Stunning Norway - Bergen, Fjords & Oslo

Flew into Bergen mid afternoon after a 'barely-made-it' connection in Oslo.

Found hotel right in the centre of town and walked through town to the funicular which takes you up one of the mountains overlooking pretty Bergen. Great views to be had from up on top looking over this busy port city.

Following our trip up the mountain, we walked through the city and found the Unesco classified area of the city 'Bryggen' . This collection of old sailor cottages and workhouses dates back many years, and although has suffered from some fires in recent times, is still kept as original as possible - as witnessed in the non-too-square construction methods. That night we enjoyed classic norwegian salmon for dinner.

The following day we hired a car and drove up through some of the most fantastic scenery towards our destination for that night in Balestrand on Sognenfjord. We stopped at Flam on the way and enjoyed a 1.5 hr return trip on the Flam Railway (or Flamsbana) which is the steepest rail incline not using cog wheels or other specialty rail gizmos.

The fjords of norway are simply amazing, the waters so clear in the shallows and turning a deep blue as they become unfathomably deep (get it! - hehe). Our trip towards balestrand took us on two car ferries and through the worlds longest road tunnel (over 24.5km long). Amazing to see although slightly unsettling driving out into raging sunlight after nearly half an hour underground in the dark driving at speed!
Arrived at our hotel near Balestrand late in the evening after many stops for photos here there and evrywhere along what has been one of the most beautiful drives we've managed whilst in Europe. We had the hotel all to ourselves and our host gladly offered to cook us Veal (or calf as she called it), whilst we sat on our balcony and enjoyed the serenity!

From Balestrand the next day, we caught a Ferry to Vangsnes and drove a short drive around the headland to Vik, which is a lovely old viking village settled in a beautiful valley on the Sognenfjord. Vik also has two very old churches there, a Stave Church (Old Wooded church) dating back to the 12 Century and another stone church built some 30 years later.

From Vik, we elected to drive over the mountain ranges back toward our final destination back in Bergen. This was another amazing drive taking us from the sunny town of Vik steeply up the mountains until we were surrounded by snow, and literally driving through canyon of snow at least 3 meters high on either side of the car. It's hard to describe the area up there aside from there's a whole lot of white! Certainly on the day we were there, the mixture of snow and bright sunlight made it near impossible to see where one mountaintop stopped and the next began... it all just looked so brilliant white!

When we finally cam out of the mountains we stopped at Voss for lunch (where Ian ate Reindeer - where we were assured this particular one didn't have a red nose) and then back to Bergen to drop off the car and stay the night.

The next morning, we were up early to catch the train from Bergen to Oslo - apparantly one of the most scenic train journeys in the world.. And we cannot agree more! This seven hour train journey had us constantlty remarking to each other what an amazing and beautiful country Norway is. Although the trip was long, the hours fly past as you travel up and over some of the prettiest mountain ranges i think i've ever seen.
Arriving in Oslo in the evening, we quickly found our hotel and again dropped our bags before heading out to check out as much of the town as we could given our short stay here. We settled in Aker Brygge (a waterfront port area now full of restaurants and cafes) for dinner, where we again tried to enjoy the Norwegian seafoods, before haeding for a walk around the central districts of town, taking in the National Theatre, and the palace. Sadly our time in Oslo was short as we needed to fly out the next morning, but I wouldn't have shortened our time in the fjords for anything.