8 Days in Norway - Thoughts on Itinerary

I'm curious why you've decided to base in Solvorn and what you plan to do there. I guess the main thing is to take the ferry to Ornes and see the stave church there. Anything else you are specifically planning?

I stayed two nights in Balestrand and rented a car for one day. Here's the route I took:

• From Balestrand to Dragsvik
• Ferry to Hella
• Route 55 to Sogndal
• Route 5 to Fjaerland
• Short detour down the west side of Fjaerlandsfjord to Mundal, then back
• Another detour to the Supphellebreen glacier (which is redundant, because “breen” means “glacier”).
• Continue on Route 5 to Skei (pronounced like “shy”).
• Continue on 5 and E39 to Moskog
• Route 13 back to Balestrand

I wrote about it in some detail, and I can share the link if you send me a private message. And I have many photos in an online album.

Depending on your interests I would spend one day more in Oslo.

Another option is to just travel to Voss by train, rent and return the car there for a round trip to make most of it. Personally I am a fan of staying in Myrkdalen as base for daytrips to Flåm/Aurland, Gaularfjell & Fjærland, Hardangerfjord (on day of rental or car return). Lookup recommended scenic routes.

Avoid Flåm wtith cruise ship(s) in port (source).

l love cities. And we loved Oslo and Bergan last year. But I think the real highlight of Norway is the nature. So I would not worry with the limited time that you have that you are not spending more time in those cities. In Oslo with a kid I highly recommend the Fram museum https://frammuseum.no/ (with a real ship to explore!) and the small but lovely museum a the University of Oslo https://www.historiskmuseum.no/english/exhibitions/vikingr/ (sword and helmets!) and in Bergen the Bryggen Museum (with a room of early Bergen smells!) and the related walking tour they run https://bymuseet.no/event/bryggen-guiding-on-foot/?lang=en Also something that was very helpful to us for when we had a rental car was to watch a couple of you tube videos about how to use the ferries and to have the applicable ferry app on our phones for checking times and registering our car license plate to pay for them. Enjoy the planning!

With your limited time, I wouldn't spend anymore of it in a city.

I would suggest seeing Bøyabreen Glacier which is less than an hour from where you will be staying. The scenery in all of Norway is incredible. Enjoy!

This is all great advice.

I do like cities quite a lot, which is why I do wish I had one more day in Oslo. But I know the true beauty of Norway is the fjords areas.

I didn't want to rent a car in Oslo because I do want to do the NIN (the train to Mydral for sure), but tool around for a few days in the area, hence the rental out of Flam. In addition to seeing the stave church, I also wanted to take the "Snow Road" and go up a bit on the Lustrfjord. I had considered Balestrand, but that only makes sense if I was okay with crossing to Vik and therefore missing the NIN. I am wary of the cruise ship situation, but there's no avoiding it given my schedule. I thought I might mitigate that by staying in Aurland for the day. But the next day speed off to other parts of the fjords and spend time there. I know I can't do it all, but I also don't want to spend all day in a car. The rental car is to not be tied to the more restrictive public transportation options. Otherwise, I'd not have bothered with that expense at all.

In any case, my take away is that my plan isn't overly ambitious, which was my real fear. Thank you.

I would definitely stay in Aurland instead of Flam. We drove the Snow Road this past September.

Have a great trip! 18 days wasn't enough for us, and we are already making plans to go back soon.