Norway travel

You will LOVE the Norway in a Nutshell tour and Flam is magical.

Yes thank you. Read a lot of reviews about NIN. At same time would love to go further up Norway.

In 2023 we did some of what your planning without a car.

After taking the Hurtigruten coastal ferry from Kirkenes to Bergen, we stayed 2 nights in Bergen.

We did a DIY Nutshell (train to Voss, bus to Gudvangen, ferry to Flåm, Flåmsbana to Myrdal, train to Oslo) between Bergen and Oslo with an overnight in Flåm. We added the minibus tour to Stegastein Viewpoint from Flåm.

After 2 nights in Oslo we flew to Ålesund for 3 nights. We did a cruise on the Geirangerfjord one day. We did not get off at Geiranger. The next day we took a wonderful day tour to Trollstigen with
LocalTrips AS that included several other stops along with magnificent views of the Geirangerfjord.

From Ålesund we flew home.

For your trip you could do the following

• bus from Ålesund to Åndalsnes
• train to Dombås on the Rauma Line
• train to Oslo or Lillehammer on the Dovre Line (note bus replacement due to rail works if traveling before 15 June)

Depending on your departure time out of Oslo airport you could spend the night in Lillehammer before your flight.

If you want to spend a night or 2 in Flåm (or elsewhere on the Nutshell route) book your lodging ASAP. There is limited availability in Flåm and the rooms sell out quickly. How will you fill your time in Flåm?

Both Flåm and Geiranger are crowded villages during the tourist season. In Flåm, besides the NIN transportation, you could visit Stegastein Viewpoint, the Borgund Stave Church, go hiking and kayaking. In Geiranger, you can hike and drive to several viewpoints.

The opening of the Trollstigen is dependent on weather and road conditions. You'll need to monitor the expected opening date for sometime in May/June.

For the best rates all rail travel should be booked in advance at vy.no. Also, the company recommends paying via PayPal as not all North American credit cards have 3D Secure. We used PayPal in 2023.

Doable but not planned meaningful in my opinion. I would not start in Oslo.

For June you are close to being late - and you will miss Midnight Sun in North Norway.

I think that the website "Getting around by train" can help you as well identifying travel possibilities.

Checlk also "5 spectacular trips around Fjord Norway by rail, bus, and boat".

Most people here did not discover yet, that Alesund is not necessary to address Geirangerfjord. Åndalsnes is connected to train network and offer bus connections to Geirangerfjord.

And yes, most individual is renting a car, e. g. for the Norwegian Scenic Routes, but you mentioned that you do not want to do it.

Be aware of correct names of places, in Norway one letter can make a difference - famous example Kristiansand / Kristiansund. More easy if the name places only contain of one letter such as Å but also there is the questions which one, e. g. the one on Lofoten.

For the Atlantic road you would be better flying from Bergen to Kristiansund.

Then your best bet would be finding a tour (like I did, off a cruise), especially if you can find one which includes Håholmen island (hopefully one which sails out there on the replica Viking boat). It is a conserved and restored klippfisk village, now also with a 4* hotel on the island. The 510 bus stops at Geitøya for the ferry to the island.

However it is possible to do it by public bus- the #501 from Kristiansund to Karvag then the #510 Karvag to Molde-
https://frammr.no/_f/p2/i9cea1b83-5be3-42e9-a494-4db54aa919ca/501-kristiansund-bruhagen-ba-karvag-fra-220226-v9.pdf
https://frammr.no/_f/p2/ib9b1e8fe-662e-4b2b-8c70-eb1096e525b8/510-averoy-eide-molde-fra-030126-v19.pdf
At Molde you pick up the express #100 Alesund to Kristiansund bus-
https://frammr.no/_f/p2/i3fabe412-ac17-4794-9f89-8cc706b40dec/100-fram-ekspress-alesund-molde-kristiansund-fra-23022026-v7.pdf

If you want to do the Trollstigen road- that can be done from Alesund by public bus- to Hellesylt, ferry to Geiranger, and Vybus #25 across to Andalsnes.

Hurtigruten and Havila do a day trip to the Geirangerfjord and then by tour bus across the Trollstigen back to Molde- that is designed to pick up the northbound sailing to Trondheim at 2305, but should pick up the southbound to Alesund at 2145, arriving at 0030.

But I think the public bus version ending for the night in Andalsnes is a better use of time.

At Andalsnes it is worth doing the Golden Train excursion- https://www.thegoldentrain.com/

There is an hourly commuter train from Lillehammer to Oslo airport, from as early as 0336.

From Flam Undredal Stave Church is easily accessible, both on the Gudvangen ferry (all boats stop on request) and by tour bus- https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/undredal-stave-church/233741/
Also the well known Goat's Cheese factory there- see the goats and taste the cheese.

There is the bus from Alesund to Andalsnes, although the more frequent service is the 100 to Molde then the 420 to Andalsnes-
https://frammr.no/_f/p2/i9b39d92c-9cd8-4a07-8f21-9fcc6da2c2b4/420-fram-ekspress-molde-andalsnes-fra-05012026-v37.pdf
https://frammr.no/_f/p2/i456ac228-b066-4fd4-8835-9d7be6fc791d/681-fram-ekspress-alesund-vestnes-andalsnes-fra-230226-v5.pdf

I'd be very comfortable (and have done most of it) doing most of this by public transit (the Atlantic Road being the most difficult)- I'm not really a tours person generally.

Wow thank you all so much for your input. Lots of thinking and analyzing and putting altogether the suggested iterinary. I have already booked hotels / Bergen train/Flamsbana ferry to Gudvangen and excursions in the area. I really just needed the Bergen to Alesund and what day trips in the most efficient order. But from all your suggestions I should be able to put it altogether now. Again I appreciate you all and any other inputs are all welcome. Once I have my iterinary I will post it here for more comments. I thank you all.

Hello everybody
Does anyone know how far ahead I can book the Rauma Railway and Dovre Railway? So far when I go to Entur. no and look schedule for June 4 or 5 to go back to Oslo from Andalsnes, it says unavailable.

I am not familiar with the entur site. On the vy.no site tickets are available for June 4 and 5.

Reminder, the Dombås to Oslo segment will be using replacement buses instead of the train due to maintenance as previously mentioned.

It is a bit confusing as Vy are showing all possible connections- both the official rail replacement buses, and other service bus options. Generally it is a long wait at Dombas between the official RRB's. On the options where you use other buses they are only selling part route, so look at the details.

Entur, who are the official booking agent for SJ Nord, will also let you book the official RRB connections, but also offer additional options to Vy, which they also can't ticket as they are pay on bus, as they are unbookeable service buses.

They make it clearer than Vy do that it is service buses.

Entur also have options of changing back into a train at Gjovik or Oslo Airport.

Gjovik is a different line on the other side of the lake from Lillehammer, a terminus, so that gives the option of the last 2 hours on a train, not a bus.

So a bit of careful research and thought into the best options.

Hi all

I sent an email via Entur site and as some of you had mentioned, there is a planned railway work 30 May- 15 June. There will be replacement buses but they are still working on the time schedule. Was advised to check back at a later date.