Input on itinerary

Dan, I think this is a great itinerary, and it's hard to figure out how to cut a day off. If you could work out the timing to do the Gudvangen cruise early enough on Day 5, you might still be able to catch a later express boat to Balestrand that day. Or instead of staying two nights in Flam, head to Gudvangen on Day 4, spend the night there, then back to Flam to catch the express boat to Balestrand on Day 5.

I am curious why you want to go to Solvorn. I spent two nights in Balestrand this past May, and I rented a car and did a loop drive (recommended by the rental agency) to Sogndal, Fjaerland, detoured to Suphellabreen, a spectacular glacier, then continued to Skei, Vik, and along the beautiful highway 13 back to Balestrand. There is some great hiking along highway 13 past a number of impressive waterfalls. I stopped at Likhollefossen and walked a few miles upriver to the next waterfall and back. I rented through http://leigebil.no/, and they dropped the car off at the hotel (the Balestrand Hotell, which I highly recommend -- and get a room overlooking the fjord) the night before and I just left the keys at the front desk when I returned. It was not inexpensive, but it was the highlight of my time in Norway.

Whatever you decide on, you will love Norway!

Hi Lane - Thanks for the input. I just Solvorn in Rick's book and thought it looked cool. Did you do that drive in one day? Looks like about 160 miles roundtrip. I'm a little hesitant to go on that long of a drive. Not completely comfortable driving in a foreign country where I don't understand the signage.

I had the same concern when I got the suggested itinerary from the rental agency. But it was a perfect day, not too long and not at all tiring. I spent about an hour at Supphellebreen, and a few hours hiking the waterfall trail, and I made a number of other stops just to enjoy the scenery and soak up the fresh air. The directions were a piece of cake, the signage very easy to follow, and the car came with GPS which I didn't even bother using. I left about 8:30am and got back about 7pm. You could certainly do it quicker with fewer stops, and you could also take a shorter route if you wanted to. (Check out the Gaularfjellet route, for example.)

If you're interested, you can read my blog post from the day. You can also view my photo album which has a lot of pictures from the entire trip from departing Oslo to arriving in Bergen, including the drive.

Looks great Lane! I'll check out the information you've posted.