gopack

We are thinking of renting a car and driving for 2 weeks to see the coast and fjords in Norway this August. (The cruises that fit into our schedule didn't interest us.)

Is driving pretty doable? I mean, are there nice roads along the fjords? We would like to see the major fjords, of course. I know we won't have time to make it all the way north, but say we started in Bergen. Is it fairly easy to drive around to see the major fjords and interesting towns and scenery? Would we be able to cover a pretty good size area?

We would like to take some half-day fjord sightseeing boat excursions also. Any suggestions for good ones?

Any suggestions for nice hotels or lodges? We like pretty nice places.

I am just starting to figure this out. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

Ginny

gopack

I am the original poster and just want to add that my first post makes me sound a little ditzy! I know people drive around Norway everyday!! We drove around Ireland, Germany and France on our own.

I really want to know if we will be able to enjoy the scenery from the road vs. from the water. And is it pretty easy to find your way around so you are not driving in circles rather than relaxing and having a good time?

Anyone have a driving route they took?

Thanks again!

fun4all4

There is a poster who sometimes posts here and on trip advisor named gard karlsen. He is from Norway and has a great website of his travels and home area. I'm not sure if he will see this as I haven't seen his postings in a little while. You might try www.gardkarlsen.com You can read about Norway and also email him with questions.

joegri

gopack: Go to the search window above and insert gard karlson and click go. Then repeat with the name bjorn and click go. You will see many posts from these two Norway knowledgeable posters. They are very helpful and will respond to messages posted.
We (my wife and I) drove all over Norway three years ago and had no difficulties. English is spoken virtually everywhere and the roads are good. We never found a bad road; a bit narrow from time to time and some pretty curvy, but never bad roads.
Don't worry about fjord cruises. As you arrive at each fjord, you will find ferries that cross to the other side or the other end. Cruise accomplished! You will want to take a cruise up the coast from Bergen for however many days you can accommodate. Norway is wonderful to drive. Have a great trip.

Midnightsun

gopack: The wonderful thing about driving through fjord country is that you can visit small towns, discover lovely vantage points, and take things at your own pace. Most of the roads are along the shores of the fjords. You do get the sense of cruising the fjords because many of the roads will require ferry crossings across fjords. Driving in Norway is easy (easier than in the U.S.). Some of the roads are a bit slow for two reasons. Mountain tunnels are usually one-way, so you'll have to wait for a light to enter. Also you will have to wait for a ferry now and again. We've done the fjord route from Bodø to Ålesund, and I don't feel that we missed much by driving. We have also done the Bergen to Oslo drive. However, our favorite part of Norway is the Lofoten chain (reachable by a three and a half hour ferry ride from Bodø or overland from Troms&oslash where you'll find lovely fishing villages, jagged mountains, fjords, and even a sandy beach or two north of the Arctic Circle. The Hellesjit to Gerainger route will give you a great 2.5 hour cruise along Geraingerfjord. Feel free to e-mail me if you have more questions.

Midnightsun

Ginny: I wanted to add a few hotel tips. In Bergen the First Hotel Marin is very nice, with spacious rooms. It's about two blocks from the harbor. In 2004 it was about 1050 NOK per night ($145). In Ålesund the Comfort Home Hotel Bryggen is centrally located in a restored fish processing facility. That may sound a bit smelly, but it's not the least bit fishy and has a great sense of the town's history. Comfort Hotels took over the Home Hotel chain around 2000. They're much nicer than Comfort Inns in the U.S. Home Hotels were housed in historic refurbished buildings throughout Scandinavia (check one of my other postings). On the coast you'll also find the Trondheim Comfort Home Hotel Bakeriet, housed in an old bakery. Good luck with your trip planning.

gopack

Thanks for all the tips, everyone! I always come here to find help with trip planning from experts.

A few more questions: We will probably fly into Oslo and spend a day or 2 there then head over toward Bergen. We are thinking about the Norway in a Nutshell option and then picking up a rental car in Bergen. But what about driving from Oslo over toward the coast instead? Anyone done that? If so, is the drive as pretty as the train ride? What would be the down side of driving vs. the train?

Lofoten Islands: What makes these worth driving up to see? I mean, are they really pretty, interesting, etc. Just curious about specifics. Is this where the Puffins are, or do we need to got the North Cape to see them?

If we end up near the Lofoten Islands toward the end of our 2 week trip, what is the easiest/fastest way to return to Oslo to fly home? Drive or fly? How long to drive it?

Thanks again!

Ginny

helen

It's no problem driving - if you only take your time, don't rush and give way if you happen to come across some crazy locals in a hurry. Do not plan on driving more than 250-300 km (max 180 miles a day). There's a lot scenary esp. if you like taking pictures - this takes time...

Taking a sightseeing boat on the Geiranger fjord, hop of at one of the deserted farm for a picnic and return on the next boat is nice. Joined this sightseeing boat two years ago and people was doing just this.

You would probably get a better view driving than taking a cruise. Ther are many short 15 min. car-ferries going from one side of a fjord to the other as part of the road. You do not book these ferries you just turn up and wait until the ferry arrives. You will get to see the fjords from the water even if driving. Buying a road map on arrival and following the road numbers would make driving easy. There is often just one road to take.

With a couple of days in Oslo and Bergen I would probably just tour the western fjords. Going one-way to Lofoten would work, but don't go unless you really want to. One-way rentals are expensive and you need to fly back from Harstad/Narvik airport.

Driving Oslo-Bergen is an 8 hour+ drive. Taking the train would be more relaxing. It can be nice driving too if prepaird for the long drive. The Hardanger platau and Vøringsfossen waterfall beeing highlights.

If you want to see Puffins, one of the best places is not actually up north but at the Island Runde a few hours south of Ålesund town. In the middle of fjord country at the western most point of Norway. It is possible to join a small fishing boat going around vertical edges of the island where the birds nest. I also get to see a cave at the sea. Otherwise there are several walk paths on top of the Island looking down.
Renting a car in Bergen or Voss, dooing a loop from there sounds nice. probably rent a car in Bergen or Voss for a loop of the fjords, going to Flåm, Fjærland, Loen, Old Stryn mountain road past the summer ski, Down to Geiranger, Ålesund, Runde, and along the coast to Måløy or Florø getting back.



Hotels: maybe take a look at one of the Summer discount hotel passes, like fjordpass.no with many hotels in the fjord area or skanplus.no giving you a discount and the 6th night free.

Midnightsun

Ginny: If you want to get a sense of the Lofotens, you might look at the website www.lofoten-info.no. If you drive north as far as Bodø, you can take a ferry ride (about three and a half hours) to the Lofotens. You'll need a car there if you stay in a rorbu. What makes the Lofotens special (at least for us) is that they're kind of like Norway in miniature: beautiful mountains, fjords, and fishing villages...I think I said all that stuff in my last post. They're also not crowded in the least. We do well on 24 hours of sunlight (seems like grow-light therapy, but I know that may drive some folks a bit daffy). I'd guess in August it would be more like twenty-one hours maybe. I think your best bet for puffins is as Helen says, on Runde off Ålesund. There are puffins in the Lofotens (and their northern extension the Vestervalens), but we never saw any when we were there. When we've traveled elsewhere in Norway and have spoken with Norwegians, we usually get around to talking about the Lofotens because we loved them so. Many Norwegians grin and nod their heads like you're talking about some distant cousin that everyone cherishes but no one sees. The main problem is that it does take a long time to drive the length of Norway, so even if you try to take a faster interior route south from Bodø to get back to Oslo, you'll need two long days I'd guess. If you stay mainly in the southern fjord country, you could look into flying from Oslo to Bodø and going to the Lofotens by getting a rental car and then catching a ferry in Bodø. That would save you from the problem of getting a rental car in one location and dropping it off very far away.

As for the Oslo-Bergen route and the train vs. car debate, I don't know what you'd miss going by car that you'd see from the train. A few of the train stretches are likely more rugged. However, we much prefer driving since we can control the pace and stop for photos (my wife and I are both inveterate photographers). We drove Bergen to Oslo in two days, stopping in Flåm so we could ride the self-described world's steepest railroad up the side of the fjord to Myrdal, and that part of the train ride was definitely worthwhile. Then we rode back down and resumed our trip. There were a number of great vistas along the Hardanger Fjord and we also got to visit one of Norway's prettiest stave churches at Borgund. There was also a 35 or 40 km. tunnel on the route we took...that was unusual....so long under a mountain.

viking

Whoa, sanity check; it sounds like you are rejecting the commercial cruises and overlooking the wonder of the world famous daily mailboat runs along the coast. These have morphed almost into fancy cruiseboats with expensive cabins, but you can use them without a cabin. It is very affordable and pleasurable to ride them 8-12 hours at a time and stop overnight at the various villages as it dips in and out of fjords.

Look into http://www.hurtigruten.com/index.asp as well as various connection ferries branching off, such as from delightful Alesund or even southbound from Bergen. Cars are costly to rent and operate, and train/ferry/bus segments cover about everything. The train trip from Oslo towards Bergen, Flam, or even better points north is wildly scenic, or you can save time by taking sleeper train to Trondheim or that place near Alesund...

viking

P.S. instead of flying into Oslo which often commits you to umpteen hours getting into Oslo from the airport and out of Oslo towards fjord country, for what is frankly a city about 10 times less interesting than Stockholm... think about using the Ryanair service into Haugesund from London for one or both ends of your visit.

Haugesund is a few hours from Bergen, but it is perhaps the most delightful airport bus ride on earth, since you bus on and off ferries south of Bergen. The air tix vary in price almost down to zero if you buy ahead of time (pay only taxes plus a few cents). And of course London can be cheaper to fly to, and a nice place to visit, or you can visit charming Cambridge which is much closer to the airport that Ryanair uses for this route IIRC.

HunterGatherer

On the puffins in Runde:
During the day the puffins are all out at sea finding fish. This makes them a bit hard to spot, although hiking on the island is great. The puffins all return by evening though, and then you will be wading in them. So consider staying on Runde or nearby if you want a close look at them. Both I and my wife loved Runde, even if we had hoped to get a closer look at the puffins.

http://www.runde.no/gbframe.htm

On nice places to stay:

You're probably going to Geiranger, but getting a place to sleep there can be difficult. I'd recommend a place further north, a quiet, lovely place we discovered by chance:

http://www.petrines.com/

Other,Lofoten is magical (when the weather is with you) it's like the top of the Alps rising out of the sea, but perhaps you might want to do something else than driving the whole time? I've said it before on this forum that I found the Sognefjord area really beautiful, especially the inner parts. Finding places to stay in less populated areas can be difficult though if you haven't booked WELL IN ADVANCE.

One suggestion would be to drive from Oslo via the Sognefjell tourist road, which takes you over the highest bit of Norway down to the inner part of Sognefjorden (basically Oslo-Lillehammer-Jotunheimen-Sognefjord). From there you can work your way along the fjord, eventually to Bergen or somewhere else, taking in all sights you want to see, perhaps making a longer loop via Geiranger and Ålesund. From Bergen you can drive the normal route back to Oslo, pretty much the way the train goes. This way you'll be doing a circle. Check out this link:
http://www.turistveg.no/modules/modu...6&lang=eng

HunterGatherer

Oops, perhaps I need to specify that the Sognefjell tourist road is only that part of the journey that takes you over Jotunheimen into inner Sognefjord. I didn't take that tourist road myself, or the whole of it, just drove to Jotunheimen from Oslo, climbed the highest peak in Norway, and continued to Geiranger via another route, next to Ålesund, from there Runde, down to Sognefjord under the Jostedal glacier and into Luster.

There are always alternatives, and you just need to find one that fits you. I mentioned the Sognefjell tourist road since you might not want to climb any mountains, and seeing them from the car is a less exhausting experience. It can also be a good way to do a circle so you won't be driving to and from Oslo the same way. The scenery is also be a bit diferent from the normal Oslo-Bergen, where the Hardanger plateau is much more flat than Jotunheimen.

gopack

helen, Midnightsun, Viking, HunterGatherer:

Thanks so much for all the helpful info!! I am going to digest it all for now. Thanks to everyone who posted answers. This is a wonderful place to get help.

Ginny