travel to Norway

You can easily do this on your own. Rick's Scandinavia Guidebook covers Oslo and Bergen including the Norway in a Nutshell tour. Further north the Lonely Planet guidebook covers cities above the arctic circle like Tromso.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Norway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRv7fYl5zn8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uZW9O

If you are comfortable with the internet, doing searches, and solo travel in general, you can do this on your own.

As a family with young children (seeing all of Scandinavia) we were in Norway for several days in 2008.

We visited Oslo, Bergen, went north of the Arctic Circle on the train, and did the Geirangerfjord via Trondheim, Andalsnes and Alesund.

If you are doing Norway only, it makes sense to fly in & out of Oslo unless you can find a flight to/from Bergen that makes sense.

You can make a decent run in 7 days (without the arctic), but 10-14 days is much better. Oslo is worth 2-3 full days. One of those days should be on the museum island (I forget the name - just across the harbor from city hall) which is wonderful. It includes an outdoor folk museum that we found delightful, as well as several other minor museums.

Then you can do a loop from there, which could include the arctic if you want. If you do, the best destination is the Lofoten islands, which can be reached by taking a train from Trondheim north to Bodo, and then a bus to one of the island villages. The craggy, mountainous islands are unforgettable. The temperatures are more mild than you would expect (in July they were in the low 60's). Many busses can take you from place to place with numerous opportunities for walks & hikes, if you are able. If this is your sort of thing, you could easily spend 3-4 days here. Then train back to Trondheim and continue your loop to the fjord country. The trips to the arctic & back are all day events. There is a night train, but it does not include couchettes (at least it didn't for us!). So doing this would requite a major commitment of time, energy, and cost. But it is a unique experience.

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I highly recommend the Geirangerfjord ferry cruise between Geiranger and Helysilt(sp?). Get to Geiranger by bus from Andalsnes (Trollsteigen mountain road with amazing scenery) Get to Andalsnes by train from Trondheim.

After doing the Geirangerfjord you can either catch a very long, scenic, but tedious bus ride to Bergen, or a much shorter bus ride to the lovely coastal city of Alesund. If you make this choice, stay the night and then take a flight to Bergen. I know this sounds insane as they are only about 150 miles apart on a map, but the price for a plane is was only about $20 more than the bus. and was a 45min flight vs a 10-hour bus trip. The mountainous, fjord-filled topography makes getting from one place to another by road very difficult and by train impossible.

From Bergen (which is worth one full day and 2 nights), the rest of the loop is as simple as can be. Just sign yourself up for the "Norway-in-a-Nutshell" tour from Bergen to Oslo, which is an all-day, train, bus, fjord cruise, cog train, train scenic wonderland and perfectly designed for tourists. I liked the Geirangerfjord better, myself. But the nutshell package as a whole is quite good. You can arrange each portion yourself (we did) but buying one all-inclusive ticket from a counter in Bergen or Oslo will only cost about 20% more and is simpler.

Naturally, you can do all of this in reverse order. There are also many other nice places to see in Norway that we didn't get to, so do your reading. The Rick Steves book is very good, but completely ignores locations north of Trondheim.

Good Luck. Pack light and take public transport. Don't drive - you'll have an accident while trying to enjoy the wonderful scenery.

Yes, it is expensive, especially food. All that public transport is expensive, too, but necessary. On the whole, however, it is only about 20% more expensive than England or France, we found.

Hi Diane. You do not need a tour organizer. I travelled in Norway, in June of 2007. Read about the "Norway in a Nutshell" fjord trip
, in the book "Rick Steves' SCANDINAVIA". Doing that trip, either direction, (between Bergen and Oslo), I recommend : have overnight accomodation at Aurland. And I would ride in a train from Oslo to Trondheim. I think the best travel guide book on Norway is "The ROUGH GUIDE to Norway". What total number of days can you be at Norway ? A traveller who can not spend much money there will probably not go north of Trondheim.

First: 60's is a young chick in my book. Have at it, the people are great.

Second: A couple of minor caveats from the two previous postings:

a -- not sure what Randy's idea is on the "ferry" business from Geiranger (never looked at it -- nothing bad to say about it -- ignorance on my part) but there are day trips into the fjord from Geiranger which I thought were just great. I'd do both Geirangerfjord and the Nutshell.

b -- The Nutshell, if trying to incorporate it into the Bergen - Oslo transit, is exhausting. Twenty hours bed-to-bed, maybe more since there's a hotel change involved. I would think it would leave you too tired for the next day's activities. It's a very manageable day excursion from Bergen, however, and puts you back in town in plenty of time for supper.

Otherwise, Randy and Ron nailed it.

In response to Ed's points;

1) The Geirangerfjord has many boat tours, including several pricey "cruises". But you see exactly the same thing if you take the local ferry from town to town for about half the price.

2) The Bergen-Oslo nutshell is, indeed a long day, but not THAT long. We departed Bergen around 8:00 AM and stepped into our Oslo lodgings at around 11:00 PM, if I recall. While it is wonderful sightseeing, you do most of it while sitting. Tiring, perhaps. Exhausting, no.

Hi Diane, I would suggest that you fly into Oslo, take a train into the city and enjoy two days. It's small and easy to get around. Then train to Bergen. Depending on your budget I would take the Nutshell tour (between Oslo and Bergen) or an even better trip is to skip the Nutshell tour and just train to Bergen and enjoy a two day stay (again a small town and easy to get around) then jump on a "Hurtigruten Cruise" north toward Kirkenes. You don't need to take the full twelve day cruise. You can jump off at Trondheim enjoy a couple of days then train back to Oslo or fly home. You have lots of choices on the length of the cruise. We did this a couple of years ago and it was fantastic. You can find all the cruise info on the Hurtigruten site or call them at 1-800 334 6544. Comfortable ships, great fjord views, wonderful food, helpful staff. Lots of discounts (Trains/Ships) for seniors aged 67+. Have a wonderful trip

I am still early in the planning stage, and the Steves guide to Scandinavia was sold out at my local Border's, but my working hypothesis was to fly into Oslo for three nights- train to Trondjem for two nights-train to Bodo for two nights and take a day cruise out to the Lofoten Islands- then work my way back to Bergen (perhaps by Hurtigruten) and spend three nights there-finish with 'Norway in a Nutshell' back to Oslo and depart. This is only 11 nights and I'd thought to spend up to 14, so I have time for additions. I don't plan to rent a car and will use public transportation. I'm wondering about the discounts on Hurtigruten you mention as the site mentions none and the prices quoted are quite high.

P.S. There are some unescorted tours offered by Fjord Tours and they also offer to make hotel reservations. They are located in Bergen and have no US phone number. Has anyone had any experiences using them?

Diane,

I like your plan very much. We didn't do the Hurtigruten ship because it was too expensive for our family. But if you can swing it, that might be an excellent way to come south from the Lofoten islands and not do the train each way.

I think it stops in the coastal town of Alesund, and that would be an excellent choice for an extra day before Bergen. The town burned to the ground around 1900 and was rebuilt with international donations entirely in the Art Nouveau style. It has a cute little museum and lots of interesting walks.

As I recall, there were other stopovers that allowed access into fjords. It would be good to do another fjord jaunt besides the one in the nutshell tour. The Hurtigruten ship may not enter the fjords deeply enough to get the full effect of the fjords. It's not the same seeing them from the open sea.

Remember that you will need at least one night in Oslo before you leave (the nutshell arrives late in the evening) and really, two nights would be better because the nutshell is a LONG day and your return is an even LONGER day. Put a full day in Oslo in between and you can give your mind and body a break, plus enjoy the lovely city without feeling like you have a long list of sights to see.

I forgot to mention before to be sure to see Frogner Park in Oslo, with hundreds of delightful statues by Gustav Vigland. In good weather it's a delightful way to spend a 1/2 day with a picnic, and perfect for that recovery day before you depart for home.

You will have a wonderful time!

Diane, just for $$ planning purposes, a couple of years ago I priced Rick's "Nutshell" day and it came to around $400. I decided I couldn't affort that then :(

Diane,
Folks have said that the Norway in a Nutshell makes for a lengthy day, and you have said you could add extra days. So my suggestion is to stay night along the way in the Nutshell. This past June we stayed at the Balestrand Hotel in Balestrand (see RS Scandinavia book) and we recommend it. The hotel and breakfast were very nice, the town is small, quiet, and restful. Happy travels.

FYI Most of the cost for the Nutshell is for the basic train trip from Bergen to Oslo (or vice-versa). If you plan on using a railpass for your trip and for that pertion of the trip, the added cost of the Nutshell-related stuff is much easier to swallow.

I'm still trying to figure out how best to visit north of the Arctic Circle for a couple of days. Fjord Tours offers a 'Hurtigruten and Norway in a Nutshell' tour that would take me from Oslo to Trondheim by train, then to Bergen by Hurtigruten ship (one night) then back to Oslo(Nutshell). The cost, if I'm doing my conversion properly, is $525 with the single supplement. I can (at additional cost) extend any of the land portions of this trip and thought I might go north from Trondheim-by train or air to Bodo and visit the Lofoten Islands,but find this confusing. OR perhaps I could go somewhere else in the north. I had originally hoped to take the Hurtigruten from Kirkenes to Bergen (5 nights), but that would cost $2700 and be a budget buster. Any ideas, please. I plan to be in Norway for about 2 weeks.
Diane

Have you not considered going to Tromso? It's Norway's biggest city above the arctic circle with the biggest airport in the region, and has the world's most northerly Burger King, Cathedral, laundromat, university etc.....

I'll look into Tromso-how can you go wrong with a Burger King!? What about Kirkenes? Its proximity to Russian fascinates me but it might not be my best choice.

Hi Diane (we are neighbors, by the way),
We had a gorgeous week in Norway as part of a longer trip in June, 2005. Roughly, our itinerary was fly into Bergen, get rental car, drive to Voss and Vorringfossen (SE of Voss), drive to Flam (train up and back), stop at Vik stave church, ferry to Balestrand (Kvikne's Hotel is superb if you stay in the old part), drive through glaciers to Gerainger, ferry to Alesund, drive back to Bergen for a night. The fjords look better if you drive across the mountains and look down on them. Driving in Norway is very easy--few roads but good ones, the roads tunnel through the tops of the mountains instead of going over their tops. And there were waterfalls everywhere we looked. Send me a PM if you want more details.

I think that I am going to abandon my Norway plans, at least for this year, but I want to thank everyone who wrote in with advice and ideas-you're a great group!

Not to hijack Diane's thread...hopefully to augment it! I'm bringing my family to Norway and will go to Tromso. From there I'd like to go through Lofoten then down to Bergen and nutshell it to Oslo.

So, anyone gotten from Tromso to Lofoten? Should we rent a car and drive? Fly? How about Lofoten to Bergen, any suggestions?

Thank you.

Don't rule out a Norwegian cruise. They aren't cheap but compare favorably to lodging, meals and transportation paid seperately.

You will pay a significant single supplement but that's true of the bus tour companies also.

I've purchased cruises from vacationstogo.com and have had reliable results with them. There are many other online travel agents that specialize in cruises but they all seem to quote the same fares.

Here's a link, search for Norway cruises and check for senior discounts:

http://vacationstogo.com/ticker.cfm

The biggest thing with cruising (like taking any tour) is to understand what is included in the price and what costs extra. cruisecritic.com is the best place for cruising advice.

You are welcome to my post, Eric. I'm going to London instead this year but hoping for Norway next year, so I will follow your questions and replies and hope to learn something which will help me later.
Diane