Scandinavia in 10 days
 

Planning a trip to Norway, Sweden and possibly Denmark in July 2006. The Itinerary currently has 2 days in Copenhagen, 2 days in Stockholm, 1 day in Oslo and approx 5 days in and around Bergen / possibly Balestrandto see the Fjords. Not sure whether to miss out Copenhagen this trip and spend more time in the Western fjords ?. Is Copenhagen worth adding ?. Not sure whether to self drive, take the train or even fly from city to city on the cheap airfares - Recommendations ? .Would possibly like to do the Flam railway the Oslo to Bergen trip as we hear they are both great. Would we see the same scenery by car ??
Can we see Geiranger FJord in a day trip from Balestrand or Bergen ??
Thanks and all help appreciated.

We did Scandinavia in 2004. We had terrible rain in Copenhagen but were glad to have visited there anyway; we just didn't get to go to Tivoli, but there's lots more to see and do. Suggest: Thorvaldsen Museum, Danish Resistance Museum, climb tower of Church of our Savior, enjoy the street scenes. We took a train out of Copenhagen toFredericksborg castle and can highly recommend that. We took the overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo but there are other options. We did Norway in a Nutshell from Oslo to Bergen, spent a couple of days in Bergen and then took a bus up to Alesund, which was beautiful. We spent just 2 days in Bergen; nice town. Flew on Braathens from Alesund to Oslo; very cheap, great short flight. Also flew on local airlines to Stockholm from Oslo. Hope this helps.

Thanks kindly for your reply ! Sounds like you did a very similar trip to what we are planning. We are also looking at using local airlines as it appears there are some reasonable deals out there. Is the Norway in a Nutshell tour possible to organise yourself rather than doing it as a tour to save money ? Would you recommend the overnight ferry as thats an option we are also looking at.

Thanks again for your help

I think Nutshell is a unique experience that would be nearly impossible to replicate on your own as so many different methods of transportation are involved: regular train, boat, bus, cog railway. Read about it in Rick Steves' guide to Scandinavia. Re: overnight ferry. We took that mostly because our niece, who is Norwegian, feels it is the "traditional" way Scandinavians travel between Copenhagen and Norway/Sweden and she wanted to have that experience. We found it quite pleasant - we were accompanied by our 2 kids and they had the pull down bunk-bed type things in our cabin that they enjoyed. The restaurants on board were find. Our niece warns us that on the weekends, the Scans can be quite "rowdy" but we did not encounter that. I'm very glad we did it but I would be open to comparing time/cost of a local flight. In Oslo, be sure to catch the Viking Ship Museum...we also liked the Folk Art Museum nearby. Great stave church there. In Stockholm, we liked Gamla Stan and the Vasa Museum.

Scandinavia is lovely, and there is much to see. I'd suggest saving Copenhagen for another trip, since there is certainly enough in Copenhagen and environs to justify four days in that city. The same could be said for Stockholm and Oslo, although you can probably get a flavor of each in two days. One day would be a bit tight for Oslo. The Viking Ship Museum is certainly worth a visit, and a large chunk of a day could be spent in Vigelund Park. If you drop Copenhagen and otherwise maintain your current plan, you could add a day in Oslo and/or a day in the western fjords. I'd highly recommend a drive from Bergen to Ålesund, a town rebuilt in an art nouveau style after much of it was destroyed by fire about a century ago. This would be a long day, seven hours of driving without stops and an overnight in Ålesund would be required. You might even consider two nights in this area, which is a lovely part of the western fjord country. In the vicinty of Ålesund you could take a ferry from Hellesyit to the town of Gerainger, which would give you about ninety minutes on the fjord. Nearby you will also find the Trollstigen, a dramatic road down a mountainside that is a driving challenge and a sightseeing delight. Each of these could be seen in a very long day trip from Bergen, but you'd be on the road much too long a time.

As for the Norway in a Nutshell vs. car question, my wife and I would be terrible people to ask, since we're inveterate wanders and find that whenever we take a train, we always feel bad about missing chunks of countryside or towns where we'd stop and wander. If you drive between Oslo and Bergen, you will, however, probably need two days. If you want to ride the Flåm railway up to Myrdal (and then back down), a logical stopping point might be Flåm itself. You can visit the loveliest stave church in Norway at Borgund if yopu drive from Oslo to Bergen, and you'll see lovely scenery. You will take trips across or along fjords by ferry if you're in the western fjord country. I would guess that the train traverses some rugged country you would not see by car. So, let's see: two days in Stockholm, fly to Oslo, two days there, overnight in Flåm, two nights in Bergen, one night in Ålesund, then back to Bergen for one more night. I guess that's within your time frame. Post or e-mail as you have more specific questions.

I would highly advice against driving Bergen-Ålesund-Bergen in two days. What you might do is driving from Bergen to Loen/Stryn area and even this would be a 5 hour drive, but it will take you to some of the most scenic fjord areas. Stay there two nights and drive back to Bergen. On the day in Loen you might drive the loop
-Old Stryn mountain road (past the summer ski)
-Geiranger
-Hellesylt ferry
-Stryn

If having only two days for driving the fjords. You could either drive one way to Ålesund in two days and fly to Oslo from there, or settle for the Sognefjord.

If driving the Sognefjord then perhaps drive from Bergen to Balestrand and stay there for one night. Continue to Lærdal. Instead of driving the tunnel to Aurland perhaps turn right at Lærdal and drive the old Aurland road (also called the Snow road). This mountain road would give you a birds eye view of the Nærøyfjord and Aurland/Flåm. Maybe take the train up and down the valley from Flåm to Myrdal if you feel like it at the time and drive back to Bergen.

Flying to or from Bergen would save a lot of time.

Affordable one-way flights:
Flynordic.com have direct flights from Stockholm to Bergen.
SASBraathens.no have direct flight from Copenhagen to Bergen.

Regarding Alesund, we took a bus from Bergen, which was quite the "local" and very enjoyable; there are many stops and ferries and there were ZERO Americans, except us, doing it. The Norwegians were SO helpful...bus drivers and passengers. We did it in a day, checked into our hotel in Alesund, spent the whole next day there and then flew back to Oslo the following day. The scenery was gorgeous and we loved Alesund and we got a kick out of the fact that there were almost no Americans.

Don't miss the Norway in a Nutshell trip. You do not need to take a tour. Simply go to a local tourist office and ask them to book you. You don't have to do it by scratch, and having it booked is not a "tour" and doesn't cost you any more than if you tried to figure it out by yourself.

Thanks so much everyone for your helpfull information. I will be doing some more research into the areas recommended but Alesund and Balestrand are definately places we are interested in visiting. Now I just need to organise the best route for prob 4 days in the Western Fjords. Are there any summer ski/snowboard ares nearby in the area ? This may help determine our route as I would love to get a quick ski in ! Another quick question - Can you hire a car in Bergen ? .This would let us do the Oslo to Bergen Railway (inc Flam) then day trips from Bergen up to Geiranger, maybe Alesund etc.I was also told that from Flam instead of going back up to Myrdal you can get a ferry to Voss and then train to Bergen ? Would this be recommended ?? Cheers again