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Flam/Aurland advice for hiking in summer

Posted by (Canada) on

Good day,

Two of us are looking to visit Norway next summer. Overall we have 6 days and we plan to spend 2 nights in Bergen, 2 along the Norway in a Nutshell route and then 2 in Oslo.

We will be taking public transport and will not have a car. I am not sure if we will book the NiaN tour on our own to save money, or via the 'official tour' website.

I have done some research and have found that the best places to stay to enjoy hiking and the scenery are likely either Flam or Aurland. Any thoughts?

We are on a budget and are curious about what others think about hikes around this area, given that we won't have a car. I have read a bit about Stegastein and wondered if that was a possible hike without a vehicle? I have also read about taking a train up to Myrdal and walking back down to Flam. I am sure there are other hikes in the area, but realize we can't do 'everything' since we are only staying 2 nights. We are in decent shape and up for intermediate hikes, but likely not anything extreme.

Staying in Flam seems like the 'simplest' idea since that is where the NiaN tour drops you off and picks you up, but staying in Aurland also seems like a good option. The only issue is that we would need to arrange separate transportation from Flam to Aurland and back. The bus fares also look expensive from what I have found online (for a 10-15 minute ride). As of now, we are hoping to stay at the hostel in Flam.

Can anyone provide any advice/thoughts on the best way to spend 2 nights in either Flam or Aurland? Apparently the tour drops you off in Flam around mid afternoon, so we would have an afternoon, full day and then full morning to explore.

Or if someone has a better idea for a place to stay along the route for 2 nights, feel free to suggest. We prefer not breaking it up into 2 x 1 night stays.

Thank you for your help in advance!

Posted by
47 posts

We stayed in Flåm at the hostel and used it as a base for a couple of nights. As we did not have a car we decided Flåm was a better choice to stay in as there are more options of things to do which did not involve taking a bus. We did quite a bit of research for ways to get to Stegastein and in the end went on a tour. The tour lasted 1.5 hours, 1/2 hour to get there, 1/2 hour at the lookout then 1/2 hr to get back. The scenery along the way and from the viewpoint was very spectacular. We also went on a hike to Otternes which is a restored farm high on the hillside above the fjord. This hike is easy to do as all it involves is walking along the foot/bike path which parallels the highway for about 4kms then climbing a very steep road to the farm. We did both of these on the same day. If you decide not to take the Norway in a Nutshell tour you could take the train up to Myrdal then either walk or bike down the Rallervegan back to Flåm.

Posted by
2 posts

Hi Rosemary! Thank you very much for your help. That is all very useful information and we appreciate the help. I was thinking that tour to Stegastein might be decent, but was thinking it would be nice to stay longer than 30 minutes. I asked the tour company about options, but they said you cannot extend the tour. Thanks again!

Posted by
243 posts

We took the train from Flam about 2/3 of the way up to Myrdal and started our hike at a closer train stop due to snow. This was a fantastic hike.
We had a car and stayed in Aurland. I highly recommend this small town over Flam. Flam feels more like a transportation hub than a town. You do not want to be there when the cruise shops disembarks. I did see bus stops in Aurland but do not have more info.
You would of courses on your own time schedule on your Stegastein hike if you stayed you stayed in Aurland and would not need a tour service.
There is also a hike that leads out of town on asphalt path. We did a couple of miles on this before turning back. I believe that this path leads to the best hike in the area that is up into the mountain on single track path. This was however about 5-10 miles from Aurland and we drove to the trailhead.
There is also a road that leaves Aurland and parallels the fjord for 3 miles before heading up into the hills.

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