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Mom and teen with a car, seeking fjord viewing suggestions

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I am a middle-aged Mom traveling this August with my nearly 16-year-old son. I paid for the (nonrefundable) car rental reservation from Bergen in mid-August before realizing that we might be better off using public transportation. (We're spending a couple of days in Oslo before taking the train to Bergen.) For both of us, the main interest is the fjords - both viewing from above and having some type of experience on the water that we'd both enjoy and which would especially be appealing to a teen (kayak? Rib boat?) - so probably not a typical tour boat. We'd be happy to do some low-key hiking. As the sole driver, I don't want to spend all day behind the wheel (especially not on narrow, winding roads!) We're fine with leaving the car parked for a day to take an especially great train or boat ride.

Given these parameters, I'm interested in suggestions. We have 5 full days available to travel in Fjord country. (Short, I know.) We have to be back in Bergen by the evening of the 17th to catch a very early flight on the 18th.

Thank you!

Posted by
120 posts

Hi lindawseattle! I'm not an expert on Norway other than I am also planning a driving trip around the fjords in mid August. I can just share what I'm planning to do, although I have more time. But, I'm starting from Bergen and with some help from this forum and Tripadvisor forums, figured that I can drive down to the Hardangerfjord (head to Norheimsund) and then up to Flam in one day. Don't know how exciting Hardangerfjord would be for a 16-year old - I'm interested in some of the cider farms! In Flam, that's where the fun would be with the Flamsbana rail (Flam to Myrdal) and also different boat trips on the fjord (like RIB trips). Look at Norway's Best for ideas (https://www.norwaysbest.com/places-to-go/flam/) although there are other vendors, I think. You could also drive to the Stegastein viewpoint and maybe even to Borgund if you want to see a Stave church (but there are others in the area as well). With 5 days, I'd probably stick to these two fjords and the activities you might find to do around them. I'm then heading to Geiranger but have a stop in-between Flam and Geiranger to break up the driving. So, that may be too far in your time limit. Or, don't do Hardangerfjord as I think the drive to Flam is only maybe 2.5 hours from Bergen - so enough time to get there and do some activities and then move on the next day. Hope this helps and then maybe someone with more Norway experience will jump in with more/better suggestions. I'm looking forward to my trip and I hope you have a great time.

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