One Week in Southern(ish) Norway

There are probably an infinite number of ways you could do Norway and you probably can't go wrong with any of them. My best advice would be to pick one or two things that you MUST see, and then plan your route around that.

Before we went to Norway I didn't have any "must see" spots, but I knew a couple things:

• We wanted to hike
• We wanted to drive
• We didn't want to spend too much time in the main cities
• We didn't want to take the train
• We didn't want to take a cruise ship

We, we, we, we, we. I know, it's all about us.

Outside of those conditions, I was pretty open to any itinerary and since it was our first time in this country, I thought a fairly basic overview was in order. Since I knew we were going to do a road trip, I based our itinerary off of the Norwegian Scenic Routes. These are 18 scenic routes that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration has developed and maintained in conjunction with advisory boards, landscape artists and architects. The result is a series of roads around the country that are staggeringly beautiful, well marked and well maintained. We drove on 5 of these roads during our time in southern Norway and they were some of the best parts of our trip.

So, if you are interested in doing about a week in Norway and everything I've said up to now sounds good to you, follow along for a day by day.

Day 1. Land Bergen

We almost always catch overnight flights, so we landed in Bergen the morning of our first day and then headed directly to our hotel. The airport is about 30 minutes away from the city center and nothing really stands out in my mind about the trip, so it must have been fairly uneventful. Bergen is a cute town and the perfect way to start your trip in Norway. You can explore on foot for a couple hours, go to a museum, do some souvenir shopping, eat a waffle and take a nap if you need it. In my opinion this is the perfect amount of time in Bergen. It acts really well as a recovery day, but it isn't so large or complex that you feel like you might be missing out with only 24 hours here. 

Day 2. Drive and stay in the Sogn og Fjordane

Day 2 is when you will hike the most scenic stretch of the Aurland Valley and this will literally take you 6-8 hours, so coordinate your transportation ahead of time and beat feet when you leave Bergen.

It is about a 2.5 hour drive from Bergen to Aurland, and while you are not on one of the tourist routes, it is still a beautiful drive and you will find yourself stopping frequently for pictures. Factor this into your travel and also allow yourself time to get gas, a Norwegian boller and a crappy cup of gas station coffee. I think that nearly everyone who goes to this area stays in Flåm, which makes sense because it is a transportation hub. My suggestion to you, however, would be to stay in nearby Aurland, which is a little more tranquil/less industrial. As long as you have a rental car, you can really stay nearly anywhere in this area. Do some searches and find a place that appeals to you and don't worry overmuch if it's in the middle of nowhere because outside of the main cities, nothing is really popping off. We stayed here and I can easily recommend it. The only minor hesitation I really have about this place was the breakfast room was original (old and full of antiques) and I literally felt like a bull in a china shop. Outside of that, the rooms were nice, the customer service fantastic and the location really unbeatable. I am just picturing my Dad trying to tiptoe through that breakfast room, taking a peek at the spindly chairs, and going "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!"

Day 3 Drive and Stay near Jotunheimen National Park

It is going to take you almost all day to drive to Jotunheimen. This will be your first time getting on one of the tourist routes, and you can route your way to pass through both Aurlandsfjellet and Valdresflye. I really don't think you can plan anything other than taking your time and enjoying the surroundings, so appreciate the fact that you get one day to sleep in and take your time and maybe spend part of your morning in Aurland. 

These are the cabins that are part of the hotel in Aurland.

This is a glass shop in Aurland where you can buy locally made souvenirs. I bought a couple things and they survived perfectly fine in my bags. 

  

We stayed in Vågå at this B&B which was so amazing that it was worth the extra hour drive past Jotunheimen. 

Day 4. Hike the Besseggen Ridge

DOOOOOOOOOOOOO it. This will take you all day but it is maybe the best thing we did in Norway. If the weather cooperates, you should absolutely plan your day here. 

Day 5. Drive to Geiranger.

Our B&B hosts suggested that we leave early and go hike Galdhøpiggen the morning of day 5. We didn't make it. It's at least an hour from Vågå and since we didn't have it scheduled ahead of time we couldn't get coordinated enough the morning of to make the organized trip. This is certainly something that you could do if it interests you, so, if you're ambitious - plan on it. Otherwise, take your time. Have a leisurely breakfast and make all the stops you want in between Vågå and Geiranger. You will drive on what was probably the prettiest (in our opinion) of the tourist routes (Gamle Strynefjellsvegen), so even if you give Galdhøpiggen (or something else) a pass, you won't feel like your time was wasted.

Depending on how late it is when you get to Geiranger, you might be able to spend some time walking around the tiny town, doing some shopping and either eating out or buying the stuff to make dinner. There are a couple cafes, souvenir shops, restaurants, a chocolate shop and a small grocery store. We ended up spending our evening in true American fashion, with a couple of hot dogs and beer.

We stayed in one of these cabins and the view really speaks for itself.

Day 6. Scenic drive to Trollstigen

There is a LOT you can do in Geiranger. There are boat tours, hikes, bicycle or motorized vehicle rentals, etc. So if what we did doesn't appeal to you, there are any number of other options you can choose. Cruise ships port here so there are plenty of organized activities to choose from. We drove on another tourist route, the one between Geiranger and Trollstigen and did some hiking in the Trollstigen area. If you want to hike near Trollstigen, this is not something you need to plan ahead of time. You will see hiking trails all over Norway - they usually have the distance marked (1 way), so just pick one that appeals to you. 

Day 7. Drive halfway back to Bergen

Geiranger is about 6.5 hours from Bergen. Too much (in my opinion) to do in one stretch. So, Day 7 was just our way to get closer to Bergen for our flight the following morning (Day 8). We wanted to take the Sognefjellet, so I chose a B&B that looked good around the halfway point, following this route. 

As with all the scenic routes in Norway, this one is gorgeous and you should take the time to stop at any side roads that appeal to you, get lunch and just take your time to soak it all in.

Our B&B was in Solvorn, which is a very small, quiet and picturesque town, about 4 hours away from Bergen. The slow pace of the town is perfect for the end of the trip, when everyone is winding down, repacking and getting ready for their flight home, or in our case to northern Norway. 

Day 8 and on

So after a nearly perfect week in Norway, what then?

We traveled with a group of 6. Two of us (me and Jorge) flew to northern Norway for another week. Two of us took the train from Bergen to Oslo and spent a day in the city before flying home. The last two flew to Copenhagen for a couple days before returning home.

What do I think you should do? 

If you have a couple extra days, I would spread them out over your itinerary, maybe going a little further out. You could drive out to the coast, near Ålesund or loop further south to Stavanger and Preikestolen. Unless you have a burning desire to go there, or the price is much better to fly in/out of Oslo, I would give that a pass and spend that time out in the more rural parts of Norway. That's where the magic is anyway.