I have 7 days dedicated for the trek between Oslo to Bergen the first week of August. I am attempting to plan this on my own but would love some recommendations on the cities to stop at or to skip over in order to stay in other cities longer. We definitely want to ride both the Bergen and the Flam railways. Where are the best cities to travel via bus? What are the must-see stops? What are the best activities to do along the way in the summer? Any help and advice about traveling from Oslo to Bergen would be greatly appreciated!!
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
The Rick Steves "Scandinavian" guide book would be a good start. Open up the Amazon "Look Inside" feature to the table of contents. Pages 286 - 307 cover the NiN and additional pages 308 - 336 cover the Sogneford area. The bonus is the guide also covers Oslo and Bergen.
A free starting point: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/norway
Posted by
15 posts
In August 2012 my husband and I took the Norway in a Nutshell trip per Rick's book, but when we got to Flam, we took the boat across to Balestrand. It's a beautiful, peaceful, and friendly place to break the trip from one city to the next. While we were there, we did the side trip to Vik for the stave church - remarkable! After 3 days we took the boat from Balestrand on to Bergen, which was also a very beautiful and peaceful trip through the fjord. I would highly recommend Balestrand to break your trip and to "just be" and take in the experience of being on a fjord. Once in Bergen, we walked everywhere, except when we went to see Grieg's home, and that bus was quite easy. The tram up to the top of the mountain is a must as well - gorgeous view!
Posted by
36 posts
Glenie - where did you stay in Balestrand? Thanks!
Posted by
36 posts
glenie - Can you also tell me what boat you took from Flam to Balestrand? All I am seeing is the express boat that leaves Flam at 6:00 am. But in starting from Oslo, we don't get into Flam until 1:00 pm. I cannot find any additional boat times, or any other boat lines. Thanks.
Posted by
115 posts
Posted by
15 posts
jrjcomm - We stayed at the Balestrand Hotel. Wonderful hosts and a beautiful room with a lovely view of the fjord. They picked us up at the boat landing and were very hospitable. The boat we took was the express passenger boat, and it was timed to meet the train that arrived in Flam on the NiN route from Oslo. We traveled in 2011, so things may have changed since then. Check Rick Steves' latest book to get more up to date info. By the way, the express passenger boat is the same boat that picked us up in Balestrand and took us across the fjord to Vik and back, and a few days later from Balestrand to Bergen. Very slick, sleek, and comfortable!
Posted by
36 posts
Thank you, JZ and glenie. Looks like it's possible to do the 3:30 pm over to Balestrand. i'm now debating whether to return to Flam and continue the traditional NIN, or take the express boat from Balestrand to Bergen.
Would we miss out on anything if we did Balestrand-Bergen?