need a base or two in norway
 

where would you base yourself for two to three days at a time in norway if you had eight days or so?

oslo is a given but we are not into museums so we will do a couple and call it a day
the sculpture park is of interest

we prefer scenery so are looking forward more to the west coast

so
how long would you stay in bergen?
are there enough day trips that you could do there or would you really need to do a loop on the norway in a nutshell to see what you need to see and not keep returning to bergen each night

what other base would you recommend?

trondheim too far?

dont want to fly too much
would prefer a car
or train/boat

if anyone is willing to share their itinerary for a relatively short stay in norway,id really appreciate it

will be travelling in summer
thanks

We traveled for a week by car in Norway and base ourselves in Oslo (2 days), Bergen (3 days) and, purposely, left a couple of days in "God's Good Humor".

We ended up staying one night near Geilo, a really great resort kind of town that operates year-round with excellent facilities and tourism information. The other open night we stayed at the Hotel Fretheim in Flam, right by the Norway in a Nutshell tour train stop. We absolutely LOVED every minute of our road trip! We stopped many times by incredible waterfalls, took up small town roads, ferry over many places, visited every Stave church we had a chance to, got out of the car and played ball with some local kids in Undredal. It was just amazing!

If you like scenery definitely head west and do not miss the Geiranfjord and the Sognefjord areas. I'll even through in a challenge: get to Vik. Check out the webcamera http://vikjavev.no/?spr=en. This webcamera is posted on the ceiling of an internet cafe located at the top of the road heading down to Vik. Probably one of the most spectacular natural scenery you'll ever see. I loved Norway and I am sure that if limited by time the Norway in a Nutshell tour is great, but nothing (NOTHING) is better than doing it with freedom and on your own. We rented a hybrid; one of out top three vacations ever.

Our last trip to Norway, we were in Oslo 2 nights, took the train to Stavanger (loved Stavanger)the scenery enroute was awesome. Stayed in Stavanger 2 nights, took the ferry to Bergen. The ferry to Bergen was a neat experience going along the coastline of Norway. Bergen for 2 nights and then the Norway in a Nutshell trip back to Oslo.

You can change the nights around how you want maybe add a night at Flam - we definitely would have liked to have had another night in Stavanger. We took the fjord tour in an afternoon. We happened to be there on a Sunday and all the shops in the old wharf section were closed.

Don't miss the Vigeland Sculpture park - it is wonderful. There is a nice coffee shop there too.

If you fly in to Oslo, take the local train into Oslo from the airport as it is half the price. At least it was when we were there last. You can check with the tourist info about that. It took all of a couple minutes longer on the train than the more expensive express train.

thanks viajero and bratsandbeer!will save your responses and make notes

has anyone been to south norway ?
im thinking itd be nice to experience some contrasting landscapes - fjords and a bit of the southern coast - but only if the southern coast is a must-see, of course
has anyone been to pulpit rock? is it a hike or a walk?how long/ how arduous?
any comments about trondheim?
thanks!

I came back from Norway and we used the Norway in a Nutshell trip to get from Oslo to Bergen. We would have liked to have stayed more in the Bergen area and do more of the nature thing. I can't recommend what areas but the others seem to have done a good job.

I just also wanted to reply to bratsandbeer, using the local train from the airport to Oslo does still cost less then using the flybussen (express train) to the airport.

Even though you say you are not into museums I encourage you to consider the Viking ships museum in Oslo and the Hanseatic museum in Bergen

I think Trondheim would be too far north to go in the time you have

For the Sognefjord region, Flam or Aurland are both nice. We stayed in Aurland due to Flam being full(!) and thought it was beautiful.

Sorry, it would have been more accurate for me to say 'for the Narrowfjord region' since Flam and Aurland are on the Narrowfjord spur which somes out of the Sognefjord. Narrowfjord (yes, I know, spelling!!) is where the NIN tours take place.

Pulpit rock is close to Stavanger.

http://www.stavangertravel.com/news/...ock-norway.cfm

Think this is where you want to go.

thanks guys

yes i will do a couple of museums- the vikings are fascinating
we're just not museum/ gallery junkies cos we prefer being outdoors or just mixing with the locals but i know you have to see the best what the country has to offer historically

ok so trondheim we might cross off
( although lots of people told us we couldnt fit cesky krumlov into a day trip when we were in the czech republic but we did! albeit we had to get up at 4 am to do so but we did it!)

maybe we can go south and hit copenhagen for the day - go over by car/ ferry i guess -find a place to park the car on the outskirts and go have a look? ambitious? lol
anyway - we have lots of time to mull over the details
thanks everyone
ill post more specific questions as i think of them
err..which side do you butter your bread when youre over there? lol