Norway in a Nutshell

What this is

Norway in a Nutshell is the country’s most famous travel package — a curated sequence of trains, a bus, a fjord cruise, and another train that connects Oslo to Bergen across a single day. It is a journey, designed to compress the whole of western Norway into one continuous experience.

The whole journey runs on Day 3 — leaving Oslo early in the morning and arriving in Bergen late that night.

Three stops between the capital and the coast

• Flåm — the fjord village at the bottom of the Flåm Railway descent
• Stegastein — the famous viewpoint platform suspended over the Aurlandsfjord
• Nærøyfjord — the UNESCO World Heritage fjord crossed by boat

The arc, in real time

In order, the day runs Oslo → Myrdal → Flåm → Stegastein → the Nærøyfjord cruise → Voss → Bergen; the exact departure times are tucked into Nitty-Gritty mode for anyone who wants to plan to the minute.

Background

The Flåm Railway opened in 1940 after about sixteen years of construction; the Bergen Railway opened in 1909 and cut a four-day overland trip to one. Both were considered impossible at the time. The Nærøyfjord became UNESCO World Heritage in 2005.

Each leg carries far more than the few hours the day allows: the Aurlandsfjord and its narrow Nærøyfjord branch, the cantilever platform above Aurland, and the railway village of Flåm at the fjord’s head.