My daughter and I are planning on taking the Sognefjord in a Nutshell train/boat ride from Oslo to Bergen but also want to do a glacier hike. Can anyone suggest the best way to merge these two? Should we finish in Bergen and then head up to Jostedalen? Can we get up there by train? We currently don't plan on renting a car. Or is it better to go straight to Jostedalen from Oslo and then on to Bergen on our own and forget Sognefjord in a Nutshell? Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
Posted by
Yorkshire
1198 posts
Think Hotel1222 at Finse does glacier hikes, Finse being the highest mainline rail station in europe.
Its an extrordinary trip there anyhow I stayed at the nearby DNT hut and the glacier is only maybe 20mins walk away
Posted by
Rick Steves Europe
353 posts
Hi Janet,
If you will be staying in Balestrand for a few nights, you have a couple options. The easiest would be to take a boat up the fjaerlandsfjord to the Norwegian Glacier Museum in Fjaerland where there is small tongue of the receding Jostedal Glacier. You can buy the excursion through the Balestand TI or on the board the boat. Tours run daily from May-Sept. www.tide.no
If you are going in July or August and traveling on a weekday (Mon-Fri only, no buses on weekend), another option would be to visit the Nigard Glacier. The trip will take all day and will only work in late June until the end of August when the Glacier Bus is running. To get there, take a 06:30 ferry from Balestrand to Hella, where you will catch a bus to Sogndal. You will arrive around 07:50 and the Glacier departs Sogndal at 08:45. Coming back, the Glacier bus arrives in Sogndal at 18:40 and the Hella ferry at 19:30. From Dragsvik, where the ferry arrives, you will need to take a short taxi ride back to Balestrand. Get complete details at the Balestrand TI or online at www.jostedal.com