Hello!

Me and my boyfriend are going to Oslo this summer, and we're planning a 3 day trip to Bergen. I have already seen some tourist websites by I'm a bit confused, so I would appreciate your help very much :)

Is it possible to do a day trip to the fjords from Bergen? If so, what kind of public transport should we take? (we won't have a car) And what would be the "best" trip? (this one must be difficult :)

Thanks a lot!

Rita

See fjordtours.com - where you'll find several different options, including Norway in a Nutshell! The Norway in a Nutshell is very popular - it isn't really a *tour*, it's just a combination of tickets on regular public transport (trains, buses, and boats) - and with the Nutshell you'll get to see both the quite spectacular Flåm railway, and the Sognefjord (the world's longest fjord - or second longest, depending on who you ask;o) - you'll also get to experience Nærøyfjord, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Other options include the Hardangerfjord in a Nutshell and Sognefjord in a Nutshell - they're all good options, but my choice would probably be Norway in a Nutshell. (I haven't actually done the tours as such, but I've visited the areas loads of times, done the Flåm railway etc.:o)

Thank you for your answer! I don't know whether to take the Express Boat Bergen-Flam (round trip, no Flam railway) or the Norway in a Nutshell tour - do you think it's better to see the entire fjord or to take the Flaim railway?

the train trip is amazing. i would definitely go on the norway in a nutshell. the good thing of that trip is that it allows you to stay over night at some of the different stops and re-join at the following day. i'd say that's highly recommendable. so you can stay 1'5 days in bergen and 1'5 days in the fjords. i recommend Flåm to stay over night. from there you can rent a kayak and paddle for 2 hours relatively early in the morning before you continue your trip by ferry to gudvangen. it's a great experience.

I agree that Norway in a Nutshell will be much more interesting. If you just take the round ferry trip from Bergen, you will miss not only the fantastic train ride but also Naeroyfjord and Gudvangen. Make sure you visit Stalheimskleivane on your coach trip from Gudvangen to Voss - not all buses go there. Having been there twice, I'd take that trip again, any time.:)

If you want to go on the express boat Bergen - Flåm, then the "Sognefjord in a Nutshell" trip might be a good option - instead of going both to and from Flåm by express boat (which might get a little boring!) you'd go by train Bergen - Myrdal, then the Flåm railway down to Flåm and the express boat back to Bergen.

For info about this option, see fjordtours.com

All these fjord trips are well worth doing, really :o)

Norway in a Nutshell convinced me :) Do you know if we need to book in advance? How much in advance?

Ewa, how can make sure I visit Stalheimskleivane? Are there itinerary options for the bus?

Thank you so much for your answers! Really helpful :)

I'm not sure - we went there in our car. I think tourist buses go there - we saw quite a few at the top - but perhaps not all. I suggest that you simply ask the driver or check with the tourist information at Flam. We stayed the night, in fact, two nights at Gudvangen and went from there on our way to Voss. If you go on an organised Norway in a Nutshell tour (but this is going to be more expensive) they will tell you in advance.

The bus doesn't drive Stalheimskleiva in winter (October-April - when the road is closed) - but as far as I know, all NiN-buses go there in summer.

I'd recommend booking ahead if you "must" go on one particular day in peak tourist season. (July, early-mid August...). You can book online, on the NiN website (fjordtours.com) - you can also buy tickets at the Tourist Information Office in Bergen.

you can also make your own 'norway in a nutshell' trip. that's what we did anyways. we bought the train, bus and ferry tickets ourselves. in our case it was like this:
- for the train ticket bergen-voss-myrdal-flåm we booked online on norway's national railway website
www.nsb.no/
we needed two different tickets for that as we had to change trains in myrdal, so we did bergen-myrdal by regular train and then myrdal-flåm on the flåmsbana (this is the real touristic train). we did book as soon as we could (meaning there's a limit on www.nsb.no/ as you can't book with, let's say (example) 90 days in advance). when you do a reservation online you do not get your tickets yet, but a reservation number. you'll pick up your tickets in person on the date of departure, at bergen's train station. the reason why we tried to book as early as possible was that (1) we had simply planned our trip very early in the year, and (2) i had heard that the flåmbana tickets might be sold out easyly in tourist season so we didnt want to take that risk. there's not that problem with the ticket bergen-myrdal though. For the whole train trip we payed around 60-70€, but that was 2 years ago. A good reason of buying both tickets separately is that you can plan a gap between both trips, so you can get off at myrdal or voss and walk around before you head for Flåm. we did that in Voss, and it was nice,
- we stayed overnight in a cabin in flåm, at the Flam Vandrerhjem camping. the cabin was lovely, and had a small kitchen and cooking facilities. we payed 35€ each for a 2-person cabin, 1 night.
- we went paddling, and booked with http://www.njord.as/en/?p=guida_turer We also booked this one in advance, although that is not necessary.
- we took the ferry to gudvangen. we bought the ticket right before departure. there's no need to book this one in advance either. there're many ferries leaving every day.
- from gudvangen we travelled back to bergen by bus. we didnt have to buy this ticket in advance either. actually, if i remember right, we paid on the bus.

hope this helps :)

If you want to save some money, stay on one of the campsites in Gudvangen - much cheaper. See my Gudvangen page for details.
I must say we didn't make any reservations beforehand and it was in August.

Thank you all! I'm really looking forward for this trip :)