What is “Norway in a Nutshell”? It is a very popular circular tour from Oslo that uses trains and boats to travel the famed Sognesfjord, the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. The trip can be done in a single day if you have the energy but it is recommended that you take 3-5 days to stop and “smell the roses” along the way. We are retired and I like “smelling the roses” so we chose the 5 day trip that included two night stays in both Bergen and Balestrand. A travel agency called Fjord Travel Norway does a great job of packaging the tour and making the reservations for the three train rides, the two hotels and the two boat rides that make up the trip.

The first leg of the trip was a 7 hour train ride from Oslo to Bergen. It had a leisurely noon departure from the central Oslo train station. We had stayed at the airport hotel last night and had to get back into the city. When we originally arrived in Oslo we had taken an expensive $100 cab to Oslo because we had all our Arctic luggage. Today we arranged with the airport hotel to hold our three pieces of luggage as we were planning to “rough it” by taking only a small carry on sized suitcase on this adventure. I did not want to worry about how to handle big pieces of luggage on trains and boats. As it turned out it worked out wonderfully!  So with minimal luggage we were able to take the airport express train to the main Oslo train station. It runs every 10 minutes and takes 20 minutes to get there (versus 40 minutes when driving). And the best part is the senior fare was $10 each! It was slick!

We planned to get to the Oslo train station about an hour before departure so we could figure out where the train to Bergen left from, how soon you can board, and most importantly buy some food from the many great food vendors at the station to take with us for the 7 hour trip. We loaded up with freshly made sandwiches and some of great pastries before boarding our noon train where we had reserved seats.As with most European trains the Norwegian trains are wonderful- new, modern and quiet with large windows to watch the world go by.

The route from Oslo to Bergen, built between 1875 and 1909,  covers 308 miles through some of Europe’s most inhospitable terrain. It rises to an elevation of 1237meters (4,058 feet) and goes through 178 tunnels. The time and scenery flew by, going from forest to eventually rising above tree line before descending to the seaside city of Bergen. It was 7 PM when we arrived (on time) and since our hotel was about a mile away we chose to take a cab rather than walk, although we later learned Bergen is a very walkable city.

Our hotel was a block from the iconic Bergen waterfront, pictures of which everyone has seen. In the category of “it’s a small world” as we checked in the staff apologized profusely about a rock concert that was going to be held right behind the hotel that featured “The Foo Fighters”, a famous grunge band from SEATTLE, our home town! We laughed heartily and accepted the foam ear plugs they were providing to all the guests. We were not overly concerned.

As part of the hotel package both breakfast and dinner were provided so we simply had a light meal at their evening buffet before retiring to our room for the night.