In July, we'll be traveling from Bergen to Flam for a few days, principally to do some hiking. We already have hotel reservations at the Fretheim Hotel in Flam but haven't made any other arrangements. We've got the following questions.
(1) We'll take trains from Bergen to Myrdal and Myrdal to Flam.
--Am I correct that tickets only become available for both trains about 120 days before travel?
--Do we need to promptly buy tickets when they do become available or can we wait closer to our travel date?
(2) We're contemplating hiking one day (self-guided) on the Mt. Prest trail. Based on our (incomplete) research it looks like we could take a bus from Flam to the top of Mt. Prest and then hike down to the Stegastein Viewpoint, with the last 1.25 mi on the road, where we'd catch the return bus to Flam. Alternatively, we could take the bus to the Stegastein Viewpoint, hike up to the Mt. Prest trailhead (again, 1.25 miles on the road) and do an out-and-back hike up and down Prest.
--Is this correct?
--Any comments on the alternatives?
--Do we need advance tickets for the shuttle buses? If so, any idea when these become available and who we purchase the tickets from?
--Do we need to reserve a particular time for a bus in each direction?
(3) A second hike we're considering is Osterbo down to Vassbygdi, which appears to be 10.5 miles of downhill.
--Same questions as above regarding buses
--Thoughts about this hike?
(4) Any other hikes to recommend?
Thanks in advance for any info.