Hello and greetings! I just watched Pal's Norway in a Nutshell video on youtube, what a great video. In any case as part of a larger trip we have four nights , five days in Norway. I have a couple questions. We are coming in from Copenhagen. I have not booked flights or transport yet. Should we spend two nights in Oslo, then on third morning do the Norway in a Nutshell up to Bergen? Or should we fly into Bergen and spend one night there and start NiN from Bergen to Oslo? Either direction, I do not think we need to do the one all day version and am happy to stop and/or take a side trip on the NiN journey, so any suggestions on where to stay for the extra overnight? Thanks in advance!
Mike
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
2655 posts
We were in this area in August. If this were my trip, I would stay in Oslo one night, Stavanger one night, and then Bergen two nights. We did the NIN this way and were very happy with our choice, FWIW. Take a look at www.fjordtours.com to see your options. You can book through there or on your own. We booked through there just for the ease of it. This is the second time we have done the NIN between Oslo and Bergen, with the first time doing it in one day. I definitely do not recommend that. Flam is beautiful with the fjord, but if your dates are flexible at all, check the cruise ship schedule. When we were there this time, there was a massive cruise ship so you couldn't even see the fjord, and the town was absolutely mobbed. I would not want to repeat that as our first time there was so peaceful.
Posted by
Berlin
3020 posts
Realistically check NiN options or book directly train connection on vy.no. Detour via Flåm is meaningful.
Posted by
OP
13 posts
Thanks so much, as you may have noticed I updated my question above after doing some research. I have seen others ask similar questions about the one-day NiN. It looks like most recommend two nights in Bergen, especially if doing the NiN in one day. i will wait and see what thoughts people have about my edited question above.
Posted by
Washington DC
28140 posts
Where are you going after Norway? That could affect the choice of direction of travel.
I don't think there's a strong reason to prefer doing the NiN route in one direction rather than the other, but I formed an impression--while planning my own 2022 trip--that the schedule traveling east to west fit together just a bit better, with less dead time. However, it would take only minor tweaks in the last two years for that to have changed. I think you can find all the schedules on NorwaysBest.com and vy.no (the latter for the trains).
There's enough to do in both Oslo and Bergen to justify 2 nights (or really 3 nights in Oslo). Folks wanting to hit a lot of museums will need extra time in Oslo. Bergen's indoor sights are, umm, not quite as impressive, but there's nice hiking from the top of the lifts and there are side-trip possibilities. Bergen's a pretty town where I spent a lot of time just gawking at the architecture. I also did a lot of wandering in Oslo, but the capital has a lot more specific sights to target.
Unless you plan to rent a car, you'll need to really dig into transportation schedules to be sure what you want to do with your extra time in the fjord area (if you spend the night somewhere) is practical. For example, the key extra (not on the NiN route) sight I wanted to see was the Borgund stave church. There was exactly one bus a day in June (it might not even be direct or go all the way to the church in May or early June), which gave me only an hour at the church (and which turned into 40 minutes because the bus left Flam 20 minutes late), and the schedule was such that I needed to spend two nights in Flam. Aside from the mainline train running Oslo-Myrdal-Voss-Bergen, the public transportation in that area runs rather infrequently, though the NiN segments are considerably better in that regard than unrelated buses.
Lodging in Flam is much in demand, and the supply is limited. Although late May is a bit before the peak of the season, it still behooves you to nail down a room ASAP if you want to spend one night or more in Flam. I wasn't bothered by the folks off the monster cruise ship that pulled into Flam while I was there (they must have been off on excursions outside the town), but the ship indisputably significantly spoiled the view of the fjord from Flam. (That's not necessarily a disaster if you're taking the Flamsabana and the Naeroyfjord ferry, both of which give you very good views of the fjord.
Posted by
OP
13 posts
Thanks for the detailed response. We are heading back to Copenhagen after our Four nights in Norway. It sounds like I may just stick with the two nights in Oslo and two nights in Bergen, (I already booked hotels for those nights). Changing and adding a night in Flam or elsewhere might complicate things. so planning to do traditional all day NiN:
- Morning train from Oslo to Myrdal
- Train from Myrdal to Flam
- Ferry/ Fjord cruise on Naeroyfjord
- Bus ride from Gudvangen to Voss
- Train from Voss to Bergen
Will spend two nights prior to NiN in Oslo and an extra day and night in Bergen after the NiN.
Feel free to comment on this itinerary.
Best, Mike
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
2655 posts
Two nights each on each end is good. To me, it didn't matter which direction as both were equally good, FWIW. On our latest trip, we stayed in Oslo just the night we arrived and then two nights at the end because we arrived back into Oslo late and wanted a full day and another night as a buffer before flying home. I much prefer Bergen though as I find more to do there with hiking etc. When we were in Flam, the one cruise ship had over 6000 people, so the little town was absolutely mobbed. There was another big cruise ship parked a bit further out and they used small boats to shuttle people into town. That one had a few thousand people as well. I guess we were spoiled on our first trip when there were no cruise ships there and it was so peaceful.