Norway in a Nutshell tour and the Rauma Railway?

We drove from Alesund to Kristiansund via Bud, using the Atlantic Coast highway. It was a nice change from mountainous and deep fjord areas, but I would not recommend it for those who seek the fjord experience. From a brief look at a Goggle map, the suggested descriptions deal with two completely different areas, one on the coast and the other inland. I would choose the inland area if a choice had to be made, but that is a guess, as I have not seen that specific area. Click on my name and you will find my trip report from last summer.

Just a few things:

1) Norway in a Nutshell is a good overview, but if you're going to spend some time in Norway (expecially in driving a car), you're going to see great scenery. I'd recommend Nutshell only if you had just 1 or 2 days.

2) I'm not sure if the Trollstigen is open in early April. We're just back from Norway and the road was already closed due to snow.

Michael and astein12, thanks for your replies. My family does want to the fjord experience and to stay in an ice/snow hotel. I'm learning that the cost to fly within Norway is very expensive. It would cost my family $1600 one way to fly from Bergen to Alta. We were hoping to maybe get lucky and see the Northern Lights or at least stay in the ice hotel up there and go snowmobiling and dog sledding. I was using Bergen as a base because we really aren't interested in staying in a big city. I may wind up flying from Copenhagen to Bergen roundtrip and then from Bergen to Moulde so we can make it to the snow hotel in Bjorli. We were not planning on renting a car since most of our activities would have been nearby where we were staying. I am interested in the Norway in a Nutshell tour. That's the reason for our stay in Bergen. I thought we'd do that as a roundtrip so we wouldn't have to carry our luggage with us. Are we missing out on anything by not taking the Nutshell tour out of Oslo? Michael, your trip report was amazing!! Maybe, we just stay in Sweden and not try Norway!! My great grandmother was bornn in Hoganas which is way down near Malmo. There's a ice hotel in Kiruna, Sweden which is way up north!! Could be cheaper but then we'd miss the fjords. Susan

The essential part of the NIN tour is covered from Oslo or from Bergen. In my pictures, start with the train pictures and go from there to Bergen. That covers NIN. The high country pictures that precede these were taken on the Oslo to Myrdal part of the trip.

Michael, the Flam boat ride pictures were amazing!! My daughter is a Photography major. I can hear her clicking away now! Thanks! Was going on the Flam boat ride enough or do you wish you had explored another fjord more deeply? I've read so much that I'm now on information overload.

Susan

Samejia,

I spent 2 days in Bergen in March and on one day did the NIN bergen to Bergen. It was a very long day but one that I would not have missed. BTW Bergen is a lovely town and well worth a full days visit.

I then went on the Hurtigruten ftom Bergen to Kirkenes which was wonderful but the nutshell was just as lovely. The Bergen - Bergen route is as I understand the best part of the journey.

I stopped at Molde but sorry I don't know anything about the snow hotel, however I did do the dog sledging in Tromso and it was brilliant. Lots of the friendliest dogs you have ever seen take you into a snowy white wilderness with lakes and trees covered in icicles at every turn.

Have you looked at other means of public transport from Bergen to Molde or Alta - Train, Bus or Boat?

Cambe, thanks for your reply. I am full of questions for you! Do you think the NIN roundtrip to Bergen will be too much for a 7 year old to handle all in one day? I looked into the Hurtigruten tours but they were all too long for our length of stay. With no activities on board the ship, I'm worried the 7 year old would get very bored as might my 20 year old~! Did you see children on your cruise? We may have 5 nights or so before we need to head back to Copenhagen. Wanted 1 day there again before flying back to the states. Train will take a very long time between Bergen and Molde. From what I was told you have to go to Oslo which is 5 or 6 hours and then another 4 1/2 hour train ride. If we fly from Bergen to Molde it's a direct flight a little over an hour and then another 1 hour 45 minute drive and short ferry ride to Bjorli. I have not looked into bus transportation at all since I knew it takes way too long by car! It's a 9 or 10 hour drive just between Bergen and Molde! Oh, I stopped typing this and checked to see if you did a trip report. Amazing!! You've given me an idea to maybe just do the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Molde so we can stay in the snow hotel. Did you hear much about Alta from anyone you met?

Here are the prices I was given for the Hurtigruten overnight:

I just called Hurtigruten to find out the cost of an overnight boat ride from Bergen to Alesund, and then from Alesund to Trondheim. I was given a price of $519.25 for an inside cabin for the first leg and $600 approximately for the second leg. This is a per person price without meals.

Airfare might be cheaper.

Michael, thank you for checking that out. You beat me to it. When I read Cambe's report, I got the idea that maybe we can even ride the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Molde to get an idea of what that voyage would be like. I keep hoping there's a package that I can take advantage of. Unfortunately, using frequent flyers going to Europe is what is hurting me now. I emailed a couple of travel agents last week in Copenhagen and have not heard back from them yet. I really appreciate everyone's input. It seems like it would have been cheaper getting a package from the States!

Samejia
I became interested in Norway following a programme shown here last year. Joanna Lummley (UK actress) went in search of the Northern Lights and she stayed in the Ice Hotel in Alta. This is a short clip that I found on youtube. At the end she said that she enjoyed the experience but wouldn't do it again.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W67U-Q7YdQ

In early April you might see the Aurora at Alta but Molde is too far south. These are short clips of what she saw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yImmUFisZhE&feature=channel
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPvr9d8UDxs

NIN would be fine for a 7 year old as the journey times on each leg are quite short and there id lots of snow. I did see some children on the the Hurtigruten but they were doing short port to port calls the average age on board was about 55 - 60.

I agree with Michael above, it would be cheaper to fly although if you book directly with Hurtigruten on their Norwegian website it is cheaper than booking through one of their agents and you can get off at Molde. The ship is also very important. I was on the Finnmarken and it had a well heated swimming pool and 2 hot tubs on the top deck. Not all the ships have these facilities. If you are going after 15th April the ship goes up the Geirgenger Fjord.

booking.hurtigruten.com/cvPortal/TFDSPortal.portal?_nfpb=true&portlet_3_1_actionOverride=/cv/portlets/orderDoer/subOrder/scrollDate&_windowLabel=portlet_3_1#

Have you checked SAS for flights?
Norwegian don't have their prices as yet for April
www.flysas.com/Default.aspx?epslanguage=EN
www.norwegian.no

Sorry, we were posting at the same time

Hello Cambe,

Yes, I did check with SAS on the flights. It would cost us over $1600 one way from Bergen to fly to Alta. I was told the flights within Europe would have been cheaper if I had flown to Europe from the States on SAS. I have 3 free roundtrip flights going over. We will be traveling from April 1st to Copenhagen and return to the States on the 11th so we'd miss the Geirgenger Fjord. I did realize we couldn't see the northern lights from near Molde. Going to the snow hotel near there is an option if I give up on going to Alta because the flight will be $3200 roundtrip just for a couple of days and the chances of seeing the lights go down since it will be early April. I became concerned about our chances of seeing the northern lights when I noted that excursions out of Tromso end on March 25th. The excursions in Alta go until April 15th but from what Tromso representatives told me, the chances to go way down so if that's why we'd travel that far, it may not be worth it. So, I started down the path of finding a different ice hotel and found one in Bjorli near Molde.

I tried to watched the video clips but got the message, "This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions".

Thanks for the info concerning children on the ship. I agree that a short port to port type trip would work best for my little one and the 20 year old!

Actually that was a quote from last Spring when I was trying to organize my own Norway itinerary and my wife wanted so much to go up the coast by boat. We gave up on that idea.

Hi Michael, I thought it was going overboard calling Hurtigruten on my behalf I'm glad you didn't waste your time! I emailed someone in the observatory in Tromso to try to get a better feel if it's just way too risky to attempt the Northen Lights and then I'll take into account the money and travel time and make a rational decision!

I'll just throw out my Northern Lights experience... I've been in three situations where it was going to be possible to see the Northern Lights (Alaska, Iceland, Norway) and have been unsuccessful each time. Sometime the weather was just a mess... others, the conditions were good but they just didn't show.

Basically, while I'd love to see them, I've never (and probably never will) planed my vacation around the Northern Lights. They're just way too unpredictable.

Astein12, that must have been so frustrating. I know seeing the lights are unpredictable even when it's the right time of year. I've just been trying to get a feel if the first week in April tips the scale way out of our favor. We'd still get the experience of staying in an ice hotel, dog sledding and snow mobiling in Alta if we went but that would cost so much more than staying in the snow hotel in Bjorli. So, if there's truly a huge difference between going before March 25th and the first week in April, I just want to get a realistic picture of that. Thanks for your response.

No matter what you decide, you'll enjoy the trip... good luck with the Lights either way!

Thought I was done with this thread but I wanted to share this information with those of you have been so very helpful with my planning of this trip. I've been so concerned about the flight costs and the possibility of seeing the northern lights that I failed to do the currency conversion for the ice hotels. Well, for my family of 4 with dinner and breakfast it will cost $1,445.15 for 1 night in the Alta Igloo hotel!!!! I almost passed out. I emailed the hotel to confirm this and I'm correct. I can't even rationalize
that!! The ice hotel near Kiruna Sweden is half that price at at $738.49 for 1 night in the cold accommodation and $765 in the warm accommodation. Insane!! So, if the Bjorli snow hotel doesn't come in lower, I may be bagging my whole ice hotel idea. We can stay in a regular hotel in Alta for about $300. I'm in total shock!

Switching gears. I received an email response from a scientist in Tromso about the northern lights. He was very helpful. I did ask what he would suggest at the 1 place in Norway that someone should visit. Here's his response for those you who will return there someday.

"Very hard to tell; Norway offers a multitude of different landscapes compressed in a relatively small area. Were I to make a choice I like to mention two places: the inner part of Nordfjord (Olden, Loen, Stryn, Sandane) in May or June, and the last 150 km when driving to Tromsø from the south any time of the year".

I have to get these photos organized, but I'll throw these out there now for those who are interested... they were taken between 10/10 and 10/18/2009 while traveling an Olso, Flam, Bergen, Balestrand, Geiranger, Oslo loop by car. Enjoy...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33852474@N07/sets/72157622554188743/

Hi Samejia,

I loved Norway and hope to return for a short visit next year but it is very , very expensive.

IMO, you have to work out your reasons for going to Norway verses Sweden.

If cost is an issue (I know it always is for me) and the ice hotel in Sweden gives you dog sledging and everything you want, I would go with that.

If it doesn't then you will have to pay Norway's inflated prices. BTY Sweden isn't cheap either but cheaper than Norway as you have found out.

Astein12, thanks for posting your pictures. Great shots!

Cambe, I should be all over Sweden since my great grandmother was born in Hoganas, Sweden which is down near Malmo. I was planning on checking that town out since it's only 1 1/2 hours drive from Copenhagen. Yes, we will switch our destination if my family really wants that ice hotel experience and the Bjorli one is too expensive. It's amazing how much more expensive the Scandinavian countries are versus other parts of Europe. And, I thought London was expensive!! I just wanted to do something that I can't do at home which is why I was staying away from big cities and museums. Besides, my 7 year old would be sooooo whiny! Thanks for your comments. Susan

In case you are not aware . . . there are some spectacular fjord areas within relatively easy distance from Kiruna. It is a pretty quick drive from Kiruna down to Narvik on the E10 highway. The fjord areas around Narvik are just as scenic as you would find elsewhere. So if you really want a fjord experience as part of your trip, it's still possible.

Check out the slideshow on this site to see the fjords around Narvik and nearby Nordland:
http://thenorwayfjords.com/Narvik-Area-Fjords.html

NorwayFan, wow! In all the reading I've done, I have not come across this. What a great idea. Do you know if the roads are ok to drive in early April? I found this on the link you gave me. Of course, I have no idea how far away this is from Kiruna.

Driving in Narvik area Norway:

To the North of Narvik, the fjord-side route (mostly Hwy 825), from Grov, through Gratangen and Lavangen, to Tennevoll, is a special back-road trip. Definitely off-the-beaten-track. The scenery is varied and absolutely stunning. A highly recommended route instead of the E6.

Astein12 - You could be of immense help! My dad and mom are planning a vacation. The choice is either Alaska or Norwegian fjords. We are based in Europe and hence my brother suggests Norway. I have been to Alaska but not to the Norwegian fjords and recommend Alaska Hence a long discussion at home is on

With your experience of having been to both could you please please tell me which one you recommend and why?

I cant thank you more!!!! You were exactly whom I was looking for and I think I might have found the right answer!

Best regards,
sidshan

Sidshan,

Hope I can help... it's definitely not an easy decision. I definitely liked both of them and there are some similarities.

Let me ask you a few question...

- How active are your parents? Do they like to hike, kayak, etc.?
- Are they city and town people or prefer the outdoors more?
- What time of year are they going?
- How long a trip are they planning?
- Are they more into tours or doing things on their own?
- Do they like hotels or apartments or bed and breakfasts?

Later!
alan

It is also possible to go by train from Kiruna to Narvik.
Appr. 3 - 3,5 hours