My wife and I are beginning to plan a trip to Norway and Scandanavia for next summer (most likely around July). Does anybody have suggestions? My wife is of Norwegian heritage so we plan to focus on Norway but are also considering a stop in Sweden and Denmark. We will have a total of 6 days on the ground (a total of 8 in all when you consider travel days). With the limited amount of time I am trying to decide whether we fly into Stockholm or Copenhagen, stay a couple of days and then do the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour or just start in Oslo and do the "Hurtigruten & Norway in a Nutshell" tour or the "Lysefjord & Norway in a Nutshell" tour. I have looked at Rick's Itinerary but we just don't have 14 days.
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1863 posts
We spent a week in Norway in 2005, but did not do the usual Norway in a Nutshell trip. We flew into Bergen, rented a car, drove immediately to Voss (2 nights), then drove to Flam for the train round-trip and Vik for the stave church and continued on to Balestrand (old part of Kivikne's Hotel is lovely ) for two nights, then drove to Geiranger Fjord for two nights, back to Bergen for one last night. We were very happy with this trip since we could look down at the fjords and also see the glaciers, etc. If you would like more details, send me a PM.
Posted by
southwest, Missouri, U.S.A.
1717 posts
Hi Jon. I travelled in those countries, in May of 2007. I liked it, very much. You said you will be there, 6 days, including the day you arrive there. I recommend : go to Norway only.
Posted by
Wadebridge
37 posts
I went to Norway a couple of weeks ago.
I flew into Oslo, stayed the night there then did the Norway in a Nutshell, overnighted in Bergen and came back on the sleeper. It was a great trip and made me want to go back.
A day and a night is long enough for Bergen, which is really pretty. Most of a day and a night is not long enough for Oslo.
Sleeping on the train is quite cool, cheap compared to a hotel - i.e. the same price, but you wake up in a new destination.
I got the Scandanavia guidebook to plan my next trip and the ferries to Stockholm from Oslo sound interesting.
I would be tempted to look at something like this:
Day 1 arrive Oslo, sleep Oslo, wake up early for Norway in a Nutshell - stop en route for an overnight - overnight in Bergen, back on the sleeper, overnight to Stockholm, see Stockholm during the day and either come back to Oslo on the next overnight ferry or go to Copenhagen and fly onwards/ back from there.
Other option, not advised in the guidebook but what I'm thinking of next time is to fly up to Tromso from Bergen or Oslo and have a couple of nights there rather than Stockholm, you'd get the midnight sun experience or something close.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2776 posts
I would not advise trying to do Copenhagen, Stockholm and Norway. That's way too much for such a short time. You could easily spend the entire time in Norway. I especially enjoyed Bergen, the fjords and Balestrand. I liked, but did not love, Oslo. There are some interesting things to see there, but I would not stay there more than 2 days.
Stockholm is a very beautiful city with a wonderful old town. I would definitely consider flying in there and spending a day and a half or two days. Then you could fly to Bergen and spend a day or two there. From Bergen, do Norway in a Nutshell or a similar trip, ending in Oslo and flying home from there. It would be ideal if you could spend a night at Balestrand or somewhere along the fjords.
If it were me, I would include Stockholm. But you could have a wonderful trip just staying in Norway.