Hi sssteve,

Had a look at your site. Incredible travelling and an effort to keep everything blogged!.

We are travelling to Bergen end of september just for the weekend. We are looking for a serviced accommodation. Any tips on that?
We are thinking of doing a day trip trip to Sognefjord using Fjord tours.. Should that be ok or do you recommend something else?

navnov:

In Bergen we stayed in a 4 star hotel. It had a great view of the Hanseatic Wharf. Sorry, I don't have any info on serviced accomodations.

If you only have a weekend, then you should probably take a tour with Fjord Tours. They are big and reputable. You will enjoy whatever fjord you decide to visit. Just pray for good weather in Bergen.

Next summer we are heading to Norway with our 8 & 10 year olds. We plan to stay 2 days in Oslo, then do the Norway in a Nutshell on the way to Bergen. We're staying in Bergen 2 days before flying to Stockholm. What do you think about stopping for a night in a small town midway through Norway in a Nutshell? Or do you think it is best to keep going to Bergen? I thought it might be nice to spend an extra day in the fjords. What is your opinion?

Lots of people do it and there are several threads here on the forum discussing the merits of the various towns, like Flam, Stalheim, and others.

With 2 kids, I think it would be a verrrrry long day for them to do it in one go. Just for that reason, I agree with your idea to stop somewhere, especially if you are not strapped for time. Don't forget that the only leg of the nutshell for which you need a reservation is the train from Oslo to Myrdal. All the others you can ride them whenever you want which provides you with a lot of flexibility.

We came from a cruise along Norway coast, had 5 stops: Alesund, Honningsvag, Tromso, Bergen, Geiranger, Olden.

Our fajvorite was Geiranger, 2nd favorite Olden - for the views of the fjords, waterfalls (yes, in August!) lakes and glacier rivers.

Hi Sssteve!

I would love the link to the porter service available so I don't have to lug our luggage from Oslo to Bergen while doing the NIN. We'll probably stop somewhere for a night midway through NIN so I'll have to check if the porter service is still available for those situations. Thanks!

PORTER SERVICE

http://www.porterservice.no/index.html

Hi sssteve,

thanks. We have booked the Sognefjord day trip from Bergen..
fingers crossed for good weather!

Navnov:

Before you leave, check out my web page on our Norway trip:

http://www.travel.stv77.com/norway/norway.htm

Sssteve, thank you for your informative post. I am planning on visiting Scandinavia next July and have already bought my plane tickets.

I am locked into arriving July 8 to Stockholm and departing July 25 from Copenhagen. I am also locked into flying from Bergen to Copenhagen on July 20. This leaves the remaining time for Stockholm and Norway.

I am thinking of 5 nights in Stockholm, 2 nights in Oslo, do the Sognefjord nutshell tour with a 2 night stopover in Flam or Aurland. Lastly we would spend 2 nights in Bergen before flying to Copenhagen. How would you adjust our itinerary?

I can only comment on Norway. With the time you have in Norway (6 days?), the only change I might make is to trade one night in Flam or Aurland" for another night in Bergen. We really enjoyed Bergen!

sssteve, thanks for your prompt reply. I can take a day off our stay in Stockholm and add it to Norway. I sounds like you would add that day to Bergen.

I don’t want to take a day from Aurland/Flam because that would not give me a full day to explore the fjord area.

Would you recommend staying in Flam or Aurland? Flam seems more convenient, Aurland seems to be more of a town.

I can't comment on the logistics of getting to or from Aurland during the excursion you will take, but I think it should be a far more interesting place than Flam.

Check out this link:
http://www.gadling.com/2007/03/06/am...rland-lookout/

Yes, I would add the extra day to Bergen.

Thanks sssteve, and BTW amazing web page!

Hi sssteve - 'scuse the ignorance, but what exactly is Norway in a Nutshell? I am middle-aged (what a thought!) woman travelling solo and contemplating going to Norway from Italy mid-to-late October so can't wait for your post on your website. Any suggestions? Oh, yes, I come from tropical Australia so am a bit concerned about the chill factor.
Thanks in advance.

Elvtee,

In my web page about this trip, I have written an entire section called "Norway in a nutshell" in a nutshell! There's also a "pictorial tutorial" showing all the steps.

Please check out the page and all the answers are there:

http://www.travel.stv77.com/norway/norway.htm

InMiami,
We stayed in Flam, but hiked to Aurland and took the bus back.

Pros of Flam hotel--Easy off/on to train and ferry, small museum, can walk up valley to waterfall or take train up and bike or walk down (we did not do), if you stay right on the water there is an interesting view of fjord with huge cruise ship arriving each night and departing each day.

Pros of Aurland hotel--easy off/on ferry, bigger grocery (not sure if more restaurants), more homes in the town, easy access to bus up the valley where there are hikes and evidently a great view of the fjord (we did not have time).

Kay2,sssteve; if you could do it all over again would you stay in Flam or Aurland?

We are planning on taking the Sognefjord in a Nutshell tour Oslo to Bergen and then adding a "Safari Tour" of the Nærøyfjord.

Another option would be to take the Norway in a Nutshell which includes the Nærøyfjord and take the "train-up/bike-down" from Flam.

Any suggestions? There are just so many options. It's all good!

InMiami: We didn't stay overnight on the nutshell. We did it in one day and don't regret it. We were headed to the Hurtigruten cruise and wanted to get a full 2 days in Bergen, which we did and enjoyed very much.

sssteve,
Did you still see alot of snow in July when you were in North Norway? We were thinking of going in June to see more snow? (We are from Florida so we enjoy it where as a northener probably would not enjoy seeing more snow!!)
Thanks.