A week in Norway?

Hello Tara,
We did a similar trip in June, 2005: one week in Scotland, one in the fjords, and one in Cornwall. We flew from Glasgow to Bergen via Amsterdam-KLM flight, the only one i could locate. I believe you can also get flights from Aberdeen to Stavanger, you might want to check......This is what we did for our Norway week: landed in Bergen, got car, drove to Voss (Fleischer's Hotel) for two nights because I wanted to see Vorringfossen. You probably only need one night there......Day three, drove to Flam (very scenic drive, waterfalls everywhere). Took the train round trip, then went to Vik (stave church) and ferry across the fjord for two nights at Kvikne's Hotel. If you stay there, be sure you pay the extra for a fjord view room in the old part of the hotel for a memorable experience.......Day five, drove up over the glacier to Geiranger Fjord (Grand Fjord Hotel) for two nights. Our full day there we took the ferry round trip, seeing all of the waterfalls cascading down the sides of the fjord......Day seven, drove back to Bergen. Spent the afternoon exploring the Bryggen and took the tram up the mountain, dinner at the unicorn restaurant on the Bryggen. (This was enough time for Bergen.) Admiral Clarion Hotel has some rooms with views of the Bryggen. .....buy the Michelin map for Norway, try to also get the larger scale one for the fjords, but that one is hard to find....Maybe amazon.co.uk has it?.......It is VERY easy to drive in Norway, good roads.

Yes, there are B&B options along the fjords. We suggest the Balestrand Hotel in tiny Balestrand. From there you can take a day trip to Vik to visit a stave church, or go to a glacier and a glacier museum. Have a great trip.

I just watched Rick's show on western Norway. If you can find a copy, watch it. It will give you some good ideas. It made me want to return to Norway and spend more time in the west. We spent two nights in Bergen (which I loved) and one night in Balestrand, which has a beautiful view of the fjords. We stayed at the Kvicknes (not sure that is the right spelling) and had a room with a porch overlooking the fjords. It was heaven!

I like Cynthia's plan generally, except you want to end up in Oslo, so drive there at the end. I would only add two things to it; 1) Definitely make it up to the Geirangerfjord to the north of Bergen as it is both a more attractive and a more "back door" fjord experience than the much over-hyped nutshell route. Also include, if you can manage the logistics of it, the Trollsteigen road north of Geiranger and the coastal town of Ålesund northwest of Geiranger, as both are unique experiences. Generally speaking, try to avoid doing the primary tourist thing, which is to make a bee-line from Bergen to Oslo and see nothing else that isn't along that path. That would be a shame, as there is so much more to see than just that. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if you headed north and saw all those places I just mentioned, you could drive to Oslo from there and justify missing the tourist hoards doing the nutshell route stuff all together. 2) Bergen only needs a good 24 hours. The classic wharf photo you see of Bergen is pretty much the only really old Bergen there is - about 6 city blocks worth. The rest is fine, but not really worth lingering. Don't dismiss Oslo. You can spend a whole day seeing the 4-5 museums clustered together on the peninsula across the harbor & the outdoor folk museum there is especially good. Spend another few hours at the very unique Froggner park, and that totals at least a day and a half, even if you see nothig else. It sounds like a great trip! Enjoy!!

We spent a week in Norway and loved it. Had a car the whole time and I personally loved the drive North, anywhere North. The landscape was so different. Vast sweeping views, artic(ish) plants. Would go back again in a heartbeat. Stayed in B&B's - you'll just have to figure out a quasi itinerary and then do a hunt via the net for B&B's along your route. Beware the prices to eat out will leave you breathless. I've traveled all over the world and prices in Norway were above and beyond anything I've experienced elsewhere. That said, if you buy your food in the local super it's pricier than home but within the bounds of reason. I think, and I may not recall this totally correctly, there is a 150% mark up on luxury goods, which includes food eaten at anywhere from McDonald's to a real restaurant. I checked a couple bottles of wine in my suitcase (use a wineskin if a wee glass of wine is important to you). You don't even want to go near what a glass of wine or beer will cost in a restaurant.

Suggestion ..... from Scotland travel up to the Shetland Islands. Stunning scenery and wildlife. You can get a flight from there in the summer - http://www.flybe.com/ - to Bergen. Travel from there down to Oslo. Roger

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I like the idea of renting a car given the various itineraries you all have suggested. Roger, you mentioned the Shetland Islands...that is exactly what we are planning on doing as long as we can find a place to stay at this late date (I understand that early reservations are a must). I'm also a bit hesitant about flying over the North Sea in a tiny 30 passenger plane (from Inverness to Shetland Islands) as I'm not an enthusiastic flyer to begin with. Anyone done that flight before?

I've been to the Shetlands, and you ought to be able to find somewhere to stay. I stayed at the Queen Hotel in Lerwick, which was fine. Flybe fly modern turboprops, which are only slightly more noisy than a conventional jet aeroplane. You may be buffeted around a little bit more during take off and landing, but at a cruise, they're imperceptible. They also feel a lot bigger than they are. From Inverness/Aberdeen/Edinburgh to the Shetlands it is not a long flight and Lerwick is closer to Bergen than it is to Aberdeen. If you can go to Shetland, do go - most British people have never been and it is truly a unique part of the world with some of the most stunning and bleak scenery you'll behold...

Ålesund is lovely but I wouldn't go to the logistical trouble unless it was part of the Geirangerfjord and Trollsteigen stops I mentioned before. You could then either fly to Oslo from Ålesund or train from nearby Åndalsnes - and the first part of that train ride is pretty stunning also. I won't deny that the Nutshell experience is lovely. But I think it gets so much mention primarily because it is the ONLY thing too many people do in Norway. If you choose to stick with the nutshell/Balestrand experience, you will enjoy it. But I do wish more people would get off the beaten track. We did both areas and preferred the northern fjord experience more than the nutshell.

Hi everyone, Okay...based on everyone's suggestions I've put together an initial itinerary based on having a rental car. I had to cut out some things in order for it not to be totally insane, and yet I fear it might still be. Please share your thoughts: Day 1: Fly into Bergen from Shetland Is., arr. 2:10 p.m. Stay overnight in Bergen Day 2: Drive to Balestrand (3:15 hours), Stay overnight in Balestrand Day 3: Day trip from Balestrand, Stay overnight again in Balestrand Day 4: Drive to Alesund (5:15 hours, ugh!), Stay overnight in Alesund Day 5: Morning and afternoon in Alesund, drop off rental Fly Alesund to Bergen at 5:20 p.m. Stay overnight in Bergen Day 6: Bergen to Oslo on Norway in a Nutshell train 8:40 a.m. arr Oslo 10:20 p.m. Day 7: Explore Oslo
Day 8: Early morning flight home Alesund looks like a great place, and I love the idea of the town being on the water like Venice is, but in a Norwegian setting. However, I don't think we're going to have enough time there to justify it. Our "Day 1" is set by Flybe airlines as that is the only day of the week they fly from the Shetlands to Norway (that I can tell). Our "Day 8" is set by already-purchased tickets to fly home. I could also skip the Bergen to Oslo train experience, but I keep reading about how it's the most spectacular train ride in Northern Europe. So...what would you do? Thanks everyone!

I have only done the flight to Shetland on British Airways. (My sister-in-law lives there.) The airport is quite small and I think all the flights in and out of there are turbo-props. (Apart from the choppers going out to the rigs.) They are good reliable modern aircraft. The only problem is that the weather can "close in" really fast - even in summer. What happens then is that inbound flights just return to where they left from and outbound flights just stay on the ground. Have a flexible schedule! I have been on a "Shell" aircraft out of there when the BA plane that was supposed to arrive the night before had turned back to Aberdeen - BA borrowed it. The only time accommodation gets a bit scarce up there is in January (!) during "Up Helly Aa". There is usually plenty in Lerwick. I like the Sumburgh hotel near the airport. All the aircrews stay there.
Roger

If you can, add another day to Oslo. I think you will find you like it a great deal. There are several excellent mueums on the Bugdouy (sp?) pensulia and the Viegeland sculpture park, plus the palace itself to see. We enjoyed a late afternoon cruise on the fijord- just before full sunset- it was absolutely beautiful. And dinner near the harbor. There are markets and small parks to explore, too. There is an old silver mine that does tours in a small town just a short train ride away (then a short bus ride and walk). Also a cobalt mine (haven't made it there yet- but I want to). Oslo is a lovely city- one of my favorites.

Hello Tara. Flying to Bergen, and flying from Oslo, is the best way to do Norway. Do not rent a car in Norway. If I were to travel at Norway in the Summer, my travel plan would be - Day 2: Fast boat from Bergen to Balestrand. Hotel at Balestrand. Day 3: Ferry from Balestrand to Sogndal, and bus from Sogndal to Lom. Hotel at Lom. Day 4: Bus and train from Lom to Trondheim. Hotel at Trondheim. Day 5: Trondheim. Hotel at Trondheim. Day 6: train from Trondheim to Oslo (reserve seats in train, in advance). Hotel in Oslo. Day 7: Oslo. (I think one whole day in Oslo is sufficient time there). I travelled across Norway in May, 2007. I love Norway.