Norway - First time - feeling overwhelmed

Honestly, I think you're trying to do too much, and that is a lot of driving. And I did a lot of driving in Norway, but nothing compared to what you would be doing,

Have you thought about this? Just a suggestion, but maybe fly into Oslo, then do the Norway to Nutshell tour to Bergen, then you have a choice, in my opinion. You can either head north to Alesund, Geiranger and Trollstigen, or you can head south to Stavanger and the south.

Otherwise, you're just going to be driving from place to place. On my recent trip, my daughter and I started off in Oslo (2 nights), then spent one night each in Morgedal, and Voss (including a day trip to Gudvangen for a kayak tour on the Naeroyfjord) . After that, we went to Balestrand and Olden (1 night each), and ended up in Alesund for two nights, then went to Bergen for three nights. That was 11 nights all together. Now that seems like a lot of driving, but we planned it so that we never drove more than three hours a day in Norway. That way we were able to relax and enjoy the scenery and stop where we wanted, and we did a lot of stopping. Edit: I should mention that we flew from Alesund to Bergen, which saved us a lot of time!

You are going to be spending so much time on the road that you won't have any time to really enjoy what you are doing. At least that's my impression. Now, there are some people that are fine doing that and enjoy moving quickly from place to place and driving a lot, but you just need to think about that. I'm sure there will be many other people here who will give you some good advice. I've only been to Norway once and absolutely loved it, but there are others that have been there more often.

Hopefully you'll be able to figure out some happy medium so that you can see most of the places you want to see, but not spend so much time on the road.

Mardee is very smart. Trust her!

The reason this has felt so overwhelming for the past ten years is that you are trying to squeeze too much into 14 days. Since you've already recognized that you can't include the Lofoten Islands on this trip, the good news is that means you have a reason to return to Norway and do anything you don't have time to do on this trip. And that means nothing is "must-see" or "do-not-miss." Everything you want to see will still be there next time.

So my suggestion is focus on the hikes you are looking forward to doing, and then tie them together in a logical way. Give yourself plenty of time to enjoy what you see. There is so much beautiful scenery, you will want to linger a lot. Allow yourself that luxury.

As a solo traveler have you considered a supported hiking "tour" to get to at least some of your must- sees? And take a few days in Oslo before. Then the NIN to Bergen and I'm sure these exist from there, although depending where you are on the East Coast I was a little underwhelmed by the NIN. I used Hurtigruten (had never heard of it before) all the way north, just fantastic. Trollstigen was a highlight. But it doesn't have the hiking you have as a priority...
A quick check showed a lot of hiking companies, of course you need to do that vetting research. I am a solo older female hiker, too, and these days just feel safer if there's someone in charge and to know where I am!
Just a thought - and don't give up!

Just a couple of things to consider, in no particular order.

Logistically, drive times and flight schedules make the Lofoten islands harder to plan.

Timing wise, the Trollstigen may not be open the end of May. While this year it opened quite early in April, the opening date for 2027 will depend on the winter season and any damage needing repairs. In 2025 it didn't open until mid July due to rock fall mitigation. We traveled the Trollstigen in 2023 shortly after it opened on May 29.

Do some research on hiking the Trolltunga in late May. It can be a challenging hike at the best of times. Depending on the weather, you may be hiking in snow or slush. Mid June would be a better start date.

Just my opinion, others will disagree: the narrow, dramatic Naerøyfjord was more spectacular than the larger Geirangerfjord. Whichever fjord cruise you choose, be sure to see also see the fjords from above. The towns of Flåm and Geiranger, while in beautiful settings, have little charm and are expensive. However, it may be worth your time if you are going to hike or kayak or checkout the views.

Take a look at the Cruisemapper site to see which ships are in port when you plan to visit. A couple mega ships in Flåm, for instance, can totally change the feel of the town as well as ruin the views.

What are flights like from your home airport? That may determine where in Norway you start your trip.

It may make sense to fly into Oslo for a couple nights, do the NIN with or without an overnight in Flåm (or nearby Aurland), ending in Bergen for a couple nights. Then pick up your car in Bergen for your driving tour to Stavanger, Odda and Eidfjord. Returning the car to Bergen will save you the crazy drop off fees in Norway.

Alternatively, if Lofoten Islands is a priority, you could combine it with Bergen, NIN, Oslo OR Lofoten Islands, Bergen + Stavanger OR Lofoten Islands, Bergen + Odda and Eidfjord.

As Mardee suggests, try to keep your drive times under 3 hours so you can enjoy the scenery, take in the views, stop at a waterfall...

In reading Mardee's response I would second her recommendations. Norway is a beautiful country and spending so much time in a car will prove to be quite unfulfilling and will waste a lot of your time. 14 days is a nice length of time, but don't spend so much of it inside an auto. Enjoy your trip.

Hi there! Agreed, you would spend a lot of your vacation driving rather than enjoying what you want, especially the hiking! Just so you're aware, springtime includes a lot of slushy snow. We had snow flurries in Sweden in early May, and we don't live at altitude. You don't need to plan that extra day, you need some recovery time along the way, especially with the hiking that you'd really like to do!

I would like to do Norway in Nutshell, which may seem duplicative?

You can easily take the NIN between Oslo & Bergen, we stayed in Balestrand instead of Flam, quieter without cruise ships & it's a quaint little town. Once we got there, we didn't want to leave so we extended a night before continuing on to Bergen by ferry!

Here's Mardee's excellent trip report if you'd like more info.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-adventure-finally-concludes-in-scenic-norway

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

I think you are trying to piece together too many disparate places that would take a month to cover.

Here are some ideas:

Concentrate on open jaw cities. If you are not interested in Oslo don’t even fly there.

Start in Ålesund, drive down into the fjords, rent a cabin or 2 on a fjord, they are on AirBnB. After Geiranger drive down Trollstigen and stay in or near Åndalsnes. Do the Romsdalseggen Ridge Hike (end of May into July it will be daylight 24 hours so no need to rush, hike till 3 am if you like). There’s a manmade Troll’s Tongue on this trail. Drive to Trondheim, fly up and back to Lofoten from there. Your gateway cites are into Ålesund and home from Trondheim, works on Delta (connect to KLM in Amsterdam) and likely United (connect to Lufthansa/Eurowings in Frankfurt). Or if you are willing to start in NYC then SAS or Norwegian could work.

Thank you all for your insightful feedback.
I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experiences.

So back to planning for round 382!!
:-)

Cheers.

Good luck, Lisa! Feel free to come back with questions. Whatever you do, Norway is an incredible country and so beautiful. You will love it no matter where you go.

In 2023 we rented a car and did a 15 day loop from the Oslo airport.

I think your plan is getting there. For the most part ferries are just part of the road system, so you don't need to worry about looking up the schedules.

Figure out the mileage/hours between each stop. To me the drives and seeing all the beautiful scenery is part of the adventure. Whenever possible we took the old road OVER the mountain instead of the tunnel through the mountain.

Personally I would skip Bergen and spend more days at Balestrand relaxing.

I loved Trollstigen.

I wrote a detailed report. Message me if you want me to send it to you. I also like a detailed car rental report that is posted on a Norwegian travel FB page that I can direct you to, if desired.

For the most part ferries are just part of the road system, so you don't need to worry about looking up the schedules.

I will wholeheartedly agree with that. When my daughter and I were driving through Norway, I was obsessed with trying to find the ferry schedules so I knew what time they would get there. After the first time or two, I realized that they got there when they got there, and we got there when we got there, and the twain would usually meet.

It all worked out, and after that I was much more relaxed about it. Honestly, the ferries came so often that I don't think we ever had to wait more than 10 minutes for one. We got on a lot of ferries as we made our way across and it's fun. I love ferries, and I'm somewhat obsessive about saying that, but it's true. 😊

Balestrand is a nice stop if you end up doing the Norway in a Nutshell and 1 night there would be plenty. There's not enough there I think to keep most tourists occupied for more than that.

We just got back from 8 days there (mid-September). So lovely! We planned our trip around three main hikes: Raudmelen in Balestrand, Pulpit Rock outside Stavanger, and Mt. Ulriken/Floyen in Bergen. We flew into Bergen, did Sognefjord in Nutshell with night in Balestrand, two nights in Aurland, then Bergen to Stavanger. We wanted to include Lofoton but it was just too much, and hard to move around the country. I wasn't planning on all the rain! Have some rainy day alternatives, and if the hikes are important, allow for several days in the area to allow for poor weather days. We relied on public transportation except a car rental in Stavanger for two days. LOVED staying at The Bolder (10 minutes from pulpit rock trailhead). Was the highlight of our trip- a tiny house overlooking Lysefjord. Our planned Wilderoe flight from Bergen to Stavanger was cancelled and there were no other flights until the next day. We had to take the bus instead because our itinerary did not allow for a delay. My advice is to take your time, download transportation apps before you go, be flexible with the itinerary, and have appropriate hiking clothes for all weather- including rain and wind.

The best way, in my opinion to visit key places in Norway (most along the Atlantic), are on a cruise.
We visited almost all the places you listed on a cruise that hit six ports with fantastic fjords all the way to the North Cape.
Our excursions from the ship visited the scent places like Geiranger, Alesund, Flam and Stavanger.