Adventure to Norway - "Norway in a Nutshell"

Norway in a Nutshell is a famous tour and if you are only in Norway for a limited time, you should consider taking the journey. The tour will allow you to see the beautiful fjords and explore the two main cities of Norway: Oslo & Bergen. There are many tour companies offering the Norway in a Nutshell tour, but if you research a little more on your own you could easily organize it. Most of the tickets can be pre-purchased (beside the bus) and all the connections are very nicely organized.  Also, you could possibly save a little $$ especially if you have a rail pass. 

What is Norway in a Nutshell, you ask... mmm... I didn't know much about it before the trip, I just know Candy warned Randy numerous times that it will be a long day of travel. To complete the entire tour in one day (Oslo to Bergen or vice versa), you will be taking a few trains, ferry & bus, a total of 11 hours in transit. Due to the long hours, they decided to stop in Voss for the night before heading to Bergen.

We started our day very early in the morning, for this train, you will need to buy the tickets and reserved seats ahead of time. Our seats were just a coach away from the cafe cabin (which had some of the best coffee of the trip). *oink oink 

On the train, at Finse 1222m
(highest attitude of the railway) 

The first train ride was about 5 1/2 hours and along the way we got to see many amazing views of mountains, glaciers, lakes, etc.  Since we were busy looking out at the window, it didn't feel like 5 hours long.  

Kårdalsfossen Waterfall

We arrived at Myrdal and this is where we connect to another scenic train to Flam. One of the sights we got to see here was the Kårdalsfossen Waterfall. The conductor even stopped the train here and let us off to take photos. The Falls are quite impressive. 


Instead of catching the ferry right away after we arrived in Flam, we had our lunch here. We packed our own picnic lunch of sandwiches... yum yum. The little extra time also gave us some bumbling time in Flam and explore. After a short break, we continued our journey with the ferry ride. There are two ferry options, the premium or the classic. We opted for the classic as it is cheaper and it allowed us to enjoy the fjords more (the premium ferry is faster and travels at higher speeds). The ferry went through Nærøyfjord, the narrowest of fjords, it was only 500 meters apart. Fortunately, the weather was holding up, only rain a little towards the end of the ride therefore we got to enjoy the fjords quite a bit. 

I have to say the connections between trains, ferry and bus are very well organized.  As we docked at Gudvangen, numerous buses are already waiting for us. The bus route has lot of turns, very curvy and narrow roads but I think this what gives the experiences. 
About an hour later, we arrived at Voss. We booked our first Airbnb ever and we were greeted by the host. She was such a lovely lady and as we walked into the apartment, it was AWESOME!!! It was beyond our expectation, we had a great experience with it. Voss is another little town and we liked it quite a bit. We picked a steak house for dinner as a wrap for the long day.
.....steak... yum...*oink oink