Helen Johnston reviews Norway in a Nutshell®. A day trip for solo travellers from Oslo to Bergen by train, boat and coach to see everything Norway has to offer.
If it’s possible to get drunk on beautiful scenery, then it’s fair to say you’ll be way over the limit after travelling the breadth of Norway. The Norway in a Nutshell® route between Oslo and Bergen transports you by train, boat and coach through some of the most breathtaking vistas imaginable. Just when you’ve aahed over one stunning view, you’re greeted by the next.
I’ve been told a few times over the years that Norway is a must-see, so it was time to find out for myself. I wanted to experience as much as possible as a solo traveller in the time I had available, so the one-day Norway in a Nutshell® by Fjord Tours was a perfect option because it could be sandwiched in between visits to Oslo and Bergen.
There are various options but mine was the 12-hour trip from east to west which might sound gruelling, but for most of that time I was sitting comfortably and watching a never-ending display of natural beauty, so it’s not physically demanding.
So, after two days exploring Oslo, I headed to its Central Station to board the 8.25am regular Bergen train. It set off on time (a pleasant surprise for those of us used to the inconsistencies of British trains), with a mixture of nationalities settling in for the long ride ahead. The full 300-mile journey to Bergen takes about seven hours but many of the tourists on board were doing the same as me and getting off at Myrdal where we would arrive just after 1pm.
That meant four-and-a-half hours on board, so it was a relief to find the seats were comfortable and there was plenty of room for luggage, given that nearly everyone had a case or large bag. There was a café on board too offering a decent selection of food and drinks. I had a window seat and sat next to Astrid, a Norwegian travelling home after a work conference in Oslo.
As with everyone else I spoke to in Norway, her English was excellent and she was able to provide information about the places we passed. She worked in recycling for her local council so it was no surprise when she said she prefers to use the more environmentally friendly train than fly, and she was still appreciative of the landscape despite having been surrounded by it all her life.
We weren’t far out of Oslo before the scenery began to show off, teasing us with glimpses of water between trees before revealing an impossibly blue lake. And that was followed by another and then another, a whole chain of them, their glassy water mirroring the scenery above them, imposing mountains clad in forests of trees. As the nine-carriage train snaked its way across country the woman in front of me kept her phone permanently at the window to take video after video, desperate to capture every minute of it.
Highest point
We had left Oslo with blue skies and sunshine but as we continued west the sky grew cloudy and Astrid warned that the weather on that side of the country was usually wetter, pretty much the same as in the UK. It’s always wise to carry an umbrella in Manchester, for instance. We were climbing higher now, and the landscape grew barren, with little vegetation being able to survive.
The Bergen Line opened in 1909 and is the highest railway in northern Europe and eventually we reached the highest station at Finse, some 1222 metres above sea level. An Australian couple sitting on the other side of the aisle alerted us to a view of two glaciers either side of a slope, which served as a reminder of how challenging it was to build a rail line across this inhospitable landscape.
Astrid said this was where she had done some university research into beetles which are able to survive here, and she pointed out wooden huts which serve as accommodation for scientists.
From Finse the train crosses the Hardangervidda plateau with views of snow-capped mountains, the train continuing its sinuous journey until finally coming to a halt at Myrdal where many of us alighted to wait for the next train. This was to be the hour-long journey to Flåm along what has been described as one of the world’s most scenic railways. And with good reason.
The train had a vintage wooden interior with shorter seat backs and large picture windows designed to provide the best possible views. The Flåm Railway is 20km long and has 20 tunnels, one of which involves a 180-degree turn inside the mountain. It is a major feat of engineering. It has one of the world’s steepest standard guage tracks with 80% of the journey on a 5.5% gradient. Construction began in 1923 and took 17 years to complete (take note HS2 builders) with the Nåli tunnel taking 11 years to build.
It’s difficult to comprehend such statistics on paper but when you’re on the train travelling through the mountains you can see first-hand the challenges faced by the construction workers. It’s a wonder anybody ever thought such a rail line was possible. One of the highlights of the route is the stop at Kjosfossen waterfall, which is only accessible by rail. It’s an impressive waterfall, crashing 93 metres down the mountain side and we were able to get off to take pictures.
While I was joining everyone else angling for a good photo, haunting music began to play, adding an ethereal air to the experience. Then I caught a glimpse of red on the mountain side as a woman with wild blonde hair came into view, wearing a long, scarlet dress and dancing Kate-Bush-doing-Wuthering-Heights style. This was a forest spirit called a Huldra and provided a surreal encounter with Norse mythology in a perfect setting.
I was sitting with a couple from Cambridge who were spending several weeks exploring Scandinavia by rail and would even be travelling all the way home from Stockholm by land and sea because they want to cut down on flying. We agreed that train travel is a much better way to really see a country and its people.
UNESCO site
Commentary is provided on the train, pointing out particularly scenic views and also the 350-year-old wooden church at Flåm village, our final stop. It lies at the edge of Aurlandsfjord and whereas on the train the views are looking down at the valleys, now it’s a case of craning your neck to look up at the majestic mountains surrounding the head of the fjord.
A huge cruise ship also dwarfed the harbour side and made me wonder how on earth it had managed to squeeze its way through to this spot. For the next stage of my trip was a cruise (on a much smaller boat) along the Nærøyfjord, the narrowest arm of the Sognefjord and a UNESCO world heritage site.
It’s a silent cruise on an electric boat without a commentary which really allows passengers to enjoy the quiet of this breathtaking space. The water is as calm as a mill pond enabling the boat to glide gracefully along with the towering majesty of the 1700-meter-high mountains on either side. You can move freely around the boat during the two-hour journey, and I stayed on deck for most of it to enjoy the meditative quality of the experience. It was cold and breezy on the upper deck though, even on a late summer day, so it’s a good idea to have layers to wrap up in.
When it got a bit too chilly I went inside to warm up with a hot drink and some food. There was a good selection from the on-board café and plenty of comfortable seating and large windows, so it was still possible to enjoy the views. Colourful hamlets hugged the shoreline at various places, waterfalls tumbled down, and the sheer sheerness of the mountain sides was awe-inspiring. Some of the wooden homes could only be reached by boat and I wondered what it must be like to live somewhere so cut off. Although maybe it doesn’t feel that way when you’ve got tourists passing by so frequently.
The cruise ends in Gudvangen where we picked up a coach to take us to Voss. About half an hour after setting off we made a photo stop at Stalheim to take in the breathtaking views of the Nærøydalen Valley. By this time I was running out of adjectives to describe what I was seeing. It is simply stunning.
The view is accessed through a hotel which had a gift shop situated in the lobby but I didn’t mind that because they were giving us the present of that view (as well as a complimentary sweet bread called lefse). Then it was back on the coach to continue our now rainy journey to Voss station where we picked up the train to Bergen for our final leg of the journey.
By now it was 7.15pm and the light was fading under the rain clouds, but it was still possible to see rivers rushing along beside the track, lovely scenery but which now seemed a bit tame in comparison to what had gone before. I chatted with some Americans, a couple from Cincinatti and a woman from Fort Worth, and we compared our travel routes. We might have been going in different directions, but we all agreed that Norway had lived up to our expectations.
Tiredness was starting to take over now and, as we sped along, the carriage gradually grew silent as heads drooped, and eyes closed. I reflected on how easy this route is to travel solo with easy-to-follow directions at every point and never any misgivings about safety. Indeed, I had found companions to chat with and learn from all along the way.
It was dark when we disembarked at Bergen at 8.40pm and I still had another short journey to do by tram to my hotel on the waterfront. As I lay on the bed later replaying the journey in my head it was hard to fathom how I’d seen so much in one day. Mountains and lakes, check. UNESCO-listed fjord, check. Glaciers and snow, check. Forests and lush green fields, check.
Had I seen Norway in a Nutshell®? You bet I had.
Images (C) Vidar Molokken, Adrian Eversby and Mathias Falcone, VY.
Tell Me More About Norway in a Nutshell®
For more information about Norway in a Nutshell® go to Fjord Tours
How much: A standard tour from Oslo to Bergen for one person starts at 2510 Norwegian Krone (about £185 depending on exchange rates)
Choice of route: You can start the tour in either Oslo or Bergen and take it as a round trip or one way
How long: You can personalise your tour by booking overnight stays and activities along the route
Food and drink: Available on the Bergen Line train, the fjord cruise, and in Flåm and Gudvangen
Where to stay: Helen stayed at the Karl Johan Hotel in Oslo, and the Moxy Hotel in Bergen,
Getting there: Helen flew with Easy Jet from Manchester to Oslo and returned with Norwegian Airlines from Bergen to Manchester.
