Norway: Oslo, the Flåm Railway, the Nærøyfjord and Bergen

1. Day 1: Arrive in Oslo

   Oslo Airport Gardermoen to your hotel in central Oslo, then the Opera House

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Oslo
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Oslo Airport Gardermoen (OSL), about 50 km north of the city, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive of roughly 45 minutes into the centre. Plan to land by about 3 pm; if you arrive earlier, leave your bags at the hotel and walk down Karl Johans gate towards the harbour. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: the train day, what to wear on the fjord boat and how your luggage travels. Then we walk together to the waterfront at Bjørvika and up the sloping white roof of the Oslo Opera House, opened in 2008 and built to be walked on. In June the light lasts well past 10 pm, so the views over the Oslofjord come before dinner rather than after it. We finish with a welcome dinner at a restaurant near the harbour.

   Included

   • Private transfer from Oslo Airport Gardermoen (OSL)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk on the Oslo Opera House roof
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   Activity: Land by about 3 pm to make the briefing; the exact time is confirmed with your final itinerary.

   

2. Day 2: Vigeland, Bygdøy and a free afternoon

   Frogner Park to the Bygdøy peninsula, then back across the harbour by ferry

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Oslo
   Day 2 details

   We start at Frogner Park at about 9 am, before the tour coaches, to walk among the more than 200 sculptures Gustav Vigeland made for the park, from the bronze figures on the bridge to the Monolith, carved from a single block of granite. Then it is a short drive to the Bygdøy peninsula. At the Fram Museum you step aboard the polar ship Fram, which carried Nansen into the Arctic ice and took Amundsen south on the expedition that reached the South Pole in 1911. Lunch is a sit-down meal on Bygdøy, then your guide leads you round the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, an open-air collection of farmhouses, storehouses and the Gol stave church, built around 1200. In summer we ride the small public ferry back across the harbour to the City Hall pier. The rest of the afternoon and evening are free: the Munch museum, the National Museum and Akershus Fortress are all within walking distance of the hotel.

   Included

   • Vigeland sculpture park in Frogner Park with your guide
   • The Fram Museum
   • Sit-down lunch on Bygdøy
   • The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, with the Gol stave church
   • Ferry from Bygdøy to the City Hall pier (in season)

   Optional experiences

   • The Munch museum
   • The National Museum
   • Akershus Fortress

   Easier option: Stay at the Fram Museum and its cafe instead of walking the open-air museum, about 2 km of gravel paths and slopes.

   More active option: In the free afternoon, walk the Akerselva river path from the Grünerløkka district down to the centre, with a route from your guide.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Oslo

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot, on park paths, museum floors and gravel lanes.

3. Day 3: The Bergen Railway and the Flåm Railway

   Oslo by train over the Hardangervidda to Myrdal, then down the Flåm Railway to Flåm

   • By train
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Flåm
   Day 3 details

   We board the morning Bergen Railway train at Oslo Central Station with reserved seats. Your main bags go ahead to Flåm by road with our driver, who makes the long road run of about 310 km alone, so you travel with a day bag only. The line runs west past lakes and forest, through Gol and Geilo, and climbs onto the bare Hardangervidda plateau at Finse, at about 1,222 m the highest station on the line, where snow can lie beside the track into July. Lunch is included from the cafe on board. At Myrdal, after about five hours, we change to the Flåm Railway, which drops about 860 m in 20 km to the fjord, through tunnels and past a short stop at the Kjosfossen waterfall. We reach Flåm in the middle of the afternoon. The evening is free: walk along the water or up the valley to the wooden Flåm church, built in 1670.

   Included

   • Bergen Railway from Oslo to Myrdal, reserved seats
   • Flåm Railway from Myrdal to Flåm, with the stop at Kjosfossen
   • Lunch on the train
   • Your luggage carried ahead to Flåm in our vehicle

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Flåm

   Activity: About six hours of rail travel in all, broken by the change at Myrdal and the Kjosfossen stop. Keep a warm layer in your day bag for the plateau.

   

4. Day 4: The Nærøyfjord, Undredal and Stegastein

   Flåm by boat through the Aurlandsfjord and the Nærøyfjord to Gudvangen, then Undredal, Flåm and Stegastein

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Flåm
   Day 4 details

   We take an early boat out of Flåm, before the cruise-ship passengers fill the decks, and sail north up the Aurlandsfjord and into the Nærøyfjord, an arm of the Sognefjord listed by UNESCO in 2005 with the Geirangerfjord as the West Norwegian Fjords. The walls rise more than 1,000 m from the water, and at its narrowest the fjord is only about 250 m wide; waterfalls come down the cliffs and small farms sit on ledges with no road. After about two hours we land at Gudvangen, where our driver is waiting. A short drive brings us to Undredal, a village of about a hundred people known for its goat's cheese, where we taste the brown and white cheeses and look into the tiny 12th-century stave church before a sit-down lunch. Back in Flåm we drive up to Stegastein, a platform that juts out about 650 m above the Aurlandsfjord. From about 4 pm the time is yours.

   Included

   • Fjord cruise from Flåm to Gudvangen through the Aurlandsfjord and the Nærøyfjord, on an early sailing
   • Goat's cheese tasting in Undredal and a visit to the stave church
   • Sit-down lunch in Undredal
   • Stegastein viewpoint above the Aurlandsfjord

   Easier option: Skip Stegastein and stay in Flåm after lunch; the Flåm Railway Museum by the station is a short, level walk.

   More active option: Walk the steep path from Flåm up to the Brekkefossen waterfall, about an hour and a half return, for a view down the valley to the fjord.

   Free time: From about 4 pm free in Flåm

   Activity: Bring a warm, windproof layer for the open deck; it is cool on the water even in July.

   

5. Day 5: Stalheim, Vøringsfossen and the Hardangerfjord

   Flåm to Gudvangen, Stalheim and Voss, over the Hardanger Bridge to Eidfjord and Vøringsfossen, then Lofthus

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Lofthus
   Day 5 details

   We leave Flåm at about 9 am through the tunnels to Gudvangen and climb to Stalheim, where a terrace looks straight down the Nærøydalen valley. After a coffee stop in Voss we cross into Hardanger over the Hardanger Bridge, Norway's longest suspension bridge, opened in 2013, to Eidfjord at the inner end of the Hardangerfjord. Lunch is a sit-down meal at the top of Vøringsfossen, where the Bjoreio river falls about 180 m into the Måbødalen canyon; paths along the rim give views from several sides. Back down at the fjord we follow the shore to Lofthus, a village of orchards on the Sørfjord, about 200 km and three and three-quarter hours of driving in all, split by the stops. Hardanger has grown fruit since the Middle Ages, when monks are said to have planted the first orchards, and at about 4 pm we visit a family fruit farm to taste the local cider. There is an hour by the water before dinner at the hotel.

   Included

   • Stalheim viewpoint over the Nærøydalen
   • The Hardanger Bridge
   • Vøringsfossen waterfall and the Måbødalen canyon
   • Sit-down lunch at Vøringsfossen
   • Cider tasting at a Hardanger fruit farm
   • Dinner in Lofthus

   Easier option: Stay on the viewing platforms near the road at Vøringsfossen instead of the longer rim paths.

   More active option: Walk more of the rim paths at Vøringsfossen, including the stairs and footbridge across the gorge, about an hour with plenty of steps.

   Free time: An hour free by the fjord before dinner

   Activity: The longest road day, broken every hour or so by a stop. Under 18s taste apple juice at the cider farm.

6. Day 6: Along the Hardangerfjord to Bergen

   Lofthus over the Hardanger Bridge and along the fjord to Steinsdalsfossen and Norheimsund, then Bergen

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Bergen
   Day 6 details

   A slow morning by the fjord. If you are up for it, climb the Monks' Stairs above Lofthus with your guide, a stone staircase of more than 600 steps through the woods, for the view across the Sørfjord to the Folgefonna glacier; otherwise walk the lanes between the orchards. We leave at about 10:30, cross the Hardanger Bridge again and follow the north shore of the Hardangerfjord west through Ålvik and Øystese, with the water beside us much of the way. At Steinsdalsfossen, just outside Norheimsund, the path runs behind the falling water, so you can stand dry between the rock and the waterfall. Lunch is in Norheimsund, then we cross the Kvamskogen mountain and come down into Bergen at about 4 pm, about 160 km and three hours of driving in the day. After check-in we ride the Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen for the view over the harbour and the islands in the evening light. Dinner tonight is your choice.

   Included

   • Steinsdalsfossen, walking behind the waterfall
   • Sit-down lunch in Norheimsund
   • The Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen and back

   Easier option: Walk the level orchard lanes along the fjord instead of the Monks' Stairs.

   More active option: The Monks' Stairs (Munketrappene) above Lofthus, more than 600 stone steps, about two hours return with your guide.

   Free time: Evening free in Bergen

   Activity: The path behind Steinsdalsfossen can be wet with spray; wear shoes with grip.

   

7. Day 7: Bryggen and Bergen

   Bryggen, the fish market and central Bergen, on foot

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Bergen
   Day 7 details

   We walk to Bryggen at about 9 am, before the cruise-ship groups arrive, for a guided walk through the old Hanseatic wharf, listed by UNESCO in 1979. For close to four centuries German merchants of the Hanseatic League traded dried cod from northern Norway here, and the leaning timber buildings and narrow passages behind the harbour front, rebuilt after the fire of 1702, still follow the medieval plots. Then we visit Bryggens Museum, built over the excavated remains of the medieval town, or another of the Bryggen museums if it is closed on the day. Lunch is a sit-down seafood meal by the fish market on the harbour. The afternoon is free. On a dry day, ride the Ulriken cable car, walk the lanes of Nordnes or visit Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg's home by a lake south of the city; on a wet one, and Bergen has plenty, the KODE art museums around the Lille Lungegårdsvann lake are a short walk away. We meet again in the evening for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Guided walk of Bryggen
   • Bryggens Museum, or another Bryggen museum if it is closed
   • Seafood lunch by the fish market
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • The Ulriken cable car
   • Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg's home
   • The KODE art museums

   Free time: Afternoon free in Bergen

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot on cobbles and uneven wooden walkways in the morning.

   

8. Day 8: Bergen and home

   Bergen to Bergen Airport Flesland

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   The last morning is free for a final coffee by the harbour, the fish market as the stalls open, or a walk up the steep lanes of the old wooden quarters above Bryggen, where white and yellow houses lean together over cobbled alleys. Check-out is usually by noon, and the hotel will keep your bags until it is time to leave. Our driver takes the group to Bergen Airport Flesland (BGO), about 20 km south of the centre and roughly 30 minutes by road. We set the transfer times when we confirm your flights, so you can book whichever flight suits you, and earlier flyers go first. Your guide comes with you, checks your flight details and says goodbye at the terminal. If you would like longer in western Norway, we can book extra nights in Bergen before you leave, and the light rail runs from the city centre to the airport if you stay on.

   Included

   • Private transfer to Bergen Airport Flesland (BGO)

   Free time: Morning free in Bergen

   Activity: Book any flight from Bergen Airport Flesland (BGO); a flight after about noon leaves the morning free.

   

Wildlife and weather: June to August bring the longest days (in late June the sun sets after 10:30 pm in Oslo and Bergen) and the busiest cruise calendar in Flåm and Bergen; September is quieter, with autumn colour and the fruit harvest in Hardanger, and shorter days. Waterfalls are fullest in early summer with the snowmelt, and snow can lie beside the track at Finse into July. Rain is likely in Bergen in any month.

• Oslo2 nights
• Flåm2 nights
• Lofthus1 night
• Bergen2 nights