Matt_Johnson

My family is currently planning a 17 day trip for late May/early June, with Salzburg (2-3 days), Paris (3 days), Trondheim (3 days), Oslo (2 days), and Bergen (2 days) as our main destinations. We've begun coming up with a rough itinerary of things to do and places to see, but we would rather not go only to main tourist attractions...

Does anyone have any recommendations on places to see in these destinations, as well as between them? We're planning to travel via train from Salzburg to Paris, and fly from CDG to Trondheim. Our party of 6 includes 2 in their mid-50's, 3 24 year-olds, and a 20 year-old, desiring to experience as much as we can during our time.

Any and all recommendations are welcome!

PalenQ

Well for some great train info - check out these fine sites - www.seat61.com - good info on online discounted tickets for Munich to Paris (best route from Salzburg to Paris) or actually from Salzburg to Paris online discounts that can save you a ton of money - and www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. For schedules I always use www.bahn.de - the Wunderbar Germany Railways official site that has schedules for trains in all of Europe - get the online discounted fares to paris here - info on them and regular fares. You seem to be not traveling enough by train to look at railpasses - at least info given - a few more train trips perhaps.

hetismij2

Do these days include travel days? If so you should look at flying within Norway - the train from Trondheim to Oslo takes between 6h 30 and 7h 45 - in other words a full day. Bergen-Oslo takes a similar amount of time.

Michel_Paris

Why so many locations? Every time you switch locations you lose time in just the 'mechanics': checking out, getting to airport/train station...travel..getting from airport/train station to hotel, checking in, figuring out transit,etc..

It can be done of course, but travel should also be a balance bbetween the time "being there" and the time "getting there".

For places to se in these locations, what are your interests?
Museums, churches, wine bars,etc..?

For Paris, perhaps a bike/Segway tour?

http://citysegwaytours.com/paris
http://fattirebiketours.com/paris

Matt_Johnson

@PalenQ, thanks so much for all the train info! That will absolutely help us coordinate our transits.

@hetismij2, I believe we will fly to Oslo and take the train to Bergen.

@Michel_Paris, Norway is the source of my family heritage, so we're trying to visit several places where we have relatives and family history. It is quite a lot of travel within that period, but it's probably the only time we will all do this trip together.

We love local food and wine, and I myself am a bit of a beer fanatic We want to see a mix of museums, historical sights, as well as experience local culture (food, drink, music, etc.) much like a backpacking trip.

Thanks all for your help so far!

hetismij2

If you are taking the train to Bergen then take a day off Trondheim to cover the day spent travelling from Oslo to Bergen.

Since Norway seems to be the main reason for the trip why not spend all your time there, and get to see more of it? Or drop one of the other two destinations in favour of more time in Norway.

You do realise alcohol (along with most things) is seriously expensive in Norway?

LarryJ

I enjoyed the "Norway In A Nutshell" tour of one day that includes the fjords. Google that and see what you think. It will get you from Oslo to Bergen. Oslo, I thought was very very boring and surprising to me was that Bergen was not a lot better. Next time I will go farther north and spend more time in the fjords. I also wanted to spend time in Norway but I have since found that I much prefer Sweden and Denmark. But I hope you enjoy Norway.

janisj

I'm sorry but this is seriously flawed. IF you drop Salzburg you might have a decent, though still rushed, plan. But w/ Salzburg in the mix you have too many destinations, too far apart to have time to actually 'see' anything much at all.