katerina_r

I will be traveling to western Norway in August (4 adults and 2 children under age 4) and need help to plan my trip. I only have 6 nights/7 days. My plan is to arrive in Bergen in the afternoon-:

Day 1- Bergen/ night

Day 2- drive to Stalheim visiting Voss, Aurland, Laerdal, stay overnight in Stalheim

Day 3 Flam railway and Naeroyfjord cruise from Flam , drive to Luster.Stay overnight in Luster

Day4- Josterdalen /glacier, drive to Geiranger-stay 2 nights in Geiranger (cabin)

Day 5 Geiranger- Dashiba, Trollstigen

Day 6- Geiranger- fishing, drive back to Bergen/night in Bergen

I am not sure if I can possibly see all these places...Should I skip Luster and spend an extra day in Stalheim or Aurland? or skip Geiranger?

Thanks

arvin

I think this is doable, but the schedule will be tight and you won't have much time for exploring unexpected things you encounter along the way.

The drive on day two to Stalheim will bring you past Voss, but not past Aurland or Lærdal. Those two places are natural stops as you continue from Flåm towards Luster.

The drive from Bergen to Stalheim is less scenic compared to what you'll encounter at Stalheim and beyond.

The Nærøyfjord cruise runs between Flåm and Gudvangen. In my experience there are less people on-board in the Gudvangen to Flåm direction and the guiding and stops are the same in both directions. You can park your car at Flåm or Gudvangen, travel by the boat and then go back by bus to pick up your car. At least, many times you can. You need to check the boat and bus time tables for when you want to travel.

The Flåm railway terminates at Myrdal. You can't drive to Myrdal, so you'll have to go back to Flåm by the same train that brought you there.

When you drive from Jostedalen to Geiranger, you'll be passing Dalsnibba at the start of the descent towards Geiranger.

The drive from Geiranger to Bergen is going to last for 6-7 hours and even more if you chose the scenic route via Fjærland, Sogndal and Vik.

Make sure you get to see the Geirangerfjord from the water. I believe there are sightseeing boats running the length of the fjord and there is also a ferry running between Geiranger and Hellesylt.

I don't think you should skip Luster or the Jostedalen glacier. When you have seen Gudvangen and Flåm, not stopping at Aurland will be fine. Then make a stop at the Wild Salmon Center in Lærdal before continuing to Lüster.

chicago_bound

We've only done the Norway in a Nutshell with an overnight stop in Flam so I am not familiar with driving distances, but I would suggest staying overnight in Aurland or Flam and then do the railway and cruise from there. You might want to get train tickets in advance as it can get sold out with the big cruise ships coming in every day. Also, get onto the train early as you cannot book seats unless traveling with a group.

Songdoc

I can't respond to most of this. I'll be going in a few weeks. But on a previous trip (NIN) I stayed overnight at the Stalheim Hotel. Absolutely GORGEOUS views -- but no reason to stay there even one night -- unless it's a natural stopping place. There is nothing there to do but gawk at the view and maybe take a walk. I do think it's worth driving there, though -- for taking photos, and maybe having lunch (very expensive--but so is everything in Norway). But I can't imagine what you would do if you stayed there two nights.

This time I'll be driving from Bergen and staying in Luster for four nights. That will be our base. I enjoyed the Flam railway and cruise -- but it poured

Enjoy!