Planning a trip to Norway can be difficult. The country is large and renting a car can get expensive. Here is my suggested itinerary and the buses, ferries and trains that I took to get around during my trip. Unfortunately, while all of the schedules are linked with an incredible level of precision, you can’t buy all of your tickets through one central operator and it can quickly become overwhelming. This is how Norway in a Nutshell makes money. Luckily for you, I’ve done all of the heavy lifting and included all of the links to buy tickets and plan your trip for less.
Bus and Railway operators:
Suggested Itinerary:
For those visiting Norway for their first time, I highly recommend going to Oslo and Bergen and making stops along the way. From there if you have extra time, go north or you can go south like I did, and visit Stavanger.
Oslo – Flåm: Book your ticket on NSB from Oslo to Flåm. This train will have a transfer in Mrydal, but don’t worry, the station is really small and the train for Flåm is really obvious (it’s an old-fashioned train that says “The Flåm Railway”. Seats from Myrdal to Flåm are unassigned, try your best to get a window seat.
Flåm – Voss (by way of Gudvangen): Buy a ferry ticket from Voss to Gudvangen; enjoy the ride, it’s incredibly calm and scenic riding through the fjord. Once you arrive in Gudvangen, you’ll board a bus to Voss (#950). It will be hard to miss as most people who booked with Norway in a Nutshell will be boarding the bus as well. Don’t worry there’s plenty of room on the bus, pay for this ticket when you board.
Voss – Odda: Take bus #990; the bus ride will be ~1.5 hours. You may have some time to kill in Voss, but its a pretty cute town. Go have a coffee at one of the cute cafes and explore the town.
Odda – Skjeggedal (for Trolltunga hike): Skjeggedal is the starting point for the Trolltunga hike. You can either take a cab or bus (to Skjeggedalsvegen #995) to the parking lot where a shuttle will pick people up and take them to the trailhead or the bus. Cabs and be ordered in advance here. If you can’t find the bus or a cab, some people even hitchhike to the trailhead – apparently it’s not uncommon in Norway.
Odda – Voss: Take #990 back to Voss (see above)
Voss – Bergen: Take the train from Voss to Bergen; buy tickets in advance on NSB site.
Bergen – Stavanger: Purchase bus ticket in advance with NOR-WAY Bussekspress from Bergen busstasjon (Bergen sentrum, Bergen) to Stavanger sentrum (Stavanger).
Stavanger – Preikestolen: Buy your ticket in advance; ticket includes a ferry ride and bus ride to the trailhead. Try to leave as early as possible, the hike gets crowded VERY quickly.
Stavanger – Oslo: I recommend flying, especially if you are short on time. Otherwise you are going to have to do the ENTIRE trip discussed above all over again.
Again, I hope this is helpful and makes your Norway trip planning a little bit easier. Obviously, you don’t have to follow my exact route. If nothing else, at least you have all of the links for the different operators in one page. Let me know if you have any questions, and happy travels!