Currently planning a family trip to Norway in July. Only plan at present is to fly into Bergen and fly out of Oslo with about a week based in/around each. Planning on taking the train from Bergen to Oslo, somewhere in the middle, as we've heard it's an amazing journey. Probably staying in Air B&B style accommodation.
Grateful for any recommendations on accommodation, activities and side trips in and around Bergen and Oslo.
Biking or non-biking?
Hallingdal valley (Nesbyen) is on your route so that would be the obvious area to stop in if you’re biking.
Apparently there is lots of other non-biking stuff to do there as well but I’ve never really paid much attention.
Oslo Card might be worth looking into - gets you into most (but not all) museums including the Munch Museum and also gives you free public transport in the city including some of the Oslofjord ferries.
Freddy Fuego burritos were excellent.
Don’t pay for the premium airport train to Oslo airport - the VY service from the Centralstasjon is cheaper (and included in the Oslo Card IIRC) and not much slower.
i would be heading to Lofoten area, for a week of walks on wild beaches and empty mountains.
done it on the bike, will deffo do it on 2 feet. amazing area.
Yes, buit that would mean 2000+ km of driving each way there and back . So might not fit with sightseeing in Bergen /Oslo. Top tips.. Norway is a big place
Just go to them and do the normal tourist stuff. Are you renting a car? A lot of outdoors stuff isn't easy by public transport
Actually my top tip is take your rain coat as July can be truly minging. Be prepared to be flexible with indoors, outdoors things
Actually my top tip is take your rain coat as July can be truly minging.
I spent some time working in Bergen. When I arrived they gave me an umbrella with the university crest. It seemed a strange gift. I used it every single day.
On a more positive note, you can get out of the town and into wilderness very quickly by taking the funicular. There are nice "Norway in a nutshell" day cruises. The fish market has some very fresh produce (unsurprisingly), but otherwise food is dire so taking some spice mixes etc might be a good idea.
We did something similar a few years back and had a great time.
We got the train to Myrdal about halfway between Oslo and Bergen and got on the historic Flam railway to the small port of Flam right at the end of a large fjord. Caught the public boat the next day from Flam to Bergen which was incredible, only a small boat and used by both tourists and locals but had incredible views of the fjords.
Definitely try to get out of Bergen, there’s loads of good walks - we did some from the top of the mountain train.
In Oslo we really enjoyed the ‘Volksmuseum’ which had a collection of really interesting old buildings from round Norway including the stave church, also not far from the Kon-tiki and Fram museum which were also good
It's over 30 years since I cycling Norway but I remember getting the train from the end of the dirt road one stop to Myrdal and then riding down the hill (1200m switchback dirt road and very exciting in a will I live way on a loaded bike with caliper brakes) down to Flam which was very pretty.
Myrdal is part way to Oslo on the train and you used to be able to hire a bike from the top, roll down the switchbacks and get the mountain train back up to the main line.
Or get an express boat Bergen to Flam to see the Fjords (Norway in a Nutshell tours advertise this all over) and then get the train up to Myrdal and on to Oslo.
From my day spent in Bergen the Viking boat in the museum was worth seeing.
In Oslo we really enjoyed the ‘Volksmuseum’ which had a collection of really interesting old buildings from round Norway including the stave church, also not far from the Kon-tiki and Fram museum which were also good
Oslo Card will get you into all three. We (including the teenage daughters) thought the Fram was the best museum we visited. Kon-Tiki reinforced the idea that Thor Heyerdahl was utterly mad…
IIRC you can get there by boat in the summer, but if not, it’s not a long bus ride from the city centre.
I think the Viking museum is also out there but it was shut for refurbishment.
From my day spent in Bergen the Viking boat in the museum was worth seeing.
On a complete tangent, the Danes have a longboat museum in (I think) Roskilde which is meant to be excellent.
On a complete tangent, the Danes have a longboat museum in (I think) Roskilde which is meant to be excellent.
It is, and it is 🙂
On a complete tangent, the Danes have a longboat museum in (I think) Roskilde which is meant to be excellent.
Yes, it's really good! When were there in April they were getting ready to take their replica longboat out on the water. On another tangent, the Epic Fest power metal festival in Roskilde is also excellent 🤘
To the OP, the above suggestions are all good, but you probably don't need a full week in Oslo, I would say 3 days is probably enough to see all the sights. If you're into it, there's the possibility of doing kayak tours in the Oslofjord, check out the DNT website. Taking a train for a day trip to Göteborg in Sweden is also a nice option.
Also if you want to break up the Bergenbanen (train) journey to Oslo, you could stop at Finse for a night or two and do a hike on the Hardangervidda, although the mosquitoes can be brutal in the summer months!
Be aware that July is when everyone goes on summer holidays in Norway, so the cities will be a bit quieter, but I would definitely recommend having your accommodation and trains booked in advance.
Göteborg
I really want to go to Gothenberg (not least as the small one asked last year if that was where Batman was from, which I think we can all agree would be awesome) but getting there from Manchester seems to be a bit of a pain, and also Stockholm is higher up the family list.
I agree with the recommendation to visit Flam.
Be aware that Oslo has 2 airports.
Get some strawberries and cherries. Norwegian ones are the best.
You can access the walking trails using the ferni ular ( not sure how to spell that) sea kayaking in the fjords is great and gentle seas so quite easy. Flam railway is great day out. If you fancy fishing off a boat its also very good. Bergen is beautiful to walk round. Cafe and restaurants few streets back from harbour will be a lot cheaper but you loose the view. Its a stunning country to visit. Small villaves are generally very quiet. Definately get out on a ferry or boat to see the fjords from the water though.
Hey,
I actually live right on the Bergen - Oslo line, probably about 2/3rds of the way to Oslo in a town called Nesbyen. I run a mountain bike guiding company here but we have accommodation and cars and do food and everything.
If you thought our place was a good spot to stop along the line then you would be very welcome to stay, we could fix food for you and you could always borrow a car from us to travel and visit some stuff for the day. This is our place - AETR. From here you can visit:
- Vassfaret (big nature reserve with not a lot in it = cool hiking)
- Hemsedal - Mountain town with some outdoor activities and bigger peaks to go hiking in, websit is in winter mode now obviously
- Jotunheimen - Highest mountain range in Norway and some spectacular views and landscapes, cool to just drive through!
But in my opinoin I would try to spend the main part of your time further west, in the fjordscape. I think it feels much more spectacular over that way and probably more of what you imagine Norway to be! If you can spend a day or two in Hardangerfjord (we used to live here) or Sognfjord it would be best. If you check out the map you'll see that you've got Hardangerfjord to the south of Bergen and Sognfjord to the north, both of which head quite far inland, the train runs west to east on that land between the two fjords.
- For example you can get a boat from Bergen to Rosendal which is in the heart of Hardanger, Rosendal is an old Barony and has a nice house and gardens surrounded by steep mountains. There is loads to do in Hardanger which you can check out on this link. For example (you'll have to figure out some of the logistics of these things yourselves): The road from Jondal - Utne is spectacular, Trolltunga is the famous sticky outy rock which is just NE of Odda, hike up to Kjeåsen near Eidfjord, or Vøringfossen near Eidfjord, Dronningstien is a fantastic hike high above the fjords. You could do something in this area then look at getting a bus back to Voss to connect with the train again.
- Otherwise you could head to Sognfjord instead, to the north of Bergen. There is also a boat, as someone else mentioned, right into the heart of Sognfjord from Bergen or you could take the train to Voss (not much between Bergen and Voss to do!) then there are a lot of tourist activities on Sognfjord (Gudvangen and Næroyfjord) which run out of Voss. Thinking about it, I would suggest the best is to take a boat from Bergen to Flåm instead of the train as the trian spends a lot of time in tunnels for that first bit and the boat trip from Bergen to Flåm would be spectacular getting to see all the islands off Bergen then sailing right through Sognfjord, on that route you could stop a night in Balestrand, or Sogndal and do a hike or some other outdoor activity then continue to Flåm next day. Flåm is literally just made for tourists, I wouldnt recommend spending too much time there, it is mainly known as it has become the tourist hotspot of the fjord landscape and it is where the road/cruise ship/railway can all connect, you could get extremeley unlucky and be there the same day as a cruise ship from the UK! 🤣 . Take the old fashioned mountain railway from Flåm to Myrdal and then get on the mainline railway from there to continue to Oslo.
- Lærdal is worth a visit if you can figure out how to get there, small village with old street and great bakery, epic steep landscape.
- Kaupanger is heaven on earth for biking but it is hard to find the trails and nobody guides there 🤣 . If you happen to be there on 20th/21st August then I'll be guiding there and could take you though!
You'll probably be happy with 1, max 2 days in Oslo. In my opinion people are not coming to Norway for the cities, the landscape if the fascinating part, if you have visited many cities in Europe I think you'll have found many more interesting and beautiful cities further south. Gruneløkka is most interesting part. If you're in to good coffee then I've made a map with all the best cafes there (also has others around Europe so you'll have to zoom in - https://maps.app.goo.gl/kemHJ6UHVHHpDZwUA
Hopefully something helpful there for you and if you have any questions or want to stay at our place just give me a shout!
In Bergen is an outdoor heated pool right on the fjord. Also a sauna, where you heat up and then run of a diving board into the fjord and repeat. For Norway it is cheap.
you can rent bikes in Finse and cycle down the Rallarvegen to Flam, this is spectacular. Good safe track for kids and all down hill. bikes will be taken back. Flam is a tourist money extraction hellhole mind. But nearby is the goat village of Unredal. Fabulous restaurant selling goat related food. and also a sauna and a jetty out into the sea to cool down. You can walk up the Hillside from here for views of the fjord. The path is marked. You can get a bus here from Flam. I would stay here for a night.
you could also go on day kayak trips from either Flam or Gudvangen (which you can get to by train and then bus). The Viking museum in gudvangen is kinda worth it. You can get bus from gudvangen to flam or boat.
Well, Voss is relatively near Bergen (kinda), but I am not sure how near to your trip Extreme Sports Week is. They may have mountain biking, or you could just go and take a tandem jump over the fjords.
I'd go for anyexcuse's recommendations as he lives there, I live a couple hours drive south. I'd also recommend Rosendal, visit it, do some hiking round there, but a car is pretty essential to get there. You get some fjord, and ferry crossings to get to and from, but all of Hardanger is very pretty and absolutely worth visiting, especially if it's a sunny day.
We did Norway as the family summer hols year before last. We flew to Bergen, picked up a hire car and headed to Sognfjord, had a rental in Balestrand. Plenty to do such as, go on a Fjord angling/sight seeing trip with captain Tor (he's excellent fun btw). We went swimming in the Fjords, hiked around Balestrand, hired bikes in Balestrand, hired Kyaks to go out onto the fjord, went on a glacier trip to Boyabreen galcier and the museum, all in all we found Norway offered stunning landscapes, very friendly people and we loved it (including our two teenage boys)