russ_in_LA

So, after reading guide books and trip reports, this is my initial stab at an itinerary for our first trip to Scandinavia, which I am planning for May 2022. My "To See and Do" column is really a wish list, and my intra-country flights have not yet been booked, so I am open to suggestions from people who have previously travelled there on how to best allocate our time. Here are my questions:

1) For the 3 initial major cities, it looks like I want to see more than I have time for. Based on my wish list, is this how you would allocate the nights in each city? If not, what would you change?
2) What would you delete on my wish list, in order to fit into the number of days and nights I have allotted to each?
3) If I left off your favorite thing to see or do, what is it?
4) For the driving portion of the trip (Flam onward), What would you suggest to see or do along the routes indicated that I have not mentioned? Maybe you have a favorite short hike, or a ski lift to an amazing view?
5) Are there particular roads you would suggest we take for the best scenery in the areas indicated?

Any suggestions that I didn't specifically ask about are also welcome!

Thanks!!

Michael

May 19. Where are you picking up the car? Not in Flam, for sure. The way to do it is to take the train, ferry bus, train from Oslo to Bergen. Although since you are driving from Oslo to to Solvorn, you might choose to go directly from Oslo to Bergen.

But I might be reading this incorrectly and you are deciding to do a RT from Bergen to Flam, Gudvangen, Bergen. I consider such a circuit unnecessary if you are going to drive from Bergen to Solvorn. You can incorporate Gudvangen in that drive.

It takes more than 1:30 hr to get to Solvorn, and the church is a ferry ride across the sound. If I am reading this correctly, your schedule is generally too tight.

https://flic.kr/p/7qsByy
You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it. Somewhere in the trip reports there is one for Norway and Stockholm.

russ_in_LA

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your reply, I will be sure to check out your trip reports. We are not doing any round trips or back tracking. Here is a more detailed outline of the driving portion of the trip. This might be more clear than my worksheet. Let me know this makes more sense. Thanks!




Flam to Gudvangen (by car ferry), then on to Bergen by car


Bergen - Balestrand


Balestrand - Solvorn - Ornes - Mundal


Mundal - Geiranger


Geiranger - Oye - Lekneset - Juvet


Juvet - Andalsnes - Alesund

HappyTrvlr

We have Swedish friends and they gave us a list of what to do and see in Stockholm. One of their recommendations was to take a tour of City Hall which I highly recommend. It has lots of surprises and you will see where the Nobel Banquet is held. Very worthwhile. A must see.
Drottingham Palace where the Royal family live can be reached by a boat on Lake Malaren. Beautiful grounds.
We were in Oslo first and toured their traditional village so skipped Stockholm’s Skansen which looked similar.
We were in Stockholm for a week and did go out to Millesgarden, sculptor Carl Milles’ beautiful waterfront estate and sculpture garden. We took a subway and a bus, not difficult to get out there and back. Whimsical sculptures.
VASA Museum is a must see.
In Oslo the highlights were The Viking Ship Museum and Vineland Park, a large and interesting outdoor sculpture garden/ park. This is one of Norway’s top attractions.
While over on the island to see the Viking Ship Museum you can visit the other two museums if you want but Viking Ship is the star!
If you are interested in viewing Edward Munich’s “The Scream” visit the Nasjonalmuseet.
The modern Oslo Opera House has a large slopping roof that you can walk on, a popular activity.
We found taking the canal cruise in Copenhagen was very helpful in seeing a lot of the city.
We found wonderful seafood restaurants on the Brygge.
We loved Scandinavia! Perfect English is spoken everywhere.

Michael

Flam to Gudvangen (by car ferry), then on to Bergen by car

Where are you picking up the car and why going to Bergen? Starting with a train ride from Oslo Bergen should be the starting point of your car travels, and however much you meander, it either is a great loop back to Bergen or an itinerary going north to Alesund. But can you drop off a car in Alesund? According to Autoeurope and Kemwel, Alesund does not exist on their sites as having car rental agencies, and these two sister companies cover Western Europe quite thoroughly. Skip the Norway in a Nutshell itinerary as you will be imitating it when driving from Bergen.

thursdaysd

My picks for Stockholm's museums:

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...ays-stockholm/

Not sue what you mean by canal tour, but I loved my day out in the islands:

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...oat-and-metro/

russ_in_LA

Thanks for the feedback. I had originally thought I would pick up the car in Flam because it is faster than the train to Bergen, and it would enable me to take the ferry from Flam to Gudvangen without retracing my steps back to Flam; but you are correct, picking up a car in Flam to drop off elsewhere is problematic. I did find that Hertz will allow a Bergen pickup and a drop off in Alesund, so that’s what I’ll do. Great photos, by the way!

russ_in_LA

Thanks for the links to your informative posts!

Michael

Flam is uninteresting so don't worry if your road trip by-passes it. My final recommendation: take the train from Oslo directly to Bergen, leaving out the Flam etc. detour. Pick up the car at the end of your Bergen stay for your car tour. This is the train that you should stay on, picture taken at the train station to connect with the Flam train:

https://flic.kr/p/7qsvME

russ_in_LA

Thanks so much!!

balthy

There are ferries between Copenhagen and Oslo, arriving into Oslo and see the fjords in the morning is a nice to way to arrive. You might consider that instead of flying. Tivoli Gardens are something you can walk around in the evening/nightime when it is at its best with all the lights and light shows. You can have dinner in one of the many restaurants. Nice to see Nyboder on someone's list, some places in CPH you can see pretty quickly eg Amalienborg, Nyhavn, Rådhus, Rundetaarn & Strøget, Kastellet is nice to walk around in the evening, you can limit the number of castles you want to see perhaps. If you go to Kronberg, you might want to walk around Helsingør a little. Renting a car to visit the places outside of Copenhagen is convenient, although the train is great, you can drive to villages by the sea in the area and have some traditional smoked fish. The coastal road north of Copenhagen 152 is scenic, you can see across to Sweden and drive through pretty villages.

A trip around the Swedish archipelago is recommended if you can find the time.

Here are the spellings of some of the places you have listed, Strøget, Ålesund, Øye, Flåm etc.(pronounced FLOM) etc

russ_in_LA

Thanks for the info on the Flam rental car. You are correct, while there are rental agencies in Flam, they don't seem to do point-to-point, only round trip. I was able to find agencies in Bergen where we can pick up and then drop in Alesund.

Another question: Excluding the Flam railway and taking the train from Oslo to Bergen, is it particularly scenic? If not, I'd just as soon fly and not eat up the entire day traveling. Thanks!

russ_in_LA

Very helpful. Thanks for the additional info!

Michael

It is less scenic once it is at water level on the way to Bergen because it goes through many tunnels. The two pictures from the train were taken on the way to Flam.

https://flic.kr/p/7qoyWB
https://flic.kr/p/7qoz2H