I’m planning a trip to Norway in mid-to-late June and would love some feedback on my road trip plan. I found it so difficult to narrow down my possible destinations since it seems like every corner of Norway is worth seeing.

About me: I like pretty much everything: museums, history, architecture, exploring cities and towns, hiking in beautiful areas, nightlife, and good food. I’m a museum curator who studied medieval material culture, so I’m interested in stave churches and Viking history. I’m spending time in the Baltic capitals, Stockholm, and Copenhagen during this trip, so I want my Norway portion to be more focused on nature, hiking, and exploring small cities/towns. I want to see some stunning fjord scenery. I love long drives in beautiful areas with lots of cool stops and consider driving to be part of the fun, but I want to be realistic about timing.

I originally was going to do this route in the opposite direction, but for some reason, I can get an incredible deal on a one-way car rental from Ålesund to Bergen, but not the other way around (through a partnership my workplace has with a car rental company).

Possible itinerary:

Day 1: Fly into Ålesund

Day 2: Explore Ålesund

Day 3: Explore Ålesund, possible side quest outside of the city?

Day 4: Rent a car (might rent a car the evening before instead to get an early start). Romsdalseggen hike. Spend the night in Åndalsnes.

Day 5: Drive from Åndalsnes to Loen via Trollstigen (assuming it’s open) and explore the area.

Day 6: Explore Loen (Hike? Skylift? Both?)

Day 7: Trip to Geirangerfjord (Hellesylt-Geirangerfjord ferry?)

Day 8: Drive to Alesund. Possibly stop at the Borgund and Urnes stave churches on the way. About 5.5 hours total driving. This is my one day of a lot of driving. I live in rural America, so I'm not worried about a drive this long, plus I’ll have a lot of daylight. But if it seems like a lot, let me know.

Day 9: Hike the Aurlandsdalen between Østerbø and Vassbygdi

Day 10: Drive to Bergen. Explore Nærøyfjord on the way? Stop by Voss? The Viking Village? Any recommendations for making the most out of the drive if I want to see some beautiful fjord scenery?

Day 11: Explore Bergen

Day 12: Explore Bergen

Possible Bergen activities: Troldhaugen if it’s open again, Fantoft Stave Church, Mount Fløyen, Bryggen Wharf

Day 13: Fly out

Does this look like a good itinerary? Is Loen a good place to be based to explore the Geirangerfjord fjord area? There are some other areas I'm looking into, but I chose these places because I don’t want every driving day to be super long, plus they’re convenient for some of the fjords, stave churches, and hikes I’m interested in. But I’ve never been to Norway, so who's to say if this is a good route? I would love any input, including suggestions of things to see in these places and along the way, plus specific routes/roads I should take. Or if I should do something completely different and follow a different itinerary.

Thanks y'all!

I wrote a trip report that starts in Oslo and ends in Trondheim. We rented a car in Bergen and returned it in Trondheim.

Trip Report: Norway, July 2009

Here's the photo album which is a car driven sequence of pictures because hiking was out of the question due to health conditions. But it might provide some ideas.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjpdzmt7