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Norway itinerary dilemma

Posted by (Toronto area, Canada) on

I thought my Norway itinerary plan for Aug-Sep 2022 looked great, until I saw the high rental car drop-off fees ($300-400?).
Plan:
1. Fly to Oslo
2. Get rental car, drive north to Lillehammer/Kvam, then to Lom, then to Solvorn, then Balestrand (2 nights), then to Bergen. Drop off rental car.
3. Spend a few nights in Bergen, then take the scenic train from Bergen to Oslo
4. Spend a few nights in Oslo, then fly home.

Should I just suck it up and pay the drop-off fee, or is there a creative alternative? Of course, I could keep the car in Bergen and then drive back to Oslo instead of taking the train - but how does that drive compare to the train route? And, should I add a detour to visit any particular sights in southern Norway?

Posted by
174 posts

Hi Tom_MN,
Thanks. I think I saw about $400 drop-off fee with Sixt, as well as some other company, maybe it was Avis as you said. Thanks for your comment about Hertz. I guess the fee can vary a lot, and I should check several car rental companies. I can stomach $170 for the privilege of dropping off!

Posted by
7068 posts

It looks like Tom_MN solved the problem. But I think you should consider to start the trip by taking the train to Lillehammer or Otta or some other town and rent the car there. Driving is usually not the best thing to do after a long haul flight, especially not in Norway.

Posted by
5837 posts

Check rental one-way surchage reversing direction - Pick up at Bergen with return to Oslo. One way drop off MAY be higher if too many drop offs end up in Bergen vs Oslo. Spend a few nights is Oslo to start tip to adjust to time shif, take Nutshell combination tour Oslo via Fram to Bergen, then start driving.

Posted by
174 posts

Thanks for all the comments. I should maybe mention that we’ll stay at least one night in Oslo before we rent the car and start driving, so no jet-lag concerns.
Also, maybe worth mentioning that flying into Oslo and out from Bergen would be about $650 more for the two of us, compared to flying return to/from Oslo, so that’s a lousy option.
Anyway, I like the idea of driving Oslo to Bergen, and taking the train back. It’s apparent now that there’s at least one reasonable rental car option. Thanks.

Posted by
7068 posts

I should maybe mention that we’ll stay at least one night in Oslo
before we rent the car and start driving, so no jet-lag concerns.

Great! But still it might be a good idea to take the train the first bit to save a bit of boring driving and save a bit of time for the more interesting parts.

And I agree that it might be a good idea to look at SAS as they just announced flights to Toronto.

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