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Itinerary help, please: Gudvangen to Voss via bus

Hi everyone -- I am really hoping for advice on our schedule for taking the bus from Gudvangen to Voss on May 21 this year. My husband and I get into Gudvangen on the "Norway's Best" cruise which leaves Flam at 3 pm that day. (We are doing the Norway in a Nutshell on our own.) The cruise company lists the boat trip as being from 3 - 5 pm. I have read on this forum, and in the Rick Steve's Norway book, that a bus is waiting when the boat arrives. However, on the official bus schedule, it says the bus leaves at 4:54! The next bus leaves at 7:44 pm.

I actually called the bus company in Norway this morning and spoke with a delightful person in English about this. She said the bus sometimes leaves late ... but maybe sometimes not. She said I could just take my chances on getting that 4:54 bus. BUT we want to connect with a train in Voss to take us into Bergen ... so this seems like a sketchy option. (I would want to buy the train tickets in advance.)

My questions: Does anyone know if it is common for those buses to wait for the boat's arrival? And does the boat really arrive right at 5 pm, or earlier? (Maybe I need to contact Norway's Best regarding this?) Also: if we do buy the later bus tickets, are there things to do in Gudvangen for a few hours in the late afternoon / early evening in May?

Posted by
4690 posts

that a bus is waiting when the boat arrives

May be the shuttle buses back to Flåm were meant by this formulation? These are not the buses Gudvangen to Voss. The public buses are not waiting for tourist ferries, they have a schedule to follow.

Posted by
30605 posts

Except for the need to have the train ticket (electronic or otherwise) in hand when you board the train, there is no need to buy tickets in advance for the trip from Voss to Bergen. That's a regional train without assigned seats (unlike the Oslo-Myrdal segment).

I'm afraid I can't say anything about the timing of the ferry arrival and the bus departure. I'm surprised there's such a break in the schedule at that time.

Posted by
2292 posts

Norways Best is selling tickets between Gudvangen and Voss for a 5:25 pm bus arriving at the station at 6:55 pm on May 21. Tickets cost 200Nok per person (about double the regular adult fare).

According to their website

All departures are operated by the bus company Tide Buss AS. The busses are marked with "Skyss" and stops at Skyss bus-stops! Bus leaves outside Voss station and at bus stop H in Gudvangen.

You'll notice in the timetable that the summer schedule goes into effect April 30th. Maybe the bus company hasn't loaded the summer schedule into their system yet.

Posted by
19 posts

Thank you, everyone -- and especially to Jean M in Chicagoland! Your link took me right to the site I needed. I bought our bus tickets, and now we are good to go. I'm grateful for the insights and expertise.