Please sign in to post.

Sognefjord - car ferry and driving vs Norway in a Nutshell (ferry, bus, train)

We are spending a week in Norway, using a car as our main transportation. We are spending 2 nights in Undredal and, because we can travel further off the beaten path with our own vehicle, I'd like to spend a day taking a car ferry through the Naeroyfjord, as well as making a big driving loop (taking the ferry when necessary) to Vik, Balestrand, Kaupanger, Laerdal, Aurland & back to Undredal. I have a couple of questions:

Would I really be missing out on "the best scenery ever" if we didn't take the train between Myrdal & Voss? Wouldn't seeing the fjord be amazing on its own?

Like others, I've had difficulty trying to figure out if there is or is not a car ferry between Flam and Gudvangan. If there was, we would take the ferry and then do the circle driving tour mentioned above.

If there's not, I was thinking we could either drive during the day and take the ferry back from Kaupanger to Gudvangan at 6 pm (skipping Kaupanger to Laerdal to Aurland) or take the ferry from Gudvangan to Kaupanger at 9 am and then drive to Balestrand, Vik, and back to Undredal.

Whichever version we choose, do we need to book the car ferry ahead of time or just show up?

I'd love some feedback as to which of these scenarios makes the most sense. We will be travelling the third week of August. Thanks!

Posted by
1601 posts

Based on your questions, I'm not sure you have looked at Rick's book - it is all laid out quite nicely as to some of your options.

There also happens to be a bus that connects some of these towns that you can use to combine with the ferry and the car to make a circuit (the bus does not seem to pass through Undredal). Search for bus NX450 on Nettbuss Express

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks Arnold for the information. Believe me, I've read the RS Scandinavia book cover-to-cover & also Northern European Cruise ports. I think my confusion is because the visitflam website mentions there are 2 ferries - "passenger only ferries" & "new passenger vessels". There's no mention if one of those is a car ferry. We don't want to take a train or a bus, just car & ferry. I take it from what you're saying, there is a car ferry from Flam. Thanks for confirming that we don't need to book ahead even with a car. I'm sure we'll have a great day no matter which route we take.

Posted by
115 posts

Until 2015, there were only old car ferries on the Gudvangen – Flåm route. On selected departures from Gudvangen you could bring your car with you.
In 2016 a new electric passenger ferry started running and the car service ended. The old car ferry (not taking cars), is labeled “classic” in the timetable and the new electric passenger ferry is labeled “premium”.
The only car service on Nærøyfjorden now is the Fjord2 ferry between Gudvangen and Kaupanger.

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks so much JZ for clarifying. We will take the Gudvangan/Kaupanger car ferry then.

Posted by
1601 posts

I just got back from Norway 2 days ago and want to add one data point. I know that Rick says you don't need to book the ferries ahead of time but when I got to Gudvangan about 11:20 and went into book the ferry tickets on the 12 PM to Kaupangar (this is the less crowded ferry than the one to Flam), I heard the ticket seller tell quite a few folks that the 11:30 to Flam was sold out and that they would need to wait till the 1:30 PM ferry. Thankfully the Kaupanger ferry had lots of room and wasn't very crowded.

Posted by
1 posts

Hello we have a oslo -bergen train tickets including return tickets for 1 day on for 20 th-21th of august. We had to cancel our Norway trip and do you know anyone if interested in ? The train tickets are getting higher now and we can sell it from the price we bought in 2 months ago. Thank you
Gokce