How to plan a Trip to Norway: Trip Report Day 1

We had a lovely vacation in Norway. We had the best weather and most awesome views of the Sognefjord and Hardangerfjord.

After this surfeit of scenic beauty in the fjord area, Lofoten islands in the Arctic circle also knocked us down with stunning scenery on the national tourist route!

Lofoten is heaven on earth… not to be missed even after fjord trips elsewhere…

Yes, the weather Gods blessed us with great clear days throughout and when the weather turned foggy and drizzly on Day 3 in Lofoten, it added another dimension of mystique as well!  

Here are maps

Our holiday started on June 20th, flying into Paris for logistics reasons, going onward to Copenhagen and then winding up with the main part in Norway (June 25-July 5, 2015).

 Norway

Norway is the land of the midnight sun and northern lights and awesome hikes. Let me talk about the last one first...There are hikes to very famous rock formations…Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), Stavenger is the most crowded with more than 200.000 hikers every year. Trolltunga, "troll’s tongue" is equally famous. Kjerag is another awesome one. You can see all these marked in the 1st map above. Google for pics and you’ll see what the attraction is. We decided not to attempt any of these given our time constraints this trip.

Now on to the 1st two. Obviously, when one opts for enjoying the midnight sun, seeing the northern lights is not a possibility! Much of Norway is transformed into a snow-clad paradise from November to April. Section of northern Norway is located within the Arctic Circle, a fact that provides the country with two of its most popular tourist attractions. The first, the Midnight Sun, is an impressive sight and experience. During the summer months, surrounding the summer solstice, these latitudes see endless days when the sun doesn't set.

The spectacular Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is caused when electrically charged particles emitted by the sun are caught up in the earth's magnetic field and producing striking light effects in the thin ionized upper atmosphere at heights of between 40 and 620 miles, the sky comes alive with spectacular bluish arcs of light, glowing coronas and shimmering curtains. This can be seen only on a clear cloudless dark night.

When to go

The Midnight Sun: 

 In the summer, the sun never fully sets in northern Norway; and even in the south, the sun may set around 11pm and rise at 3am.. We chose to tour Norway in its spring/summer enjoying the midnight sun as our main purpose was to experience the stunning scenery in the extended daylight hours.

We avoid heavy tourism season, so planned our trip for May end. From May to mid-June, the scenery in Norway is at its most spectacular, with fruit trees in blossom, snow in the mountains, and meltwater swelling the waterfalls.

We had even booked the low priced internal flights between Bergen-Tromso and Leknes Lofoten –Oslo, in December.

But due to work constraints, our trip had to be postponed a month later. As it turned out the winter was unusually long and the time we went was the spring. We were happy to see plentiful waterfalls and great spring weather, with mountains still having snow at the top. It was very picturesque and we escaped the heavy crowd which is from mid July-August.

Where to go

 Norway offers visitors a plethora of scenic natural wonders from snow-capped mountain peaks to deep fjords.

 

During the ice ages, deep valleys and narrow inlets filled with ocean water, creating the fjords. Although there are many fjords across the globe, the ones that grace the Norwegian coastline reign as the most popular because of their astonishing beauty. The mountains and villages surrounding the Norwegian fjords also offer many incredible sights.

We wanted to enjoy the famous fjords and also the Arctic circle

In our first plan, we had booked a flight from Bergen to Tromso and from there planned to take the all day bus to Norvik and Leknes staying in the beautiful Arctic islands Lofoten. In the revised plan, we decided to skip Tromso as logistics became difficult. As Lofoten islands are also in the Arctic circle, we retained only that.

Now we had to choose which of the fjords to visit. . The Western Norwegian fjords are rated as the world’s best. 

 

Two of the fjords, the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord, are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. The Sognefjord of which Nærøyfjord is a part, is the longest fjord in Norway with its 204 kilometres.

Initially we were trying to schedule both Geirangerfjord and Sognefjord and realized that distances and logistics are difficult. Geirangerfjord is best visited from Alesund and Bergen/ Oslo are good for going onward to Sognefjord. 

Self drive vs public transport:

Self drive is the best to enjoy the scenic beauty of Norway as it’s not just the fjords but the interior villages also that need to be experienced. However the terrain being mountainous, driving times are huge and returning a car in a destination other than the one where we rent it is hugely expensive. Doing a loop consumes a lot of time. We also felt the driver may not be able to enjoy the full beauty; also we had to include the integral portion of cruises.

 

With all these factors we decided to experience the best part of Sognefjord including Nærøyfjord by public transport

Then we decided to rent a car in Bergen and do a loop enjoying Hardangerfjord. This worked out excellent for us.

We then flew into Leknes in Lofoten islands, rented a car there and drove around the picture postcard Arctic circle fishing villages there enjoying the midnight sun.

The combo of public transport and self drive was GREAT! We covered the big distances by air and returned the car to the same destination twice, after covering those local areas by self drive. 

There are 18 National Tourist Routes in Norway. In addition to the excellent views - always spectacular, whatever the weather - we get a chance to visit lovely little villages. We drove 3 of those routes and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Altogether the vacation turned out amazing! 

Logistics

We paid the change fee and got our flights altered and the internal flights were all set!

We changed our car rental dates with no extra fee.

We bought our public transport part of the fjord experience … the Norway in nutshell tour… individually. The package costs more when bought as one, but we made considerable savings by buying the components on our own, we got a discount for the Oslo Flam part surprisingly. Usually the discounted tickets are scooped up as soon as they are released but we did find them at short notice for the early 6am slot and bought them. We decided to break the trip with an overnight stay at Aurland and managed to book a pretty villa right in front of the famous Aurlanfjord. So instead of following the day trippers from Oslo on their cruise in the fjord we got down with our bags and spent the day in scenic surroundings before taking the morning cruise. Breaking this up not only gave us extra time in scenic spots but also helped us avoid the crowd on the cruise. 

The plan really played out perfect

June 20, 21, 2015: Paris

June 22-24: Copenhagen… DFDS overnight cruise to Oslo

June 25: Landing in Oslo, 

June 26: Norway in Nutshell... night at Aurland

June 27: Norway in Nutshell...Aurland to Gudvangen cruise, Gudvangen to Voss bus with detour to Stalheim view point, train to Bergen, car pickup at airport

 June 28: Hardanger tourist route drive… Bergen to Norheimsund with stops at Fossenbratte, Steindalsfossen. Night at Lofthus

June 29: Hardanger tourist route drive...Completed the scenic loop to Granvin and then retraced our way back to Norheimsund and back to Bergen

June 30: Flight from Bergen to Leknes, Lofoten scenic drive...Utakleiv (Road 825), Unstad (Road 992), Eggum (Road 994)
 July1: Lofoten scenic drives...scenic south… Ramberg, Nusfjord, the most photographed village Reine, up to village of Å

July 2: Lofoten scenic drives...  Leknes to Raftsundet
July 3: Drive to Stamsund, Late evening flight Leknes to Oslo

July 4: Oslo museums

July 5: Flight back home

FOOD:

We self catered as we are vegetarians. Plenty of fruits and vegetables available at big supermarkets, albeit at higher prices compared to the US

June 25, 2015: Oslo:

 We had a pleasant overnight cruise from Copenhagen, Denmark. 

 We were told the Kronberg castle would come after this island and managed a glimpse.

Saw helicopter, ship and a jet boat all in same space as we approach Oslo.

We landed at the Oslo terminal Vippentangen, after our cruise. 

Our plan was to:

Buy Oslo Pass 320 nok, 24 hrs, for use on July 4th

Ruter 24 hr travel card zone 1, 90 nok for use on June 25th

The Oslo Pass gives free entry to more than 30 museums and attractions, free travel on all public transport etc. http://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/oslo-pass/ gives all details. On the day we landed we knew we can’t do justice to a full day Oslo pass because our sight seeing will start later in the day.

So we decided to buy just the transport pass http://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=182075&Ticket-prices-for-public-transportation-in-Oslo=

Issued by the Ruter

Only the Oslo card was for sale on the DFDS ship. We wanted to buy the transport pass for the day we landed but it was not available on the DFDS ship. There was no counter at the terminal to buy the transport pass. So we had to buy separate bus tickets to reach Oslo center and then get the pass for the day, though the trip to the center from the cruise terminal is also inclusive in the pass. This is true of not just the cruise terminal but also of the airport as well. We can’t buy this online too with non Norwegian card, it’s what it is!!

Bus 60 Tonsenhagen from Vippetangen plies from cruise terminal to Oslo center every 20 minutes. 15 minutes after ferry. 

We got on the buss 60 to Oslo central, bought the tickets and reached the center near Oslo Sentralstasjon/Central Station in 4 minutes.

We walked to our hotel Citybox, 500 m from the station.

Checked in, stored our bags and walked out again to the center with the bus and train stations.

The city Oslo was once referred to as Tigerstaden (City of tigers) by the author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson around 1870.

This name over the years achieved an almost official status, to the extent the 1000 year jubilee was celebrated by a row of tiger sculptures around the City Hall.

This one in front of the Central Station is the only one left now.

 

Lovely cool day…bought the 24 hour Ruter transport pass for 2 zones at the Narvesen shop in the train station building. It's available at Ruter's Customer Service Centre (in front of Oslo Central Station), in most Narvesen and 7-Eleven shops, from ticket machines at metro stations etc

We took buss 30 to Norsk Folkemuseum and spent the whole day from 10.30 to 6.30 there, savoring every moment.

NORSK FOLKEMUSEUM

NORSK FOLKEMUSEUM is world's oldest;  it is Norway’s largest museum of cultural history. It’s in the island of Bygdøy, open 10-18, 120nok,

 Ruter Buss 30 Bygdøy from downtown Oslo to Folkemuseet takes 18 min driving through a scenic route, frequency every 10min,

With collections from around the country, the museum shows how people lived in Norway from 1500 to the present.

The 160 buildings in the Open-Air Museum represent different regions in Norway, different time periods, as well as differences between town and country, and social classes.

The Gol Stave Church dating from 1200 is one of five medieval buildings at the museum.

The contemporary history is presented through exhibitions and documentation projects. Permanent indoor exhibitions include folk art, folk costumes, toys and Sami culture.

There is also a variety of temporary exhibitions and audience programs all year round.

Basic Facts:

Founded: December 19, 1894.

Number of artifacts in the collections: 230 000

Outdoor area: 140 000 sq. m Including Indoor area: 27 000 sq. m

Number of Buildings in the Open-air-Museum: 160

Oldest historic building: Gol Stave Church, built 1200

Visited the 1200 AD stave church, 

Several houses with authentic furnishings from all over the country, over a range of time period...

an old bank from 1882 which was pulled down in 1955 has been reassembled here...

Here's a collection of piggy bamks...

Lovely old gasoline station here...

old Deli ...

Watched several demos...we watched the guy demonstrating old musical instruments indoors ...

and then at 2 pm, watched the folk dance on this square...

It was like travel back in time through lovely ancient villages . 

The highlight was the collection of dolls houses with beautiful miniature furniture, crockery, clothes etc… 

 The toy collection was awesome as well!

 

 

Dolls wearing traditional Norwegian costumes

Poultry... kids feeding grass to hens...because that's what they can uproot from nearby...

 

Some kids even poking hens with tiny sticks

 

This girl makes Norwegian bread lefse with whole wheat flour, yogurt, eggs... it's for sale too...

 

This is tribal craft...

This is a Pakistani immigrant home...with samosa, jalebi on the plates!!

Vigeland Park 

Around 7 pm, we made our way to Vigeland Park from folkemuseet tainge buss30 nydalen, getting down at Olav Kyrres plass after 6 minutes and transferring to buss20 Galgeburg 4min

We enjoyed the lovely sculptures and the beautiful landscaping

Vigelandsparken/Frognerparken at Nobels gate 32 is a free sculpture park, established 1920-43 with 212 bronze and granite sculptures. It is the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist. Most of the statues depict people engaging in various typically human pursuits, such as running, wrestling, dancing, hugging, holding hands and so on. However, Vigeland occasionally included some statues that are more abstract, including one statue, which shows an adult male, fighting off a horde of babies.

Gustav Vigeland modelled all his sculptures in full size without any assistance of pupils or other artists. The carving in stone and the casting in bronze were left to a number of talented craftsmen.

Vigeland also designed the architectural setting and the layout of the grounds with their far stretching lawns and long straight avenues bordered with maple trees.

58 of the park's sculptures reside along the Bridge, a 100 m (328 ft) long, 15 m (49 ft) wide connection between the Main Gate and the Fountain. All are clad in bronze and contribute to the Human Condition theme of the park. 

Here we find one of the more popular statues, Angry Boy (Sinnataggen). 

At the end of the bridge lies the Children’s Playground, a collaboration of eight bronze statues, all in the likenesses of children at play.

At the highest point in Frogner Park lies the park's most popular attraction, The Monolith (Monolitten) a 14-m high sculpture. It took 14 years to carve. It’s carved in one single stone. It consists of 121 human figures. There have been many interpretations of the Monolith: Man's resurrection, the struggle for existence, Man's yearning for spiritual spheres, the transcendence of everyday life and cyclic repetition.

At the end of the 850 m long axis lies a sundial, forged in 1930 (there is also an 1830's sundial outside the manor house in the south), and finally the Wheel of Life, crafted in 1933-34. 

The wheel is more or less a wreath depicting four adults, a child, and a baby floating in harmony (the baby and child are on opposite sides). It is a symbol of eternity, and implies the overall theme of the park: man’s journey from the cradle to the grave

We took tram 12 back to city center and called it a day.

Our videos:

As usual, they are set to music and some frames are captioned.

https://goo.gl/photos/L49hc9ayNg5FWJHu5

is the Norway in a Nutshell video

https://goo.gl/photos/g3Y5wHQ33MFRUM5G7

is the video of Hardanger National Tourist Route Drive.

https://goo.gl/photos/gwB2kFevnVnu8mpG7
has our Video featuring the drives in Lofoten

I'll be adding the rest as soon as they are ready

Our Norway in a Nutshell trip done on our own is covered in the next post:

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/09/norway-trip-report-days-3-4-norway-in.html