Norway Fjord Driving Itinerary Review

Which boat trip on the Sogndalfjord? I believe the most scenic route in that area is Flam-Gudvangen or vice versa. The link for schedule/booking is here: https://www.norwaysbest.com/things-to-do/fjords/fjord-cruise-naeroyfjord/. NorwaysBest represents the Fjord1 boats, which I believe are the most modern. There is a second company running ferries on the same route: https://en.lustrabaatane.no/flmgudvangen. Look for an "English" button at the lower right if you don't read Norwegian. I don't know how critical it is to buy a ferry ticket ahead of time; I have purchased mine for late June.

I would not want to miss the Myrdal-Flam train, either. You can see the schedule and book it here: https://www.vy.no/en. I have read round-trip tickets (which it appears you would need) can be purchased in advance in Flam (probably at the tourist office), but I'd be reluctant to do that. I think you might end up at the back of a line of cruise-ship passengers wanting to do the same thing. You don't get a reserved seat on the Flamsbana when you buy a ticket online; I don't know whether they sell a limited number of tickets, but I decided it wasn't something I wanted to risk, so I have already purchased mine.

If you want to avoid just going back and forth on the (expensive) Flamsbana, you could do the fjord-loop section of the Nutshell route: Flamsbana up to Myrdal, regular train (the Oslo-Bergen line--buy ticket from VY website) to Voss, scenic bus 950 from Voss down to Gudvangen, then the previously-mentioned Gudvangen-Flam ferry.

Sorry that I have no answers to your specific questions. I envy you your willingness to drive in rural Norway.

Thanks, acraven, for the links for the cruises from Flam. It does look like I can do both a cruise and the Flamsbana in one day which helps me decide that I probably will drive from Bergen down along Hardangerfjord and then up to Flam. The next day I will have a full day at Flam (and it'll be my birthday), so I can treat myself to both excursions! I'm still hoping to find information about driving from Flam towards Geiranger and a good stop between. I found a place to stay in Olden that appeals to me - just worried that may be too far with all my photo stops along the way! But, with such a scenic place to drive through - there is no rush, I'll get there when I get there. I will definitely book the Flam excursions ahead - but I did look at the cruise ship calendar and appears there won't be one arriving in Flam until the day I leave (if that calendar is accurate). Hoping that helps a bit with crowds. I'll be anxious to hear your thoughts since you'll be there a couple months before me.

I recall seeing at least one (probably two or three) reports here about driving in the fjord area. You might have luck with the Search function if you used carefully chosen geographical names--maybe try Geiranger first. Alternatively, you could simply scroll backward through the Norway forum, opening threads with pertinent-sounding titles. There really aren't all that many posts about Norway. It wouldn't take terribly long to scan all the titles. I did that back in 2019. I guess you'd need to check the Trip Reports forum too, just to be safe.

I will be driving because I like being able to stop when I want to
stop

Just keep in mind that being able to stop when you want to is not possible in Norway. Even the main roads are narrow and rarely straight. Even if you see a nice view, it might be a while until you can actually stop. Also, it is a slow way to get around, the speed limit rarely exceeds 80 km/h.

And as always, make sure you know the rules of the road and what the road signs mean.

I'm still hoping to find information about driving from Flam towards Geiranger and a good stop between.

We drove this route years ago (although in the reverse direction) and we stayed in Stryn. We had no reservations and just stopped at a place with a room to let sign. There wasn’t anything remarkable about this town but it was relatively close to the Briksdalsbreen glacier. We visited the glacier after spending the night in Stryn.

Connie,
We are going in June (!) and are driving from Lom to Aurland and staying here https://elveseter.no/en/hotel-elveseter/ along the way. We are also Coloradans, renting a car, etc., and are looking forward to this leg of the journey. Have never been so no experience to share yet, but excited about it!
Debbie