My husband and two children (age 8 and 11) will be in Norway this June. We would like to visit Oslo, Bergen, and Lillehammer. What would be the best and most economical travel route? We will probably fly into Oslo and then have seven days to vacation in Norway.

Well it depends on your defination of best and or most economical... The Lillehammer to Oslo stretch I would either take the bus which is cheaper or the train which is more expensive. Unless you need the freedom a rental car gives you, but gasoline and cars are EXPENSIVE in Norway, so I wouldn't use that unless you really want a car.
The Oslo - Bergen route you either fly or take the (night)train or take the Norway in a nutshell route. I don't know the exact prices but I can check for you but then I need more information first. I'd gladly make some other tips for your itenary but you need to tell more about what you like to do?

Cobos

I would suggest doing Norway in a nutshell from Oslo to Bergen costs 1065 NOK one-way, children half price. http://www.norwaynutshell.com/visartikkel.asp?art=96

From Bergen the east-west express bus come into mind, going from Bergen to Lillehammer once a day. The bus costs 515 NOK, children 50% off.
http://www.nor-way.no/nbeweb/show.do...uter/r/162.htm

Instead of taking the bus all the way from Bergen, one suggestion would be staying along the fjord, like Balestrand and joining the bus to Lillehammer in Aurland or Flam (bus 355 NOK), this option it more expensive however due to ferry prices from Bergen to Flam.

The best would be going by car, the freedom of stopping wherever you want espesially with children and stop at the most scenic spots...

Thanks for the info. We would like to spend 2 days in Oslo, then do the Nutshell tour and stay in Bergen 2 nights (round trip from Oslo), then the train from Oslo to Lillehammer for the balance of our trip. It seems like we need 8 days to cover all of this without being exhausted. Is this a realistic plan? Is the bus route directly from Bergen to Lillehammer a better choice? Thanks

The main reason for suggesting the Coach was being able to see more of Norwegian scenery from a different angle and in addition the journey will be less expensive. It is possible to train Bergen-Oslo-Lillehammer too if taking the 8 am train from Bergen. But it will be a long day travelling and expensive. Is there a special reason for going to Lillehammer, if not I would skip it. Although nice it is not that special.

Although the weather might be better in Lillehammer (you never know), I would Instead suggest renting a car for a day in Voss and drive the Hardanger fjord. I recommended renting in Voss, it is easier to drive than Bergen, very close to the Hardanger fjord and closer to Oslo as well. Probably stay the night in Voss or alongside the fjord.

http://www.carwalks.com/English/RoundTrip2.htm
I would recommend tour no. 21, but tour nr. 20 would work as well.

Hardanger would be beautiful in June. Visit Voringsfossen waterfall, Kjeaasen farm or be guided into the Sima PowerStation (the 20 min. film in English is very interesting), or just drive on small roads along the fjord. If going to Voringfossen (The waterfall) it is popular taking the troll-train uphill and walking down in good weather(or walk down/train up). http://www.trolltoget.no/engelsk/Schedule.htm
This was the old road, but now a tunnel in the mountain is used for cars.

(I stayed at http://www.hardangertun.no/English.htm last year, and am going to this year as well. I am visiting Husadalen valley, as I didn't get around walking this last year.)

This info is very helpful. We are still revising our plans. We would like to rely on public transportation as much as possible, so if possible avoid renting a car. The new plan is Oslo for two nights, Nutshell tour one way to end in Bergen (for two nights), and then bus directly to Lillehammer. My husband has business in Lillehammer, so we do need to spend some time there. How long is the bus ride from Bergen to Lillehammer? Any recommendations for sights to see in Lillehammer? Thanks.

The bus journey does take most of the day arriving Lillehammer at 17:55 if wanting to save time I would suggest going by air from Bergen to Oslo. As the Airport is north of Oslo it is not that far from Lillehammer. Norwegian Air have some affordable one-way flights or if you are using SAS, Iceland-air or Lufthansa coming to Norway you can travel with SAS-airpass from Bergen to Oslo for 69 EUR

In Lillehammer you have the open air museum close to the centre of town. http://www.maihaugen.no/english/
The eve of June 23. there is Mid Summer celebration at Maihaugen with a bonfire. There is also an art gallery downtown.

There is also Hunderfossen park for Children, based on Norwegian Fairy tales I don't know how good the park is set up for foreigners as I haven't been there for years.
http://www.hunderfossen.no/parkinfo/english.html

We are also going to Norway in late June with 2 kids, ages 12 and 14. I am trying to interest them in Viking stuff - got 2 old movies: The Vikings and The Long Boats which they at least tolerated (they of course thought the special effects were lame.) I have ordered from some place on the Internet a movie called "The Heroes of Telemark"; this is a fascinating story about courage in WWII. A friend gave us a book "Norwegian Folk Tales" by Asbjornsen and Moe. I always believe kids get more out of these trips if you work on preparing them. We're doing the Norway in a Nutshell trip after 3 days in Oslo; staying 2 nights in Bergen and then taking the bus to Alesund. I think it will be cool, so I am trying to figure out what clothes to wear. In Bergen, we made sure our hotel has an indoor pool.

Peggi I might add some pointers for fun for kids in that age... (trying to recall what I found cool at that age myself)...
First is that as long as the kids don't need the water to be 25 degrees C you can find good beach sites in Oslo in June. I would recommend Sognsvann, a lake about 1 mile across which has sandy beaches and lots of people in June, or some island hopping in the Oslofjord. Just take one of the ferries leaving Vippetangen to some of the islands in the fjord (travel time from 15minutes to 30 minutes). You use a normal PT card/ticket to pay for the ferry.

Second the museums that would possibly be best would be Fram museum, Kon-Tiki Museum and Vikingship Museum all at the Bygdøy peninsula. Also the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology might be a hit. (http://www.tekniskmuseum.no/eng/ehoved.htm)
And of course the Akershus Fortress which you can walk through should also be interresting. I might add that the fortress has never been captured (except by the Germans with Paratroopers) even though f. inst. the Swedish king Karl 12. did try (and according to the story I heard got a horse shot away from under him by the cannons of the fortress).

Cobos

We spent 2 weeks last August in Norway, (me, husband, 18 month old).

Many of the trains have a kid's car that had an area for kids to sit and watch videos, color, etc - it was separated from the rest of the car by glass sliding doors that only opened into the 'adult' area on one side - you can see your kids and they can't escape. It is sound proofed and there is a small amount of room to walk around and stretch legs, etc. Good for toddlers and the older kids were OK with it too.

In Bergen there is an aquarium that was nice. It is very rainy there - so just pack rain jackets, for sure! You can also take the incline train up to the top of a big hill behind Bergen - there is a small park and hiking trails, and a cafe.

In Oslo, Bygdoy peninsula is definitely a keeper. There are many museums out there. If you can read KonTiki before you go, you will appreciate even more the KonTiki/Ra exhibit.
The open air folk museum was pretty neat, too. Lots of room to run around, things to see. The Viking Ship museum was nice, too. I think any history you can read or watch before you go will only enhance your trip.
The Ski Museum at Holmenkollen is worth the trip if you are a skier -if you can't stand skiing then you can miss it, although the views are pretty.

For eating - hit deli counters and picnic frequently. Eating out is very, very expensive - about twice normal US prices.

Weather - pack a few light layers, including a rain jacket. It was warm enough in August that we wore shorts, but didn't need them, even when the rest of Europe was baking. Usually wore a long sleeved shirt, or had one with us.

The Bergen and Oslo Cards were a good deal - we pushed to see as many things as we could on them that we might have otherwise skipped.

Kids will like the Nutshell tour, too - the mountain train is very nice (crowded, touristy, but nice) - the coastal steamers and fjords are fun - fast boats, dramatic scenery. They should have books or something with them because parts of it will drag.

Many of the hurtigruten had kids play areas with videos, toys, etc. They all had snack bars.

Check the 'local' Norwegian airlines - last summer at least one of them had a summer pass deal for travel within Norway. It was very inexpensive and cut travel time significantly. We used trains, hurtigruten, a bus or two, and two flights (we went very far north).
Never had problems getting where we needed to go. Our toddler didn't always like it, but, oh, well.

Oh, and darn near everyone spoke English, even in the small towns we got to. I never got past 'hai', 'timer', and 'skylling' as for my Norwegian because of it... (hi, hour, chicken)

Have fun,
Helen (another one)