I am going to Stavangar for a conference in early June. I will fly to Stavangar. Then I plan to travel from Stavangar to Bergan and to Oslo. My questions are: (1) Is there a way to go from Stavangar to Bergan ? I know there is a train from BErgan to Oslo. (2) What is "Norway in a Nutshell?"

There are several trips per day from Stavanger to Bergen, by either high speed catamarans or conventional ships.<BR>The journey time varies from 2.5 to 6 hours, some non stop some with one or two calls.<BR>It is an extremely pleasant and scenic trip, in fact, not to be missed. I would recommend the slower ride, particularly if you get a good day weatherwise. There is plenty of catering on board. You will be thrilled.<BR>&quot;Norway in a Nutshell&quot; is a packaged day trip, mainly from Oslo to Bergen and return by a combination of train and boats.<BR>From Bergen you can do the same trip yourself, with a through ticket.<BR>A high speed boat leaves Bergen daily at about 8 a.m., and travels via the Sognefiord to a small village called Flam, arriving before lunch. From Flam you catch a one hour mountain train up to Myrdal, where there are express train connections to Oslo.<BR>You will not need to pre-reserve any of the above apart from a seat reservation on the Myrdal-Oslo train.<BR>The Bergen-Flam-Myrdal-Oslo trip is again not to be missed, offering scenic waterways, snow capped mountains,and glaciers from the train window. In fact, as the name suggests &quot;Norway in a Nutshell&quot;<BR>You will love it.

There are trains from Stavanger to Bergen, including an overnight service. From Stavanger to Bergen, there are no ordinary ships, but there are fast catamarans (www.hsd.no) or buses which cross between the islands by ferry. From Bergen to Oslo, there are day and night trains - it's better by day as the scenery is superb, and it's not so easy to sleep on the night service because the line twists and turns a lot.

Correcting my last reply, I should have said that there are trains from Stavanger to Oslo, not Bergen. From Stavanger to Bergen, the choice is between fast catamarans and buses.

Thanks for all the information. I will definitely do that. For &quot;Norway in a Nutshell&quot;, would you recommend a local travel agent to arrange all the tickets or I can get it by myself in a local place such as the central train station ?

The nutshell via Bergen is the most scenic option if going from Stavanger to Oslo. But if you're planning to return to Stavanger there is something called the 'Triangel tour' with an optional nutshell ad-on taking you Stavanger-Bergen-Oslo-Kristiansand-Stavanger. <BR>For information: www.fjordtours.no/visArtikkel.asp?id=115<BR><BR>You can get tickets by yourself at the central train station in Stavanger. I would get it at least a day in advance.

Hi. I hope that you have some time to look around in Stavanger. I have posted a few pictures of city scenes from Stavanger on my homepage www.gardkarlsen.com.<BR><BR>As said already you can take a boat or bus from Stavanger to Bergen. Let me know if you need more info about Stavanger.<BR><BR>Regards<BR>Gard

I need some advice on the luggage handling during the &quot;Norway in a Nutshell&quot; trip. Since I have luggages with me, how do I handle that during the train-bus-boat-train tour ? Do I still carry by myself during different transportation or ...?
Thanks,

If you are dragging all your luggage with you, you will have to drag it yourself. There are two options, however, to avoid this (although lots of people drag their luggage!). First, go to the train station (or have your hotel call to make arrangements) to have your luggage transported from your hotel to the hotel you intend to stay at. The Norwegian railroad has this wonderful accommodation (not expensive) of door to door service. You need to contact them at least a day, preferably several, days in advance. Alternatively, you can do what we did, which is take all you need for an overnighter in a large backpack, and stash the rest of your luggage at the train station.

We were going to use the door to door service from Oslo to Bergen but unfortunately, the Oslo to Flam ride departed at 8 a.m., and the door to door service did not open until 9 a.m. at Oslo Sentral.

Surfergirl, Wouldn't it be better just take the train ride to Bergen and leave the luggage there in the hotel first, and then the next day take the &quot;Norway in a Nutshell&quot; from Bergen ?

Yes, that will work if you're doing the Bergen - Nutshell - Bergen route, in other words, in a circle. It does not work, however, when you go, as the majority do, from Oslo ending in Bergen or the other way around. If you are taking the circular Bergen route, I guess I'm confused as to why you asked what you do with your luggage if you intended to return to your hotel.

As for your question of using a travel agent vs. the local train station in Norway, the train station will handle all of your arrangements for all legs of the tour. You will enjoy it!