Originally Posted by
LoveTravelling
I am now considering flying from Copenhagen either to Oslo or Bergen to start the Norway leg of our journey. If Oslo - Bergen scenic train is better than the scenic train from Bergen, I would take that route and visit Oslo first rather that my original plan of Bergen first.
I think you misunderstood me. Flåmsbana (the scenic railway down to Sognefjorden from Myrdal to Flåm) is more scenic than the Oslo-Bergen line, but as Flåmsbana is a branch line of the Oslo-Bergen line it is impossible to travel on the line without travelling on parts of the Oslo-Bergen line. The exception would be a R/T from Flåm to Myrdal (the junction of the Oslo-Bergen line with Flåmsbana) as Myrdal is only accessible by train. The Oslo-Myrdal part of the journey is IMHO more scenic than the Bergen-Myrdal part, but it is the Myrdal-Flåm journey that is important!
In that case, instead of returning back to Oslo, after we visit Geiranger, we can hire car and drive to the nearest airport and fly directly to Stockholm, or as you mentioned take the scenic train to Trondheim and fly to Stockholm. What would you recommend would be the best option and itinerary routing?
One-way rentals can be very expensive here. If you are doing the Hurtigruten solution, I would actually recommend you not to get off the boat at Geiranger at all. Even though there are some nice views when you get up in the Mountains, the most interesting is the Fjord cruise. I would recommend you to go back with the ship to Ålesund (specify second stop when booking) and stay overnight there. Ålesund is a nice Art Noveau town, with many hotels (Radisson SAS and Thon Ålesund are very close to the quay), pick up a rental car in Ålesund and drive Trollstigen and Atlanterhavsveien before flying from Ålesund to Stockholm (connecting in Oslo)
Also, if I have to chose between visiting Balestrand and Biksdal glacier, which would you recommend is better and where should we stay that night (as in the map they appear quite far from Bergen or Geiranger) We will rent a car to travel along the scenic routes.
http://www.briksdalsbre.no/
Choose Briksdal. You have already seen Sognefjorden in Flåm. The link is to the Mountain Lodge, and the webpage also have information on transportation to the glacier (starting in May, but reservation only). The closest hotel other than the lodge (which only has a handful of rooms) is Olden Fjordhotel (haven't stayed there):
http://www.olden-hotel.no/. Also not too far away is Hotel Alexandra in Loen, one of the most famous hotels in Norway.
http://www.alexandra.no/no/framside.aspx Briksdalsbreen is a major local attraction. If the logde is full, I'd go for the Alexandra.
I was not aware that a few attractions might yet be closed in early June. Thanks for that information. Would there be a link to a website with a list of attractions that are closed in June? In that case, we can consider postponing our trip by a couple of weeks or visiting the other countries like Sweden, Finland first and then travel to Norway. Will we be able to see snow-capped mountains if we travel in late June?
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Don't know of any unified list. I would not gamble on snee-capped mountains that late. This has not been a snow-rich Winter, I'm afraid.