sssteve

We are planning a visit to Norway at the end of July. Among other activities, we are planning to do the Norway in a Nutshell trip one way from Oslo to Bergen. It's still early, but with the Icelandic volcanic activity going on right now, the possibility of messed up air travel, even as far away as July can't be ruled out. That's why I have put off reserving the NIN package and now have the following question.

1. I have read that it is important to book the NIN in advance during the summer season as the trip can get filled up, so I have been checking with the various companies offering booking.
2. All the companies I have found offering the NIN package require non-refundable payment in advance at the time of booking. Some do offer a cancellation insurance, but the cost is more than 15% of the trip cost.
2. On the other hand, the only leg of the NIN journey which actually requires an advance reservation is the train from Oslo to Myrdal.
3. Here's the question - In order to minimize financial loss if the trip eventually gets canceled, is it possible to book and pay for only the train leg from Oslo to Myrdal? From what I have read, I assume that I can buy the rest of the package in Norway after arrival.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Kay2

You can buy everything separate. The NIN sellers package for you for convenience. Last summer I found that the first train of the morning and last of the evening in both directions for the last legs (Oslo - Myrdal and Voss - Bergen) did sell out well in advance. These were the ones being used by the people doing the entire trip in one day as listed by the NIN sellers. I booked my tickets online directly early at advance discount rates, so it was not much to lose if I had to cancel. I think we may have taken the second train of the day from Oslo anyway because we stayed overnight in Flam and did not need specific trains to make connections.

However, if you want to book online in advance, check for my postings last year. I think Norwegian Rail was the site I could not use a US-based credit card, so had to telephone or use a credit card of my niece who lived in the UK.

sssteve

Thanks Kay,

You are a very prolific poster and I have not succeeded in finding the relevant post among the hundreds you have either started or posted on. Please give me a hint where to look.

Also, please tell me how you boarded the rest of the transportation legs. Did you pay as you went, or did you buy it all in advance at the train station when you started? Do you know if the price is the same for the rest of the trip on a pay as you go basis, as opposed to ordering in advance?

sssteve

ttt

Kay2

IF you click on my name, it is the 10th one back that I started:
"Anyone gotten Norwegian Minipris tickets online with US credit card?" Started April 17, 2009 and last commented on in August. Tagged with Norway.

We purchased RT minipris tickets Oslo-Myrdal online (we did not go on to Bergen). We paid in cash to the conductor for Myrdal-Flam. We bought the ferry tickets in Flam. There was no advance discount on the Myrdal-Flam leg or the ferry.

The advice we received was that the first train and ferry legs were sometimes sold out in high season because of the people doing the entire trip in one day, so we should not wait to purchase the train portions from Oslo if we wanted the earliest or latest times. The train folks in Oslo said "don't worry" about the Flam segment because we had a seat on the segment to Myrdal. In Flam, the train agent suggested we purchase our seats a day in advance back to Myrdal, saying it was sometimes full at peak times. We were told that the ferry that was timed to connect with the early train coming from Oslo was sometimes packed as well.

We were there end June/beginning July. Train Myrdal-Oslo was full, but none of the other legs were.

Out of curiosity, I just plugged July 15 in the NSB website (late July not available to purchase yet).
06:31 oslo s - 11:41 myrdal 199 minipris or US$34 618 refundable
16:40 voss - 17:52 bergen 169 refundable only
In one of the mysteries of pricing, the 199 can get you all the way oslo - myrdal if you do not break the trip.

It looks like this far in advance only early June and some weekends are sold out of the cheapest fares on some trains.

You probably pay for convenience of someone booking the entire package for you. It might be worth a premium if the tickets are refundable/changeable or you do not like having to deal with multiple train, ferry companies, etc.

sssteve

Thanks for all that information.

I also checked and found out that it is still too early to reserve the Oslo-Myrdal train at the end of July. Apparently you can reserve only up to 3 months in advance.

bratsandbeer

Check with www.nordicsaga.com for their price on NIN. It is a travel company from Washington State. We have booked with them for independent travel a few times and it worked out well for us.

When we went on NIN it was in September and we just purchased the ticket at the train station in Oslo for the next day.

bratsandbeer

http://www.nordicsaga.com/tours/norway-nutshell.html This will give you the rates that Nordicsaga has. Not sure how it compares to any other rates now.

Kay2

In case you don't have all the prices to compare,
you obviously see the NSB trains (199+169)
Flam http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng/ (240)
Ferry http://www.fjord1.no/filesystem/2010..._2010_1826.pdf (255)
I do not know the bus price--I can find the timetable, but not the fare (which you can pay the bus driver)

So about $160 total one-way advance purchase directly with each vendor with the nonrefundable minipris.

sssteve

Kay:

I think your calculation doesn't include the train from Voss to Bergen.

In any case, on the "official" NIN site the advance price for Oslo - Bergen one way is 1345 NOK, or about $225.

Kay2

The Oslo-Myrdal part is 199 NOK
The Voss-Bergen part is 169 NOK

Buying nonrefundable minipris tickets in advance saves substantially on the regular price of the train, so the sum of the parts is less than the whole price offered as NIN.
The NIN price is full priced tickets that would be refundable minus 40 NOK for the NSB portion if you purchase them directly from the rail line.
The NIN package charges for convenience.

sssteve

Now I see what you meant.

However, from what I understood on the NIN site, the payment there is non-refundable.

bobthenavigator

Topping for the Go family

sssteve

Last night I spoke to Hurtigruten. If my flights are cancelled (due to volcanic activity, for example), they will allow rescheduling to any other dates which have availability. Here's what they wrote:

"We are allowing changes and rescheduling. However, your flights must be actually cancelled as our ships are still sailing. If your flights are cancelled by the airline, then you will have to submit this information in writing reason of cancelling and details ( documents)to [email protected]. "

The rescheduling includes anything ordered through Hurtigruten, including NIN. The Hurtigruten price for NIN is about $15 higher than the NIN website price, but it's cheaper than insurance.

Thanks to Kay2 for all the information you provided.

sssteve

I've done some more homework, and with our senior discount on the train from Oslo to Myrdal, the difference in price for the two of us for the whole ride is now up to $150 (by ordering the train in advance and doing the rest on a pay-as-we-go basis). That will very neatly pay for the porter service which will move our baggage from Oslo to Bergen so that we will be "unencumbered" on the trip. The porter service charge is about $60 per bag.

I am left with one concern and that is the bus from Gudvangen to Voss. I understand that this is a public bus which runs regularly, although It isn't clear from the web site how regularly. My concern is this - since this is a public bus which probably picks up loads of tourists from the ferry which just got in from Flam, isn't there a chance that it will be completely full, and that preference would be given to people who have a ticket they bought in advance from the NIN website, or Hurtigruten, or whoever?

Perhaps I am being paranoic and underestimating the Norwegian orderliness. I guess they must know how many passengers they have to move on the bus from Gudvangen to Voss at the height of the tourist season...

Can anybody give me an idea what the "bus experience" was like?

Kay2

I didn't ride the bus, but saw them lined up to head directly to Voss, or via the hotel, or back to Flam. I was told in Flam that they put on as many buses as needed to handle the flow, but I cannot confirm.
The bus is scheduled to run regularly with the passengers who get off the ferry.

Kay2

The Stalheim Hotel website shows the local bus schedule for buses that stop at the hotel (additional times buses run directly from Gudvangen to Voss RR.

Lv Gudvangen Quay 11:40 13:20 15:40 17:45
Stalheim Hotel 11:55 13:35 15:55 18:00
Voss Railway Station 12:55 14:35 16:55 19:00

On Fjord1 website:
Bus 22-450 Sogndal/Øvre Årdal-Lærdal-Aurland-Voss-Bergen (which stops in Gudvangen)in April depending on the day of the week may run these times:
Gudvangen 0740 0945 1330 1636 1803 2102 2227
Voss 0840 1035 1420 1730 1905 2150 2315

If you are concerned and you are booking your own passage, you could book your onward train ticket Voss-Bergen for later than the on/off train/ferry/bus/train direct routing and plan to stop in Flam for lunch or just hang out in tiny Gudvangen enjoying the view of the hills until the next bus. Not too exciting, but gorgeous country.

sssteve

Thanks again for all your information.

I have to assume that they make sure that everybody who gets off the ferry at Gudvangen has a bus to get on to go to Voss. Gudvangen isn't much of a stop to get stranded at...

winwander

Hello sssteve and respondants,
Your advice has been really helpful in planning our stay in Bergen in mid August. One related question is the use of a Eurail Pass for the train segments of the Myrdal-Flam part of the NIN ticket. We are independent travellers but I now have a sense that it will be very difficult to do the NIN day trip from Bergen without pre-booking the NIN entirely and therefore we woild not be able to use Eurail at all. Is this so? I would welcome any advice.

Kay2

Winwander,
I don't understand why you think that it will be very difficult to do the NIN day trip without prebooking entirely?
You do need to reserve your seats on the train from/to Bergen no matter how you book/pay.

http://www.eurorailways.com/products...trains/nin.htm sells a "passholder fare" Voss-Flam-Gudangen-Voss for $145.

The Flam railway site says:
Passengers travelling on all kinds of Eurail Passes achieve 30 % discount on ordinary single ticket on the Flåm Railway. For 2010 the reduced fare for holders of these tickets is Nok 170.
You do not usually have to prebook the Flam train, boat, and bus unless you want to ensure a seat during peak times, so you would just pay for those as you go.