mjs

I guess you do not mind the steep drop of charge with the car rental. I did not find a lot of great day trip drives from Bergen although you may like the ones listed on the Bergen tourist website. I personally would only spend two nights in Bergen and spend 3 nights driving across Norways scenic national drives to Oslo. I also would not do many fjord cruises maybe just the one from Flam on your way to Oslo.

allyboy

mjs. Thanks again for your insight!
Actually the drop off charge was not outrageous and we do like the option of being able to mix it up by car and by boat.
We now have the last piece of our itinerary figured out which is driving (1 overnight) Bergen to Oslo. After 4 days there we fly to Stockholm for 6 days!
Yes we love to explore the countrysides, however, we are big city people and my wife is always on the lookout for street art, murals and graffiti to photograph.
Culturally we do enjoy going to museums, theater, attend live music events and just sit at a cafe and people watch!

mjs

There is nothing wrong with being city people. We used to be like that until we discovered the ease of traveling the countryside with GPS. It is easy to drive in many foreign countries as long as you stay out of congested areas or cities and not drive at night. We found the countryside in the Norway mountains to be stunning. Prettier I think than driving around California. Somewhat similar to the southern island of New Zealand. I could see at least two ways of driving between Bergen and Oslo for scenery with a one night stop. One would be to drive the Hardanger through Granvin to Flam. It is apple cider time if that would be of interest to you. Consider taking the southern part of the Hardanger to Latefoss as a detour. . You could then take the Flam to Gundvagen ferry through the fjords which takes about 2-3 hours. Depending on when you left Bergen and how long you took to do this would determine your next step. If late you could stay at a hotel in Flam. If still early enough you could drive the Aurlandsfjellet towards Laerdal and spend the night there then take the E16 to Oslo. If you spend the night in Flam take the Aurlandsfjellet to E16 and Oslo. Stop at the Stegastein on way up the Aurlandsfjellet for a view down the fjord. Stop by the Stave church in Borgund on the way to Oslo. Remember it will not get dark in May until about 2200. Alternatively you could drive to Flam via the Gaularfjellet but this would be quite long maybe 10 + hours but beautiful if the weather is good. Make sure of course that the Aurlandsfjellet is open for the season. If not take the long Laedal tunnel. You can of course just drive straight to Oslo which I think takes about 8 hours but then why have a car if you do not want to explore? Beware of course that Norway can be very rainy. We did the Hardanger in driving rain but it was still pretty with lots of waterfalls. Have a good trip!
Lastly why flying between Oslo and Stockholm? Train is more comfortable and not much longer without the hassle of airports and flight delays etc.

allyboy

I seem to be driving myself crazy trying to figure out and calculate whether or not it pays to purchase "cards": Copenhagen, Bergen, Oslo and Stockholm cards! We will be in each of these locations for at least 4 days and while we are a couple always on the move it just doesn't seem that it pays to purchase any of them.
Looking for comments/suggestions for those who have felt the same way or want to change my mind!

Also interested in restaurant recommendations in each of the above locations! Always need to find places that will accommodate my Vegetarian wife. She will eat fish when given no choice!

One more thing: we love listening to live music , jazz, cover bands, country, folk! Appreciate any suggestions anyone will have regarding small venues where we can listen to some good musicians!

Thanks!