Norway itinerary help
 

We are 2 adults who will be flying to Bergen mid July and have 10 days to explore. We would like to visit the following:
Bergen 2-3 days
Flam
Tronnso
Lofoten
Nordkapp

Can you make suggestions on itinerary. Rental car, flying, train, Hurtigruten. or all???

We've done Hurtigruten in the opposite direction and in winter by flying into Tromso and sailing down as far as Trondheim. The Lofotens are simply a world class landscape, jaw dropping and in my opinion on a par with Phang Nga bay in terms of being spectacular.

Without referring to the their actual schedule I seem to remember that this itinerary will eat a large part of your time allocation in sailing time only. This may mean that your chances for various jump off points is limited.

Clearly in July you are going to have lots of day light to play with if you are combining this with a long trans longitudinal flight then the very, very long days can play havoc with jet lag.

I haven't been to the Southern Fjords but it may be worth considering flying into say Trondheim which is lovely and spending a day or so there, pick up the boat and spend a few days in The Lofotens. If you are remaining on the boat as it sails north from any starting points then you have to remember that it is essentially a very posh postal ship.

The standards are pretty high and the boats are nowhere near as the usual suspects which operate in the Carribean.

The sailings stop at many ports but mainly for say 15 minutes to load/ unload passangers / cargo. There are around 2 or 3 stops a day of 90 minutes, just look carefully at the issued timetable.

In the North, Trondheim and Tromso have plenty to interest for a couple of days, the rest of the towns are fairly small and very functional.

I have never been on a cruise ship and Hurtigruten feels more like a large, luxury polar explorer expedition. There are some negative reviews of their operations - I'd say that looking at the detail these are usually from passangers accustomed to 3000 people on board with a butler to polish their shoes and musicals each evening. This isn't Hurtigruten and we love it.

You could do a half Hurtigruten (7 day) trip heading north to Nordkapp (though imho Nordkapp is the least interesting thing to see on the trip) and then fly back south from Kirkenes.

The ships are not like cruise ships, though the newer ones are more cruise ship like in their facilities. They are very relaxed ships, no dressing for dinner and only occasionally an evening entertainment, though the last trip we did, on the Kong Harald there was a resident pianist in one of the lounges.

That would give you time to get to Flam as well as see something of Bergen, which really doesn't need 2-3 days imho.
The ship leaves in the evening of day 1 so you have nearly all that day in Bergen.

Or do the reverse trip, which is 6 days, but doesn't stop at Nordkapp, if I recall correctly.

Flåm can be done as a day trip from Bergen - Norway in a Nutshell.
Skip Nordkapp - a real tourist trap, better by far to spend your time in Lofoten. Similarly skip Tromsø and fly directly to Lofoten and hire a car there. If you are including arrival and departure days and 2 days of travel to get up north and back again then you really don't have much time. 2 - 3 days in Bergen (with NiN trip) and the rest in Lofoten would be a great holiday.

Following your recommendations, thank you!
Taking Nordkapp off the list.

Bergen 2-3 days
Flam?

Need no car for this Norway in a Nutshell trip from Bergen - train to Voss -mountain bus to Gudvagen - boat to Flam (we saw whales!)- mountain train to Myrdhal - train to Bergen.

but for rest either boat or car would be best as trains do not go along the coast but the IMO rather boring interior.

For lots on the Norway in a Nutshell thingy -

https://www.norwaynutshell.com/origi...in-a-nutshell/

Note need to do a tour -buy a combined ticket for trains, bus and boat at Bergen train station and do your own tour at your own pace; more info www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Note that if wanting accommodation in Flåm in mid season you should book soonest. The route has also become very popular the last year and you'll need to book well ahead to get a place on Flåm rail and ferry. There is nothing to save d.i.y on the round trip so just get the tour from https://www.norwaynutshell.com