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Family Trip to Iceland August 2025

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We are planning a trip to Iceland and Norway for the first 2 weeks in August. First week is Iceland. Second week is Norway. I'm focusing on Norway right now. We are a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 teenage boys 17, 13, and 13). We've mapped out what we want to do, but now I'm just trying to figure out logistics.
Brief Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive in Oslo, explore Oslo, sleep in Oslo
Day 2 Explore Oslo, sleep in Oslo
Day 3 Train to Myrdal to Flåm, activities in/near Flåm, ideally stay in Flåm. But, everything seems to be fully booked already. I do have a hotel booked in Aurland (10 minutes away). Sleep in Flåm or Aurland.
Day 4 Explore Flåm or Aurland area. Sleep in Flåm or Aurland.
Day 5 Ferry to Balestrand. Explore this area. Sleep in Balestrand.
Day 6 Fjordcruise to Fjærland - Ferry to Bergen. Sleep in Bergen.
Day 7 Explore Bergen. After dinner in Bergen, late check-in at Sol Strand Resort and Spa.
Day 8 Relaxation Day - Stay at Sol Strand Resort & Spa.
Day 9 Travel home.

We are adventurous and would love to do some hiking, glacier walking, river rafting, kayaking, biking etc. We like to travel on our own and stay in boutique hotels and don't mind going off the beaten path. However, I'm really struggling with how to do all the logistics (trains, boats, buses) on my own. Do we need to rent a car in Flåm? Where and how do we do that? If we are staying in Aurland, how would we get there if we don't have a car. How do we go about doing these activities without a car?

I'm open to recommendations for any day activities for when we are in Flåm or Aurland.
Would you go to Balestrand and stay overnight? What activity would you recommend there? If you wouldn't go there, where would you go instead for an overnight?
How do I go about booking the ferries? Is there a specific website?

Is it too early to book activities / trains/ ferries? I was trying to look things up to get an idea of times and costs and it seems our dates are too far out.

Any great hotel recommendations for Oslo and Bergen? Either an apartment, family suite or 2 hotel rooms.

TIA

Posted by
389 posts

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.

Posted by
2973 posts

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.

Posted by
159 posts

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

Posted by
2 posts

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.

Posted by
159 posts

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

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