Norway in April 2023

We don’t take cruises but went on Hurtigruten’s coastal route, Bergen to Kirkenes, up on top near Russian border. The ship had locals getting on and off, moving freight too. It is the way Norwegians travel the coast. Fabulous. Terrific food too.

I assume you must have sort of plan or reason to go there? Or did you book a trip there without knowing why?

I have always wanted to visit with hopes of the Northern Lights, and just experiencing another culture which is a small part of my heritage.

You can forget about the Northern Lights but it will give you time to see Bergen and Oslo. I'd suggest adding maybe Trondheim or Ålesund as well.

I very much enjoyed all the places Badger mentioned.

A warning about the weather in western Norway, though: It is likely to be either raining or very overcast a great deal of the time. As a photographer, you may want to move slowly through that scenic area to give yourself a better chance of good conditions.

The northbound Hurtigruten ships traveling overnight between Bergen and Alesund make a side trip from the latter to the Geirangerfjord, calling at Alesund for a second time around 8 PM the same day. So you have an opportunity to transit the Geirangerfjord twice by staying on the ship for abiut 24 [corrected] hours. The weather was quite bad for me on the trip into the fjord, but it improved a lot on the return to Alesund.

My trip began on June 15, and I didn't encounter cold weather, just 2 or 3 coolish days in the west. I had the benefit of very long days, so there were more hours potentially suitable for sightseeing. I'd think the combination of chilly + wet would be a concern in April, so do some weather research on a website that provides actual, historical, day-by-day weather statistics. Two possibilities are timeanddate.com and wunderground.

I land in Bergen on April 6th. I leave on the 15th.I am considering the Norway in a Nutshell 5-day tour that includes the Flam railway from Oslo and a cruise that ends in Bergen. I only have 8-days this time. I realize there is not enough time for everything. Your opinions are requested; With 3-days open should I focus on Oslo or Bergen? And why? Your opinions are very much appreciated

The Nutshell route can be completed in one (quite long) day--at least in high season. Some of the transportation links run less frequently in April. I spent two nights in Flam, and some folks have really enjoyed spending multiple nights in Balestrand. But I'm curious about the itinerary for a 5-day tour. I'd expect a tour to have its own transportation to supplement the Flamsbana Railway and the Flam-Gudvangen ferry, so it should be able to move around efficiently. I'd think 5 days would be long enough to cover more than the traditional Nutshell route. The fjords are gorgeous (when the weather cooperates), but that is a lot of time in fjord country all in one block.

Nothing I've read about the express boat to Bergen has made me interested in taking it. The narrow fjords are more scenic than much of that route.

Oslo and Bergen are both very worthwhile. Perhaps 3 days in Bergen would be 1 more than you need since you would already have spent a lot of time around the fjords. The city is very pretty, so it's easy to spend time just wandering around, enjoying the urban scenery (but weather is really, really iffy there). It has multiple worthwhile art museums, though one of the four KODE branches was closed in June). I didn't go to any of the older historic sites except the rebuilt stave church, but Rick's description of them is that they are generally visually underwhelming and more meaningful if you take a tour.

Oslo has a lot more museums, and a wider variety of them. The architecture is more varied. There are new museums like the MUNCH and the National Gallery. There's more to do indoors if you are not lucky with the weather, and Oslo is generally much, much less rainy than Bergen. Take a look at the climate-summary charts in Wikipedia's entries for the two cities.

Thank you for your insights. I am getting the feeling that day trips from either Bergen and/or Oslo would be more efficient than the 5-day tour. Thank you again.

Good idea! If you only have 8 days, spending 5 of those on a NiN-tour would be a waste of time in my opinion.

It would probably be easier to make a daytrip that includes the Flamsbana and the Flam-Gudvangen ferry from Bergen than from Oslo because the Flam area is much closer to Bergen. However, as I wrote earlier, some of the key transportation links run less frequently off-season, and the frequency may be insufficient to make a day-trip possible.

I have changed my game plan for a 5- day/train tour to day trips from Bergen and Oslo. I am also looking into changing my flight itinerary from mid-April to late April into the 1st week or so of May. Any suggestions? Also, would renting car be a worthwhile cost-effective option instead of relying on tours?

Thank you for helping me put this trip together. I am traveling alone.

Bill

Nearly everything in Norway except groceries is quite expensive. That includes public inter-city buses, much less tours. On the other hand, I imagine car rentals are far from cheap. One difficulty even an experienced driver in Norway will have in answering your question is that car-rental rates have been massively inflated since the beginning of the pandemic, and it's difficult to predict how much they will moderate by next spring.

A car would allow you to cover more ground, faster, and it would permit you to choose lodgings outside the more costly, high-traffic towns--if you can find places open so early in the year.

I hate cold weather and especially cold, wet weather. I would certainly prefer your later time frame for that reason.

Norway is the most expensive country in Europe to visit for tourists, even more than Switzerland.

We love the country, but did a cruise in June (I don't recommend April due to the weather), where you don't have to change hotels, drive, take trains, etc. Your meals are provided by the cruise line.

I remember getting a beer in Bergen on my first trip to Norway. It cost the equivalent of $10 US, while on that same trip our cruise stoped in the Azores (Portugal) and I paid $1 US for a beer.

Also, some roads will be likely snowbound, so plan accordingly.

Make sure you read up on driving in Norway. Google may tell you 3 hrs to reach your destination but it could be 6hrs because of the terrain or inclement weather. During my trip, I ran into a guy from the USA who was quite shaken after driving for hours and hours through the mountains. Can you drive, of course, you can but be aware of the long hours.