My daughters and me have traveled within Europe to Italy, Paris, London and Germany. We are thinking of doing Northern Europe on our next trip sometime in September.
We definitely want to see the Fjords in Norway, Helsinki, Stockholm and St. Petersburg, all doable by ferry and train. However, I haven't had much experience reading up on Northern Europe. What is bugging me the most right now is, What is "Norway in a Nutshell"? So many people in this forum talk about it. I feel a bit ignorant not knowing what it means. Can someone please explain what it is and, is there any advice for the other places I mentioned that we want to visit?

It's a tour that you can take and book at this site: http://tinyurl.com/yfxpaks

Basically, "Norway in a Nutshell" refers to the train ride that goes down a mountain about 2,200 feet from Myrdal to the village of Flam, which is on the Sognefjord. The scenery from the train is spectacular. Once in Flam, most people then take a ride on the fjord. This website will give you more information. http://www.visitnorway.com/en/sponso...n-a-nutshell-/

What would be the best alternative (other than airplane) for travelling from Oslo to Stockholm?

Define best....? best as in cheaper? best scenery? most relaxed? quickest? safest?

If quick and cheap is best for you then FlyNordic Airlines takes you from Oslo to Stockholm in about an hour for approx $150/pp.

We drove Stockholm-Oslo; forgettable scenery. That said, we drove around Norway, specifically the Hardangevidda National Park, the Sognefjord Region, and as far North as Vik. I cannot even fathom not having the luxury a car provides to stop at leisure. If you think you have seen beauty when riding the Noway in a Nutshell pre-packaged train tour, there is simply no words to describe exploring these regions by car. The Stave Churches in Norway blew my mind.

We rode the train RT Stockholm-Oslo. Cheap with an advance purchase online fare. Takes you from city center to city center. Dull countryside scenery. Summer thunderstorm/lighting shut down the systems and we were delayed several hours in the heat, but that shouldn't be a problem in September.

Viajero2: <i>If you think you have seen beauty when riding the Noway in a Nutshell pre-packaged train tour, there is simply no words to describe exploring these regions by car. The Stave Churches in Norway blew my mind.</i>

Cool. This is how we're planning to do it on our upcoming trip. I love to drive anyway.

Tell me, which stave kirk blew your mind the most? And which village in the Sognefjord area charmed you the most?

mr. go-- from the approximately 28 stave churches remaining in Norway, we visited about 6; Undredal, Borgund, Urnes, Hopperstad, Roldal, and Uvdal. All of these are simply spectacular to look at, particularly Borgund, Undredal, and Hopperstad. The stave church at Undredal is tiny, but just incredible. The thing with stave churches is that from outside it is amazing to look at an inverted Viking ship made out ot be a church. Then, when you go in and look at inscriptions from the 11th Century and Viking engravings with a clear Celtic and even Runic semblance is simply breathtaking. The road to Undredal and the fjord junction where this church is set is probably one of the most beautiful, quaint places I have ever been in my entire life. Have coffee in the shop next to the fjord dock area, wait for the ferry for entertainment. We played ball with the local kids while waiting and that was such fun.

Hopperstad is located in the town of Vik, another spectacular town. You may have seen images from the webcamera located on the roof of the cybercafe located at the top of the road on to Vik (google it!).

Do not miss Bergen, head out to Flam and explore from there. If you want to bounce ideas, I'll be glad to give you opinions! Norway is just a magical place and we are so glad we went beyond that "first layer" that NIN offers.

My wife and I did this trip three years ago in late May - it was great. We were in Oslo for a few days prior to travelling the "Norway in a Nutshell" combined route and bought our combined ticket in Oslo at the train station immediately after we arrived in Oslo - no problem.

Day 1: train left Oslo ~ 8 am and stopped at the Myrdal station. We then walked a short distance and boarded the funicular train that took us down to Flam. The funicular train's schedule was coordinated with the arrival of the Oslo train. We then boarded a ferry (coordinated with the funicular's arrival) and boated out and through a couple of fjords. As the ferry docked, we then boarded buses that took us back up the hill where we boarded a train that completed our trip into Bergen. I think we finally arrived in Bergen around 5 pm.

Day 2: Toured Bergen - an interesting and historic city.

Day 3: Continued touring Bergen and surrounds. It's bigger than you realize. We then boarded the return train to Oslo around 10 pm and had a sleeper berth for the overnight return to Oslo. After arriving in Oslo, we had breakfast in the train station and reboarded a direct train to Stockholm. We enjoyed the day ride to Stockholm, although it wasn't particularly dramatic scenery.

A fun trip. If you want to shorten it up, you could tour Bergen in one day and return on the night of day 2.

Hope this helps!

Norway in a Nutshell was one of the very top things i've done in four decades of European travel - all components are great - the train from Oslo to Bergen - then day trip on the Nutshell thing - bus to Voss (knute Rockne buried in cemetery not far from train station) mountain bus down to Gudvagen (sp?) and the fjord - few hour boat ride to Flam - may see whales - unless Norwegians have killed them by now - then awesome mountain train up to Myrdhal - mainline rail links to Bergen or Oslo. Well worth going out of your way for IMO and to me the highlight of Scandinavia.

If doing all that by train and ferry then by all means investigate either the ScanRailPass - also good on many ferries 100% or 50% on others - or the Eurail Select 3 or 4-country pass - for loads on planning Scandinavia by train and boat i always highlight these info-laden sites: www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download the latter's free and IMO superb European Planning & Rail Guide that has lots of Scandinavia - rail itineraries, maps, etc.

The Oslo to Bergen Railway is universally acclaimed as one of the very top scenic railways in Europe - at times going thru a desolate scenery that only the rail line penetrates - kind of an Alpine wonderland and then along fabulous fjords to Bergen, a historic Hanseatic port town that makes a great base for the Norway in a Nutshell extravaganza day trip.

The Norwegian Railway Company
NSB, travel in Norway and Scandinavia with train. Explore Norway by train. Online booking.
www.nsb.no/home/

Bergen Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is the highest mainline railway line in Northern Europe, crossing the ... The railway opened from Bergen to Voss in 1883 as the narrow gauge Voss Line. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_Line

Bergen Railway - NSB
NSB is one of Norway's most important transport companies, with traditions going back to the opening of the first railway in Norway in 1854. ...
www.nsb.no › Home › Travel inspiration

Thank you all for the advice and the great website!

we did the train from stockholm to oslo...cheap and easy and at least you see something of the scenery
yep not all that picworthy but still im glad we saw something of country sweden

btw viajero thanks for all your tips last year..we did get to vik and i thought of you and your love of stave churches!so glad we hired a car like you suggested...it was a heavenly trip and if its the last one i ever do i will still die with a smile on my face!

ttt

Viajero2: I never saw your reply to my post until now. Thanks a lot... that is exactly the sort of information I was looking for.

To Viajero2
I was trying to find more details around the Norway driving trip posted by you. We are going in July - we are from the US traveling with our 9 yr old son. We thought we'll do the train, but we love the luxury of being able to pause and enjoy the scenery and take it easy. We just want to enjoy the nature, do the hikes etc. We plan to drive one way Oslo to bergen and take the train back. We ahve about 10days.
Can you point me to your trip summary ?
Are the roads ok in July ? Since we are from Dallas - icy or too mountainous roads would be scary for us.
Thankyou

We traveled by car in Norway in early July. The roads should be fine. You might want to look at my trip report; just click on my name to find it.

We did a trip report, too. Here's the link...

http://www.onelittleworld.com/norden_1.html

In general, we found the roads to be very drivable in July. No problems at all.

Dear mr_go,

I thoroughly enjoyed your report. Wonderful photos and a great sounding itinerary. I hope to go in May/June. Wonder about the weather...

Also, I'll be traveling alone and not driving. Hope I'm still able to see some of the things you did.

Thanks for sharing!

gruezi