First time in norway - loads of question
 

Hi,
Am in the process of planning my upcoming trip in July 2009. Though the initial plans were to visit scotland, i suddenly discovered Norway & realised it's nothing like I ve ever visited.
But, being such a unique place, i am realising planning an independent trip might be a huge task here.
Anyway, loads of questions - would appreciate any help.

My tentative itinerary looks like this:

Day 1: Arrive from Paris to Oslo by flight. Night in Oslo.
Planning to stay in Thon Hotel Astoria..any other recommendations. My budget is € 100/ night.

Day 2: Oslo

Day 3: Oslo
(any day trips from Oslo suggestions?)

Day 4: Train to flam, via Myrdal. Night in Flam. Flamsbrygga Hotel Furukroa. Is it advisable?

Day 5: Take the glacier bus to Jostedal Glacier for the walk.
(This is becoming a bit rush - need to take the 6am ferry from Flam to Sogndal. Any other option to do it.)

Day 6: Flam

Day 7: Flam to Bergen, via Myrdal - by train. Night in Bergen. Any b&b reco. will be appreciated.

Day 8: Bergen. Can do i do a boat trip of the Sognefjords as a day trip - from & back to Bergen?


Day 9: Fly from Bergen to Copenhagen.


Please critique my itinerary & suggest what's the best options are.

Also, do I buy a Norway in a Nutshell tour, or buy tickets individually. A NIN ticket is around € 141/ head, while if I buy individual tickets - from oslo to flam & from Flam to Bergen, then I pay around € 108/ head.

Can I add a whale watching tour in this itinerary? If so, from where? I see Lofoten is the place to go to, for whale watching - but where & how do I fit it in, in my itinerary.

I know a lot of questions - but any answer will be deeply appreciated.

Thanks.

A few quickies to start off with. Oslo has a museum quarter where the top three are stuffed in and hold KonTiki and three long ship. Well worth an afternoon.

Oslo is the world's largest city (by space) and the lowest desnity capital (surprise) however this is nothing compared to the countryside where people are rare comodities.

Flam is a bit of a tourist trap (but fun all the same), bring money for jumpers, avoid the "year old cheese"

Take time to visit a dragon church (probably best not as part of a 50 person coach load) and bring your hiking boots. Norweigans live out doors so in July with the long days you can hike after supper

Thanks B, will keep those 'quickies' in mind. :)

Anybody else wants to add to the list? :) :)

And help me out plan this trip?

would love info also, as we're spending a week in Norway in August with a 2 year old. Going for a wedding and want to spend a week touring.

Don't go back to Bergen by way of Myrdal. Instead take the boat from Flam down the Naerofjord (which I found one of the most scenic parts of Norway in a Nutshell) and return to Bergen by bus. Check out the entire Norway in a Nutshell route. Flam is tiny I won't devote a day to it. You can take the extra day for Bergen and do a day trip down the Hardangenfjord or the Sognefjord from there. Don't take the large fast boats since you have to stay inside on them.

Thanks M & B, I was almost starting to think that Norway is not frequented by tourists. :)

Oky. Since my main aim in Norway - because I have only 9 days - is to see the Fjords, do a glacier walk, go whale watching & experience the midnight sun (too much to do in 9 days - but still...), I ve tweaked around the previous itinerary a bit & come up with this second draft. Please go through it & let me know what you think.

Day 1: Arrive in Oslo. Take connecting flight to Tromsø. Night in Tromsø.

Day 2: Whale watching trip from Tromsø. http://www.arcticseacruises.no/eng/whale_watching__1
Night in Tromsø.

Day 3: Leave Tromsø (Is Widerøe a reliable carrier?). Arrive Bergen. Night in Bergen.

Day 4: See Bergen. Maybe take advantage of long day hours & take the expressboat to Rosendal in Hardanger from Bergen & be back. (Yet to check the boat timings, though) Night in Bergen.

Day 5: Take the train from Bergen to Flåm, via Myrdal. Then take the express boat from Flåm to Balestrand. (This way I do the Fjords, too. Have checked the boat timings & it can be fit into my travel plan).
Night in Balestrand.

Day 6: Glacier trip to Jostedal from Balestrand. Night in Balestrand.

Day 7: To Oslo from Balestrand, taking the bus via Lærdal. Night in Oslo.

Day 8: See Oslo. Night in Oslo.

Day 9: Leave Oslo.

So, what say? I know it's a bit too much of running around - but I get to go to Norway only once & that too, for 9 days only - so trying to pack in as much as I can. Can always take another holiday to recover from this holiday. :)

In addition to the two museums mentioned already there is the Norsk Folk Museum which has wonderful examples of houses from all over Norway, arranged like a village, we loved it. We took three days around the Hardanger, but with a rental car from Bergen. Liked NIN, but basically too many people for our taste, prefer being on our own. People go to Norway, but I think don't write about it too much here. It also costs a fortune compared to other European destinations.

You should have had 9 days south and 9 days north !
Even if rushed, I'd in this case go for itin #2. Airline W is reliable, absolutely, and the only one to fly direct Tromsø/Bodø-Bergen.

hi there Sasha

i am just finishing up booking my trip so ill share what i know
mostly it the information comes from the good folk here
-without them i would have had a lot more decision making on my ownsome!

we're going to russia first and then sweden and have about ten days in norway

but we are hiring a car in oslo and will use it instead of doing the nutshell

i have a few colleagues who have just been to norway so i have used their info too

in oslo we are staying at the gablehus ( thanks tower again) - had lots of trouble finding something because there are conventions in june so we are staying in oslo at the end of our trip

we pick up the car and drive to lillehammer as soon as we arrive from stockholm by train at about 2pm

spend the night in lillehammer and drive to geiranger via andalsnes - we will do the trollstigen (trolls road)- everyone i know whos done it says its wonderful
this will bring us into geiranger for three nights at geirangefjorden feriesenter- got a 34sqm cabin near the fjord- there were smaller but the bigger ones are near the water

from geiranger we plan to do the golden route visit alesund and maybe even zip up to molde which sounds nice - the romsdal alps with 87 peaks are seen from belvedere varden apparently

we will catch the car ferry back to geiranger from hellesylt so we that covers cruising

theres quite a bit to do round geiranger and it will be nice to stay forthree nights at a cabin onthe fjord

next we have booked the balestrand hotel with a fjord view room we hope ( rang the hotel and spoke tothe sister of the owner who is on holidays at the moment- they all seem nice people who give so much info!)
we need to break the drive to flam so opted to stay in balestrand- theres a selfguided walk well signposted you can do visiting burial mounds etc in town - need map from tourist bureau in the centre

we will either leave the car in balestrand the next morning and catch the fast ferry to bergen for the day at 8 am and then come back at 830 pm and drive to flam
or we will make our way to flam and do bergen from flam
we will stay in flam for two nights even though it seems most people only do lunch - we just want a pretty place to stay for a bit and not have to pack up each day
the heimly pensjonat comes well recommended by friends and apparently is reasonable value...
better views are from the two upper floors
i just talked to the owner tonight and confirmed the booking
we will cruise the naeroyfjord hopefully and do the little trip from flam to myrda ( 2hr round trip)l just to experience a bit of rail.. no road from flam to myrdal anyway
we also want to see stalheim for the incredible views everyone raves on about!

we will then head to oslo via voss and road 7 to geilo where we booked the ustedalen hoyfjellenhotell for 980 a night

the distances on the map look driveable but it takes longer as via michelin shows you ( and people on this forum who have driven) - when i talked tothe locals on the phone they said the same thing so it is hard to really predict how much we will be able to see

we are used to hectic days but we like to drive from a base so hopefully i havent stuffed this itinerary up
i can still cancel - most only want your credit card details to guarantee a room after 6pm - otherwise you can cancel 1- 3 days before - every place is different

im hoping we get a sense of norway- a bit of east and a bit of west and two nights in oslo

havent even looked at stockholm but have booked the first reisen hotel for three nights
good luck with planning
and happy safe travelling!

Sasha--
I wouldn't take the express boat from Flam to Balestrand because then you miss the Naerofjord. We spent the night at the Stalheim hotel and then continued on to Balestrand from the Stalheim (two buses and a ferry, great connections.) Instead of doing a day trip on the Hardangenfjord, why not spend the night in one of the towns? We stayed at the Brakanes in Ulvik. From Ulvik we took a bus to Myrdal, the train to Flam and then the boat to the Stalheim.

So Sasha, are you looking ahead to Norway? Only one day each in Oslo and Bergen? Not nearly time enough for the sites/museums (yes, I see your primary aims are fjords, glacier walk, whale watching, etc.) But then I'm doubtlessly a lot older than you! The Norway in a Nutshell trip via Myrdal and Flam does include spectacular views by ferry to Bergen of the Sognefjord. Also we took a fjord viewing cruise out of Bergen.
Ozarksbill (just back from Holland, Belgium) [email protected]

@Ozarksbill - I am so looking forward to this holiday - which starts in a fortnight's time. :)
Have sorted out the itinerary - and after a lot of debate and research and heartbreak, have decided on Oslo, Bergen, Balestrand and Andenes as the final destinations. Spending 3 days in Oslo and 2 in Bergen. Doing the glacier walk from Balestrand and the whale watching from Andenes.
As rjsol suggested, I'd love to have 9 days in south & 9 days in north and would have loved to cover a lot more of Norway - but can only afford this much in 9-10 days. More, next time, maybe - if that ever happens.
So Norway, here I come. :D

Sasha,
I know this is many years ago. How did you get from Andedes from Oslo? How long did it take? I have many questions about this trip.

You need to start your own thread with your particular questions.

Sasha has not posted here since 2011.

It's OK to take the express boat to Balestrand from Flåm, but then return on the same route to Undredal where you can see one of the stave churches. Catch one of the ferries between Flåm and Gudvangen (they stop at Undredal) to Gudvangen through the Nærøyfjord. Local bus to Voss so that you see the Stalheimskleiva hairpin road and then train from Voss to Bergen.