Planning Your Trip to Norway - Norway - page 58

before leaving Norway, and they must be taken out of the country within
3 months of purchase. Complete the information requested on the back
of the check you're given at the store; at your point of departure, report
to an area marked by the TAX - FREE sign, not at Customs. Your refund check
will be exchanged there in kroner for the amount due you. Refunds are
available at airports, ferry and cruise-ship terminals, borders, and train
stations.
Telephone & Telegrams Direct-dial long-distance calls can be made to the
United States and Canada from most phones in Norway by dialing & 00
(double zero), then the country code ( 1 for the U.S. and Canada), fol-
lowed by the area code and phone number. Check at your hotel's front
desk before you place a call. Norwegian coins of 1NOK (15¢), 5NOK (70¢),
and 10NOK ($1.40) are used in pay phones.
Telegrams can be sent from private or public phones by dialing
& 0138.
Time Norway operates on Central European Time—1 hour ahead of
Greenwich Mean Time and 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. (For
example: at noon Eastern Standard Time—say, in New York City—it's 6pm
in Norway.) Norway goes on summer time—1 hour earlier—from the end
of March until around the end of September.
Tipping Hotels add a 10% to 15% service charge to your bill, which is suf-
ficient unless someone has performed a special service. Most bellhops get
at least 10NOK ($1.40) per suitcase. Nearly all restaurants add a service
charge of up to 15% to your bill. Barbers and hairdressers usually aren't
tipped, but toilet attendants and hatcheck people expect at least 3NOK
(40¢). Don't tip theater ushers. Taxi drivers don't expect tips unless they
handle heavy luggage.
Water Tap water is generally safe to drink throughout Norway. Never
drink from a mountain stream, fjord, or river, regardless of how clean it
might appear.