We just returned from 2 weeks in Norway and we had a wonderful trip. We arrived in Oslo and spent 3 nights and stayed at the Thon Rosenkrantz. From Oslo, we did booked NIN on our own with a 2 night stop in Flam. We stayed at the Flam Marina. The worst weather of our trip was the day of the Flamsbana. It was snowing heavy wet snow from Finse to Myrdal and beyond. It was very foggy and hard to see anything. The train was packed. So, the Flamsbana was our biggest disappointment of the trip. But it made us glad we were staying in Flam for a couple nights because the next 2 days were lovely.
From Flam, we finished the NIN. The Naeroyfjord cruise was wonderful. We stayed at the Thon Rosenkrantz in Bergen. Bergen was much more of a tourist town. We stayed for 2 nights. From Bergen, we took the Hurtigruten to Alesund. We enjoyed it very much, but we were happy to get off in Alesund. In Alesund, we rented a car from Avis and began the driving portion of our trip. We drove to Loen for 2 nights, then Geirganger for 2 nights, then Andalsnes, where we dropped off the car. Then we took the train to the Oslo airport. We stopped in Lillehammer on the way and checked our bags and went to the Olympic museum and Maihaugen. We spent the night at the airport and flew to our next destination in the morning.
So that's our trip. Here are some general tips.
You don't need any cash. We did not use cash for anything. Everything was card. And everyone, even 90 year old ladies, tapped cards. It was very different than France, our next stop, where we saw lots of cash.
There was lots of English in Oslo, Bergen, Geiranger. Just about everyone we encountered spoke English and spoke it well. We noticed staff at our hotels speaking English to each other, but we learned that there are many people from other countries working in Norway in the service industry and English is the common language. In Loen and Andalsnes and Lillehammer there was a little less English, but still, most people spoke it.
The driving was much easier than we expected. The roads are great and the Norwegians seemed to be very cautious drivers. There are some one lane roads where you have to pay attention to what's ahead of you, but there are many pull offs and we only had to back up once. The road to our cabin in Loen was a little dicey but we managed. Also, the car rental was great, much like in the U.S. When we dropped off the car, there was no big inspection of tiny scratches like we had in France. We were asked if we filled the gas tank, and off we went. We were given a hybrid Toyota Yaris. We only had to fill the tank once and it was very easy. The gas pump gave an English option.
The public transit in Oslo and Bergen is excellent. We took the Flytoget to town from the airport because it was half price for seniors. It was very easy. Oslo is very walkable, but for 2 days we bought a 24 hour pass for transit. We bought it on the Ruter app. It's all honor system in Oslo. We didn't have to show anyone anything. You just get on and get off.
The food in Norway exceeded expectations, and my husband is vegetarian. Everything was delicious. And the Thon hotel breakfasts live up to the hype. It's a bit expensive, but we're pretty good tippers at home, and when we considered the lack of tip, it wasn't bad. The booze is pricey. We bought a bottle of vodka at the duty free and had a cocktail at our hotel before dinner.
Don't neglect campgrounds as a place to stay. Most of them have cabins. We stayed at a campground in Loen and also Geiranger. It was great to have a kitchen for a few days. And the campgrounds have washer/dryers you can use.
Every hike in Norway seemed to be straight up, so get used to elevation changes. Also, the Norwegians are great hikers. They will describe a hike as a "pleasant little walk, very easy" and then you will walk up 800 stone steps. But we were expecting that.
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