M - Can second the vote for casual dining at Peppe's - wonderful pizzas and such. We even caught a meal at the Oslo airport as we were waiting for our plane to continue our trip to Iceland. The Peppe's located on KJG, across from the train station, is a 2-story building and includes a patio for outdoor dining. Kafe Celsius, located at Radhusgate 19 (near Akershus Castle), serves delicious food. There's both indoor and outdoor, courtyard dining, although not sure if the courtyard will still be open in late September. You won't have any shortage of Tex-Mex restaurants, English-pub fare or Asian cuisine either !

Oslo-nutshell-Oslo daytrip considerations...<BR><BR>Pro: Can stay put in Oslo hotel. Can pick a departure day on spur of the moment, avoiding bad weather days. Good use of daylight hours, because dark periods on the train comes during dull or repeat scenery; eg. won't miss glacier views on approach to Voss.<BR><BR>Con: Might not be possible outside the published itinerary validity June 6 - Sept 15. Long day. Miss a lot of good additional sights nearby.<BR><BR>Roundtrip from Oslo - via Voss<BR> 16.06.02 - 15.09.02<BR> Train from Oslo<BR> 06.31 R <BR> To Myrdal <BR> 11.31<BR> Train from Myrdal <BR> 12.03<BR> To Fl&aring;m <BR> 13.00<BR> Boat from Fl&aring;m<BR> 13.25<BR> To Gudvangen <BR> 15.25<BR> Bus from Gudvangen <BR> 15.30<BR> To Voss <BR> 16.50<BR> Train from Voss <BR> 17.07 R<BR> To Oslo<BR> 22.30

Jt!!<BR><BR>Please do not mislead travelers. There never never has been a 6:31 train from Oslo, at least not for the recent 3-4 years. Earliest is at 8:11, reaching Myrdal at 12:46.<BR><BR>During peak season there is up to four ferry departures from Fl&aring;m to Gudvangen. The 13:25 ends at Sept 15.<BR>Throughout the year there always are the 9:00 and 15:00.<BR><BR>Exact schedules always can be found on www.nsb.no for the trains and on www.fylkesbaatane.no for the Sognefjord ferries. The latter is kinda difficult to navigate, though. Anyway, these two sites are the official sites for the two transport companies.<BR><BR>Have fun while planning!<BR><BR>Bjorn, Oslo

Bjorn, whaddya think, that I made those times up? I was frustrated from the nsb web site for nutshell and other packages for which they give no time info (duration, bus, boat) at all, so pasted in that schedule from the travel agency site (noting the schedule had just expired, how very thoughtful of me).<BR><BR>Anyway, let me frankly address the question of eating in Norway; aside from typical international foods, what does it uniquely have to offer. Well, it's a cuisine historically limited by an unabundant geography (kind of like Korea) and isn't globally cherished for much aside from some fresh seasonal items.<BR><BR>But one thing they do well is funny looking but excellant tasting breads/pastries. I won't attempt to type in the various names, but if you see some odd lumps of dough in shops or train trolleys it is a good bet - often containing potato flour or candied fruits or something tasty and wholesome.