Which Fjord area to visit?

Short answer: It depends. And there is really no wrong answer. How long is your trip in total and when? It seems like it's a 12 day trip if I'm not missing anything.

Now I have to get back to Washington DC. That would take four flights
from Alesund.

No, you can do it with three flights.

There is a reason so many people follow the Norway in a Nutshell route between Oslo and Bergen. I think it's pretty well undisputed that the Sognefjord and the Geirangerfjord are Norway's most beautiful. With limited time, I don't think you have to see both. What I wouldn't do is transit the area around Flam without taking advantage of the scenic transportation options that make up the classic Nutshell route. Adding some extra time with a rental car would be the cherry on top, but I've noticed those with cars usually do their driving on the north side of the Sognefjord, whereas the Nutshell transportation legs are on the south side. That could make for some intricate itinerary planning as you work around the schedules of the cross-fjord ferries

The classic Nutshell components are as follows (trip can be run in reverse):

• Mainline train from Oslo to Myrdal (scenic)
• Flamsbana train from Myrdal down to Flam (very scenic)
• Naeroyfjord ferry from Flam to Gudvangen (very scenic)
• Bus from Gudvangen up to Voss (scenic)
• Mainline train from Voss to Bergen

The Naeroyfjord ferry is expensive. I don't think it's essential for travelers to take the Flam-Gudvangen ferry if they are also planning to traverse the Geirangerfjord by ferry.

Re-think if money does not matter to avoid double ways and to use (night) time the best way.

flight Stockholm - Tromsø
ship Tromsø - Svolvær (port-to-port incl. 1 night on board, scenic Raftsund and Trollfjord)
days on Lofoten

Opt. A
flight Leknes - Bergen or Bodø - Bergen
train NiN Bergen - Oslo (incl. Flåm?)
days in Oslo

Opt. B
ship Svolvær - Molde or Alesund (port-to-port incl. 2 nights on board)
car Alesund - Bergen
train NiN Bergen - Oslo (incl. Flåm?)
days in Oslo

Remark: instead of "train NiN Bergen - Oslo" in both options you can also do
train Bergen - Voss
car roundtrip Voss - Voss (explore fjords)
train Voss - Oslo

Happy planning.

In my opinion Geiranger Fjord was the most awesome fjord in Norway.

Others that were nice were Bergen, Alesund, Flam and Stavanger.

Flying to Tromsø is a bit of a detour if you want to get to Lofoten. A better option from Stockholm in my opinion is the overnight train to Narvik.

Tromso is not more a detour than a 4 hrs train ride to Oslo and a 2 hrs additional flight. With the given time you can explore the little city and visit Fjellheisen. Additionally Trollfjord is extremely narrow and scenic - therefore the recommendation. As tourist you will not get closer to majestic mountains near a fjord.

Sorfjord as side arm from Hardangerfjord is imo comparable spectacular to Geirangerfjord.

Thank you all for your experienced advice. We've gotten most of it worked out. One question: my daughter wants to see the Geirangerfjord seven sisters. Will anything be flowing in mid August? Perhaps it's not knowable at this point.

Thank you!

Kelly

The seven sisters are hard to see / count even with a lot of water (May / June)
In August a forecast is difficult because it depends on sommer weather conditions the weeks before. Tip: Check photo bases for photos which were made in an August.

For this reason I recommended Sorfjord and the waterfalls around Hardangerfjord.