craz

well for the longest period of time the 3pm the day before when Im going and the day when Im going were Soldout. Today all of a sudden they both are available. However already booked everything on non-refundables so Im stuck with the 6am train rather then the 8am I wanted

slickvik

Is this tour better than norway in a nutshell?

https://www.fjordrive.com/fjordrive-...eroyfjord-tour

ksu

No. This is basically half "Norway in the nutshell", without really getting anything extra. You get the sidetrip to Stegastein extra, but you miss the spectacular train trip. The bus probably drives the same road Bergen-Voss-Gudvangen both ways. It's nice once, but not that spectacular to drive twice. And it is rather misleading in announcing "Driving down Stalheimskleiva". This is a spectacular roadtrip, that has been an important part of Norway in a Nutshell, but the famous old road was closed for repairs a couple of years ago, and might never reopen for vehicular traffic again. The traffic goes on the new parallel road.
"

slickvik

Thanks, 3 questions for you:

I am thinking of booking the Nutshell on my own then, a few questions for you.

1. Is 10 minutes enough at Flam to transfer from ferry to train?
2. Should I return to Bergen and fly to Oslo the next day or take the train from Myrdal to Oslo after the Flam railway?
3. Should I also take this tour in Bergen, or is it overkill? https://rodne.no/en/fjordcruise/fjor...to-mostraumen/
4. Should I add a day in Stavenger to see Lysefjord? Or is that overkill.
5. Should I break up the journey and stay a night in flam?

ksu

Or five... :-)

1. Yes. The train station is next to the quai, and the train and ferry are run by the same company.
5. Flåm has a nice old hotel, and a newer hotel which hosts a micro brewery. They are expensive but nice. Otherwise the village doesn't really have anything of interest (I am often in the area for business, but we stayed three nights at the Flåmsbrygga two years ago, due to not being able to go abroad. It was enjoyable, but we took the train the first day, the boat to Gudvangen the second day, and drove on to Bergen (beside Stalheimskleiva) the third day! I would say it's a nice stopover, if you want a stop, but the journey there is the reason you go there, not the village.
2. If you go by train to Voss, and then by bus to Gudvangen, I would suggest that you went directly to Oslo. If you go by bus all the way from Bergen, or by boat all the way from Bergen, I would return by train to Bergen. The mountain railway from Myrdal via Finse is interesting enough, but the stretch (Myrdal-) Voss- Bergen is also charming.
3. This is drive-through country for me. I don't know the area well: it's sort of dark, rainy and mystical (I rarely drive there in summer! :-) ).I was fascinated enough to want to take that boat myself! It certainly is very different from Sognefjorden!
4. I must confess that I have never been to Lysefjorden. Stavanger is very different to Bergen, and is nice in its way. I would rather go north to see Geiranger/Åndalsnes/Rauma to b honest,

poohhead80

I am looking for hotels for my 7 day trip to Norway. I will rent a vehicle and tour around Oslo, Bergen, Flåm, Gudvangen, and Voss. I am searching airbnb website. It seems vrbo does not have many listings.

Can you recommend other website for accommodations?

Thanks,

ksu

I usually stay in hotels., so the usual booking pages is a good place to start for that, but try and book directly from the hotels themselves.

I think AirBnB is best for short-time private rents, but do remember that Norway, at least Western Norway is very seasonal. People might rent their house in June-August, but live there themselves for the rest of the year!

poohhead80

Thank you. We are a group of six. Parents in 70s, teenage kids, me and my spouse. I am looking for a unit which all six people can stay together. It looks like hotels in Norway are good for two people. Booking three hotels rooms does not work for this trip. Thanks.

ksu

Agree. Especially in rural areas people rent quite large cottages and family houses, so you should find something, even off season, as a quick search on AirBnB confirms. Distances by car in that area aren't that long: Lærdal - Aurland- Flåm - Gudvangen is 55 minutes by car. Do note that there are two very long tunnels, though (the summer road between Aurland and Lærdal is very beautiful, though)

ksu

Voss - Flåm is just above an hour by car, Gudvangen - Flåm is 20 minutes. I would choose one base for all those three. And seven-seater care are not that common here: book your vehicle early!

poohhead80

Yes. I booked Toyota ProAce 8 seater from Sixt.
I usually rent a car from Hertz. I was told they do not have automatic 8 seater vans in Oslo location.
Thank you.

poohhead80

I am debating between two plans.

Travel dates are early April, 2023.

Plan A:
Day 1: Arriving in Oslo in the afternoon. Rent a car. Stay within 50km from Oslo airport
Day 2: Oslo airport - Sohlbergplassen viewpoint (NTR Rondane) or NTR Valdresflye. Stay near Otta
Day 3: Otta - E15 highway - Hotel Videseter - Stryneelva - Sogndalsfjøra Stay near Sogndalsfjøra (NTR Sognefjellet / Gamle Strynefjellsvegen / Geiranger – Trollstigen are closed)
Day 4: Sogndalsfjøra - Turtagrø - Stegastein Viewpoint - Flåm - Gudvangen - Vossevangen Stay near Vossevangen
Day 5: Vossevangen-Bergen Stay near Bergen
Day 6: Bergen-Eidfjord NTR Hardanger Stay near Eidfjord
Day 7: Eidfjord - Oslo NTR Hardangervidda Stay near Oslo
Day 8: Oslo Fly out

I am worried about Day 3 and Day 4. I am skipping Norwegian Scenic Routes since Sognefjellet / Gamle Strynefjellsvegen / Geiranger – Trollstigen are closed during winter. However, I will pass 15 highway between Stryneelva and Vågåmo. Google map street view taken March 2010 (even though the road is clean without snow) makes me worry.
On Day 4 if Turtagrø - Stegastein Viewpoint is closed, then I can take a ferry Hella - Vangsnes. However, I do not think I have an alternative option.
So it comes down to whether there would be bad weather on Day3.

So I have a backup plan
Day 1: same (Arriving in Oslo in the afternoon. Rent a car. Stay within 50km from Oslo airport)
Day 2: same (Oslo airport - Sohlbergplassen viewpoint (NTR Rondane) or NTR Valdresflye. Stay near Otta)
Day 3: Otta - Alesund
Day 4: Alesund
Day 5: Atlantic Ocean Rd
Day 6: Otta - Oslo
Day 7: Oslo
Day 8: Oslo Fly out

Since on Plan B I am not driving roads with high elevation, I think it is much safer from the bad weather. However, from attraction points it would be less attractions.

GUWonder

Don’t they need a six-seater? There should be some rentals that do that. I thought they also had some VW or other rentals that have 6-8 places, although that means a tight fit for the back row and encroaches on luggage space. If Oslo is tight on such vehicles, maybe some GOT area rental places have more choices.

Do the Norwegian car rental places rent those roof-top storage boxes from Thule and the like?

ksu

I wrote seven-seater because that is a standard offering (that's what my friends with four kids drive!) - I really cannot remember seeing six-seater cars here.

ksu

In 2023 Easter week is the first full week of April. This is high season for domestic travellers in all ski areas. This also means that attractions, restaurants etc will be open. Reserve accomodations early.

Atlanterhavsveien is in my local area, and Ålesund is interesting, but I still think that plan B is a very different, and much less interesting route than plan A. There will be winter conditions on the roads, pretty much anywhere you drive. Rental cars will be properly equipped with winter tires (usually not studded anymore). Riksvei 15 (it's not an Europavei) is a mountain crossing, but it is a quite busy road. You might risk night closures and (sometimes) convoys (i.e. open only for convoys of cars driving behind a plow truck), but it is such an important axis that it is rarely closed.

Turtagrø is on Road 55 (Sognefjellet). The hotel there opens at Easter, but the through road to Lom doesn't open until about May 1, so you'll have to backtrack all the way to Sogndal to go there. I cannot find the road going south fro Turtagrø to Årdal, that you have on your map on any of my roadmaps. To go from Sogndal towards Stegastein/Flåm/Gudvangen use Riksvei 5 by way of Kaupanger and the ferry crossing Mannheller-Fodnes. It's a short and very frequent route (usually every 20 minutes AFAIR), and from there you can drive to Lærdal. The mountain road across Aurlandsfjellet will probably be closed, but the last part of the road (Aurlandsvangen-Stegastein) is kept open all year. So if the mountain road is closed, you can still reach Stegastein and Flåm/Gudvangen by using the long tunnel (E16) from Lærdal.E16 is the road that you will follow all the way to Bergen.

Your alternative (Road 13) going Hella-Vangsnes is an alternative, but Vikafjellet (a very beautiful mountain pass between Vangsnes and Voss) is more likely to be closed than Otta-Stryn-Sogndal-Lærdal-Gudvangen-Voss. I have driven Vikafjellet several times in winter, and I (a native, experienced winter driver) would be more wary of driving there in winter, than your primary plan. April will probably be fine, but I'd still recommend RV5/E16