Fjord Norway

Do the famous 'Norway in a Nutshell' tour -- a circular tour that starts in Voss, Bergen, or Oslo. The tour takes you on the famous Flam railway (a steam train rattling down a steep valley from the plains to the fjords) and on a boat trip along the Naeroy Fjord.

Quick Tips:

Norway in a Nutshell is quite expensive from Bergen (around £100) and is a very long day (12 hours). It's cheaper (and shorter) to take the trip from Voss.

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting there -- from Britain, try the ferry from Newcastle to Bergen via Stavanger, as the route takes you on a bit of a fjord cruise along the Norwegian coast.

Voss is on the main line railway between Bergen and Oslo. The route is truly spectacular, especially in winter, when the track has to contend with some of the worst weather outside of the arctic! Trains in Norway are expensive, but very very comfortable and reliable.

A smart modern hotel in a brilliant location--right on the quayside near the oldest part of Bergen Harbor and the Rosenkranz Tower.

The hotel is one of Bergen's cheaper good hotels and excellent value for money. The rooms are big and bright and come with comfortable seating area, minibar, and ensuite bathroom--and that's not to mention the free sweets!

The decor in the rooms and around the hotel is modern and attractive, and the atmosphere is very friendly.

If all of that's still not enough, a modest bed and breakfast charge includes a lovely buffet breakfast that allows you to make your own waffles and, later in the day, indulge in an afternoon tea.

This is a circular trip that takes you from your starting point (Voss, Bergen, or Oslo) to the Flam Railway down a spectacular gorge, on a boat trip along the Naeroy Fjord, and finally on a bus trip around some horrifically tight bends up another gorge and back to Voss.

It is expensive, but don't eat for a day rather than miss out!

The whole trip is a feast for the eyes. I'll break it down into sections:

The Flam Railway
The world's steepest railway, the Flam line was built by hacking a ledge into the rock face of a steep gorge. The railway takes you from Norway's bleak central plains at an altitude of 1,000m, back down to sea level at the banks of the Fjord at Flam. The scenery is stunning. They stop the train to let you photograph one particularly impressive waterfall. You'll have a great view of waterfalls, avalanche shelters, and stomach-churning cliffs all the way.

The Naeroy Fjord
A little boat takes you along the two arms of the Naeroy Fjord, one of the steepest, deepest, and most spectacular of all the fjords in Norway. The scenery in a short space of time takes in huge mountains and cliffs, alpine meadows, and tiny farms balanced precariously on mountain tops.

The bus back to Voss
The bus flies at a remarkable speed around bends so sharp that you can't believe you can get around them. The views are unbelievable (you can see your little boat on it's way back up the fjord), and the bus stops at a viewpoint so that you can snap the evidence for the folks back home.

A tarmac/gravel path follows the shore of the Naeroy Fjord.

From the village of Flam (where the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour drops you in a shopping mall while you wait for your train/boat), the views are beautiful. However, the views of Flam from across the fjord are just breathtaking. It's a flat, easy walk, and you'll be rewarded with the kind of stunning scenes that you would expect to see in holiday brochures but never in real life.

Taking this walk (for however long--even five minutes) also gives you the opportunity to experience the deep tranquility of the area which you won't find, in my mind, in the shopping mall/village of Flam. It looks so much prettier when you're there!

The scenery on top of Bergen's most accessible mountain is spectacular at the best of times, but we were lucky enough to catch the first snow of the season, and be the first to leave our footprints. Take a look at the photos if you need a reason to go here--it should be your first stop in any trip to Bergen.

Go to Norway out of season and you will have the best sights to yourself, not to mention the chance to catch some of the most beautiful scenery in the snow. Try October/early November to catch the first snowfall. Avoid December and January because it will be dark for too much of the day.