NIN FLEX itinerary with additions. How to add a few 2 night stops?

Posted by mmurray on 01/07/26 12:12 AM

Hello. We are arriving in Bergen and traveling to Oslo. Group of 6 in august. . We would like to do a version of Norway in a Nutshell - or the most important parts and then deviate to avoid constant huge crowds. We will make the trip about 5-6 nights. We can add a city or two along the way. We will will start in Bergen and be there a day or two and then end in Oslo. We will have about 5 nights to make the trip to Oslo and would like to stay in some towns with amazing views and activity options as well as some interesting hotels. We were not going to have a car. Are you planning on doing the trains and ferries mostly? We could also grab a bus when needed or hire a car when needed - if that's possible.

From my research I'm leaning towards the following (please poke holes in it and add better suggestions)
Ferry Bergen to Balestrand - 2 nights in Balestrand with activities, etc.
Ferry Balestrand to Flam - then continue on the fjord scenic cruise to Gudvangen. Should we stay there a night or two?
Then bus or transport back to Flam. (Not interested in staying in Flam - I've heard it is more of a busy port stop)
Morning scenic train - Flam to Mydral (is this the most scenic one that can't be missed?)
Then train Mydral to Oslo.

What cities to add. Aurland? Balestrand? Gudavangen

I'm open to jumping off anywhere and creating a better plan. We travel quite a bit and love off-the-beaten path ideas. We like nice and interesting hotels. Several of us are very active - but we have one couple that has been dealing with cancer and will be less active than others. So complete isolation with nothing to do other than hike would not be good for them.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions! I will return the favor on other posts!

Posted by isn31c

Lake District, England

01/07/26 09:26 AM

11104 posts

You could stay in Aurland as opposed to Flam. All the Gudvangen to Flam boats stop there on pre booked request, also Norway's Best run a shuttle bus from Aurland into Flam, there are also local scheduled bus services, and the long distance buses (including one from Balestrand via Sogndal) which stop at Aurland, Flam and Gudvangen.

The thing is that if you are doing Norway in a Nutshell in August you simply are not going to avoid the crowds, especially on the Gudvangen to Flam boat, the Flam to Myrdal train and to a slightly lesser extent the Myrdal to Oslo train.

If I was wanting to avoid crowds to a greater degree in August I would take a totally different route from Bergen to Oslo than Norway in a Nutshell.
I would go on the Hurtigruten or Havila ship to Alesund, then to Geiranger, thence the Trollstigen road to Andalsnes, then the very scenic (but very neglected on this forum) Rauma railway from Andalsnes to Dombas for main line trains to either Trondheim or Oslo. On the way to Oslo the obvious place for an added stop would be at Lillehammer.

There are one way cruises into Geiranger (Hurtigruten/Havila go in, but won't allow you to get off at Geiranger) or via the road/car ferry route in- drive or bus.
Alesund to Andalsnes is also a year round route as there is a direct road between the two cities- not via Geiranger/the Trollstigen.

As well as the normal trains on the Rauma railway there is also an excursion train from Andalsnes to Bjorli (the most scenic part of the line)- the Golden train (named as you will see after a rather interesting part of the WW2 history of Norway).

This isn't exactly an off the beaten path route, but is a less beaten path.