I’ve had the “Norway in a Nutshell” tour on my travel bucket list since we first moved to Europe five years ago.
Earlier this year, we decided to make the most of a long holiday weekend and finally make the journey north to Bergen for a somewhat compressed version of the famous tour.
I’ve noticed our shorter trips are often just a memorable as the longer ones, and this one was no exception. Even though we only had a few days, I feel like I got a really good sense of what Norway has to offer.
When we visited
We traveled to Norway over Easter weekend at the beginning of April, during the shoulder season. Of course, the one major downside of a trip to the Nordics during springtime is the unpredictable weather.
By some stroke of luck, we had great weather the majority of our trip. It was fairly chilly, but with proper clothing and (mostly) blue skies, it was totally manageable.
Of course, the big upside to traveling in the off-season is lower prices and fewer crowds. We also managed to save some money by booking everything ourselves instead of through the official tour website.
We had a really relaxed time on the Norway in the Nutshell route. We had almost an entire car to ourselves on the Flam railway, something that would be impossible in the summer!
Read more: How to DIY Norway in a Nutshell: A Step-by-Step Guide
Our 5-day Bergen to Flam itinerary
The traditional Norway in a Nutshell tour starts in Oslo and ends in Bergen.
With just five days allotted for the trip, I decided to save the Oslo visit for another time and instead planned a roundtrip tour starting and ending in West Norway’s city of Bergen. From what I read online, the highlight of the tour is the portion that lies between Bergen and Flam anyway, so it didn’t seem like we’d miss out on much.
We spent about two and a half days exploring Bergen before traveling east to the fjords with an overnight in Flam for the remaining two days. We took a combination of train, bus, and ferry to reach Flam. On our final morning, we traveled back to Bergen’s airport via train.
Day 1: Bergen’s historic Bryggen neighborhood and Fish Market
Our first day of the trip was primarily a travel day.
We took a 12pm flight from Amsterdam to Bergen, arriving around 1:30pm. We caught the tram to the city center and checked into our Airbnb.
We opted for an Airbnb over a hotel for the extra space and convenience of having a kitchen. This was our first time traveling with Luna since she had officially crossed over from baby to toddler, so we wanted to make sure we set ourselves up for success (and, hopefully, a good night’s rest for all of us).
Where we stayed: Airbnb in Bergen’s Gastronomic District
After getting settled in, we headed back out to make the best use of our afternoon and check out a few of Bergen’s sights within walking distance from our Airbnb.
But first we needed a snack, so we made a quick stop by Trekroneren, an unassuming (yet apparently very famous) hot dog stand that’s been in operation for over 75 years.
The number of options on the menu was overwhelming. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill hot dogs. There are no less than six varieties of sausage and a whole slew of toppings with many suggested combinations to choose from.
We ordered the Norwegian, a reindeer sausage with onions, mustard, and lingonberry. It was the perfect snack to tide us over.
We then walked to the historic neighborhood of Bryggen, which translates to “warf.” Bryggen is one of the oldest trading ports in Northern Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The neighborhood is composed of multicolored wooden houses all packed closely together. We walked down a few narrow alleyways where you can really see just how crooked the buildings are. It seems like they could topple over at any moment, much like many of the houses in Amsterdam.
After exploring Bryggen, we ventured over to the nearby Fish Market, another attraction popular with tourists. We did some window shopping, checking out the wide variety of fresh seafood.
The restaurants at the market are pretty overpriced, so we ultimately decided to have dinner elsewhere.
One of the best things about our accommodation was the location, with a number of highly-rated restaurants just steps from our front door. After the Fish Market, we headed back toward our Airbnb and picked out a nearby Italian restaurant called Villani Skostredet.
We ordered pizza, gnocchi, and a pasta dish from the children’s menu. Nothing like heavy Italian food after a long day of travel. We left feeling stuffed and ready to snooze.
Day 2: Fløibanen funicular, hike on Fløyen, and Sandviken
We spent the first full day of our trip getting a taste of the Norweigan outdoors with a trip to the mountains.
There are actually seven mountains in Bergen. Two of these (Ulriken and Fløyen) are directly accessible from Bergen’s city center via funiculars. We opted for Fløyen simply because the funicular station was closer, but with more time I would have liked to check out both.
After breakfast, we headed to the Fløibanen funicular lower station, just a few minutes walk from our Airbnb.
In about 10 minutes, we arrived to the upper station, around 320 meters above Bergen. It’s amazing to be in the center of Bergen one moment and the top of a mountain just a few minutes later. If only we had access to nature like this in Amsterdam!
Once we reached the top of Fløyen mountain, we took a moment to take in the expansive view of Bergen below. Even if you’re not into hiking, the view alone is worth the price of admission.
By this point it was nearly lunchtime, and we were starting to get hungry.
I’d read online about a nice little cafe serving svele, traditional Norwegian pancakes, just a short 10-minute hike away from the station. We followed signs pointing to Lake Skomakerdiket and found the cafe (simply named Skomakerdiket Cafe) on the far side of the lake.
We ordered three pancakes, one in each of the recommended toppings — two types of jam with cream and Brunost, a Norwegian brown cheese.
Over lunch we discussed our next move and decided to go for a longer hike. There are a ton of trails to choose from on Fløyen. We settled on a route that would take us to another viewpoint about an hour north.
From there, we would make our way down from the mountain and back toward the city center through the residential neighborhood of Sandviken.
The hike was relatively easy-going most of the way. After just a few minutes on the trail, we felt completely immersed in the forest. It was hard to believe we were so close to one of Norway’s biggest cities!
The forest floor was covered in the lushest green moss I’d ever seen. We took a pitstop along the way for a moss-filled photoshoot — I just couldn’t resist.
Toward the end of the hike we passed by a much larger lake called Storevatnet. Past the lake, we turned off the main trail and made our way to the Sandvikspilen viewpoint, where we were treated to yet another spectacular view of Bergen.
There’s no funicular at this part of the mountain, so there were way fewer people to contend with.
On the flip-side, no funicular meant there was only one way down… and that just so happened to be 511 stone stairs and 209 meters straight down. The staircase was so steep, it reminded me of the climb down from Huayna Picchu on a trip to Peru many years back that nearly gave me vertigo.
Every trip we go on, there’s some point where we realize we may have been a bit overambitious and are in over our heads. This was definitely that moment for our trip to Norway.
But nevertheless, we survived the gruelling ordeal and eventually made it down to the trailhead at the edge of Sandviken.
Luckily the rest of the route back to our Airbnb was much more reasonable. The walk through Sandviken was also really lovely. It’s always nice to get out of the city center and see where people actually live their lives.
After our more-than-we-bargained-for day on the mountain, we needed a bit of a rest. We spent some time back at our Airbnb relaxing and recharging.
For dinner we felt like doing something a bit different. So we booked a table at an Ethiopian restaurant we found online that got great reviews, called Savannah Restaurant.
We arrived on the early side and had the whole restaurant to ourselves. We ordered one of the sharing platters so we could try as many things as possible (and to increase the odds that our picky toddler would find something she liked). It was all very tasty!
Day 3: Visits to the Edvard Grieg Museum and Fantoft Stave Church
For our third day of the trip, we woke up to more blue skies and sun — what luck!
We had an early breakfast at Godt Brød, a local bakery chain with delicious cinnamon buns, and planned out our day.
Given the nice weather, we decided to venture a bit further out from the city center to see a couple of attractions.
After breakfast, we caught the southbound 1 tram and traveled about 30 minutes to see the home of Norway’s most famous composer, Edvard Grieg.
The composer’s home, also known as Troldhaugen, sits atop a hill overlooking Nordås Lake. It was used as his primary residence from 1885 until his death in 1907 and now serves as a museum, cafe, and concert hall dedicated to his legacy.
To visit the inside of the house, you have to join an organized tour. We had some time to kill before the next tour, so we grabbed some lunch at their cafe while Luna got a nap in.
The tour of the house was short and sweet. The interior was eclectically decorated and surprisingly rustic, considering Edvard’s status as a member of Norway’s elite.
After the tour, we were free to roam around the property as we pleased.
We walked down to the small cabin by the lake, where Edvard did most of his writing. You may not know his name, but you would definitely recognize his music. It was in this small one-room cabin that he wrote two of his most well-known compositions, “Morning Mood” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”
The museum and house were interesting, but the highlight of our visit was simply walking around the property and taking in the view of the lake.
After the Edvard Grieg museum, we caught the 1 tram back to the city center.
We decided on our way to make one more stop along the way to see one of Norway’s most famous stave churches, called the Fantoft Stave Church.
Stave churches are uniquely different from any other church I’ve seen in my European travels. They look like something you’d expect to see in Asia, especially with the dragon heads adorning the roof.
At one time there were at least 1,000 stave churches in Norway. The churches were made entirely of wood — from the timber framing to wood shingles — and as such, most of the original churches have burned down over the years. Today only 28 remain.
The Fantoft Stave Church has a similar story, although it survived until 1992 when it was set on fire by arsonists. It was rebuilt following the original design and has been reopened to visitors since 1997.
Since we were visiting in the off-season, we could only admire the church from the outside, but it was still really impressive to see and worth the visit.
We arrived back to the city in the late afternoon.
For dinner, we had a reservation at the restaurant on the ground floor of our Airbnb that’s owned by the hosts, a Spanish tapas bar called Taperia Tapas & Pinxos.
One of the perks of staying above a restaurant is that we were able to dine after putting Luna to bed. We set up the baby monitor, headed downstairs, and voila… date night on vacation!
We decided to go all-out and ordered the tasting menu and a pitcher of sangria. Some of our favorite dishes were the tacos, queso manchego, pimientos del padron, and crema catalana (a Spanish version of crème brûlée).
The restaurant was pretty pricey, but the quality of the food was exceptional.
After dinner we went back upstairs to our Airbnb and did some packing. We had an early start the next morning and a long couple of days ahead of us as we left Bergen and ventured east to the fjords.
Day 4: Train, bus, and ferry to Flam (the Norway in a Nutshell tour)
The big day had arrived! It was finally time to leave Bergen and see our first fjords.
We got an early start. Our train was scheduled to depart Bergen’s Central Station at 8:30am. As we approached the station, we discovered that the train line was temporarily closed and replaced by a bus. Luckily the route to the bus was clearly marked, so we soon found our way and climbed aboard.
About an hour later, we pulled into Voss, where we transferred to our other, slightly more scenic bus route to Gudvangen. The bus was prepared with a car seat installed, which was a nice surprise. Luna got settled in and enjoyed a nice mid-morning nap.
By 11am we had arrived to Gudvangen and finally got our first glimpse of the Nærøyfjord.
We had about an hour to kill before our ferry, so we, like everyone else, headed inside to the expansive gift shop and cafe to grab a bite to eat.
At 12pm we boarded our ferry and embarked on our two-hour journey along the Nærøyfjord and Aurlandsfjord.
The ferry ride is definitely the highlight of the Norway in a Nutshell tour. Even with high expectations, I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful the fjords were. This experience would easily make my top 5 list for most spectacular natural wonders in Europe!
I was also pleasantly surprised with how nice the ferry itself was. There was plenty of space for everyone, a good selection of beverages and snacks on board, and even a small kid-friendly area where little ones could crawl around.
But more important than all of that, of course, was the viewing deck at the top of the ferry where we spent the majority of the ride.
Despite traveling in spring, we were fortunate to have blue skies and full sun the entire day. The light turned the water into glass, creating beautiful reflections of the tiny, colorful houses and snow-capped mountains to either side of the fjord.
We all had a fantastic time. Luna especially enjoyed getting to roam freely around the deck in her padded jumpsuit and meeting the other passengers. She made lots of friends, as per usual.
At 2:00pm our ferry reached the end of the fjord and pulled into the port of Flam.
We had only 15 minutes from the time our ferry arrived to Flam before our next scheduled activity, an excursion to a nearby attraction. Luckily our hotel, the Flåmsbrygga, was just a five-minute walk away, so we had just enough time to drop off our bags at the hotel reception.
It took a little while to locate the minibus meet-up point, but we eventually found our way. We boarded the bus, set Luna up in her car seat, and were on our way.
After 30 minutes and countless hairpin turns, we reached the Stegastein viewpoint.
The Stegastein viewpoint is one of the most popular attractions in Flam. There was quite a big crowd when we visited (although I imagine it might be worse other times of year), but with a bit of patience we eventually had our turn at the end of the platform.
The view of the Aurlandsfjord is really spectacular and made for a complementary experience to the ferry ride.
After about half an hour at the viewpoint, we met back up with our minibus driver and fellow passengers and made our way back down to Flam.
We checked into the hotel and spent an hour or so resting in our room before dinner. We were pretty tired from the long day of travel, but luckily we didn’t have to travel far for dinner.
At 5:30pm we headed to the microbrewery adjacent to our hotel called Ægir BrewPub, where we had a reservation. The food matches the Viking-inspired interior, with lots of traditional and hearty dishes on the menu.
I ordered the roasted deer with potatoes, Dan got the deer and beef burger, and Luna had the meatballs and mashed potatoes from the children’s menu. The meal was not cheap, as you might expect, but the food was delicious and really hit the spot!
Traveler Tip: The brewery is one of the most popular restaurants in Flam, and reservations are only available to guests of the Flåmsbrygga Hotel. The wait list was really long, so it might be worth staying at the hotel for the convenience of being able to book a table for dinner at the brewery.
After dinner, we went back to our room to put Luna to bed. With the baby monitor set up, we returned to the brewery, this time to sit in their cozy bar downstairs.
We ordered a beer flight and played cards for a little while before returning back to the room for a little shut eye.
Day 5: Historic Flam railway and return to Bergen airport
On Sunday, we woke up to our first grey skies of the trip. Most of our last day would be spent traveling back to Bergen and then onward to Amsterdam, so we weren’t too concerned with the light drizzle.
We had a couple of hours in the morning before catching our first train, so we decided to make the most of it and stretch our legs with a short hike to the Brekkefossen waterfall in Flam.
We read online that the waterfall was just a 20-30 minute hike from the center of Flam. In reality, that was just the estimate to the trailhead, and the hike itself was another half-hour uphill climb to the top.
We did as much as we could in the allotted time before having to turn back around. We still managed to see the waterfall from a distance and got a decent view of the valley, so it was still a nice use of our morning.
We made it back to Flam Railway Station just in time to board our 12pm train.
The Flam Railway, or Flåmsbana as it’s called in Norwegian, is a historic train line that was first opened in 1940 to connect towns along the Sognefjord with Bergen and Oslo. These days, it’s used primarily by tourists and is actually the third most-visited attraction in all of Norway.
We climbed aboard our train and found ourselves a nice spot. I loved the vintage feel with the all-red interior and extra plush seats. It felt like stepping back in time.
The train pulled out of the station and were surprised to find that we had almost an entire train car to ourselves. Perks of traveling in the off-season!
The train line connects Flam with the town of Myrdal, covering a distance 20 kms and 865 meters in elevation. The ride takes around an hour and every moment is a delight.
We watched from the oversized windows as the train climbed past rivers, idyllic farmland, waterfalls, and snow-capped mountains. We spent the ride dashing from one side of the train to the other to catch the best view. It’s known to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world, and I can see why!
The route is direct but it does make one brief stop at about the halfway point, where riders can momentarily disembark to view the Kjosfossen waterfall. Even though it was April, the waterfall was still frozen solid and the platform was covered in ice.
From Kjosfossen, the landscape got progressively snowier and snowier. By the time we reached Myrdal, the view from the window was blindingly white.
Once off the train, we headed to the small train station to grab a bite to eat and wait for our connecting train.
At around 1pm, we boarded our train bound for Bergen. We heard that the Vy trains have a designated family car, so we decided to leave our assigned seats to check it out.
We eventually found the family car and were delighted to find it included a padded play area for the kids to get out some energy. It made the two hour train journey fly by — if only every train had something like this!
Back to Bergen’s central train station, we transferred to the tram and headed directly to the airport.
By the time we made it home, we’d gone from historic railway, to high speed train, to tram, to airplane, to high speed train, to (one last) tram.
It was a long day of travel, that’s for sure. But all things considered, it was fairly painless. The beautiful scenery along the Flam Railway certainly didn’t hurt.
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