - Leila wasn't too keen on the thought of it, but it was actually very good.

Skip the Pizza Bar

The pizza bar costs the same as the main restaurant on full board. The pizza was decent enough, but it's not the fine dining the main restaurant offers. We ate there once and felt like we'd missed out. It was nice being in a different room, but stick to the main restaurant - it's worth it.

Skiing in Myrkdalen with a 13-Month-Old

Me and my dad skied most days. Leila can ski - she's a good skier, she just prefers the blues. My mum doesn't ski much but she loved looking after Tallulah. Leila offered to do the first day on childcare so everyone else could get their ski legs, but my mum quickly took over. She didn't want to go out.

Honest tip: take the in-laws if you can. Having grandparents there made the whole thing work. Without them, you'd be taking strict turns, which still works - but it's not the same.

The skiing itself was some of the best I've ever done, purely for the freedom. No queues whatsoever. Straight on the chairlift every time. I could do three runs in the morning, be done by lunchtime, and then spend the afternoon with the family. When it came to Leila's turn to look after Tallulah for an hour, I didn't feel like I was missing out because I could just go back out again. They even had night skiing, which we didn't bother with because we'd had enough during the day.

I held Tallulah between my legs and skied down the baby slopes a few times - she looked like she was having proper fun with that. The bum sledging was a different story. Absolutely emotionless. Zero reaction on her face. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. Just...nothing.

She didn't walk outside at all. She'd only started learning a month before, and honestly we didn't buy the right shoes for her. The ski boots we got her - she wouldn't wear them. The gloves - never wore them once. She needed a couple more months really. Whenever she was outside she was in her ski onesie in the pram with a fur liner from her main pushchair transferred into the travel one. A £40 stroller. Worked perfectly.

The Activities: What's Actually Worth Doing

Husky Sledding (Do This. Seriously.)

The absolute highlight. Both of us, no question.

It was bloody freezing. You're wrapped in a reindeer skin covering in the sleigh, and you need something on your face because the cold is brutal. Leila and Tallulah were cuddled up together in the front - and with the movement, Tallulah fell asleep within about 10 minutes. Classic.

I steered - or “mushed” apparently - for the whole thing. You've got a foot brake and you lean around the corners to counterbalance the sledge. My parents were in the sled ahead of us. They fell over twice. My mum got buried in a pile of snow, which was hilarious from behind.

It lasts about 20 minutes, which sounds short but it's enough when you're in that kind of cold. You do laps around a frozen lake with snow everywhere. Imagine a Christmas card and you're the little figurine in the middle. That's what it feels like. Bucket list stuff.

The Fjord Cruise (Honest Take)

Right, this one we're going to be honest about. The fjord is stunning. Absolutely breathtaking scenery. But the trip is about two and a half hours, which is too long. You've seen the best of it after 10 minutes.

Then there's the train up the mountain - again, fine for 10 minutes but it goes on. You get to the top, you're there for 10 minutes, then you're coming back down to get the coach back. It felt like a day of travelling. Tallulah was fine on the boat - she spent two hours wandering up to people, dropping her lamby teddy and saying “uh oh” until someone picked it up, repeat. She fell asleep on the train.

Would we recommend it? Yes, it's something to say you've done. Would we do it again? No. The only real upside was that by the end of the week we were getting a bit bored of the skiing, so it gave us a full day out doing something different. If you've got older kids who might get bored, think carefully. And honestly, you could just get public transport to the fjord and see it yourself without the full tour.

The Sauna (Do This Too)

Halfway up the slope, right outside the hotel - you can see it from the balcony. About £35 for 90 minutes for both of us. We booked the group option because we could see from my parents' room that nobody ever used it. We had it completely to ourselves.

The routine: get in the sauna, then run outside and roll in the snow. The snow bit is absolute agony, mostly on your feet. You're trying not to slip, you duck under this barrier to get to the fresh snow, and you're out there for maybe a minute before you can't take it anymore. Meanwhile, people are going up the chairlift right above you, laughing.

We did it a couple of times each. No idea if there was any health benefit, but it was an experience and we're glad we did it.

Horse Walk & Kids' Disco

There are Norwegian horses near the hotel - easy flat walk with the pram on a nice day. Tallulah loved seeing them. They also had a kids' disco one evening (fun for about an hour) and cinema evenings for older kids.

Practical Tips for Norway with a Baby

How Much Does a Week in Myrkdalen Cost?

Beyond the package, we barely spent anything. We had a pint and a Coke one afternoon, milk from the hotel shop, and a hot dog and Coke from a garage on the fjord trip. That was about it. The full board really does lock everything in.

The Honest Bits

Hardest part of the trip? Coming home. That's it. That was the genuine answer from both of us. There were a couple of restless nights at the start - standard for a kid in a new place - but nothing that felt like a problem.

Did Leila feel isolated? Not one bit. There were loads of other families, other mums. We got chatting in the playroom. It had a good atmosphere without being rowdy. It's not party party - there's a couple of bars but if you don't need that, it's the right place.

Any arguments? No, actually. We can't think of one. That probably says something about the trip.

Tallulah in the snow? Honestly, she was too young to have a real reaction. She was more excited inside the hotel and on the boat than she was actually in the snow. She'd walk around saying “wow” in the hotel and on the fjord, but outside in the snow? Nothing. She needed a few more months for that to land.

The Trip That Changed Everything

This is the part that matters most. While we were in Myrkdalen, we got our first Airbnb booking on our cottage back home. And something clicked. We looked at each other and said: this is what we're going to do.

Norway was the trial run. We wanted to see what travelling with Tallulah at this age was actually like - the same room, the logistics, the sleep, the food, all of it. And it just went perfectly.

“It just all went perfect. And it was like - why are we coming home to this? Why would we not keep doing it?”

Two weeks later we booked a month in Benidorm. That's how directly this trip led to everything else. If you want the full story of why we're doing this, read our founding post.

The Verdict: Should You Take Your Baby Skiing in Norway?

“If you're thinking about doing it and you've got all the anxiety around it, just do it. You'll be amazed how adaptable kids are. You worry about the most stupid stuff. They'll sleep anywhere - planes, trains, boats. Doesn't matter what room you're in, they'll sleep in it as long as they've got a nice cosy set up.”

— Leila

Here's the thing: it's not a ski trip. It's a family holiday where you can go skiing. You might get one or two runs in a day. The rest of the time you're sledging, doing husky tours, walking to see horses, or sitting in the playroom. It's not après ski and chairlift-to-chairlift skiing. If that's what you want, don't bring the baby.

But if you want a good balance - some proper skiing in the morning (with genuinely no queues), beautiful food, incredible scenery, and a hotel that actually welcomes your family - Myrkdalen is one of the best places we've found. You've got to adapt when you've got kids. It's not going to be the same as before. But it can still be brilliant.

We'd go back in a heartbeat. Next time Tallulah will actually walk in the snow. We can't wait.

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