mklovesny

My husband and I are flying from Krakow to Oslo and then a day or two later hoping to do Norway in a nutshell in a day from Oslo to Bergen. After seeing Bergen, we would then fly to Stockholm. It seems like there are so many transfers on the Norway in a nutshell tour, that it would be too difficult to do with luggage. (We are seniors and each travel with a full size rolling suitcase) I could do Norway in a nutshell from Oslo and back, but it's a VERY long day. Should we do that and then fly from Oslo to Stockholm, forgetting about Bergen, or is there something I'm missing in terms of dealing with luggage on the Oslo to Bergen nutshell route?
Any clarification would be appreciated!

historytraveler

I would strongly advise you not to take luggage with you as it will be a real hassle. There is a porter service. I used it on my trip although I chose not to do NIN. They picked up my bags at my hotel in Bergen and they were waiting for me at my hotel in Oslo four days later. Here is their website www.porterservice.no

Surfergirl

I did NIN and there were a LOT of people taking their luggage (including us)and it really wasn't any bigger of a hassle than it would be if you were taking trains from, say Paris to Nice, with luggage. They have places to stow the luggage on deck on in the inside of the boats.

Our plan was to stay in Norway, which we did; then travel from Oslo to Bergen via NIN; stay in Bergen 2 nights; then return to Oslo on the direct train; followed by leaving Oslo for Copenhagen via the overnight boat.

For luggage, here's what we did. We took the 8 a.m. (or so) train from Oslo to Flam (I think, just from memory). However, we got to the train station super early to stow some of our luggage. They have big luggage lockers there. There were 3 of us, and we decided to condense our three large pieces of luggage with stuff that we'd need for a two day period in Bergen into one suitcase, leaving the other two suitcases in the locker in Oslo. This worked great.

historytraveler

The difference in taking luggage from Paris to Nice is that you have only one train to get on and off. On the NIN tour you will need to take luggage from train at Myrdal onto the Flamsbana, then off the train and over to the ferry, and then off ferry at Gudvangen and onto the bus to Voss and then from bus onto train to Bergen. You will be doing this along with a great many other people which doesn't make it any easier. If you're young and traveling light then probably no problem, but for seniors with full size suitcases, it's likely to be more difficult. I think you'd enjoy the trip much more if you weren't bothered with schlepping your luggage around. It's a long day anyway, so why not make it as easy as possible on yourselves?

Do you plan to spend the night in Bergen and then fly out? Personally I would not even consider trying to do a round trip Oslo/Oslo in a day. Again for the younger crowd fine but not for seniors. I'm in pretty good shape ( workout 90 minutes a day), and it would have exhausted me which is one reason why I took four days from Bergen to Oslo. My last day was from Flam to Oslo, and I was done by the time I got to my hotel in Oslo. Of course the fact that our train from Myrdal to Oslo was delayed for several hours didn't help.

Surfergirl

Only you know what you can handle, to be honest. My family is a bunch of intrepid travelers who can handle more strenuous travel and handle dragging luggage to the upper deck of a train and back down without too much stress. This includes my mom who did NIN with a rather large suitcase (fortunately with wheels) at age 80.

I've seen 80 year olds handle things physically better than 40 year olds. Even me, technically a "senior" can not only lift my own stuff, but help those who are both younger and senior to my chronological age.

mklovesny

Thank you both for your insights. I just discovered Norwegian airlines will fly directly to Bergen from Krakow,( it wasn't daily, so I didn't realize at first that I could fly direct) eliminating my need to start in Oslo. I will be starting and ending Norway in a nutshell in Bergen which looks much more manageable. As seniors, I understand I can get discounts on some of the transportation, but it does not seem to be an option on Norway in a nutshell. Is it worth it to try to make my own train, bus and ferry reservations?
Thanks again

dyoll

Doing NiN Bergen return there is very little that can be booked in advance in the sense that you can't reserve seats - it's basically local transport, just like commuter transport back home. A few of the trains are region trains and seats can be reserved - check at https://www.nsb.no/en/
Otherwise you can buy the train tickets from the machine in the station - if doing it in one day then buy both tickets on the day in Bergen station (buying Flåm-Bergen or v.v. will save you queuing up for the Flåm ticket). Bus and ferry tickets can be bought on board and then you'll get any available discounts (from 67 years for seniors). Check the timetables at http://www.norwaynutshell.com/en/explore-the-fjords/ by making a trial booking without completing payment. You should minimise time at Myrdal as that is only a train junction with little to see or do.
If you have a little flexibility in dates then decide when to go after checking the weather forecast when you are there http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Sogn_o...and/Flåm/ and seeing how many cruises are visiting Flåm (Aurland harbour) at http://aurlandhavn.no/cruise-2/ship-arrivals-2014/ (avoid busy days!).