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Norway/Hardangerfjord in a Nutshell trip report

In early June we were in Norway and took the Bergen Railway from Oslo to Bergen, using the Fjord Tours "nutshell" tours. These are discussed in the Norway book but as there are so many ways you can do this, thought I'd share what we did.

First of all, we wanted to both do the main route from Oslo to Bergen, which was basically the Hardangerfjord in a Nutshell tour; we also wanted to go to Flåm and cruise the Aurlandsfjord and Nærøyfjord, which is really the Norway in a Nutshell. We booked the Hardangerfjord tour and arranged for two-night stays in both Voss and Ulvik, and three nights in Bergen. We then booked the Norway in a Nutshell round-trip from Voss (train connection in Myrdal). That got us to all of our desired sights and best of all for us, we were going down to Flåm the opposite direction from all the cruise folks, so as they got up to Myrdal we were getting into Flåm, and it wasn't super-crowded.

The only day it felt even remotely like A Tour was the day from Ulvik getting to Bergen, where the transport was a combination of boat and bus, going to the Hardangervidda Nature Center (well worth it) and seeing other sights en route. Otherwise, our itinerary was relaxed enough that we could enjoy the scenery and not feel rushed at all. (For anyone thinking of doing any of these in only one or two days - do reconsider.)

It's of course possible to not book the "tours" and arrange all this separately, or buy tickets as you go, and normally we would do that, but these tours are so well organized and the transportation so well coordinated, I'm glad we just arranged it all through their website. I'd also checked hotel costs via individual booking vs including in the nutshell tours and at least when I was looking, it was pretty much a wash.