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Scotland and Norway

My adult daughter and I are in the beginning stage of planning a trip for 2024. We would like to visit Scotland (she’s never been) and Norway (neither have been). I would love her to experience Edinburgh and we both want to see the fjords. All forms of transport would be ok and we’re thinking 10-14 days. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Posted by
1613 posts

We did a similar trip a few years ago, although we started with Copenhagen, then went to Norway, followed by Edinburgh, and finally Exeter (where our daughter was going to school at the time). We spent 9 nights in Norway (4) and Scotland (5).

In Norway, we flew into Bergen and stayed overnight. (We had most of the day in Bergen, because we had flown there from Copenhagen and arrived in the morning.) In Bergen, we took the funiculaire up Mount Floyen and walked around the harbourfront and some other parts of town a bit. We ate at Pingvinen, which is recommended by Rick Steves, and it was good and an experience. The next day, we did the Norway-in-a-Nutshell route from Bergen to Oslo, except that we booked it all ourselves instead of through the official NiN site. (Train to Voss, bus to Gudvangen, ferry through the Naerosfjord (spectacular!) to Flam, Flamsbana to Myrdal, train to Oslo.) We spent 3 nights in Oslo. We visited the Viking Ship museum, the Norsk Folkemuseum, the Nobel Peace Centre, Oslo City Hall, the Akershus Fortress, and the Vigeland Park. We walked around some other parts of Oslo, too, as well as the harbourfront.

(Then we flew EasyJet to Edinburgh.) Correction. We flew Norwegian Airlines.

We stayed about 5 days in Edinburgh. We spent a lot of time visiting the Royal Mile area. We went on a Harry Potter tour, visited the castle, went to Camera Obscura and the World of Illusions, toured the Real Mary King's Close, visited Cadder Hill twice (once in fog and once in sunshine), had jacket potatoes in the Edinburgh Central Library. We also toured the Royal Yacht Britannia, ate at the Sheep Heid (oldest pub in Scotland), went to the Writers' Museum, looked at the Scott Monument, and did a day tour of the Scottish Highlands with The Hairy Coo (Firth of Forth, Wallace Monument, Stirling Castle (exterior), Aberfoyle, Lough Foyle, Lake of Menteith, a fabulous Highlands viewpoint, Doune Castle, and, of course, a visit with some hairy coos).

We are from Canada and are used to a lot of variability in the weather, but even we were surprised by the variability in Edinburgh. One day was so cold and blustery, people were wearing parkas, and we were wishing for them (this was late May). The day we toured the Highlands was sunny and warm. Norway was cool and damp, except for our Norway-in-a-Nutshell day, which was bright, sunny, and cool. So, be prepared with layers, including some waterproof stuff.

Posted by
248 posts

Wow. Great information. Thank you! I have to ask… would you do anything different or were you pleased as is?

Posted by
1613 posts

I think we were pretty pleased as it was. The weather was a problem a couple of times. It poured rain part of our day in Bergen (and given that Bergen is a very rainy place, that is no surprise). I had wanted to go to a stave church nearby, and the weather slowed us down and prevented that, but we did see a stave church at the museum in Oslo.

In Edinburgh, we also wanted to see Holyroodhouse Palace, but it was closed to the public while we were there.

Of course, as always, if we'd had more time we could have done more, but we were very happy with what we did. The Norway-in-a-Nutshell day and the highlands tour were real highlights.

I forgot to mention that we also visited the Opera house in Oslo, and walked on its roof. That was cool.

Posted by
1613 posts

Oh, and by the way, you might be tempted to pass on visiting Oslo City Hall. Don't. It is a really interesting City Hall.

Posted by
1613 posts

Oops. Made a mistake. We flew from Oslo to Edinburgh on Norwegian Airlines, not EasyJet.

Posted by
9462 posts

My two favorite places to vacation 💙💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇴

Posted by
14812 posts

You have good information. The only thing I would suggest is to break up Norway in a Nutshell into two days. I stayed overnight at the Hotel Fretheim in Flam. Nice hotel with a great dinner buffet. The hotel is less than 100 yards to the train and ferry,

It breaks up a 12 hour day into two six hour days.

I have heard that the bus portion of NIN is no longer via the scenic route. And the train from Bergen to Voss is nothing special. So, you could look into a ferry from Bergen to Flam. It goes through more of the fjords but takes about 6 hours. You want to take the train from Flam to Myrdal so Flam is important.

While in Edinburgh, look into day trips to the Highlands. One popular company I've used a few times and is popular on this board is Rabbies

Posted by
6177 posts

Sounds like a great idea and is perfectly possible I'd suggest an even split, 5-7 days in each country. But I would recommend you to plan for 14 days, 5 days in each country is cutting it short.

My suggestion would be something like this:

Start in Oslo, spend 2 days there, travel to Bergen via train and some version of the Norway in a Nutshell, spend one night along the route. 2 days in Bergen, before taking the boat to Stavanger. Spend one night in Stavanger, then fly to Scotland. Maybe to Aberdeen, continue through the highlands south and end in Edinburgh.

Posted by
1376 posts

Wideroe Airlines has direct (non-stop) flights from Bergen to Aberdeen. We had planned to fly that route in 2020 before Covid scotched (ha!) our plans.

There are also direct flights from Stavanger to Aberdeen; however, that schedule may not be as frequent as Bergen to Aberdeen.

Mike (Auchterless)

Posted by
1613 posts

The train from Bergen to Voss has very pretty scenery. Sit on the left side.

Posted by
6177 posts

There are also direct flights from Stavanger to Aberdeen; however,
that schedule may not be as frequent as Bergen to Aberdeen.

SAS flies twice daily between Stavanger and Aberdeen. And it is an important route, during the height of the pandemic it was SAS' only international route from Norway apart from Oslo-Stockholm and Oslo-Copenhagen.

Posted by
7595 posts

The best way to see Norway is to include a cruise up to the North Cape. We have been to Norway twice and loved the 11 day cruise up to the North Cape the best. We visited six ports and the fjords are amazing. With a cruise you get to see the fjords up close.

Also, Norway is the most expensive country in Europe, yes, more than Switzerland. If you are on a cruise, you don't have to pay the high rates for lodging, meals, etc.

Posted by
248 posts

Thank you all for the good advice. We will be flying to Norway from Amsterdam.
My question: is there a preferred/prettier/better schedules way to travel Norway in Nutshell?? East to west or West to East?? or are they roughly the same?

Posted by
1613 posts

I think it would be equally pretty in either direction.

Posted by
26840 posts

I haven't read anything suggesting the direction of travel makes much difference from a scenic standpoint, but I think the transportation legs may be a bit easier to arrange if you travel from Oslo to Bergen. It sort of looks as if the Naeroyfjord (Flam-Gudvangen) ferry schedule and perhaps the Gudvangen-Voss bus schedule were set up to meet the needs of folks traveling Oslo-Bergen, then the return ferries and buses were slotted where they needed to be to return the ships/buses to Flam and Gudvangen.

I could be mistaken about this--it's just my impression; I traveled Oslo-Bergen and didn't spend much time looking at transportation going in the opposite direction. I'd suggest careful examination of how the transportation legs fit together if you want to move from west to east, especially if you plan to make this trip outside peak season. Some of the transportation doesn't run as often in fall, winter and spring, which could make it more challenging to complete the trip in one day (if that's what you want to do).

Posted by
12 posts

I know everyone goes to Edinburgh first, but I prefer Glasgow...for the Glasgow School of Art, museums, etc. Edinburgh I found touristy and crowded. Once was enough, whereas I've returned to Glasgow. And Bergen is wonderful.

Posted by
26840 posts

Glasgow School of Art has burned down twice. They hope to rebuild it but I don't think they've even started yet.

I did like Glasgow a lot. There are other Charles Rennie Mackintosh buildings to see, and Glasgow is much less touristy than Edinburgh.