Family Trip to Iceland August 2025

We stayed at the Hotel Hordaheimen in Bergen and liked it very much. I see from the website that they have a "family room" with a double bed and a sofa bed. They had a nice breakfast buffet. We paid a kroner (or whatever they use in Norway) for a sheet of butcher paper to take away a sandwich for lunch. They also held our bags for us after we checked out. It's not directly on the harbor, and it's on the other side from the famous waterfront buildings.

You do very good in planning early. This helps saving costs and getting the necessary orientation.

Early or late August?

Honest opinion: with 9 days in total I would re-plan torally new by mainly doing a rental car round trip starting and ending in Oslo, Bergen or Voss. You will see more things and you have more options, especially with and for the boys.

Example: See this thread on original planning a similar trip with 5 days and read their trip report after the journey.

Norwegians scenic roads are a great advice. And there are much more scenic streets in Norway, e. g. around Rjukan.

Also worth reading on early planning is this page about western fjords from VisitNorway.

Flam and Aurland are tiny. It will be tough to find lodging there. Voss is the closest place to rent a car near Flam. We arranged to pickup the cars at the train station in Voss. You have to call and speak to someone to arrange, (in perfect English). You can also pick up the car at the airports in Oslo or Bergen. Driving in the countryside is easy. I hate driving/parking in the cities, though.

We stayed in an AirB&B in Bergen. It was a four-story bachelor's pad decorated in 60's Austin Powers-style. It was a trip, but, I wouldn't recommend it

Our trip is the first 2 weeks in August. We will be in Norway August 8-16, 2025. We arrive in Oslo, but depart from Bergen. I wanted to avoid back tracking and doing things along our way from Oslo to Bergen. I didn't want to do it all in one day like so many of the NIN tour packages do but wanted to add some stopovers.

I found an apartment for us in Aurland that sounds wonderful. The owner has offered to arrange a car rental for us while we are staying there for the 2 days.

So, now I need to figure out activities to do in the Flam/Aurland area. Any must do/see suggestions. Highly recommended activities for us?

Is it too early to reserve the trains and ferries?

In Balestrand - were thinking about doing a glacier hike. Is that doable from there? At this point in the trip we will not have the car so we will have to rely on tour companies.

We went on a rubber inflatable boat tour from Flam. I think the company was Fjord Safari. Highly recommended.

Is it too early to reserve the trains and ferries?

Yes.

In Balestrand - were thinking about doing a glacier hike. Is that
doable from there?

Should be possible, there are glaciers not too far away.

Thanks for the replies so far. We have changed our itinerary slightly. We are still doing Oslo for 2 nights,but then we will take train straight to Bergen and stay overnight there. We will pick up rental car in Bergen and go to Flam/Aurland for 3 nights, then back to Bergen area for a 2 nights to relax a little before the end of our 2 week vacation.

UPDATED
Day 1 Arrive in Oslo, explore Oslo, sleep in Oslo
Day 2 Explore Oslo, sleep in Oslo
Day 3 Train to Bergen, sleep in Bergen
Day 4 Drive from Bergen to Flåm. Sleep in Aurland.
Day 5 Explore Flåm/Aurland area. Sleep in Aurland.
Day 6 Explore Flåm/Aurland area. Sleep in Aurland.
Day 7 Drive back to Bergen. Check-in at Sol Strand Resort and Spa.
Day 8 Relaxation Day - Stay at Sol Strand Resort & Spa.
Day 9 Travel home.

Ideally, would like one route going from Bergen to Aurland and another route from Aurland back to Bergen to explore different areas along the route. Open to suggestions.

Thanks again.

Any reason why you choose double ways? If you rent and return in Voss and finish after Aurland by train to Bergen you would reduce double ways.

We chose double ways because we will still need the car when we are back in Bergen if we want to explore off resort and it was easier to reserve in Bergen. Plus, it gives us the most flexibility.

My thoughts for a one-day road trip from Bergen to Aurland
1. Scenic drive to Arna with detour to Mount Ulriken
2. Stop in Voss and add an outdoor adventure like rafting
3. Stop to see Tvindefossen waterfall.

On the way back would be through Hardangerfjord
1. Aurland to Voss
2. Voss to Granvin
3. Granvin to Norheimsund (see Steinsdalsfossen waterfalls)
4. Next stop would be Eidfjord and Voringsfossen waterfall
5. Eidfjord to Hardanger Bridge
6. Back to Bergen

Taking the train all the way to Bergen, only to go back to Flåm is a lot of backtracking. And it wastes a lot of time to be honest, you have 7 whole days, so if it was my trip I would spend all that time going to Bergen and back. Scenic trips, no doubt about that. But it seems like you're looking to do things rather than look at things.

Ulriken is not a place for a stop on the way to Arna, it is easy to visit when you are in Bergen. And you can alight in Voss instead and still do som outdoor adventure and see Tvindefossen.

My suggestion would be train from Oslo to Flåm, spend some time in Aurland. Rent a car there if you want to. Return the car in Flåm and take the train to Voss, or the NiN route via Gudvangen, rent another car in Voss and continue towards Bergen.