erichollingsworth157

My family of 4 (7 and 4 y/o boys) will be visiting Copenhagen and Norway arriving on July 22nd and departing from Bergen August 4th.

I am struggling to plan the Norway portion of the trip. Currently we will stay in depart Copenhagen via overnight ferry arriving in Oslo on Saturday July 29, then taking the Oslo - Bergen train midday on Sunday. I'd like to spend 2-3 days in the fjords and then 2 days in Bergen, but I'm having a hard time coming up with an itinerary that doesn't have too much movement and too much car time for the kids.

I have a couple of ideas:
- add a day or two in Oslo, Norway in a Nutshell to Bergen (perhaps overnight in Stalheim to make for a shorter day), then 3 days in Bergen, using one for a daytrip boat ride to Hardrangerfjord or similar
- spend two days in Bergen, rent a car and do NiN from Bergen on Wednesday, overnight in Stalheim, Thursday exploring the nearby area then overnight in Stalheim, Friday return to Bergen
- something like KimKim's sample itinerary norwegian-highlights-oslo-bergen-the-sognefjord-8-days which does 2 days in Oslo, public transit to Balestrand for 3 days, then a ferry to Bergen for two days. That minimizes backtracking but misses Gundvagen / Nærøyfjord, and other small towns that could be seen by car.

I am interested in Fjaerland, Aurland, Balestrand and if it was just adults would probably make a circuit around the eastern Sognefjord over 3 days, stopping in a different town each night before returning to Bergen, but I'm afraid that's too much car and too much movement for children. Given the long travel times and potentially infrequent ferries, I'd like to have everything nailed down more closely than usual.

Thanks for any advice!

Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help is much appreciated.

OverIt

We did Norway in a few days in 2007. Took the night boat from Copenhagen. Two nights in Oslo was plenty. Then we did half the Norway in a Nutshell - stopped at Balestrand and then took the ferries to Maaloy (stayed in a lighthouse!), saw Alesund (so pretty), and then headed over towards Trondheim and Oslo through Andalsnes (the train journey is famous for scenery - here is some info https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-you...iful-journeys/)

Your boys may enjoy staying in a lighthouses, and the ferries were a great way to see the fjords. We stayed at this lighthouse (Ulvesund Fyr) http://ulvesundfyr.no/ but this one is very famous: https://krakenesfyr.com/english/. I don't know if Solvi Hopland still runs Ulvesund Fyr, but her partner built boats and showed us his craft. It was very special.

Heimdall

I had a similar dilemma several years ago when planning a sort trip to Norway (I live in England, so short trips are feasible). All my grandparents were born in Norway, one in Bergen. In the end I chose to stay in Oslo, and am glad I did. There are so many things to see there I couldn’t fit them all into four days.

My priorities, which may be different from yours, were to see the ship museums (Fram and Kon-Tiki) on the Bygdøy peninsula, the nearby open-air Folk Museum, and the Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Tower. From the top of the tower you have beautiful views of Oslo, so it’s worth the trip even if you aren’t interested in skiing. I also enjoyed walking around Frogner Park and seeing the Vigland sculptures there.

A few other things I did while in Oslo were to visit the National Art Gallery but didn’t have time for the Edvard Munch art museum. I visited Akershus Fortress on the harbour, and enjoyed the little Resistance Museum there. I took a cruise on Oslo Fjord on a warm sunny day — not as spectacular as the fjords around Bergen, but enjoyable nevertheless. I was lucky with the weather, and even had a quick swim in the fjord on the day I visited the ship museums.