ktsharon

In July we are arriving at the Oslo airport in early evening and plan to pick up our rental car there. Is there a nearby hotel for us to spend the night?

Beginning the next morning, we will have four days/3 nights to spend on the road before we must return the car back to the Oslo airport. What would you suggest?

In so short a period, do we just want to head straight to Bergen and spend all our nights there? Do we have time to drive to Sognefjord as a day trip or even as an overnight?

We were also considering taking the Flam railway trip. Is it an all day adventure? Where do board the train and will it return us to the same spot? Is this out of Bergen as well?

We are not hikers, but do appreciate natural beauty and enjoy photography. We know we will only get a taste of Norway, but any suggestions for the best itinerary for our four short days in a car, would be much appreciated. Thanks...

rjsol

3 hotels at Gardermoen. RadissonSAS- radissonsas.com, Clarion- choice.no, and Norlandia- norlandia.no. Go RV 35 to Hønefoss, then RV7/RV50 to Aurland/Flåm, rent a bike, take train to Myrdal, bike down (2hrs), stay Aurland. Or continue E16 and stay Stalheim, drive to Bergen next day, back to Gardermoen E16/RV35. Remember there are heavy fines for speeding. use mapquest.com or mappy.com.

rjsol

Forgot to mention toll roads. Norwegian coins only, some automatic with no change possibilities, like Gardermoen Hønefoss RV 35 is 30NOK, to enter Bergen 20NOK. Also oneof the days in Bergen may be used for a daytrip thru fjords including flåm rail, check norwaynutshell.com. Distance from Gardermoen via Hønefoss is 500 km. You cannot count on more than average 60km/hr including rest.

Marija

The train trip from Oslo to Bergen is beautiful. I wouldn't bother with a car. Take the train from Oslo to the Stalheim, overnight there (www.stalheim.com). The next day take the ferry to the Sognefjord. Spend a day in Balestrand. The next day take the boat to Bergen and spend the night there and then return by train/plane to Oslo.

HunterGatherer

I would suggest you drive into Oslo instead of overnighting at the airport since it's in the middle of nothing and you'd have to pay a lot to take the airport train back and forth (in case you want to see some of Oslo).

http://www.visitflam.com/visartikkel.asp?art=252

The train trips in Norway are nice, but taking a car is even better since you can stop whenever you want. Just being able to get out of the car, enjoy the view AND the clean mountain air for as long as you like...

nhulberg

I vote with HunterGatherer re not spending the night near the Oslo airport. It is in the middle of nowhere, far from Oslo.

Re train or driving to Bergen, there are a lot of plusses an minuses to each. I vote, finally, for driving.
BUT, with just four days/3 nights, don't spend any more than a single night in Oslo. The beauty of Norway is in the west, including Bergen.

Highly recommended for your short time is the Norway in a Nutshell tour. Here is the website http://www.norwaynutshell.com/default.asp.

Bring rain gear. Norway is a wet country. I have been to Norway many times. But, when we returned to the US, my wife's first trip, I overheard her telling a friend "Norway is not beautiful...it is spectacular".