Norway is a beautiful country, with varied landscape.  It’s ideal for a fly drive holiday or a guided coach tour, but not all of us want the hassle of driving on our holidays and coach tours can be restricting in terms of departure dates and destinations visited.  I wanted to see how easy it was to travel around the fjords using public transport.  I also wanted to find out how easy it would be to travel with my luggage.  As it turns out, Norway has excellent train, coach and ferry services that run like clockwork.  Many tourists travel this way and as long as you stick to one good roller bag and maybe a shoulder bag you should find no trouble managing your luggage.

I went at the end of August, a great time to visit if you want to avoid the peak tourist season, as well as the local holiday makers.  Norwegian kids go back to school in mid – August and tourists seem to prefer June, July and the beginning of August.  Don’t expect hot summers in Norway.  The end of August is still pleasant, the temperature was between 15 – 20 C, perfect for hiking and sightseeing.

I started my tour in Bergen.  I took a 20 minute cab ride from the airport to the city centre, as my Air Baltic flight from Riga landed after midnight.  It was too dark to see much, but when I arrived at my harbour side hotel, First Hotel Marin, I caught a glimpse of the famous Bryggen buildings. 

The next morning I took a trip to the top of Mount Floyen for some spectacular views.  You can reach the top of the 350 metres peak by taking the Funicular, which was only a 3 minute walk from my hotel.  There are some nice walks along the top of the mountain ridge through the forest and you can have a snack at the café before walking or taking the funicular back down.

I spent the afternoon wandering around Bergen.  The fish market was lively and you could buy some lunch there.  This time of year they were also selling amazingly plump, fresh blueberries and raspberries.  Bergen is a very compact city.  The people are friendly and it has a very lively, international feel to it.  There are plenty of restaurants, bars, galleries and shops to keep people entertained for days, not to mention the natural surrounding beauty of mountains and the sea.  When you are in Bergen you must eat the fresh fish.  It is very reasonably priced, (about £12 - £14 for a main dish in a decent restaurant), compared to the high prices of other food. 

The next morning I boarded one of the many high speed ferries that cruise round the fjords.  I was headed toward Balestrand, on the Sognefjord, the World’s longest (204 km) and deepest fjord (1,308 m).  The 4 hour boat ride was enjoyable, especially as the fjord narrowed near Balestrand and you could see the snow capped peaks.  I checked in to the Kviknes Hotel, a beautiful wooden structure from the early 1900’s, with lovely grounds on the shore of the fjord.  Although my room was in the rather dull, modern structure built to accommodate the increasing number of guests, the restaurants, bars and multiple lounges where you can enjoy a drink and listen to the piano player in the bar.  From Balestrand you can visit Jostedal Glacier.  The half day tour started just about the time I arrived from Bergen.  As I only had one day in Baletrand, I opted to go for a hike.  I walked from the hotel through the historic little town past .St. Olaf’s Church and in to the hills.  You can pick up a trail map at the Tourist Information office and the trails are well marked.  The hikes very from a few kilometres to all day excursions taking you up to 600 metres above sea level.  The views over Sognefjord are beautiful and wooded trails are well kept.

After a good night’s sleep and an excellent Scandinavian buffet breakfast at the Kviknes Hotel, I made the short walk back to the pier and boarded the boat for the 2 hour trip to Flam.  I spent most of the time on deck, along with the rest of the passengers, snapping photos of the dramatic cliffs, dropping in to the calm, clear waters of the fjord. 

Flam is at the end of the Aurlandsfjord, which is a tributary to the Sognefjord.  It is nestled among the surrounding mountains.  There are a couple of hotels, a camp ground, a few restaurants, post office, tourist office and grocery store.  It’s tiny, but there are a lot of things to do, if you like the outdoors.  I chose to take a hike up to the Brekkefossen waterfall.  You can also take a fjord safari with a rib boat, kayak on the fjord, hire bikes or take the famous Flam railway to Myrdal. 

I stayed at the Flamsbrygga Hotel.  The hotel has a modern, Scandinavian interior and all rooms have a balcony, either facing the fjord or the mountains. There is a brewery next door where you can try the tasty local beers.  The brewery features a pub, shaped like a tee pee, with a giant fireplace in the middle.  There aren’t too many choices of restaurants.  There  are some rail cars that have been turned in to a restaurant, Café Stationen, that serves pub style food,  the Flamsbrygge Hotel has a dinner more elaborate dinner buffet and Fretheim Hotel has an a la carte menu.Â
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After another lengthy Scandinavian breakfast, I headed for the Flam railway, which snakes up through the mountains on a 20 km climb to Myrdal, which is at an elevation of 900 metres above sea level.  This makes the Flam Railway the steepest stretch of railway in the World.  Along the way we see many waterfalls and just before we reach Myrdal, the train stops to let the passengers off to take photos in the shadow of a cascading waterfall, churning so much water that the noise is deafening.

At Myrdal, I changed to a high speed train to Oslo.  The first part of journey continued uphill, until we reached an altitude of about 1,200 meters and travelled on the plateau, just above the timberline.  Once we began our descent, we rolled pass the ski resort of Geilo, through the forests and reached Norway’s capital, Oslo.  This time I only spent one evening in Oslo, at the centrally located Clarion Royal Christiana Hotel, which is located near the Central Railway Station where you catch the Flytoget, the fast train to Oslo’s Gardemoen airport.