May 2015
We flew into the Oslo Airport from Berlin, took the airport train to the central station, and walked to our Airbnb apartment not too far from the station. It rained the whole two days we were in Oslo, and we did not get to take too many pictures. We did manage to stand in line, in the rain, for the Munch Museum. Museum staff did something memorable: they came out with umbrellas for those of us standing in the rain!
We used the public transportation to get around and that worked quite well. We took the ferry from the dock in front of city hall to reach to the Fram Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum on the Bygdoy peninsula. From there, we took the bus to Vigeland Sculpture Park to see the famous sculptures of Gustav Vigeland.
The next day we took the 6.5-hour train trip(about $100) to Bergen. Even in May, we could see snow on the ground in the mountain areas we were passing through. No wonder Norway wins all those medals in the Winter Olympics!
Bergen is located on the west coast of Norway and is its second largest city (population:270,000.) Most tourists go there to visit nearby fjords, but the city itself has enough to offer to warrant a full day or two of a nice visit.
It turned out we had arrived on National Day and the town center and port area were thronged with people in traditional garb. There were many nice looking restaurants, all crowded and expensive. We finally found a restaurant that would take us, a second-floor Chinese restaurant. As we opened the menus we saw an insert that read, “In honor of National Day all prices are increased 10%.”
Since we cannot locate our pictures, I found some pictures from the internet that resemble what we saw.
The next day we took our “Norway in a Nutshell.” This is one tour that is supposed to showcase the natural beauty of Norway. It was an all-day affair involving a boat, a bus, and trains.
Some people include Oslo and Bergen in the package, but you can customize the tour any way you want on their official website. Some tour companies sell this product as part of a longer itinerary, but it is cheaper to do-it-yourself on this website. Our all-day tour was about $200 per person.
This is the description of our tour:
Starting from Bergen you first set out on a scenic train journey to Voss on the Bergen Railway. From Voss you travel by bus through charming villages and scenic nature landscapes, towards Gudvangen. From May-September the bus travels down the steep hairpin bends of Stalheimskleiva.
The bus will arrive in Gudvangen, where you continue the tour by taking a fjord cruise on the on the narrow Nærøyfjord and the magnificent Aurlandsfjord. The Aurlandsfjord is a picturesque fjord that offers stunning views, while the Nærøyfjord is a dramatic fjord surrounded by high mountains. Nærøyfjorden is one of the most narrow fjords in Europe and included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
After your fjord cruise you arrive in the small village of Flåm, nestled in the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord, where your tour continues by taking the legendary Flåm Railway. The Flåm Railway offers spectacular panoramic views to some of the wildest and most magnificent nature in the Norwegian fjord landscape.
The Flåm Railway will arrive in Myrdal, where you change trains to the Bergen Railway. You travel back to Bergen on round trips, or continue through scenic mountain terrain to Oslo on one-way trips.
In Flam, there was enough free time for lunch and some shopping. We were a bit concerned about the tight timing for the train transfer in Myrdal, but it was a pretty smooth transition. It did not look like anyone would be left behind because of a confusion in finding the right train.
The next morning we flew out of Bergen to get back to the U.S.
Small Wide World 