nmb79

Hello All,

I am looking for guidance on planning a 2 week trip this July to Norway. I will be traveling with my girlfriend, who has family in Feda, Norway.

We plan to fly into Stavanger, drive down to Feda and spend 4 to 5 days with the family. From there, I was thinking we could fly to Bergen, and spend 2 full days in Bergen. From Bergen, make our way to Flam and spend 3 days there. We can then take the Flam Railway to Mydral and then take the train down to Oslo. We can then spend 2.5 days in Oslo, then fly back to the US.

Logistically, does this trip make sense?

Any insight/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

nytraveler

Bring LOTS of $ - everything is really expensive. And do be fully aware of how short the nights will be.

colduphere

I am sure you have considered this but you could fly to Bergen, tour that area including Flam and then rent a car for the trip around the south through Feda to Oslo. We were there last summer and liked having the car to visit anywhere we wanted. Just an option.

nmb79

Thanks nytraveler - since we are planning on staying with the family, hopefully that will subsidize some of the costs.

Colduphere - Thanks for the reply. I read in a previous post by someone that rental cars are extremetly expensive, whereas a flight is ~ $100. How is driving in Norway compared to other countries? Did you do a trip report by any chance? How did you go about planning all of the excursion and itinerary?

colduphere

Nmb - you will be sorry you asked about a trip report. Just click on my name and there it is. Though it was a longer trip and we were only in Norway for nine days.

As I say in the trip report I watched rental car prices for months. Through a bit of luck we ended up with a Volvo 70 for a week for $800 including a drop off charge, which you would also incur. But smaller car prices would be less I expect. Driving was very simple. Just about everywhere in Norway is gorgeous. But it was still nice to be able to pull off on a side road and see whatever we wanted.

Our trip was easy to organize as we had two must do's. Besseggen and Preikestolen. The rest just fell into place.

You would want to check about the attractiveness of driving between Feda and Oslo. We have not done it. On the other hand it is only about six hours.

dyoll

You plan is not too clear to me - are you hiring a car in Stavanger and then returning it to Stavanger before flying to Oslo? Are you open-jaw flying in to Stavanger and out of Oslo?
Do you need a car while you are with family in Feda?
Consider Stavanger-Bergen by bus rather than flight and see the scenery, rather than spending a day at airports.
Consider staying in Balestrand rather than Flåm (ferry from Flåm). Quieter centre than Flåm which will be packed with cruise tourists in summer. This is really the area where a car would be an advantage, but you can get around with buses and ferries.

nmb79

Hello All,
I revised my itinerary, could you please review and advise if it makes sense?

NYK to Stavanger
Spend 5 nights with Family in Feda, Norway. Plan on touring the area, visiting family and also doing some day trips up to Stavanger (they have a car for us to use).
Fly from Stavanger to Bergen. Spend 3 nights in Bergen.
Fly from Bergen to Alesund. Spend 2 nights in Alesund
Fly from Alesund to Tromso, spend 3 nights in Tromso.
Then fly back to the NYK.

I keep reading about Lofoten. What would you recommend we cut from above to be able to see some of Lofoten. What island/area in particular? How long should we spend time there?
Also, from any of the areas mentioned above, would we be able to see Sognefjord via a day trip?

Reason we are flying to each place is that it is cheaper and takes less time. Flights are ~$100 per person, as opposed to a couple hundred dollars for a car rental and a multi-hour car drive (although some of the best sights are probably by car). We do not mind renting a car for the day if need be.

Many thanks

albatrost

You could look into Hurtigruten (boat-rides) along the coast. It's a great way to see the Lofoten and the fjords. Cut some time from the cities and see the fjords and Lofoten, it is much more spectacular.

A

menachem

If it were me, I'd drop Ålesund and fly straight to Tromsø from Bergen, and rent a car there to drive to Lofoten on a mini road trip. Svolvaer is a largish town with good hotels and fisherman's huts where you can say, but it's a popular area, so book ahead. You can drive there from Tromsø via E10 or E6, it's about 430 km.

If you take E10 you'll also pass by Harstad.

From Svolvaer you can take the ferry to Skutvik, and from there drive to Bodø and drop of the car too (if applicable) and fly from there to Oslo. Or drive further to Moskenes, which will take you into Lofoten proper, and take the ferry to Bodø straight from there.

Bodø is also a good regional airport.

menachem

say = stay...