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I'm planning a family trip to Norway this summer. I've never been to Norway, so looking for some advice. The trip will probably be about a week long. Without doing much research so far I'm thinking about starting in Oslo, heading over to Bergen, then perhaps to Ålesund before heading back to Oslo. My parents will be going and they are in there 70s, so although the focus will be on seeing natural beauty I don't think we'll be doing any long hikes. So, given that, any suggestions?
Have you considered going Bergen to Ålesund and skipping to Oslo? I've never been to Oslo so I can't comment, but we did Ålesund to Bergen this summer and it was just insanely beautiful. Lots of twisty mountain/fjord driving with stunning views and cool mountain passes. All the scenery is visible from the road so in that way it's a good parents trip.
You mean you flew into Bergen rather than Oslo? Never even thought of that as a possibility, but it's a great suggestion.
We actually flew to Alesund, rented a car and drove to Bergen. There was a decent fee to pay to go one way with the rental but I thought it was worthwhile just to be able to see more places in the 6 or so days we had.Quote:
Originally Posted by The AD
FWIW I thought Alesund and Bergen were just ok. We didn’t reserve a ton of time to see them which ended up being ok. Pretty towns but not that interesting. Pretty blah compared to the jaw dropping mountains and fjords in practically every inch of the drive.
What do you think would make a better base for driving: Alesund or Bergen?
Ålesund is a super cool town to spend time in and drive out of, but you really can't go wrong with either. Recommend taking the time to get to Romsdalen.
Agreed regarding Romsdalen. The view from the the Romsdal Ridge hike is unforgettable. If the weather is good when you are there, don’t miss it.Quote:
Originally Posted by NWFlow
FWIW, we flew in to Oslo last year and then flew to Alesund, rented a car and drove to Runde (bird sanctuary island) then on to a distant relatives farm on the Hjorundfjord in the town of Viddal. Then continued on to Trondheim past Romsdalen. Then flew to Lofoten for a week and back to Oslo. Highlights were definitely any driving along the fjords. Agreed Alesund was not worth spending excessive amounts of time in. The beauty and allure of Norway is in the fjords and mountains. Lofoten is epic but may not be possible in your timeframe. Didnt spend time in Bergen or south so I cant comment on those areas but everything between Runde and Andelsnes via Geiranger was epic.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/...a20032ce3d.jpgIMG_3772-Pano by snoop luther, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4350/...ef65ceca65.jpgIMG_3651 by snoop luther, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4403/...bbbd18b34a.jpgIMG_5012 by snoop luther, on Flickr
My brother worked in Bergen a lot over the last few years. He said a cool thing to see was the anchor on the top of a hill. Seems a nazi submarine was docked there during the occupation, and the underground blew up some munitions, and it blew the anchor up there.
He took customers out to eat a lot, so he suggested some restaurants, (nice places, but maybe not insider knowledge). Cornelius, right on the water, https://www.bryggeloftet.no/bildegalleri cool place, walk outside and listen to music, https://www.floienfolkerestaurant.no/kontakt/ view restaurant, that has good food as well.
Also: restaurants are expensive AF in Norway if you haven't figured that out yet. We mostly stayed in AirBnBs and cooked for ourselves. Salmon in the grocery stores is pretty good and not expensive. Gas is not cheap either, but luckily our rental car appeared to be an upsized golf cart.
Great recommendations so far. I appreciate it!
I noticed western Norway is one of the New York Times' 52 places for 2019:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...section=Travel
(it's #35)
A couple of years ago, we flew into Kristiansand and stayed with in laws relatives. It's the Miami Beach of Norway with a relatively higher number of sunny days.
We confined our travel to the southern tip and some islands just off Kristiansand, which is populated by farms, rivers and hills. It is really beautiful and almost weirdly tidy. The ferry ride around the islands and coast there is beautiful and reminiscent of the San Juans.
A couple of things stood out:
It's expensive for virtually everything from hotels, to food and gas.
It's also not nearly as connected as GB/France/Switzerland/Austria or even Italy in terms of infrastructure, at least around Kristiansand, so, for example, getting from the airport to the train station or town required a long expensive taxi.
Ocean travel is fundamentally tied to the coast culture, so the harbor was full of interesting boats and had a gorgeous opera house. The harbor there is a great place to investigate, but probably really worth 2 slow days.
There is a super old church there, Oddernes Church, from 1040 that has this wild ceiling with an eye painted in it with evidence of the reformation transition.
Pretty much everything between Trondheim - Ålesund - Bergen is worth a visit if you're looking for nature. Rental car is a good idea.
One possibility is flying into Oslo, train across the mountain plateau to Bergen. Rental from Bergen to Ålesund or Trondheim. Fly back to Oslo, or train from Trondheim to Oslo. Or drive all the way to Oslo. Trondheim - Oslo is 6-7 hours.
Tons of stuff to do in Bergen and Trondheim. A few things in Ålesund/Molde. Lots of museums, good food. Doesn't have to be expensive. Research.
Oslo is worth a visit as well if you want to see more of the urban side of Norway.
Cool views Bergen-Ålesund:
- Nærøyfjorden / Flåm - area. Views, boattrip, train ride to Myrdal.
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- Turtagrø hotel / Hurrungane range. Spend the night, do some light hiking. Drive the summer road from Øvre Årdal to Turtagrø.
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- Strynfjellet sommerski. Glacier skiing.
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Ålesund - Trondheim.
- Romsdalen. Summer road over Trollstigen if possible
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- Hjerkinn / Dovrefjell. Watch Musk Ox
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And yeah......it will probably not be as sunny all the time
Great suggestions. Thanks!
I don’t want to come across too snarky, but honestly just do some googling. People have put together detailed guides on how to book Norway in a Nutshell independently - they don’t have their own separate train or other transportation, and you’d be sitting next to people who booked independently if you go through the marketing service.
You can also just google “Bergen tours” and find many many operators, Viator doesn’t have the majority of tour operators in many areas.
Oslo is a nice city but Bergen is a better city base (if you want one) for hiking and looking at fjords.
We've got the itinerary worked out. Will fly into Oslo and spend a day there before heading over to Bergen where we'll spend four nights. My wife and I are leaving out of Bergen and spending two nights in Iceland before heading home.
That looks great. Norway has been on my list as long as I can remember
LOFOTEN
Plans are firming up. Will be in Oslo a couple days then flying to Bergen for four nights. I've got a car reserved in Bergen for some road tripping. Two nights in Iceland on the way home.
Everything is expensive except hotels in Oslo for some reason. There were lots with good reviews around $125/night or so. I found that surprising. Also scored that Oslo to Bergen flight for $58 on SAS!
I spent a week in Oslo last summer and absolutely loved it. One thing I kept hearing from all the locals was that Oslo was by far the worst part of Norway, and everywhere else was prettier. I'm looking forward to going back next summer.
Oslo's OK, but not a whole lot to set it apart from any other medium-sized European city. You could spend a long time exploring around the west coast of Norway, though. The possibilities are endless. My trip was good other than it being during a pretty bad heat wave. I didn't expect it to be sweltering in Norway, but it was.