Norway

Fast and direct, I'm afraid not... By sea it's either very slow (Hurtigruten if you can snag a cabin for that leg - a solid day or more and you'd have to haggle the price as they only list the full cruise cost), or you need to get down to Selje by bus (no idea on cost but not more than 200NoK I'd have thought) and get on a fast boat - e.g. the Norled route starting at Selje will get you to Bergen in about 4 hours for just under 835NoK. However, the #311 bus down from Ålesund is just a local one not an express, and the times don't mesh so you'd probably need to overnight in Måløy and be up very early for the 7am boat... For straight-out get-you-there-quick, it's the plane every time - SAS and Norwegian both fly that route and it's under an hour in the air. Not too pricey either if you book well ahead - I've seen under 850NoK on SAS and a bit less for Norwegian but you'd need taxis to get to/from the airports as they are well out of town both ends. natively if the sightseeing bit is more important, there's the Nor-Way express buses (you would need the FjordEkspress line). They take 9 hours odd because they use a few of the fjord ferries and it's a long and winding route down, but I take the TelemarkEkspress quite a lot and they are comfortable even for my podgy 6'2", have a loo and sometimes a coffee dispenser on board, and offer the best views of the coastal countryside. On the site they're showing about 670nok. btw: I've assumed a couple of things as you din't specify; that you're on foot not with a car, and mid-week travel in the 1st week of september - weekend prices will be a bit higher of course, and the direct car ferries are all a lot slower than just driving down.

Aiken, thanks so much for your helpful reply. As it turns out, we'll have a car and have chosen to drive Alesund to Bergen, stopping overnight at several places to enjoy the scenery. If you have any suggestions for places to stay (towns, lodging, etc.) feel free to let us know. It sounds like you are very knowledgable.