BRIAN OGLE RECALLS ONE OF HIS FAVOURITE DAY TRIPS, BY TRAIN, BOAT AND BUS
MANY times during the past few months of virus restrictions I’ve thought about the trips and the travel experiences I would definitely repeat when the world returns to something like normal.
And high up on my list of priorities would be an an amazing one-day trip in Norway, travelling by train, boat and coach from the Norwegian capital Oslo to Bergen on the west coast.
It’s called ‘Norway In a Nutshell’ – a name which wonderfully encapsulates this journey from the capital, first of all through rolling countryside, along meandering river valleys, then into the hills past ski resorts and mountain villages.
Soon, even in summer, you are travelling past snow fields, glaciers and through snow tunnels before arriving at the station of Myrdal, where you exchange the Oslo-Bergen line for the spectacular 40-minute journey on the world-famous Flåm Railway to the village of Flåm itself tucked away in the middle of the mountains at the end of the Aurlandsfjord.
The journey takes you past spectacular panoramic views and the train even stops halfway down the mountain at the Kjosfossen Waterfall so everyone can pile out and take photographs. From Flam, there’s time to enjoy a coffee and breathe in the crisp mountain air before returning back up the Flam railway to board the next Oslo-Bergen train and finish your journey to Bergen. However, as I had taken the Norway in a Nutshell package my trip continued from Flåm with a cruise on the Aurlandsfjord and along the dramatic Nærøyfjord, one of the narrowest fjords in Norway which is not on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list without good reason.
After your fjord cruise you arrive in the small village of Gudvangen, nestled in the innermost part of Nærøyfjorden. From here the journey continues with a bus trip through the region, with its charming villages and scenic natural landscape.
From May-September the bus travels down the steep hairpin bends of Stalheimskleiva, which will literally make your hair stand on end. I can’t imagine the nerves of steel possessed by the cool as cucumber coach drivers!
The coach eventually arrives in the town of Voss, and it’s here you continue the tour by train, again on the Oslo line to Bergen. By the time you arrive in Norway’s second city you have been on the go for more than 12 hours, but what a 12 hours! It will be well into the evening, but I tell you what, your head will be swirling with the wealth of experiences, contrasts and spectacular panoramas. What a day, what a journey!
I spent a few days in Bergen, Norway’s second city, and didn’t see a raindrop which was a surprise as the city, surrounded by hills, is generally regarded to be one of the wettest in Norway – at least that’s what I was told – and certainly the fact that everyone seemed to be wearing coloured wellies and sou’westers seemed to lend weight to this assumption.
There are dozens of beautiful wooden buildings round the harbour front in Bergen, an amazing fish market and a lot of pubs, including inevitably, quite a few Irish ones. But don’t be tempted to get into company and offer to buy a round – it could easily cost you as much as your Norway in a Nutshell tour ticket.
A good view of Bergen, which is called the City of the Seven Mountains, can be had from the funicular on Mount Fløyen, while an evening trip not to be missed is a boat trip inland to Mostraumen which includes fjords, steep mountainsides, strong currents and mighty waterfalls.
Other tourist sights not to miss while in Bergen is a cable car ride up Mount Ulriken and a visit to Edvard Grieg’s home at Troldhaugen which is now the Grieg Museum.
The Norway in a Nutshell tour can take up to 13 hours and costs around £150 per person. It’s a tiring and long day but well worth it. This year, of course, Covid protection measures are in place, and probably still will be, well into next year. Obviously it is preferable to do the tour in late spring or summer when the days are longer and you get far more sightseeing value for your money.
The 'Travel' Life of Brian 