gbdog2013

We will have two day layover in Norway next weekend. We want to do NIN as well as touring Oslo. To save time, we need to rent a car. Our tentative plan is:

(1) rent a car at Gardermoen airport Saturday morning.
(2) drive to Oslo center and tour for half day
(3) drive to Voss late Saturday afternoon or evening
(4) Sunday morning, drive to Gudvangen
(5) return boat/bus trip Gudvangen-Flam-Gudvangen.
(6) Travel Gudvangen-Voss-Oslo Sunday afternoon

I have a few questions about this plan -
(1) Is it easy to find a public parking spot in Oslo's center Saturday?
(2) Do we give up seeing too much scenery along the train ride between Myrdal and Flam?
(3) How is the scenery along Voss-Gudvangen compared to that along Myrdal - Flam? If we have to drop one, which one we should choose?
(4) For the Nærøy fjord cruise, http://www.fjord1.no/ only sells return cruise tickets for May 10th. Is this correct?

Thank you!

Michael

For what you want to do just do the NIN as a round trip from Oslo. It will be a long day, but you can rest on the train on the way back – same scenery as going – and it will be less hectic. I believe that you will have to take the first train out of Oslo to be able to make the round trip that will take about 12 hours (check on that).

gbdog2013

Thanks Michael. Packaged NIN will take 2 full days because of no overnight train back to Oslo on Saturday. So we could not do that.

PalenQ

All your transportation can easily be done by train, bus and boat - trouble if your park your car in one place to do NIN then you have to backtrack to start to get your car - I see no reason for a car for your plans - the Oslo-Bergen train is ubiquitously listed as one of Europe's most dramatically scenic trains - much nicer than driving on a autobahn IMO - if you want lots of details about doing it by train, bus (Voss-Gudvangen) and boat check these sites: www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetrave.com and www.seat61.com - all have special coverage I believe of the Oslo-Bergen train and NIN excursion.

By not having to take the 2.5 hour boat ride back to Gudvagen but the scenic Flam Railway to Myrdhal you should be able to take a day train back to Oslo - perhaps - just a suggestion to investigate.

Michael

<i>Packaged NIN will take 2 full days because of no overnight train back to Oslo on Saturday</i>

My impression is that it was not the overnight train that was going back to Oslo, just a late afternoon/evening train.

Michael

It still would be more efficient to simply take the package to Bergen, stay overnight in Bergen and take the train back to Oslo – if scenery is the main attraction. BTW, there is a stave church in the skansen in Oslo.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...57623070576316

dyoll

A car in Oslo would be a disadvantage - parking is difficult to find and expensive - it is also difficult to find your way around one-way street systems. Given your limited time I'd skip Oslo and give yourselves more time on the road.
You can do the NiN as a 16 hr day trip from Oslo, but only in summer - not available next weekend and you'd need to start very early in the morning. You could possibly take the afternoon train from Oslo and stay overnight in Flåm, do the ferry one-way and bus back to Flåm then train back to Oslo including the Flåm rail - but you'd have to check with the tourist office for timetables.
If you do decide to drive then why Voss - it's out of your way and an extra 1 hour driving - just drive straight to Flåm. However with driving it would not be possible to include the Flåm rail in your time schedule. I also hope you are not arriving after a long overnight flight and expecting to do all that driving.
You can buy one-way tickets on the ferry, but hardly necessary to do this in advance in May - there is plenty of room on the ferry and there are no cruise ships in Flåm on 9th and 10th May.

gbdog2013

Thanks dyoll! You answered my questions spot on. I agree we should drive to Flam directly instead of Voss. At Flam, we are going to do the return Flam-Gudvangen-Flam fjord cruise (boat/bus). I have not decided how we should travel the Flam-Myrdal-Flam part. I know we could take a train. But as we already have a car, I wonder whether we could drive up to Myrdal and back down to Flam. On google map, there is a route from Flam to Vatnahalsen, about 3-4 km away from Myrdal. Anyone know the condition of the road?

Thanks!

Michael

I recall, perhaps mistakenly, that the road from Myrdal to Flam is a dirt road.

Michael

According to Yahoo map, it's 5 hours from Oslo to Flam, and 6hr45mn to Geiranger Fjord. I've been to both. For my money, the extra driving time would be worth it. This is especially true in that you do not seem to consider the train ride from Myrdal to Flam as essential to your trip.

gbdog2013

I will leave it open until I am in Flam. If the road condition is bad, I might not take the drive towards Myrdal which might violate the rental term. Thanks Michael!

gbdog2013

Michael, I realized you were suggesting another fjord which is more picturesque. Assuming we will arrive at Geiranger Saturday evening and we need to leave for Oslo Sunday afternoon at 3pm, what activities you would suggest? Thanks!

Michael

There's a boat tour of the fjord that is available. On the return leg, one can get off and visit a farm that is now a museum and then hike back to Geiranger – it's hard to imagine where the trail goes given the verticality of the cliffs. But I do not know if you would have the time for that.

dyoll

There is no driveable road to Myrdal or Vatnahalsen - you'd have to take the train up and down. If you had more time you could hire bikes in Myrdal and cycle down the path. I don't really see how you can fit both the ferry, the train and a drive back to Oslo within a reasonable time on Sunday. But you won't need to book in advance and can decide on the day.
In your time frame I think you'd get most out of Sognefjord and Nærøyfjord - they are just as spectacular as Geiranger. And since there are no cruise ships there on your days there won't be huge crowds. And you'll have enough time to enjoy the drive, stop a bit etc.
With a reasonably roomy budget I'd advise the Fretheim hotel.

historytraveler

I really enjoyed my stay at the Fretheim. Certainly the best place to stay in Flam. I agree with dyoll, as you may be more limited on time than you think.

gbdog2013

Thanks all for your help in my planning of the NIN trip!