Woods05

Hi there,

On the weekend of October 17th & 18th, I'll be visiting Bergen with my girlfriend. On Saturday we want to spend the day seeing the fjords and have been looking at different options to get the most out of our stay. Now we're in a slight dilemma, trying to decide between two choices.
1. Do the Norway in a Nutshell tour...I think that speaks for itself seeing as it's the most famous tour out there. (To be honest, not very keen on sitting in a bus...)
2. Leave Bergen in the morning and take the express boat up and around to Flåm (5,5 hour trip). Then take the Flåm Railway up to Myrdal and a train back to Bergen (or the other way around).

Option 1 means (I presume) a well organized day with a combo price. But option 2 means more time on the water and in the fjords. Only with option 2 you miss the section of the Naerøyfrjorden. Is this a big miss?
I've tried finding experiences on option 2, but haven't found much. Also, seeing as it's an 'express' boat, do you speed through the fjords?
Price wise and time wise it all measures up to about the same, so that's not an issue. Just curious to see if anyone has experience with either.

Thanks for the help!

molly23

I just did the Norway in a Nutshell with my husband in July,
and we thought it was the best part of our visit to Skandinavia.
The only time you are on a bus is the return from the fjord to Bergen..we did the Oslo to Bergen direction.
The rest of the day is on trains and the boat.
Norway in a Nutshell has its own web site that describes the entire day.
molly23

jd_dallas

I think Option 2 is better, but either would be very worthwhile.

We went in the other direction and stayed 3 nights at Balestrand this summer, so we got to see a lot more. I wouldn't worry too much about the speed of the express boat; it is still a 4 hour trip from Bergen to Balestrand, as I recall, and longer to Flom. Once you get away from the coast, the views along the fjord aren't spectacular anyway.

In my opinion you will get all of the best part of the Nutshell using Option 2. However, I agree with the previous comment that, if you opt for full Nutshell, the bus segment isn't very long.

Either way, the only downside is that is makes for a long day, but it is well worth it.

Woods05

Thanks for your help!
Unfortunately I just found out that the express boat to Flåm only runs until September 30th. So we'll be taking the Nutshell tour. We will be taking it in the opposite direction (Bergen - Voss - Gudvangen - Flåm - Myrdal - Bergen). This is an earlier departure from Bergen, but it does mean more daylight in the fjords!

jd_dallas

That should work out fine. After posting my response, I wondered whether there could be a problem making the connection from the express boat to the Nutshell tour. This will make it simpler, though you will miss some of the fjord.

Enjoy your trip!