This Is My Favourite Norway Itinerary
I've lost count of how many times I've booked this trip now, and I still get a little thrill every time a client comes back from it. If you asked me to design the perfect introduction to Norway, one that mixes cities, fjords, mountains and a proper sense of adventure without ever feeling rushed, this is what I'd build. It's a nine-day loop starting and finishing in Oslo, and it takes in some of the most extraordinary scenery I've ever put a client on a train for. Here's how it runs.
Day 1: Landing in Oslo
You land, get yourself to the hotel, and the rest of the day is yours. Oslo rewards a wander. I always point clients towards the Viking Ship Museum and the Munch gallery if art and history are their thing, and the Opera House is worth a look even if you never set foot inside, it's one of those buildings you just want to walk across the roof of. Vigeland Park is another favourite, all those extraordinary sculptures dotted through green space. Oslo is consistently ranked one of the greenest cities in the world, and honestly you feel it the moment you start walking.
Day 2: The Flåmsbana
This is the day people book the trip for. An early train takes you from Oslo up to Myrdal, where you connect onto the Flåmsbana itself, one of the steepest railway lines in the world on a normal track. In under an hour you drop nearly 2,824 feet down the mountainside into the Aurlandsfjord, past thundering waterfalls and valleys so dramatic they barely look real. It's been voted the most scenic rail journey in the world more than once, and having sat on that train myself, I understand why. You arrive in Flåm by early afternoon with the rest of the day free to settle into this tiny fjordside village.
Day 3: Fjord Safari and a Viking Feast
A proper adventure day. You'll head out from Flåm on a RIB boat safari through the Aurlandsfjord and into the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord, the narrowest fjord in the world. Your guide will point out seals, porpoises and eagles along the way, plus plenty of local stories and legend. Then, when you're back on dry land, dinner is booked at Ægir BrewPub, one of my favourite recommendations on this whole itinerary. Their Viking Plank is a five-course tasting menu, each dish paired with one of their own brewed beers. It's a proper occasion of a meal, and completely unlike anywhere else I send clients in Norway.
Day 4: Onward to Bergen
This morning you're back on the water, this time cruising the Aurlandsfjord and into the Nærøyfjord again, but travelling onward rather than looping back. Keep an eye out for goats grazing on the hillsides and seals sunning themselves on the rocks. You'll moor at Gudvangen, then transfer by coach up the switchbacks of the Stalheimskleiva for a viewpoint over the Stalheimsfossen and Sivlefossen waterfalls, before continuing to Voss, where you pick up the train onward to Bergen. You'll have the afternoon free once you check in, plenty of time to explore the Hanseatic wharf at Bryggen or take the Fløibanen funicular up for a view over the whole city.
Day 5: Mostraumen by Catamaran
Another fjord, another kind of beautiful. Today's cruise takes you by modern catamaran under the Nordhordaland Bridge and into the Osterfjord, narrowing dramatically as you reach the Mostraumen Strait. You'll pass close enough to waterfalls to feel the spray, and there's genuinely a lot of wildlife to spot along the way. A relaxed day after the previous one's transfers.
Day 6: Hardangerfjord
A day trip out to one of Norway's most celebrated regions, known for its orchards and postcard villages as much as its fjord scenery. A short train and bus journey followed by a cruise brings you to Eidfjord, where there's time to visit the Norwegian Nature Centre and grab lunch, plus a stop at Vøringsfossen, one of the country's largest waterfalls. The return leg is another fjord cruise and short scenic drive back into Bergen.
Day 7: Bergen to Balestrand via the Sognefjord
If Hardangerfjord is the Queen of the Fjords, Sognefjord is the King, the longest and deepest in Norway. A four-hour cruise through some genuinely spectacular scenery brings you to Balestrand, a small village where you'll spend the night at the historic Kviknes Hotel, a proper slice of old Norway.
Day 8: Back to Oslo, via the Flåmsbana Once More
Another few hours cruising the Sognefjord before you reach Flåm again, this time with a chance for lunch before boarding the Flåmsbana once more, back up to Myrdal and onward to Oslo. Riding the same railway a week later, in different light, is one of those small details that makes this itinerary feel so complete, it genuinely looks like a different journey.
Day 9: Oslo, One Last Time
A gentler final full day. A two-hour cruise around Oslo's islands and inlets gives you a completely different perspective on the city, past the Opera House from the water this time, and out among islands like Hovedøya and the little Dyna Lighthouse. Save the evening for a good dinner and a proper look back through your photos, because by this point there will be a lot of them.
Journey's End
From here it's back to the airport, or, if you fancy staying on, this is exactly the kind of itinerary I love extending. A few extra nights in the fjords, or a stop somewhere new on the way home, always works beautifully tacked onto the end of this one.
This trip has everything I want to give a client: cities with real character, fjord scenery that genuinely stops you in your tracks, one of the world's great train journeys (twice), and enough variety across the nine days that it never once feels repetitive. If you're weighing up Norway for your next trip, this is where I'd start.
Get in touch if you'd like me to put together your own version of this journey
