lisakinnear

Hi Fodorites,

I just found an amazing deal last week from Oakland to Norway that I couldn't pass up. I'm flying in out of out of Oslo April 26-May 10. Although Norway has been on my list for awhile, I know only that I don't want to spend more than 2 days in Oslo and I want to make my focus the beautiful countryside, waterfalls, and fjords. I love to walk and hike and photograph landscapes. I'm traveling solo so I won't have the luxury of splitting all the expenses with another person (hotel, car, etc). I'm a seasoned solo Fodorite traveler, but I could use some advice. Questions:

*Should I pick a home base or travel around

*Is two weeks a good amount or too much to spend in Norway. I have been to Stockholm and Copenhagen before, but could fly to one for a few days.

*Do I need to get a car or can I bus and train to the countryside

*I'm interested in the train and ferries of NIN, but may want to do it in more than one day. Where is a good place to overnight or stay for a few days.

There isn't tons out there on Norway so any must see spots or any other itinerary suggestions you could give would be appreciated. I have a few guidebooks coming, but find the advice of Fodorites always much more helpful.

Thanks in advance,
Lisa

Michael

We used a car to travel in the countryside, but friends of ours used public transportation. Check and see if a transportation pass exists to keep costs down.

lisakinnear

Thanks Michael. Will do. Appreciate your help.

Fodorite018

We just got back and did the NIN in one day, but it definitely would have been nice to overnight somewhere along the way. We did not care for Oslo much, so our one day there was plenty. Bergen was wonderful though, and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Our portion of our trip that was in Norway was short, so I can't help with other areas. Definitely do the NIN though, and add at least one night along the way.

colduphere

We had a car in 2013. It was wonderful to go exactly where we wanted to go when we wanted to go. Our route was Oslo to Beitostolen (to go to Besseggen - might be a bit remote/uninteresting to some but absolutely stunning to us. You would have to check snow conditions), to Kinsarvik (beautiful area with waterfalls) to Stavanger (to climb the Preikestolen).

We had considered taking the bus but in the end it was easier to rent a car and pay the drop off charge in Stavanger. We had a Volvo V60 for 9 days (i think) for $800. That is more car than you would need.

marg

I wouldn't think two weeks was too long - there is a lot to see in Norway. We went to a sculpture park in Oslo which was amazing. Loved Bergen - make sure you take the funicular - great views over Bergen and the sea.
Just a thought - have you considered doing a short boat trip with Hurtiguten along the Norwegian coast? That could take you into some of the fiords.

lisakinnear

Thanks mms and colduphere. Very helpful. Marg I was looking at Hurtigruten cruises. I'm considering, but the single supplement is pretty steep. For 7 days it is about $2000 for just me. I know that Norway is very expensive, but I'm really trying to do this on a budget (Airbnbs, etc). Sounds like a car is a good way to go. I'm wondering if there will still be a lot of snow on the ground in early May. Thanks.

colduphere

The first two give a general description:

http://www.visitnorway.com/us/about-...ate-in-norway/
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/repor...ate/Norway.htm

and then there's this one from last year:

http://iceagenow.info/2015/06/record...uch-as-normal/

hetismij2

Lisa, look out for offers on the Hurtigruten. They do sometimes drop the supplement. Try contacting them directly to see if they have any offers which aren't normally available in the US. Have a look at the UK site too.

Oslo is a bit of a Marmite city, you either love it or not. We loved it and felt two days was not enough, whereas two days in Bergen was too much. That was in March, when many Bergen attractions were still closed for the winter.

Have a look at the Norwegian tourist board site VisitNorway. It has plenty of ideas, and suggestions for places to stay.
If you are going by train from Oslo to Bergen, not on NIN, book it as soon as you can to save a lot of money. It is a beautiful trip.

tower

yes, we found a very intriguing rate on 3 nights Hurtigruten, broken up 2 and 1. We were on a one month visit a few years ago, did the NIN and enjoyed it immensely, spent four very full days in Bergen and an enjoyable four days in Oslo.

A two-night Hurtigruten, Bergen to Trondheim, a few days in Trondheim, one final night on Hurtigruten to Bodo (including an optional side trip to the Black Ice Glacier, and bus to Bodo ...part of the arrangement).

Enthusiastically recommend some time driving the Lofotens as we did...this would satisfy your want for Norwegian countryside. It's "one big scene of one big scene!"(Auto ferry from Bodo)

We continued driving north to Tromso, and after exploring the vicinity, drove back to Narvik, turned in the car, and took the overnight train to Stockholm. (we rented our car from the BMW dealership in Bodo and returned to their petrol station in Narvik at no charge).

See below for pics:

tower

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...uHk6iIgbSEgAE#

We got in some great fjord time on the Hurtigruten and the NIN. Bring money.

Enjoy your trip. Lisa, by the way, you can save Hurtigruten money by eating in the deli/cafe on board (excellent, reasonable food choices)and just having breakfast in the dining room.

Restaurant prices in the Lofotens seemed to be about "stateside".. not so in Oslo or Bergen.

lisakinnear

Thank you so much for all the great info. I appreciate all the specifics. I will call Hurtigruten tomorrow. I saw some info about half board and didn't know what it meant. Now I do.

menachem

lisakinnear, if you go to Norwegian Hurtigruten site, you can book by the stretch., ie not an entire cruise. You'll find that prices for this are quite reasonable and if you don't mind roughing it a bit you can do a night stretch in the big lounge. Also there's a cafe on board that's quite good. I've seen students travel to Tromsø this way. Also one time there was a choir that just traveled a day stretch and used one of the conference rooms for choir practice.

Hurtigruten has evolved into "cruises", but especially up north, locals still use it as an express boat to get from town to town along the coast.

https://www.hurtigruten.no/ (but I use a proxy to pretend I'm from Norway: if you have a non-Norwegian ip address it will load the "cruisy" information)

Also, in any Hurtigruten port you can just go to the Hurtigruten office and book, right then and there.

For instance, you might take a train to Trondheim, do a northbound stretch on Hurtigruten there. Or fly to Tromsø and do Lofoten from there.

I also found that long distance express buses are very good. And in summer there's a number of busroutes that take you to the nice hiking areas.

http://www.177nordland.no/index.php?...&ac_parent=280

http://www.tromskortet.no/

http://tide.no/Default.aspx?pageid=1106

http://www.fjord1.no/ferje

lisakinnear

Thanks Menachem. Very helpful. I would prefer not to do 7 days so this seems like a good option. I'm all about the roughing it

menachem

Here's a discussion on a Norwegian forum:

http://vgd.no/forbruker/reisetips/te...tel/hurtigruta

Quoting and translating:

"The best part of the trip, to my mind, is Bergen - Tromsø and then back to Trondheim. The alternative is getting to Harstadt where the north going ships meet the south going ships. It's also nice to get off at Svolvaer, spend a night there and travel further by bus to Å in the Lofoten and then continue your journey on the night of the second day. On the new, big ships, there is so much capacity that you can book a tour on a whim, also in high season."

On the hurtigruten site you can check the daily itinerary of the service and find out which ship is sailing from the port of your choice.

lisakinnear

Thanks for all of your help. As I have started my research, I'm thinking I may want to drive from Oslo and stay in multiple places along the way so I can hike. I'm torn with taking the train from Oslo to Bergen and doing the Norway in a Nutshell route with just one overnight or driving. So do I base in Bergen and drive out to the small towns or stay out there. I have found some great Airbnbs in Ulrik and Flam/Myrdal. Just not sure how to structure the itinerary if I drive. Any opinions?n

Michael

Take a look at my trip report, we drove from Bergen to Trondheim; click on my name to find it.

lisakinnear

Thanks Michael!!

hetismij2

You don't need to go to the Norwegian website for short trips on Hurtigruten. The US site also offers them.

lisakinnear

Thanks hetismji2. I called them today and got lots of good info on short trips.