Need help with Norway in a Nutshell or Fjord cruise for family members

Honestly if they want to feel / see roots I would not recommend NiN.

Sure you can book NiN as tour or self-book all elements but you will be all time in a bubble far from what you wanted originally see.
Norway is huge, the Nordics even larger: so #5 would be a flight from BGO, not by train.

My recommendation is to rent a car and to drive by car from Oslo to Voss or Bergen because there is so much to see on the way what NiN travelers will never see, e. g. Noway's largest stave church in Heddal. Telemark region is full of history and beautiful nature. Just an example of a possible tour recommendation in this area.

Roughly:
14th flight to Oslo and short exploration, night in Oslo
15th Rent a car and start to Morgedal (explore and sleep there), evtl. Rjukan (really worth a visit)
16th Drive 134 via Odda to Hardanger fjord route, sleep at the fjord in Utne or in Voss at the lake.
17th Drive early to Flam (no cruise ship in port): do Stegastein in morning hours, Flamsbana, fjord cruise to Gudvangen (back to Flam by bus). Drive back to Voss (drive short detour Stalheimskleiva), return car in Voss and take train to Bergen.
18th Explore Bergen until lunch, get to Bergen airport and catch flight to Helsinki at 4pm
19th Fly home

This route will include best of NiN, the roots and so much more. Days will have long daylights.

Driving in Norway in the proposed area is easy and full of photo stops (e. g. waterfalls such as Låtefossen) - did all some times on my own.
A car is no advantage in Bergen, possible but no fun.

Hope this helps.

Hi! I know others will come along who will be way more helpful, but I thought I'd chime in on what I know from the casual research I've done (Norway is high on our list).

The Norway in a Nutshell route (train Oslo to Myrdal; train Myrdal to Flam; boat through the fjord; bus to Voss; train to Bergen) can be done either Oslo to Bergen (or vice versa) or a roundtrip option (though I think that's mainly from Bergen and back to Bergen; if you're starting and ending in Oslo, I think that'd be way too long for a single day). The Nutshell can be done all in one day, or with a stop for a night along the way. If their trip is July, like next month July, I fear they'll be very hard pressed to find a room along the route. But they could do it all together in one day, instead. (It's a long day but lots do it that way; from what I've read the trip is super leisurely, efficient, and beautiful). They can either buy the Nutshell tickets as a package (you pay more for the convenience) or they can buy the individual legs independently on their own. I'm honestly not sure if tickets would still be available or not for less than a month out.

Was that a typo about taking the train from Bergen back to Helsinki? I imagine there's flights out of the Bergen airport to Helsinki, from what I can tell that city is pretty well connected over there.

I googled Morgedal to see where it's located and I'd imagine (?) that'd require renting a car to visit.

If it were me (and it's not), I'd consider flying from Helsinki to Oslo, staying 2 nights, then departing Oslo that next morning and doing the Nutshell from Oslo to Bergen in one day and then having 2 nights in Bergen (which looks like an absolutely adorable little city), which would allow for a full day of exploring Bergen. And then fly back to Helsinki from Bergen the next morning for their flight home then the next day. I think I've got the timeline right there.

I'm curious what others will chime in with!

Mardee, I have this video saved in my never-ending queue of travel videos to 'watch later.' It might help/inspire https://youtu.be/Lxua1U1Ke84?feature=shared

Thank you all! I will pass on this information to him.

Mark, I am actually trying to talk him out of Morgedal. He won't have much time to spend there and I know he and my daughter plan to visit at some point and spend a longer time. I think he really just wants to get a taste of Norway. But I will pass this on and see what he says. I'm not sure about him driving. I don't think he wants to, but I will share all of this with him. This is great info, especially all the driving stuff - it may change his mind. And that's a great idea about flying back to Helsinki. I will mention that to him as well. Thank you!

Hannah, thanks for the info. Yes, I was worried about him getting a room along the way as well. I think he's found a tour that will let him do it in one day. It will be a long day, but will put him in Bergen and I know he wants to spend some time there. And thank for affirming that about flying back to Helsinki!

Mary, thank you! I will send this on to him!

Our experience with driving in Norway was that it wasn't an issue. We did get a GPS since reading Norwegian is not in our wheelhouse but the actual driving was easy. Roads are nice, people are nice, scenery is nice......... And it was not difficult to get an automatic transmission.

Thanks, Trotter. He is now talking about driving after seeing the replies here so that looks like it might be a possibility.

Mark, he was very impressed with the places you mentioned. Thank you again for all that! He is now thinking about renting a car and seeing some of those places.

The drive between Morgedal and Oslo isn't difficult.

The mountain peak, Gaustatoppen, and the Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum are both located about an hour and a half north of Morgedal. There are boat rides on the Telemark Canal.

We only gave Oslo a day of our time, but we only some of the main attractions. They could easily fill 2-3 days there. The zipline at the ski jump looks like fun.

For us, it was very fulfilling to visit the birthplaces of our Norwegian relatives, and we regretted not allocating enough time to visit all the cousins.

If they decide they don't want to Morgedal, is it too late to just fly to Bergen instead of Oslo?

Mardee, good to hear. As said, I was driving all this on my own. It is really unstressy to do and easy to find.

Let me know, if I can help with further information.

One more tip: Following this link he will find the official map for travel information (car, ferry and train traffic). There he will also find webcams which show parts of the possible route - just to show what to expect. And it is normal that there are not much cars can be seen. Background: Norway has 10% more area than Germany but only the number of people from Berlin and surrounding state Brandenburg on this whole area.

Street conditions are normally excellent. So, no driving on ice or snow although some snow rests in landscape is shown in the cameras.

Thanks so much, everyone! Sorry I didn't get back yesterday but our internet has been out for almost 24 hours due to heavy storms, and just came back on. I know mnannie knows the trials and tribulations of northern MN rural internet.

Now that we have internet again, my son-in-law and I are going to talk today and go over a lot of this, calculate costs, look at booking options and so on, so everyone's input is SO much appreciated!

mnsannie, it's not too late, but he does want to visit Oslo, so I think that is what he will stick with for the first night, then go from there. He would love to visit his cousins, but they just don't have much time and I know that they are definitely planning a much longer trip in the near-ish future. :-)

Mark, thanks again! And thanks for the map link - that will be very helpful while we are going over all this stuff today!

Welcome back to the 21st Century Mardee! I hope your son-in-law writes a trip review (or maybe e-mails you one that you can post?). I want to go back to Norway and use Mark's suggestions.

Oh this is a super exciting development that he's interested in renting a car and doing a road trip! Someone I "know" did a week-long road trip through Norway a couple years ago and I had so much vicarious fun following along on her Instagram. It's so beautiful there.

I really hope all the planning works out for him, but regardless of whether it ends up by car or train, I do love the idea of him sharing (either directly or through you!) a trip report after, if he's so inclined!

Hi Mardee,
I just booked our NIN (booking each leg on our own) trip in September, and the train tickets were already in very tight supply. I'm thinking the car might be your best bet.

Thanks, Ricki, good to know.

Hi Mardee, We took the 7.5 hour train on the Bergensbahnen from Oslo to Bergen and bypassed the NIN tour. After Bergen, we took a 50-minute flight to ALESUND which is the starting port for boats daytripping to the fjord listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site— the GEIRANGERFJORD. One of the Norwegians’ favorite fjords— the Hjorundfjord is also nearby. Alesund had a disastrous fire in 1904 and its downtown was rebuilt in the architectural style of the day- Art Nouveau. Today it’s listed as one of Norway’s “ most beautiful cities.” Rented a hybrid car in Alesund and took a 2-day roadtrip first to Eidsdal and stayed in cabins on a farm called “Hesthaug Gard” overlooking the Nordallsfjord. Hesthaug Gard is about $130 per night and listed on Booking.com; It’s about 30 minutes from the village of Geiranger. The next day we drove to the ORNESVINGEN viewpoint overlooking the Geirangerfjord and the Seven Sisters waterfalls. Then drove up to the TROLLSTIGEN ( Trolls Ladder) which is a must-see IMHO and the Romsdalen Wilderness Area along the Rauma River past the TROLLVEGGEN (Trolls Wall ) before returning to Alesund via Andalsnes.

This road-trip route passes through National Parks
and wilderness areas with fantastic scenery in just two days. The sunset is after 11 pm in mid-July so you can cover a lot of ground during daytime ( or is it nighttime) ?!
Alesund is well-connected with direct flights to Bergen, Oslo and Copenhagen. There is a 3.5 hour flight from Alesund to Helsinki on SAS and Finnair with a quick stop in Oslo. Oslo to Alesund is a 55-minute flight.

Kenko, thanks so much for all this info! We are meeting today and he will hopefully decide what he wants to do. A lot will be determined by logistics and the timing, of course. This looks great, though, and I will definitely it to him. I did send him a link and he is reading everything, too. He is very impressed by the wealth of information here.

And Trotter and Hannah, yes, I will definitely try to get him to write it down. He loves to write and is a high school English teacher, soo I know it's in him!

Trollstigen is AMAZING, but it is closed indefinitely. There was a rockslide recently with a rock coming in a car's passenger window. Fortunately, no one was sitting in that seat. According to the article I read, the road is "county" managed, but they want the "state" to provide the money for safety improvements. It did say this could lead to a permanent closure of the road, but I doubt that will happen.

Imo neither Trollstigen / Geiranger nor Alesund makes any sense of consideration in the given context. It is far away from Morgedal.

Sorfjord and Naerofjord are world-class fjords. Stalheimskleiva on the from / to Flam delivers a very similar experience like Trollstigen. They could also have also 3 major waterfalls on the proposed way which they can nearly touch by hand.

Norway’s government highway information website says Highway 63 is open from Valldal up to the Trollstigen Plateau (40 minutes/ 22 miles). This is where the spectacular overlook is located— still a spectacular drive through an Arctic-tundra- like landscape right before reaching the Trollstig Plateau where the overlook is located. So, the Trollstigen Overlook is open— it’s the actual switchback road descending into the valley leading to Andalsnes that is closed.
To return to Alesund by car, you simply take Highway 63 returning to Valldal ( 40 minutes) and on to the town of Liabygda where it becomes Highway 650 and then the E136 until you’re back in Alesund 80 minutes after Valldal.
www.vegvesen.no
www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

Okay, so far, he has decided to go with Mark's itinerary:

14th fly to Oslo and short exploration, spend night in Oslo
15th Rent a car and drive to Morgedal (explore and sleep there), evtl. Rjukan (really worth a visit)
16th Drive 134 via Odda to Hardanger fjord route, sleep in Voss at the lake.
17th Drive early to Flam (no cruise ship in port): do Stegastein in morning hours, Flamsbana, fjord cruise to Gudvangen (back to Flam by bus). Drive back to Voss (drive short detour Stalheimskleiva).

The only change is that he will drive to Bergen. I know he could drop off the car in Voss and take the train, but the drop off fee there was SO much higher than the drop off at Bergen that it just doesn't make sense to do that. And the one-way fee is outrageous, but there's no getting around that.

In Oslo I made good experience with a HoHo bus.
A recommendation for time in Oslo if Norway's culture is of interest is the Folke Museum - a stop of HoHo routes.

Navigation map with pre-loaded maps: I have positive experience with Sygic navigation app which does not need a permanent mobile connection.

For public parking the EasyPark app can often be used (mobile access needed). Mobile tariff from Finland shall allow free roaming in Norway too. Airalo gets some positive feedbacks from travelers.

Ferry crossing Hardangerfjord is easy (e. g. to / from Utne). Just line up and wait. You can pay by credit card when parked on ferry or before driving onto.

Tips for parking in Bergen.

Weather app: https://www.yr.no/en or Windy.com

Except in South Norway food and fuel are cheapest close to ports (sea / fjords).

Power plugs: Both countries use type F with 230V and 50 Hz. If someone has an adapter that worked in Germany it will work there es well.

Payment: Norway uses nearly 99% credit card payment.

Currency conversion: Oanda is a good provider.

Norwegians are very helpful people and a lot of them speak some English too. Some of them - mostly male - seem to be masters at using words sparingly. Do not be worried by this.

And of course: please write a short trip report after the journey and post it here. It helps people when planning.

"God tur": Have a good journey and a successful tournament in Finland.

Mardee, here are some notes from the last few days of our trip:

Nights 14 & 15 - .... visiting Morgedal (and the outside of the ski museum) where my husband had more ancestors (we had hoped to visit the inside of the "closed for the season" museum because there is information about my husband's two great-great uncles who are credited with bringing skiing to the US), finding the Hemmesveit mailbox and driveway to the family farm, a five hour hike up Bindingsnuten for a beautiful view above Flatdal, a delicious lunch at our lodging following that hike!
Night 16 & 17 - Radisson Blu, again!
Highlights of the days: Norway’s largest stave church at Heddal on the way to the Radisson Blu. We returned the car and took the train to Oslo for our last day of highlights: View from the roof of the Opera House, the outside of the Palace, Vigelandsparken, Stolpersteine (stumbling stones)

In Oslo we followed a free walking tour we found online. We used this website to find stumbling stones on our walk back downtown from Vigelandsparken.

Sorry for the delay in getting back!

Mark, thank you again for all the logistical info. That will be so helpful for him, and especially the parking app, and parking in Bergen. The hotel there does have a lot available (for a fee, of course), so it think he will just park it there and leave it until it's time to go.

mnannie, thank you, also! He did book a room at the Radisson Blu in Oslo so we're getting things narrowed down now.

So here is another question. He was thinking of kayaking along the Hardangerfjord with Fjordtours at Eidfjord, rather than taking a ferry or RIB boat. They offer a 3 hour kayak trip. He and his son both love kayaking, and he is thinking it will be good to get some exercise after being cooped up in the car. So here's their new(er) itinerary, which is still basically the same. Of course, it's contingent on booking a kayaking tour, which I am trying to do now.

Day 1: Fly to Oslo (booked with Finnair) and sleep in Oslo (still need to book hotel).
Day 2: Rent car and drive to Morgedal. Sleep in Morgedal (staying at cabin owned by cousin but managed by booking.com)
Day 3: Drive to Voss. Sleep in Voss.
Day 4: Drive to Eidfjord and do kayaking tour (Fjorntours full up but contacted Best Adventures). Drive to Bergen. Sleep in Bergen (Thon Hotel Orion).
Day 5. Drive to Oslo, turn in rental car. Sleep at Radisson Blu at airport.
Day 6: Fly to Helsinki in AM.

FYI, the reason he is not turning the car in at Bergen and taking the train to Oslo, is the fee for the one-way drop off was around $325. It makes much more financial sense to just drive to Oslo and return the car at the airport.

OK, sounds good and reasonable.

Kayaking is also possible on Nærøyfjord (link to Fjordtours). I suggest it for 4 reasons:
1) Nærøyfjord is a World Heritage fjord and very spectacular. Hardangerfjord around Eidfjord is also impressive but cannot fully compete.
2) Avoid double impressions: From Bergen way back to Oslo they will likely pass Eidfjord before entering scenic Hardangervidda route anyway. Stop at Vøringsfossen is must-have.
3) It is no detaour compared to Eidfjord.
4) Driving Stalheimskleiva is a unique chance on the way Voss - Gudvangen.

These were my last 4 cents.

Have a good journey.

Once again my request to write a short travel report here afterwards.

I think kayaking would be a great choice for them.

Some people need regularly physical workout.

I worked once with a former member of German's Olympic rowing-eight boat. Everyday from 3 pm on he got more and more jittery.

Mark, don't worry—either he will write it, or I will beg him to give me an oral version and I'll write it. Thanks you so much for your last 4 cents!

mnannie, I agree! They've gone kayaking a lot in the Boundary Waters.

Mark, that is DEFINITELY not me, ha ha! I wish I liked exercise more.

It is also not me.

Maybe just a thought for your relatives before the journey:
The increase of hard is not only harder and hardest, the maximum is Hardanger.

Every begin of August an extreme triathlon is happening, called Norseman. The first one was in 2003.
The race starts at 5 am with a jump from a ferry with a 3.8 km swim through the Hardangerfjord to Eidfjord, followed by 180 km of cycling without any wind protection from Eidfjord via Hardangervidda, Geilo to Austbygde on Lake Tinnsjå. Finally, the marathon run over a distance of 42.2 km to the summit of the mountain Gaustatoppen with an altitude of 1883 meters. The swim in the Hardangerfjord, which rarely exceeds 15°C, and the final ascent over scree up to the Gaustatoppen are particularly challenging.

This year a few over 200 participants can start additionally to the wildcard starters; and over 4,600 applied to start.

The videos about this are awesome and give some insight what also your relatives will see.

• Video Norseman 2022
• Video Norseman 2021

Mark, thank you for those links. What a stunning race - in every sense of the word. I can barely swim 2 km in a pool. I can't imagine swimming 3.8 in open glacier melt water. And that summit!

To comment on your original post as we just got back from 4 days in Norway...

Take the train from Oslo to Flam; spend the night there (if they can get a room)
The Oslo to Myrdal train was a good 5 hours on a nice train. We took the Flam railway from Myrdal to Flam. The Fram railway is overhyped. 2 cruise ships in Flam and it were overrun.

Take the Gudvangen ferry trip
Loved this. We had a beautiful blue sky day. Ferry can hold 400 Pax and was pretty full.

Take the bus to Voss
Crowded. There were 4 full buses to get everybody there. Was a stop at a hotel for the view and to sell stuff along the way.

Take the train to Bergen, spend the night there. Nice train. Many tunnels and along the fjords. Coffee machine in the last car. We only overnighted in Bergen, but could have stayed longer. Many stops on the City Light Rail (12?) to the Bergen Airport. A good 1/2+ hour.

For us the almost no night days were something else. The culture has adapted around the long nights. Makes me wonder what the winter solstice is like there.

I exchanged some Euro for Norwegian Krone. Did not have to as the card is accepted everywhere, ended up taking most of the Krone home. Souvenirs I guess.

Mark, wow! I don't dare show that to my daughter or she will sign up. She loves challenges like that—her last one was a 100 mile marathon in Iowa about 2 years ago.

And also, John liked your suggestion of Nærøyfjord, and booked the 4 hour kayak tour there with Fjordtours. So thank you so much for that idea! He is so enthralled by all the people here who have gone out of their way to post information about travel, and I know he is extremely grateful (as am I)!

Mardee--I do hope you post about how it all goes for them! We are heading to Norway in August. My second time, our daughter's first. We only have a week and are doing the NIN, but I booked stays along the way. The first time we did it in one day, which was fine, but this time we are taking our time. We are also kayaking, but on the Lysefjord. We toyed with renting a car, but when we were planning this, my mom had just passed a few weeks before and I did not have it in me to do that much planning. So I really look forward to hearing about your SIL's trip!

One way or the other, I will definitely get a trip report posted here. Even if I have to sit down and just question him about every step of the way, lol!

I have the tournament website bookmarked, and I look forward to following the team as they represent the Northland.

I am crossing my fingers that we can find out more about the Morgedal family connection.

I have the tournament website bookmarked, and I look forward to following the team as they represent the Northland.
I am crossing my fingers that we can find out more about the Morgedal family connection.

Oh great!, Thanks, mnannie! I hope they do well, but they will be up against some tough competition. They are out right now doing some more fundraising. For anyone who is interested, their team is Gitche Gummi. https://helsinkicup.fi/en/news/gitchigummien/

And yes, that's so cool that your husband and my SIL are 4th or 5th cousins!

Trip report to this pre-journey discussion:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/norway/trip-report-of-5-quick-days-in-norway-many-thanks-to-the-forum

Thanks, Mark!