A few questions regarding the famous trip 'Norway in a Nutshell'. I am planning to travel from Bergen to Oslo via this trip.

1) I saw from this website 'www.norwayinanutshell.no' and a one way trip costs NOK1075. What I read from this forum is that this only includes all the transportation, but without any guides. So would it be cheaper if I buy separate train/bus/ferry tickets on my own than buying from the website?

2) Does it make any difference traveling from Bergen to Oslo to travelling from Oslo to Bergen?

I have only done the trip from Oslo to Bergen so I can't compare from experience. I read that it is the better choice to go down the mountain on the train from Myrdal to Flam (the book said it is a nicer view that way). That said you could still do it that direction from Bergen with just a bit of back tracking although the schedule might not be as easy. If you decide to do it yourself, book your train tickets from Oslo to Flam in advance. You can get the boat tickets in Flam and your bus ticket from the driver (cash only for the bus tickets).

Rick Steves book said it would be less expensive for more than one person traveling together to buy the tickets on your own but we were not able to purchase the family ticket that he cited in his book for the ferry. We were told it does not exist so I expect that we paid the same price as the website. I'm still glad that we purchased things individually since it gave us some flexibility. We stayed in Stalheim overnight during the trip and it worked out better that we had not purchased the full tour since we took the bus from Stalheim straight to Bergen. For our schedule it was much more convenient and I think the bus was nicer than the train. We had the front seat and had a great view. The bus windows were huge and very clean.

Enjoy your trip.

This tour uses normal public transport. Schedules for all Norwegian transport are on www.rutebok.no which also gives fares for some journeys. This will give an idea of normal fares but, like everything else in Norway, they are not cheap - it really is an expensive country for visitors.

I think that buying local tickets would be about the same as the package, which is just tickets - see no reason to buy as can buy at stations in Oslo or Bergen - my understanding is that there are no reservations possible on the Gudvagen-Voss bus or boat and all are accommodated somehow - Norway has recently abolished previous train reservation requirements but they're still 'advised' I can give you RailEurope prices for the Nutshell - sometimes due to currency fluctuations they can be cheaper than in Europe - don't know about this but on several other country tickets and passes they are - Oslo-Bergen and all the nutshell in between $196 off-peak $222 peak (May-Sep) so it may cost more in the summer even locally?? I'd go to bookstore and look in Lonely Planet Scandinavia for prices of all the components and then compare with RailEurope or the NOK1075 and see which is best deal. For questions on RE's Nutshell call BETS, a RE agent (800-441-2387).

Watch out!! the re mote places are snowed in and they'r having to blow it up to get paeple trhough!! We were doing to go the Noway In Nuts hell but don t want to be iced inn!! Look at this:http://www.aftenposten.no/english/bu...cle1061071.ece

#5: Geiranger, the place mentioned in the Aftenposten article is nowhere near the Nutshell route.

Takk you kinkou!! For the clasification about that issue. I thought the Gayranger Ford was part of the Nuts-hell. its good to know they will not be blastin away the ice when we get there!! is it close to Hell noway by chance? /We got a email last year with Hell NOway with ice cycles hanging off like it had froze over!! I hope that was not in the summer [ha he) my DH laugfed at it for about an hour and started playin the Eeagls cdS cause they said theyd get back together when Hell frozed over!! )an it did!) My DH is so crazy some times but hes a good DH as good as DH es go!!

Thanks guys for your information.

I have just checked the exchange rate which actually gives a cheaper price if I buy the ticket through the website 'www.norwayinanutshell.no' than through RailEurope. I guess it all depends on currency fluctuations.

I have tried to find transport prices in the English version of the www.rutebok.no website, but can't find any - may be they are in the Norwegian version? If prices are similar and as we only plan for a one-day trip, it seems more convenient to book from the website as sometimes there is no possibility of reservation (as commented by some of you). I'm afraid there will be no seat available then.

I think you can make a somewhat significant savings if you book the Oslo to Flam portion of the trip using www.nsb.no. There is a Minipris price for the Oslo to Myrdal section which cuts the price significantly. There is an English section of the above website which is fairly easy to use.
The other train section (Voss to Bergen) doesn't seem to be reservable (from what I can tell) and the other parts -- ferry, bus -- apparently aren't reservable in any case.

I was sorry to hear there is no family ticket for the ferry. I was counting on Rick Steves being accurate about that. Has anyone else had this experience?

I just returned from Norway (picking up some of the Norway in a Nutshell locations by car and saving a bundle!). If you do the Flam railway (pronounced Flohm) one-way, there are views on both sides of the train. From Myrdahl down to Flam, sit on the right side if you want to see the big waterfall; on the left side if you want to see valley views as you head into Flam.

Hi-

We are going to do the Nutshell route in August, and because we are spending a couple of days in Balestrand, we wanted to book it ourselves to match our timing. I booked the train from Oslo to Flam on the NSB site for NOK 868 for the two of us. I had trouble with reserving the ferries, but was able to do so by e-mailing [email protected]. They made a reservation for me and quoted a price of NOK 190 for the two of us to go from Flam to Balestrand, and then again 190 to go from Balestrand, changing Midtfjord and on to Gudvangen. We'll get the bus from Gudvangen and go on to Bergen. I'm really looking forward to it!

Have a great trip!

CleoB... I will be in Oslo around the 12th of July... with a CAR! I would be interested in how you did the "Nutshell Journey"... saving a bundle! Did you drive to Mrydal, and then connect with the trains.. boats.. and planes/trains, with a return to Myrdal? Brief description of how you approached this would be appreciated, as well as how you handled tickets, etc. Thanks in advance.