August Norway Itinerary help

Welcome to the forum, cmont_23.

If you're not staying in Copenhagen or Oslo for any length of time, just fly to Oslo directly. That will give you two more nights for your schedule. I wouldn't myself jump on a long train ride on arrival, spend the night in Oslo before moving on.

If you want to stay overnight in Flam, make your reservations ASAP, it does get very booked up and there aren't a ton of options there. Same is true for Flåmsbana rail tickets. BTW, sit on left side of train going downhill from Myrdal for best views.

1) Is it worth it, I don't know. We flew in and out of Ålesund.

2) Havila is a ship that travels along the western coast of Norway. It has a capacity of over 600 passengers. There is another company Hurtigruten with a passenger capacity of 400-600. Depending on the date, either Hurtigruten or a Havila ship will be cruising the Geirangerfjord from Ålesund as part of the coastal cruise. Most of the passengers will be traveling for several nights or more on the ship. Geirangerfjord Fjordservice is a day tour. They use a catamaran with a capacity of around 280 passengers.
While you will see the same things along the fjord, they are 2 very different experiences.

In 2023 we spent 2 nights in Bergen after our coastal cruise from Kirkenes to Bergen. Then we did a DIY Nutshell from Bergen to Oslo with an overnight in Flåm so we could visit Stegastein Viewpoint. After 2 nights in Oslo we flew to Ålesund. One day cruising the Geirangerfjord and the next day on a tour Trollstigen.

Day 2- you will need a taxi from Flam to Aurland by the time the 1425 from Oslo gets to Flam at 2018.

Day 3- That first ferry of the day from Flam has a compulsory stop at Aurland (all others are request only at Aurland).

Day 5- yes there is a direct bus from Bergen to Alesund, run by Vy (the same people as run the Bergen to Oslo/Flam trains, same website)- at 0800 daily, arrive 1729.

The ferry/bus/bus option I think is worth it, much of it is scenery you don't get to see on the Hurtigruten/Havila as they sail overnight. At Maloy the ferry quay and bus stop are very close to each other.
However when there is a direct bus, it seems a little bit complex, especially as you end up on the exact same #430 bus from Bergen anyway.

Day 6- The Andalsnes to Oslo train you will find on the Vy website (again), although it is an SJ Nord train- Andalsnes 1629 Dombas 1753/1812 Oslo 2202.
The bus via the Trollstigen is a seasonal bus from 1 June or whenever the road opens if later (Vy Bus route 25), due to winter snow closures, but can be independently booked. Bus and train at Andalsnes are adjacent. Both bus and the train are 100% worth it. It stops running the 2nd week of September.- https://www.vybuss.com/destinations/geiranger/

On Day 5 there is an Option 4--the overnight Hurtigruten ferry (probably also Havila). I think it departs Bergen around 8 PM and arrives Alesund around 8 AM, but I haven't verified that. I think that would be the most expensive transportation option for that leg of the trip

If you want to do the Bergen to Ålesund ferry suggested by accraven, book the 7 pm arrival into Ålesund not the morning arrival. This will allow you to stay on the ship as it cruises the Geirangerfjord before returning to Ålesund in the evening at no extra cost.

Some wrong info by jeanm:

• Havila is a company with multiple ships, not one ship only. They operate the Hrtugrute together with company Hurtigruten.
• Ships of both companies enter Geirangerfjord only during summer sailing plan, not in September.
• Hurtigruten ship MS Vesterålen will not sail into Geirangerfjord from 10 June to 26 August 2026. Instead, the ship will remain moored in Ålesund from 09:45 to 20:00.

From 1 September to 31 October the Alesund extension is into the Hjorundfjord, and it is NOT at no extra cost. It is an extra 950 or so Norwegian Kroner on the fare.

The difference is that if you go by the ferry you get a daytime passage from Bergen to Alesund, not overnight on Havila/Hurtigruten, you also see more as the day ferry calls at a number of other coastal villages not served by the Hurtigruten/Havila, and it is very much a locals route.

Mark and Stuart,

I know that both Havila and Hurtigruten have multiple ships. I was trying to give Casey an easy explanation of the difference between the ship and the catamaran experience. They are apples to oranges.

Casey is potentially traveling in August, which is the summer sailing plan

Thank you both for feeling the need to point out I am giving wrong information instead of just providing additional information.

Thank you all for the helpful info! I'm thinking we will fly from Bergen to Alesund just to save some time and money so we can spend more time in Alesund itself.

Still not sure if we will book through Geirangerfjord service or Havila Voyages. Our main goal is to see the fjord and it seems like we would be able to do that either way. I guess I'm concerned with Havila that it will be too crowded and we won't get to have a good place to stand on the deck to see everything. Another potential benefit of booking with Geirangerfjord service seems to be that they may slow down/stop for certain attractions like the waterfalls as opposed to the cruise which just keeps going?

Also haven't decided yet on land travel from Geiranger to Oslo vs air travel from Alesund to Oslo. I think I would prefer land travel for the scenery, as long as I'm able to coordinate all the train/bus changes and the timing works out with our flights.