Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
July 2010: 'Norway in a Nutshell'
No
trip to Bergen is complete without getting out of the city itself
and seeing some of the most magnificent coastal mountain landscape
in the world. I did so by buying a ticket for the day tour known as
'Norway in a Nutshell', a self-guided itinerary made up of a number
of connecting journeys by public transport. While the highlight was
always going to be the ferry sailing from Gudvangen to Flåm, the
surprise runner-up was the bus journey from Voss to Gudvangen, with
its hair-raising descent on a narrow road featuring a seemingly
never-ending series of hairpin bends.
With the exception of the Flåmsbana line, which intentionally and successfully projected a vintage image, the trains that I used were disappointingly old, tatty and crowded. The Norwegian landscape, on the other hand, fully lived up to expectations.
Bergen - Voss (train)
Voss - Gudvangen (bus)
Gudvangen - Flåm (ferry)
Flåm - Myrdal (train)
Myrdal - Bergen (train)
Caution - Troll Country!
Just as the Irish have their leprechauns, so Norse legends are full of tales of the little people, in this case usually with a decidedly dark side to their character.
Base: Grand Hotel Terminus, Bergen
Linked report from same trip: