Duke787

Hmm good point - yeah I need to commit nowish so I can lock in train tickets at a reasonable price (I'm not booking NIAL directly since I can book in pieces and save at least $70 USD as of today).

2.5 hours on a boat vs. 5 hours does seem a lot better especially in the event weather isn't great.

I just want to make sure that I'm not missing out on something if I only do the Gudvangen to Flam boat instead of Bergen to Flam via Sognefjord

ksu

I must confess that I have never made either of the boat trips in question, my shipping experiences on the Sognefjord are on car trips, making ferry crossings (which on the other hand I do frequently). I am often in Sogn, but travelling by plane or car.

However, the 2,5 hour trip is just a fjord cruise on Sognefjorden. The five-hour trip includes sailing along the coast, which is quite different. Not as uniquely spectacular, but interesting in itself. The train journey Voss-Bergen is not bad either.

GUWonder

I'd go for the Gudvangen-Flam, if I had to choose one of those two over the other.

Duke787

Much appreciated for the advice! Gudvangen - Flam it is!

I couldn't get BGO to work with my baggage (too difficult) so going with the following all in 1 day (6:25am departure from Oslo S and returning to Oslo S at 12:05am the "same" day).

Oslo S - Myrdal - Flam (train)
Flam - Gudvangen (bus)
Gudvangen - Flam (fjord cruise)
Flam - Myrdal - Oslo S (train)

Found a nice 1 bedroom AirBnB right near Oslo S to use my $100 giftcard from the AMEX offer which seems perfect for 3 nights of crashing.

Thanks all for the help! Really looking forward to this unanticipated jaunt up to Norway at the end of my already existing trip!

thegingninj

Not sure I should start a new thread for this.
Traveling to Bergen from Oslo, is it significantly more scenic one way or the other driving vs taking the NiN options?

I've just had the idea to surprise my dad for fathers day with a 5 day trip to Norway. We will arrive in OSL at 11pm on 6/20, depart either OSL or BER on 6/26. The plan is to get drive to Bergen/Flamm/Voss (see sights and check out a few little breweries we've heard of) and then head up towards Alesund and potentially Gerainger for sightseeing/hiking/kayaking/fjord tours. Any advice is much appreciated.

ksu

I am not sure if I understand what you are planning. NiN is a train/bus/boat-combo, it cannot be done by car.

The drive from Oslo to Bergen by way of Sognefjorden is not bad, but it is not that scenic. The train is the scenic route from Oslo to Bergen. Also, adding the drive up to Ålesund/Geiranger (which are reasonably close by Norwegian standards) and then down to Bergen/Oslo sounds too ambitous within your timeframe. I would stick to the area around Sognefjorden if I were you

CaptainMiles

Wife and I will be doing the NIN route Bergen-Oslo on our own in two days in late July. We will have the porter service take our bags, so we will be just with our light backpacks.

Our route will be
Day 1: Bergen-Voss-Gudvangen-Undredal-Aurland
Day 2: Aurland-Flåm-Myrdal-Oslo

We are doing this on our own instead of the packaged NIN because we want to stop some time in Undredal, and stop in Aurland for the night.

I have some questions for the experts.

1. Should I book boat tickets for specific boats in advance, or just catch whatever boat is next? I like the idea of just catching whatever boat is next, for the flexibility, but am concerned that boats may be full and we wait for hours, or worse yet get stuck. Do boats fill up? Thoughts?

2. I understand, perhaps incorrectly, that there are two bus routes Voss-Gudvangen: the one that just takes the E16, and another that partially takes E16 and partially takes a road with hairpin turns that passes the waterfalls. I like the latter better. How can I tell which is which? Bus schedule Is is that the ones that stop at the Stalheim hotel and take 60+ minutes go through the waterfalls, and the ones that takes less than 60 minutes just take the E16? Or am I just misinformed about the busses? And do busses fill up or can I count on always having a seat?

3. I would love to travel the length of the Lærdal Tunnel, both ways, and it's right there by Aurland. But... the bus schedule does not work. Is hitchhiking realistic? Any other ideas for the Lærdal Tunnel?

PsiFighter37

I don't think it's really easy to hitchhike it, from what I recall. And having driven it, it was pretty disorienting to drive in mostly darkness for more than 15 miles (those blue-looking parts of the tunnel are only in 2 or 3 spots). An impressive engineering feat, perhaps, but not one I have any real interest in experiencing again soon.

craz

Im thinking of jumping in and doing NIAN the end of Aug. Not sure if going OSL-BGO is any different then BGO-OSL ( I know its much nicer driving down from SF to LA along the coast then driving up, viewing wise as you drive) Does it make any difference where one starts and ends with NIAN?

Since Im heading to VIE afterwards and need a suit there so will there be any problems dragging a shoulder garmet bag along with my carry-on while doing the NIAN? Since I want to spend some time checking out Bergen Id prefer not starting and ending in OSL, but if dragging the garmet bag will be cumbersome I guess I can rework everything

Looking to sleep in OSL, night #1, Flam night #2 and Bergen night #3, due to constraits that I need to be in VIE by Fri afternoon and not being able to fly out of NY before Mon night, 3 nights is what I can max it out at

any tips or advice is greatly appreciated

sooge_sj

I just got back from a 16 day trip to Norway, and I did all the planning and booking for planes, ships, trains, ferries, buses and all other modes of transportation on my own.

With regards to the Gudvangen to Flam ferry/boat, I would suggest that you book ahead. The day I traveled (June 30th), the boat was crowded. There were many tour groups as well as individual travelers. Especially if you are traveling with luggage, get to the dock on time, get in line and try to be one of the 1st on the boat, so you can grab a good spot with a view.

With regards to the Voss-Gudvangen bus, bus # 950. This just goes from Voss station to the Gudvangen dock, and it takes the scenic route that also stops at the Stalheim hotel. This is very beautiful, and try to get a seat on the right hand side.

You can use https://www.skyss.no/en/timetable-an...ravel-planner/ to check for the schedule. Just enter Voss stasjon as the start point and Gudvangen kai as the end point. Kai means dock.

The other bus from Voss-Gudvangen bus, bus # 4500, which does not take the scenic route. Instead it takes the short cut tunnel. This bus doesn't go to the Gudvangen dock. The bus stop is on the E16 main road and the bus stop is called Gudvangen E16. While the #950 bus just goes from Voss to the Gudvangen dock, the #4500 bus starts in Bergen, goes through Voss and Gudvangen, and continues.

Hope this helps.

TRRed

If it were me, I would ax the night in Flam and have 2 in Bergen (or Oslo). That way you can ship luggage and not have to change hotels every day. Probably doable to carry garment bag with you but could be a hassle. On the boat, I found myself walking around to different parts of the boat depending on the scenery I wanted to take pictures of. I don't recall that there was any ideal/secure place to leave such things on the boat so that you could walk around.

I will let others opine if direction matters. In your case, maybe it depends on whether you can get a later flight on Friday from Oslo or Bergen to VIE. If you do NIAN on Thursday, you will get in late enough that you won't have much time on Thurs. to see a lot at that end.

craz

Will give KOing Flam alot of thought

I actually need an early flight from BGO or OSL to VIE, didnt want a 6am but pretty much anything after that (on Saver award) isnt available or doesnt exist. Need to be in VIE by late afternoon and thats checked into my hotel at that.

My main problem is if I fly into BGO I cant use pts for that night, if I end in BGO no problem (can also do 2 nights there no problem, the problem is both CC hotels arent available for the 1st night if I fly in and Id love to use my CC pts as Eur is the only place it makes sense for me to do so, no BW or Choice pts even if they are available)

I guess I can train it back or see if theres a late flight back to OSL and book the Park Inn for the night before I fly to VIE and leave my bags there while I do NIAN and spend 1 night and part of the next day in Bergen

If the boat is the problem with bags , then Im not worried as no one can simply take them and walk away with them.I guess they can throw them overboard but what do they get out of that

If I could have left NY 1 day earlier things would be different but I cant and deadline to be in Vienna is also set in stone, so I must work around them and try and get something to work and I just want to cross off NIAN off my list

Update: Its workable I can take a flight back from BGO to OSL on Thurs sleep by OSL (where I hopefully will be able to leave my bags) when I arrive on a Tues) checkout Oslo for the day and sleep downtown by the train say the PI there. Do NIAN on Weds and sleep in BGO Weds night and fly back to OSL Thurs night 8:45p is the last flight but Id probably take a 6:45 or 7:15 flight and onto VIE 6:45am on Fri getting in 9:15am Any idea what time Id get to BGO on Weds after doing NIAN?

GUWonder

Choice hotel points can be easily purchased.

chrisljo

Didn't quite crasp your entire journey, but do remember that you can usually add a OSL-BGO or a BGO-OSL segment (with stopovers) to SAS plus tickets for only the cost of YQ and taxes.

Though I think VIE is codeshare, so it might not work. The SAS won't give you those routings, so you need to use a OTA or travel agent.

craz

its all on 1 saver award tkt. Ended up EWR-OSL (UA), NIAN, BGO-OSL-VIE(SK,OS)( leave BGO @ 7:15pm = overnighting @ OSL), VIE-TXL-EWR(OS,UA) which will cost 30K x 2 if a person wants coach or 115k if a person wants Biz and its available or 140k in Biz if UA isnt the carrier for the TATL