danen5

Ok - we are now arriving Norway from Amsterdam. It appears most flight go through Oslo, so perhaps we should just take the scenic train from Oslo to Bergen. From there, should we rent a car and drive inland to Geiranger or fly to Aslund and get a car there to drive the troll road south. I would like to get to Balestrand and Flam and boat along the Naeroyfijord, but am having difficulty putting all this (and a car) together.

Michael

Flam is simply not that interesting. Drop it from your itinerary.

historytraveler

Flam is not that interesting but don't dismiss it out of hand. It's the terminus for the Flamsbana one of the most scenic rail trips you'll ever take. It's also the starting point for ferry trips up the Aurlandsfjord and the Naeroyfjord to Gudvangen. Which is one of the narrowest fjords in Norway. A beautiful trip. There are also a number of good walks in the area as well as kayaking, mountain biking and a boating safari.

I loved Balestrand and from there you can take the small ferry along the Fjaerlandsfjord to Mundal. Again another breathtakingly beautiful trip.

Michael

<i>It's also the starting point for ferry trips up the Aurlandsfjord and the Naeroyfjord to Gudvangen.</i>

But it makes little sense to leave the car in Flam to take that ferry ride RT. If driving in the fjord area, the OP will get plenty of ferry rides and beautiful fjords.

pthomas156

We used the tour company Authentic Scandinavia. We found it helpful to look at several companies' driving itineraries to get an idea of how long it would take to drive between destinations. I can recommend Authentic Scandinavia, but they are a bit cookie-cutter. We wanted to add two nights in Nes at the Nes Gard guesthouse, and they were perfectly willing to break the trip there for us, but unlike a travel agent, they would not book those nights for us or help us with driving directions. It was no problem to book via email and to look at the map and figure out the route, but considering they know the country and I don't, I was a bit surprised at the lack of help. Also, though we made it clear we were traveling with another couple, they assumed (without asking) that we would each have our own car. Considering the price of things in Norway, this was ludicrous. Though the company does not book the car for you, they do prepay your ferry tolls on the prescribed route, so we ended up paying for each ferry twice since they thought we had two cars! And ferries are not inexpensive. The critical thing, however, is that Auth Scan was able to get us into hotels that showed up as fully booked when I looked them up on search engines. Some of these small towns do not have a lot of accommodations. I did not contact the hotels directly, so I don't know if they would have had accommodations that just didn't show up on search engines for whatever reason. At that point, I was just happy to have the agency book.

Re Flam, we simply parked and took the roundtrip train ride. It's very nice, but considering what you're going to see in the rest of your trip through the fjords, the train ride is not critical. And the other towns were more interesting than Flam, though I agree there are lots of things to do if based in Flam. I think I would rather have skipped that train ride and tried to wedge in a bit of Alesund along the way. I would drive from Bergen through whatever towns you'd like (such as Alesund), then fly back to the States from Trondheim (drop the car, pay the drop off fee). They might connect you through Bergen, but there's no need to stay there again. And re the small car ferries in fjord country to get from one town to another, they're expensive but that's just what you have to do. And they're very scenic. My objection was to taking the Hurtigruten ferry down the coast from Trondheim to Bergen, after we'd already driven through what we'd be cruising past!

hetismij2

The Hurtigruten southbound from Trondheim to Bergen is the most boring stretch of the trip.
Northbound it is far more attractive.
From Amsterdam you could fly to Bergen, take the northbound Hurtigruten to Trondheim, hire a car there, and head south.
You will get to see Alesund from the Hurtigruten.

danen5

Pthoma, I believe you gave us great info on hiking in the Dolomites. Was that you?? It was one of our favorite trips!
Anyway --we are traveling from Amsterdam. It appears that the flight form there to Bergen is long since we stop in Oslo or Copenhagen. What are thought on taking the scenic train from Oslo to Bergen, or would we be better off taking the train from Amsterdam to Copenhagen and leaving from there direct to Bergen? OR - is there a airlines in the Netherlands that does that flight (similar to Easy Jet)?
Thanks.

hetismij2

As I said in your Amsterdam thread KLM fly direct to Bergen. If you book it early enough it will not cost a fortune, and ultimately saves you time and money transferring from Oslo.
For that matter KLM fly direct to Trondheim too.
Picking a random day in June it will cost €168 return. You just forget to return, or alternatively if you are flying home again from Norway via Amsterdam then book the return, but then out of where ever you are intending to end your trip.
Join Flying Blue to enable taking checked bags for free. The planes can be small, with limited carry on allowance so you may have to check even your carry on if it is big.

danen5

Ok--We have made great strides (thanks to you all)
Day 1 -fly Amsterdam to Alesund (arrive at 1630)- rent a car.
Overnight in Alesund ( Sunde Fjord Hotel?)

Day 2 - drive in the afternoon to Geiranger via Troll Road, overnight - looking for suggestions other than the Union Hotel )

Day 3 Head to Balestrand and overnight ( at Kviknes Hotel?)

Day 4 head to Bergen via Gudvagen - 2 nights in Bergen ( I sure need lodging ideas)
Fly out on day 5 around noon.

I wish that we weren't just living out of a suitcase but not sure how else to do this. Are we trying to cover too much area?? I want to do the Hjorundfjord ship tour in Aselund and somewhere troll the fjords at night. Yikes - maybe we have not made such GREAT strides. Looking forward to more information. Thanks in advance.

danen5

whoops - we have 2 nights in Bergen (somewhere) and fly out on day 6,not 5.

danen5

Another thought --since we don't arrive in Alesund until 4:30pm we are thinking to do our 2 nights there.
I am still struggling on the best route to Geirander ( cruise on the Geirangerfjord) for night 3.
Then, a route Balestrand (night 4)
Cruise to Gudvagen and stay in Bergen (night 5). It sounds like we are doing too much, but I cannot seem to do less and we only have these 5 nights.
I sure would appreciate some advice on this itinerary.
thanks -

danen5

Hello --Could someone help me with routes:
Alesund to Geiranger
Geiranger to Balestrand
Balestrand to Bergen via Gudvagen.

Thanks.

Michael

www.viamichelin.com will do the trick.

danen5

This is a great site, but I am looking for interesting routes and perhaps even ferry travel suggestions. Also--is it worth the extra 2 hours to take the troll road to Geiranger?

Michael

In that part of the country, all routes tend to be interesting.

I do not know what the troll road is.