I posted earlier about a trip to Norway in July/Aug. did not get many responses. I do appreciate Michael's help. Please tell me if this is do-able in 7-8 days. I am thinking of going from Oslo to Bergen straight, then visiting some of these places Alesund, Greiranger, Balestrand, Voss, Mrydal, Flam, Stalheim, Gudvangen. Should I eliminate some and are some must sees. I can't figure out where to go. Is it necessary to rent a car or can we travel to all these places by train,ferry, or bus? I would appreciate any help. There are so many locations, can't figure out which ones would be worthy of overnights. I did read that Stalheim is one place to stay. Thank you again.

To see the western parts it will take you too much time if you go by public transport. Norway in a Nutshell is a very popular trip.

http://www.norwaynutshell.com/?utm_s...m_content=nin2

Thank you for your response rjsol. I can do the NIN from Oslo to Bergen, then what can I do with the extra days I have since NIN is a day trip? I would like to visit the Lofotens and Alesund. Would Hurtigren Cruise be a good idea to see these locations, or better to fly from Oslo to Alesund and start the trip from there? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I visited Bergen, Balestrand, Flam, the Aurslandfjord, Naeroyfjord, Gudvagen,Stalheim and Myrdal which is just a train stop and spent 48 hours in Oslo. This over a six day period using public transportation (not NIN). It might be too much to include Alesund and Greingerfjord.

If I eliminated some places like is Alesund and Lofotens do-able or is the distance greater then I think from Bergen?

Yes it is. But you can fly to Bodø and then it's close. Hurtigruten takes 3 days or so from Bergen to get there. Then you could do Oslo - Bergen as part of your NIN, fly to Bodø from Bergen, take the fast ferry to Svolvaer and then you could have 3 days there or so.

Thank you menachem, I will research that area. Would you suggest Alesund then to Bodø? Alesund looks like a nice place to visit.

The Lofoten Islands are stunning. They were the highlight of our trip in 2011. We stayed in a rorbu in Henningsvaer. We took the Hurtigruten south from Stokmarknes to Bergen. I think next time I would fly into Bodo as suggested by menachem, then take the Hurtigruten to the islands. I'm jealous!!

What is a rorbu?

Personally I love Ålesund, but if you want to visit Lofoten (and I strongly suggest you do that) use Bodø.
And again: you can book daytickets for Hurtigruten at every port where Hurtigruten calls. That's how it is used by Norwegians, especially up north along the coast. Lofoten are achingly beautiful. And plans are afoot to start oil exploitation there, so it won't be pristine forever.

A rorbu is an old fisherman's cottage that are now rented out.

So if I want to include Alesund, what is the best/quickest way to do that from Bergen?

From Bergen it takes about 9 hours by bus
The express boat takes about 8 hours
3 flights daily from Bergen to Ålesund.

I think flying is the quickest, express boat is the nicest.

Thank you menachem for all your help.

Looks like I might have missed out on the lowest fares for my trip. Anyone found any good deals to Europe for the end of July, first week of August?