Is Norway by train and ferry easily done?

This will not be a problem, except that you will not have time to see everything.

In 2023 I did the following by train, ferry and the occasional bus. My trip was longer; I am a slow (and retired) traveler. I did the classic Nutshell route with two nights in Flam so I could go to the Borgund stave church (which has limited bus service).

Oslo - Flam - Bergen - Alesund (via overnight Hurtigruten ferry with daytime loop through Geirangerfjord) - Trondheim (via overnight Hurtigruten ferry and later daytrip to Roros) - Oslo (with diversion to Andalsnes along the way) - Fredrikstad - Sweden.

The cabins for the overnight Hurtigruten trips are not cheap, but neither is anything else in Norway. Consider that traveling overnight may save a day's worth of expenses, not just the cost of a hotel room.

The trip to the stave church almost blew up because the bus arrived in Flam 20 minutes late, and the schedule only allowed for an hour at the church to begin with. This is a potential issue with rural buses in Norway; they tend to serve lightly populated areas, so many of them do not run frequently.

From Flam the much easier stave church to reach is Undredal as it is a request stop on the Flam to Gudvangen boat trip, and also has several buses a day to Flam.

A round trip to Bergen I have done, is to go one way on the ferry or bus (I've done both) Bergen to Stavanger, and the train Stavanger to Oslo.
I used the now closed local ferry route, but have also done the international ferry as a through journey from the UK. That ferry now runs from Denmark instead.
That route benefits from extra overnight stops in Haugesund and Kristiansand if you have the time.
I have also done the rail route to Andalsnes. From there there are buses to the Hurtigtuten ports at Molde and Kristiansund, as well as Alesund. Both Molde and Kristiansund are well worth visiting.

Near Andalsnes there is also Rodven Stave Kirk. I did it on a tour because I don't think there is public transport.

The other train journey worth doing is all the way north to Bodo.
From there you can take the Hurtiguten, north or south.
Due to ship timings that works best as Hurtigruten north, train south.

Both the Oslo to Trondheim and Trondheim to Bodo routes have sleeper car options. OK you miss the scenery, but the sleeper options are very well priced.
I did do Bergen to Bodo once on a single ticket, using the sleeper option, for efficiency.

So you could train to Andalsnes, northbound Hurtigruten from any of the 3 ports to Bodo, then train south. Very do-able.

In May/June 2023 we flew from US to Kirkenes where we boarded a Hurtigruten coastal ferry 2 days later that took us along the West Coast of Norway to Bergen. After 2 nights in Bergen we did a DIY Norway in a Nutshell to Oslo with an overnight in Flåm. We spent 2 nights in Oslo, then flew to Ålesund for a 3 night stay before returning home.

This was all accomplished without a rental car. We had 1 very scenic and comfortable bus ride from Voss to Gudvangen via Stalheim that was just over an hour.

Highlights of our trip were seeing the Lofoten Islands on the coastal ferry, the ferry through the Naeyorfjord from Gudvangen to Flåm and our time in the art nouveau city of Ålesund with a day trip to Trollstigen.

Thanks for the replies! Much appreciated. I will see what I can piece together, reviewing what the three responses (at least so far) have provided. I do realize we aren’t giving as much time as many might, but we don’t have any wiggle room before as we are coming from a walk in the Cotswolds, and then we must be back in the San Francisco Bay area on a particular date.

I’m trying to figure out the best place to fly into after our Cotsold walk. It seems that it’s a rather limited choice, but perhaps I’m not looking in the right place(s). Until I get that settled I suppose I can’t really decide on our route IN Norway. Finally, I have to find a flight home to SFO, but I’m fairly certain that has to include one stop along the way.

I’ve done some challenging plans in the past, but this one seems a bit more so, due to the lack of airlines that fly in and out of Norway. Or am I missing something?!

I’m delighted to read that you all did just fine without a car. That’s a good thing to know.

There is currently nonstop service from London to about a half dozen cities in Norway.

You haven't mentioned when you are traveling. I assume 2026? The only non-stop currently between Norway and the US is SAS from Oslo to New York. Unless some carrier adds service next year you will need to change planes somewhere along the way.

A quick look at Google flights shows service from a number of cities in Norway including Oslo, Bergen, Ålesund, Trondheim with only 1 connection to San Francisco.

we might have no choice but to use a bus as well …?

I know bus travel is not popular in the US, but don't automatically rule out bus travel in Norway. There are some very scenic bus routes that may work on your itinerary.

There is currently nonstop service from London to about a half dozen cities in Norway.

I did find those … and now we just have to figure that bit out! Thanks.

You haven't mentioned when you are traveling. I assume 2026?

Yes, Leaving here early May, but heading to Norway early June 2026. I am assuming we’ll have a stop (FRA or MUC most likely).

I know bus travel is not popular in the US, but don't automatically rule out bus travel in Norway. There are some very scenic bus routes that may work on your itinerary.

I think we all associate buses with the ones we deal with in our area, which are rather unpleasant. I will definitely not rule them out. Thanks!

You also have SAS from AGO to Copenhagen for onward connections. But Copenhagen airport also has a station. From there you can take a train to Malmo. From December there is planned to be through train service from Malmo to Oslo.
SAS fly from CPH to Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and both Oslo airports -the second being Sandefjord/Torp..
Sandefjord was built as a cold war United States Air Force base, but never used as such.

Sandefjord as a town is one of those under rated Norwegian towns (by those who haven't been there) but it also has a railway station for the hourly trains to Lillehammer via Oslo, and to Nordagatu on the Stavanger line. A bus runs from the airport to connect with all trains- a 4 minute ride. So Sandefjord should not be discounted as an airport, it is quite useful in some circumstances.

Trondheim airport has a railway station, served by both hourly commuter trains and the long distance trains to Bodo. Been there, very useful.

The stave-church museum is at Borgund, which makes the Borgund church a really good one to see.

Hopping off the Flam-Gudvangen ferry at Undredal would require careful examination of the ferry schedules. I think there are only 5 ferry runs per day, across the two ferry companies. The visitor would presumably want to take the full ferry trip so as not to miss any of the fabulous scenery.

You also have SAS from AGO to Copenhagen

Forgive my ignorance, but where is AGO please?

Flipping spell check, that was meant to read SFO.

So you could do open jaw with SAS- out to London via CPH (not sure they or another Sky Team Alliance carrier have non stops to LON), and back from Norway via CPH. It's another option.

Several ferries a day and several buses to Undredal is arguably better and more flexible than one bus to Borgund with limited time there. And because you can get off the boat at Undredal by request you can also board there to continue to Gudvangen.

At least it Is being given as an alternative, rather than just saying that Borgund is the only stave church available from Flam by public transport.

Flipping spell check, that was meant to read SFO.

Hah … totally get that! It happens to me frequently.

We will actually be doing SFO - EWR - LHR to begin with. Only after the Cotswold walk do we head to Norway. But I’m starting to see all the possibilities! At the moment I’m working on determining where we will begin our Norway adventures, so I can figure out whether we fly there from LHR or LGW. (We attempt to use Star Alliance, but for that leg I believe we’ll most likely end up on Norwegian, flying from Gatwick. Time will tell!)