ABD Norway Trip Review (August 2022)

[lmgustafson]

We just got back from our ABD Norway trip and I thought it would be helpful to post a detailed review of the trip for others considering going. I will apologize in advance as this will be a long and detailed post. I am going to break it up into separate days as I plan on going through a detailed review of each day along with lots of pictures. My bias when I am reading trip reports is toward ones that give me as much detail as possible and provide plenty of pictures as I am usually reading the reports not only to decide on whether to go on certain trips but also once I have decided to learn details about what to do, pack, where to eat, what to look out for etc... So with that all being said here we go.

First let me give you some background. My traveling group was my family (Myself (51), DW (52), DD (20) and DS (18)). We had planned this trip because my DS graduated from high school this year and when we asked him where he wanted to go for his senior trip he said Norway. We had never been on a ABD trip but are disney veterans (DVC members, multiple trips to Disney World, trips to Disney land, Shangai Disney and Disneyland Paris in the last several years). We have traveled extensively but usually do the planning and itineraries ourselves as it gives us much more flexibility and control over where to go and where to eat. However as I began to research Norway it became obvious that getting around Norway is not the most straightforward endeavor. While you can cruise that limits some of your flexibility with time at locations and which locations you can access. As I was looking, I fortuitously received an email from ABD advertising their Norway trip. My son does not really like historical trips/tours and would much rather go on active vacations. The ABD itinerary looked like it would be right up his ally and I knew Disney would run the tour well.
Once I had looked at other tours, I really didn't see any that matched their itinerary in the time frame we needed (we were trying to fit the trip in at the end of the summer after my daughter finished her internship and before both of them went off to college. So I emailed Kevin at Dreams and got everything finalized. (Big plug here for Dreams - they were fabulous and very responsive and helpful with getting it all set up). Our trip was August 2-9, 2022. We flew out from Atlanta on Monday August 1st on Delta. As it was my son's graduation trip we splurged and flew Delta One over there. If you ever get a chance to do so it is so worth it for an overnight international flight. Having seats that reclined to a bed allowed us to rest. The only snafu was the entertainment system on the plane did not work (for the whole plane) but we just talked, read and slept. We left at 3:00 pm and arrived in Amsterdam at 6:00 am their time (midnight to our bodies) and then had a connecting flight from Amsterdam to Bergen, Norway at 8:00 that arrived at 10:00 am
.
My son settling in on the plane.

If you have the time I would suggest arriving a day early to let your bodies adjust as it felt like 4:00 am to us when we arrived in Bergen. Fortunately we had been able to sleep on the plane so we were fairly rested. There are some things to see around Bergen but if you arrive in the morning of the first day of the trip you will have plenty of time to see them so the early arrival is really more for your body clocks.
The Bergen airport is fairly small. It did not take long to get through security/baggage claim and we met our driver holding an orange ABD sign. We were the only people on the bus at that time so he got our bags loaded and we left right away. I am going to take a second to talk about the weather.
The weather on our trip was mostly drizzly and cool. Summer in Norway is vary variable. The week before us it was warmer and sunny the whole week but you can probably count on some rain and cool weather. There were just a few time is really poured but mostly was a constant drizzle off and on the first half of our trip. There is a saying in Norway that there is no bad weather only bad clothing. How perceptive. Just pack layers and a rain coat. There was one couple with an umbrella but we and everyone else did not use one and just had our rain coats on. The weather did not impact any of our activities and in many ways made it feel more like what I imagined Norway to be like. The temperatures were mostly highs in the 60's (one or two days were in the 50's) and lows in the 40's. Coming from hot and humid Georgia summers it felt wonderful.

We arrived at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bergen and were greeted by our adventure guides, Kira and Lisa. I will talk more about them as we go through the trip but they were FABULOUS! Kira originated the Norway trip with ABD and Lisa is from Aurland, Norway and is a travel blogger. (Plug for Lisa - she is writing the Moon Travel Guide for Norway which should come out in the next year or two). The first thing we did was to select the meals we wanted for several days of the trip. SInce the places we were eating at often had small kitchens, having an idea of what the group wanted ahead of time helps them prepare. So we were shown entree selections and made our choices then went up to our rooms to shower and change.

In general the hotels were wonderful. The Radisson Blu was definitely the worst of the ones we stayed in but it was very good. Standard Radisson hotel. The rooms at the Radisson are somewhat small and our view was into an ally but all we were doing is sleeping there one night before we left early in the morning. There is no air conditioning in the rooms in Norway. As the temperatures are very cool it really is not needed. We would open the windows some to let a breeze through but otherwise were comfortable. There is what looks like a thermastat on most of the hotel room walls but we figured out that this is actually a floor heater for the bathroom after my daughter turned hers up and felt the toasty floor on her feet.

Once we had gotten refreshed we went to walk around Bergen. It was raining but as I mentioned we just put on our raincoats and ventured out.


The hotel is right next to the historic part of Bergen (Bryggen) which an UNESCO world heritage site. There is a fort just across from the hotel that we did not go in. There is also a funicular that goes to the top of the mountain overlooking Bergen but as it was raining we felt we wouldn't see much and so decided to wander the historic section of the city and do some window shopping. The buildings are all made of wood and over the years have begun to deteriorate and lean. Bergen is undertaking an ongoing renovation of the historic district and there are areas you can see where they are working. It is fun however to see the leaning doorways and buildings. There is an ATM just down the street from the hotel where we got some Norwegian Krone. However, everywhere takes credit cards in Norway and as all the tips and travel was taken care of we only used our Krone the last day of the trip at the airport just to say we had used it.

This is a pic from the pictures that the ABD guides took during our trip. One of the great things was that they took tons of pics and then posted them on a site that we could download them afterwards so there was always plenty of pics of our family together.


Leaning doorway and stairs in old town Bergen.


Views of the historic section of Bergen.

We had a welcome dinner that evening at the hotel. There were 35 people on our tour. Everyone was first time ABD travelers. There were mostly family groups. We had about 12 kids from ages 7 to 15 and then my son and daughter, and another boy and girl who were celebrating their graduations. Many people were well traveled but there were plenty who had not had a lot or any international experience. Overall the trip was very well organized with the activities planned that adults could enjoy along with their families but not "dumbed down" to a child level. Anything that was too strenuous could be opted out of either for adults or children. The group got along well. It is always fun to meet others on trips and share experiences. The dinner was wonderful. DS and I had salmon and my wife and daughter had pollock. Fish is a big part of the Norwegian diet and there was plenty of it on the trip although if you don't like seafood then there were always other options. After dinner we went to bed early as we were leaving on the bus early in the morning (7:00 am). I will post day #2 tomorrow. I hope to cover most possible questions during the report but if you have specific questions go ahead and post them and I will answer them as I go.

 

[RebelHawk]

We loved the Norway ABD trip we did a few years back. I can't wait to follow along and see what has changed since 2019 trip.

 

[Mathmagicland]

Thanks for posting about your trip! I hope to be in Norway next summer, so this will be helpful.

 

[georgiagirl2]

My sister has her eye on the Norway ABD. We'll both be following along with your trip report!

 

[lmgustafson]

Norway August 2022 - Day 2
We were heading to Voss today for the white water rafting. Bags out of the room for pick up at 6:45. We went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. There was a buffet and a few a la carte items (waffles, omelets). The buffet was good. There were the typical breakfast buffet meats and breads and some mackerel and herring. Brown cheese is a traditional item found throughout Norway and is available on all the buffets. It has a nutty caramel like flavor. We really enjoyed it on the flat bread they have available. We were on the bus at 7:30 for about an hour and half buss ride to Voss the adventure capital of Norway. There are areas to base jump, white water raft, paraglide bunjee jump and other adventure activities. The white water rafting we did was class 1-2 so nothing too wild but still fun and you had several places where there was a pretty good dip and splash. The rafting location provides wet suits and booties. Be sure to pack a swim suit to wear under the wetsuit. We just wore our swimsuits and then changed cloths in the locker room after the rafting. The rafting lasted a little over an hour. It is appropriate for all ages but fun enough for the adults and older kids. Our rafting guide was from New Zealand and was working in Norway for the summer before going back to the southern hemisphere for the summer down there. As always they took pictures on the rafting trip for us so you don't have to worry about that. Several people wore go pros for fun.


After the rafting we were given some hot chocolate or coffee on the landing site and then went back up to the center to change and have a lunch buffet at a grass covered house next to the rafting center. There was Chicken, pork chop, potatoes, potato salad, green salad, tomato bread. It was good but nothing spectacular.

The grass roofed hut where we at lunch.

After lunch we were informed that there was going to be a change of plans. This is were you appreciate the amazing job that Lisa and Kira did. Because of the mountainous landscape around the fjords and the rain that Norway gets, there are rockslides that can block roads in western Norway. Getting around western Norway is always tricky and involves winding two lane roads, ferries and tunnels. The majority of the tunnels in Norway have been built in the last 30 years and so prior to that many of the communities in the western part of the country were only able to be accessed by boat. I will talk more about the tunnels when we get to one of the longest in the world in a little bit. Anyways, overnight there had been a landslide on the only direct road taking us from Voss to Flam blocking our bus route. The rockslides sometimes take a week or so to clear and the only other car route was an extra 4 hour drive around the other direction. Kira and Lisa learned of it this morning and immediately were able to book our entire group on a train from Voss to Myrdal where we got on the Flam railway which is a scenic railway from Flam up into the fjord mountains that most people pay extra to do as an activity while they are in Flam. Sven our bus driver then drove the long way around and met us in Flam with our luggage. So not only did we not have any interruption of our trip, we also go to experience a scenic train ride that most people pay extra for. Amazing.
Voss is the hometown of Newt Rockne (the great Notre Dame football coach). There is statue of him in Voss that Lisa took us to see while we were waiting on the train. While at the statue there was a sudden loud country music song coming down the road and a Mac Truck parade blaring American country music went through the town of Voss. It was a little surreal.


The truck parade. I wish you could hear the country music playing. The parade was about 20 truck long.


Us at the Newt Rockne statue.

Getting on the train in Voss to Myrdal.
We changed trains to the Flam Railway in Mrydal and then took it down to the town of Flam through the fjord mountains. I am going to continue that story in the next post as I can only put 10 images in each post.

 

[lmgustafson]

ABD Norway Trip Review - Day 2 continued

So we got on the Flam railway. ABD was able to rent out an entire car just for our group and even got them to hold the train for us as the train from Voss was late in arriving. The views were beautiful. There was a stop halfway down where we got out and saw Kjosfossen (fossen is Norwegian for waterfall). While there, there was a reenactment of a hurldra singing in the cliffs over the falls. Hurldra are Norwegian folk creatures that live in the western fjords and look like beautiful blond women but their cow's tail gives them away. They seduce unwary people with their singing and lure them into the mountains where they are entranced forever.





There are waterfalls literally everywhere you look as you travel through western Norway. Even though the days were somewhat wet and rainy that made the waterfalls even more spectacular.


When we got to the bottom of the tracks in Flam we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow over the train as we exited.

Flam is a very small town. Really just the port area and a couple groups of houses and farms. It is right at the end of the fjord and is beautiful. We stayed at the Freitheim hotel which was very nice. There were nice sitting areas to relax and look out at the views. Our rooms had balconies and looked out over the town. When we got to our room there was another rainbow, a double one this time outside our balcony.




Our room - it was small but comfortable and had a great view over the town. The showers in the bathrooms were okay but either the shower spray was protected only by a half wall of glass or often the step up over the tub wall was very high so just be aware if you have trouble with taking high steps. Dinner that night was listed a grill/barbecue but really was just hotdogs and hamburgers. There was also chicken salad, green salad, potato salad (as always). Deserts were good: Ice cream, a brown cheese pannna cotta, and a cherry almond cake. Overall It was okay. Nice for the kids and if you are a picky eater but not really up to the standards of the other meals. They separated the kids and adults at the tables tonight which was meant to let the kids and adults get to know each other better. However it created an issue for our kids and on other family's son as they were placed at the children's table despite being 18, 20.. They felt very out of place trying to eat and converse with 7-13 year olds. We spoke with Kira afterwards and they were very receptive to our input that it may have been better make the separation at college age and up. Again I can only say good things about the guides and their ability to work with the group and all of the various ages. We had had a long day so hit the bed early while others hung out in the lounge and had some drinks. Hard to believe we had only been going for two days. Lots more to come.

 

[sayhello]

Norway August 2022 - Day 2
We were heading to Voss today for the white water rafting. Bags out of the room for pick up at 6:45. We went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. There was a buffet and a few a la carte items (waffles, omelets). The buffet was good. There were the typical breakfast buffet meats and breads and some mackerel and herring. Brown cheese is a traditional item found throughout Norway and is available on all the buffets. It has a nutty caramel like flavor. We really enjoyed it on the flat bread they have available. We were on the bus at 7:30 for about an hour and half buss ride to Voss the adventure capital of Norway. There are areas to base jump, white water raft, paraglide bunjee jump and other adventure activities. The white water rafting we did was class 1-2 so nothing too wild but still fun and you had several places where there was a pretty good dip and splash. The rafting location provides wet suits and booties. Be sure to pack a swim suit to wear under the wetsuit. We just wore our swimsuits and then changed cloths in the locker room after the rafting. The rafting lasted a little over an hour. It is appropriate for all ages but fun enough for the adults and older kids. Our rafting guide was from New Zealand and was working in Norway for the summer before going back to the southern hemisphere for the summer down there. As always they took pictures on the rafting trip for us so you don't have to worry about that. Several people wore go pros for fun.
View attachment 695294
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After the rafting we were given some hot chocolate or coffee on the landing site and then went back up to the center to change and have a lunch buffet at a grass covered house next to the rafting center. There was Chicken, pork chop, potatoes, potato salad, green salad, tomato bread. It was good but nothing spectacular.
View attachment 695296
The grass roofed hut where we at lunch.
View attachment 695297
After lunch we were informed that there was going to be a change of plans. This is were you appreciate the amazing job that Lisa and Kira did. Because of the mountainous landscape around the fjords and the rain that Norway gets, there are rockslides that can block roads in western Norway. Getting around western Norway is always tricky and involves winding two lane roads, ferries and tunnels. The majority of the tunnels in Norway have been built in the last 30 years and so prior to that many of the communities in the western part of the country were only able to be accessed by boat. I will talk more about the tunnels when we get to one of the longest in the world in a little bit. Anyways, overnight there had been a landslide on the only direct road taking us from Voss to Flam blocking our bus route. The rockslides sometimes take a week or so to clear and the only other car route was an extra 4 hour drive around the other direction. Kira and Lisa learned of it this morning and immediately were able to book our entire group on a train from Voss to Myrdal where we got on the Flam railway which is a scenic railway from Flam up into the fjord mountains that most people pay extra to do as an activity while they are in Flam. Sven our bus driver then drove the long way around and met us in Flam with our luggage. So not only did we not have any interruption of our trip, we also go to experience a scenic train ride that most people pay extra for. Amazing.
Voss is the hometown of Newt Rockne (the great Notre Dame football coach). There is statue of him in Voss that Lisa took us to see while we were waiting on the train. While at the statue there was a sudden loud country music song coming down the road and a Mac Truck parade blaring American country music went through the town of Voss. It was a little surreal.
View attachment 695299
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The truck parade. I wish you could hear the country music playing. The parade was about 20 truck long.
View attachment 695302
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Us at the Newt Rockne statue.
View attachment 695304
Getting on the train in Voss to Myrdal.
We changed trains to the Flam Railway in Mrydal and then took it down to the town of Flam through the fjord mountains. I am going to continue that story in the next post as I can only put 10 images in each post.

And *THIS* is one of the reasons I travel with companies like ABD, even though it costs more. It's one of the benefits that you can't quantify cost-wise, but makes all the difference in the world. How many people, traveling on their own, would have just driven the extra 4 hours to Flam, not aware of or able to book the "alternate" transportation that the Adventure Guides set up for you, at no extra cost? Or, even if they'd known, would have missed the second train because the first one was late? And would have had to shlep all their luggage with them on both trains? By the time you knew there was an issue, it was all taken care of, and no longer an issue! It sounds like it ended up being a plus!

*LOVE* the rainbow over the train when you arrived!! It's almost like they arranged for it to do that! Just beautiful!

Sayhello

 

[RebelHawk]

If the trip still takes the ferry to Geiranger be ready to book dining reservations in advance. Many of the restaurants were at capacity and weren't accepting walk ups. We did end up finding somewhere to eat, Café Olé, and it was amazing with great views of the fjord. Also, at the hotel there was no A/C and it was more than a little warm at night. They do have plug in fans available at the front desk but they have a limited number, so if it looks like it's going to be warm then ask sooner than later.

 

[kiddisney]

Norway August 2022 - Day 2
We were heading to Voss today for the white water rafting. Bags out of the room for pick up at 6:45. We went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. There was a buffet and a few a la carte items (waffles, omelets). The buffet was good. There were the typical breakfast buffet meats and breads and some mackerel and herring. Brown cheese is a traditional item found throughout Norway and is available on all the buffets. It has a nutty caramel like flavor. We really enjoyed it on the flat bread they have available. We were on the bus at 7:30 for about an hour and half buss ride to Voss the adventure capital of Norway. There are areas to base jump, white water raft, paraglide bunjee jump and other adventure activities. The white water rafting we did was class 1-2 so nothing too wild but still fun and you had several places where there was a pretty good dip and splash. The rafting location provides wet suits and booties. Be sure to pack a swim suit to wear under the wetsuit. We just wore our swimsuits and then changed cloths in the locker room after the rafting. The rafting lasted a little over an hour. It is appropriate for all ages but fun enough for the adults and older kids. Our rafting guide was from New Zealand and was working in Norway for the summer before going back to the southern hemisphere for the summer down there. As always they took pictures on the rafting trip for us so you don't have to worry about that. Several people wore go pros for fun.
View attachment 695294
View attachment 695295
After the rafting we were given some hot chocolate or coffee on the landing site and then went back up to the center to change and have a lunch buffet at a grass covered house next to the rafting center. There was Chicken, pork chop, potatoes, potato salad, green salad, tomato bread. It was good but nothing spectacular.
View attachment 695296
The grass roofed hut where we at lunch.
View attachment 695297
After lunch we were informed that there was going to be a change of plans. This is were you appreciate the amazing job that Lisa and Kira did. Because of the mountainous landscape around the fjords and the rain that Norway gets, there are rockslides that can block roads in western Norway. Getting around western Norway is always tricky and involves winding two lane roads, ferries and tunnels. The majority of the tunnels in Norway have been built in the last 30 years and so prior to that many of the communities in the western part of the country were only able to be accessed by boat. I will talk more about the tunnels when we get to one of the longest in the world in a little bit. Anyways, overnight there had been a landslide on the only direct road taking us from Voss to Flam blocking our bus route. The rockslides sometimes take a week or so to clear and the only other car route was an extra 4 hour drive around the other direction. Kira and Lisa learned of it this morning and immediately were able to book our entire group on a train from Voss to Myrdal where we got on the Flam railway which is a scenic railway from Flam up into the fjord mountains that most people pay extra to do as an activity while they are in Flam. Sven our bus driver then drove the long way around and met us in Flam with our luggage. So not only did we not have any interruption of our trip, we also go to experience a scenic train ride that most people pay extra for. Amazing.
Voss is the hometown of Newt Rockne (the great Notre Dame football coach). There is statue of him in Voss that Lisa took us to see while we were waiting on the train. While at the statue there was a sudden loud country music song coming down the road and a Mac Truck parade blaring American country music went through the town of Voss. It was a little surreal.
View attachment 695299
View attachment 695301
The truck parade. I wish you could hear the country music playing. The parade was about 20 truck long.
View attachment 695302
View attachment 695303
Us at the Newt Rockne statue.
View attachment 695304
Getting on the train in Voss to Myrdal.
We changed trains to the Flam Railway in Mrydal and then took it down to the town of Flam through the fjord mountains. I am going to continue that story in the next post as I can only put 10 images in each post.

this is so cool - we just took our first ABD and loved it and are looking for a new trip for 2024, your trip sounds fantastic - and i loved that they could pivot if there is a problem - they did that for us on the Ireland trip - it's so nice to be able to get everything in even if there are problems - looking forward to the rest of the report

 

[lmgustafson]

ABD Norway Trip - August 2022 Day 3

The next morning we got up and had a buffet breakfast at the hotel. It was good. You begin to see the usual array of charcuterie, cheese, breads, some eggs, potatoes, fish, porridge, etc... Nothing new and different but good and plentiful and just down the hall from our rooms. We then went on a fjord safari on rigid inflatable boats. They outfitted us in outer waterproof coverings and life jackets. Even though the weather was cool and misty again today the outfits kept you plenty warm. I would recommend a toboggan or other hat. If I remember they don't allow or suggest other types of hats as they can fly off during the trip. It was the perfect way to get around the fjords. You are able to go everywhere easily and very quickly.

The guide was very good, she would stop the boat at places and tell us stories about the location or some history of the fjords or Norway. We were going along two arms of the Sognefjorden, the Aurlandsfjorden and the Naeroyfjorden. The later is a UNESCO world Heritage site. It is truly amazing seeing the fjords from this vantage point. The speed of the boats allowed us to see the entire length of the fjords and stop for lunch at the village of Undredal all by early afternoon. There are again waterfalls everywhere you look. One of them they have named the FleegenFossen (Flying waterfall) for all the things that come flying out of it including trees, rocks, and even goats :0. We did see some seals playing in the water around our boat however. The Aurlandfjorden is named for the town of Aurland which is where Lisa our Adventure guide grew up. We stopped by off the shore of Aurland and her Dad was out on the porch of their house and waved a big Norwegian flag for us to see.

Lisa's house is the white one in the middle. You can see her Dad at the right side of the porch waving a flag for us.

Fleegenfossen - no goats flying out today.
We stopped first at Undredal which is a small town a little ways up the Aurlandsfjorden which is famous for their cheese and their stave church. The Undredal cheese is a goat cheese. You can see the goats along the fjord canyon cliffs. They wander all along the cliffs but know when it is time to come back to Undredal and get milked and fed. We had some of the Undredal cheese at lunch and the hotel had it on their cheese buffets. It was very good and I bought some of the regular aged cheese made from the curds and the brown cheese made from the whey. The town itself is lovely. It was one of the main inspirations for Arendelle in Frozen. We were given a tour of the town by Leif Inge Undredal (His family is the town's namesake), who's family has lived in the town and made cheese for a very very long time. He took us into the stave church (which is the smallest in Norway). There are only 28 remaining today. He gave us a history of the stave church (it has been there since 1147). It started as a catholic church but now is Lutheran. The stave churches are named for the wooden staves that provide the main corner supports for the church. This church originally had two side rooms and no windows but the rooms were removed and windows added around the time the bible was translated into Norwegian and people needed light to read during the service. There was beautiful painting on the roof and walls which were covered with solid paint and only discovered when the church was renovated in the 1960's.

View of the Aurland Fjord from Undredal


The river running down through the town of Undredal


View overlooking Undredal


The smallest stave church in Norway


We had lunch in the town. I had meatballs and the rest of my family had goat curry. Both were very good. Of course we had some of the Undredal cheese. Before lunch, Lief Undredal told us fairytales of trolls and hurldra and sang us Norwegian folksongs. You can tell he truly loves his town and Norway.
I am going to continue our fjord safari in the next post (ran out of picture room again LOL).

 

[sayhello]

I've never heard of knit hats being called a toboggan. I had to look it up!
This just looks like such an excellent day! Lots of really unique and cool activities. And you weren't kidding when you called that Stave church small! Way smaller than I expected. (Although it looks bigger on the inside!) Most of the ones you see pictured are quite large!

Sayhello

 

[lmgustafson]

ABD Norway August 2022 - Day 3 continued...
After lunch we continued or fjord safari. Near the end of the Aurland fjord we saw the Stegen farm. The only way to get up to the farm originally was a rope ladder. The family didn't pay taxes for over 400 years because every time they saw the tax boat coming they would pull up the ladder and wait for them to leave. More recently it has been converted into a bed and breakfast and the owners have made a steep path up to the farm if the rope ladder is not for you. The only way to the bed and breakfast is by boat and it is booked out for over two years.

Steegen Farm Bed and Breakfast. You can see the house at the very top of the cliff.

We continued into the Naeroyfjord which is a Unesco World Heritage site. The fjord is beautiful. In the fjord, there is a small town, Dyrdal where one man lives. He was originally from the town and when everyone else in the town died or move out he decided to move back to be sure the town didn't die or remain desolate. At the end of the fjord is Gundabagen. They mine anorthocyte in the area near the town but have to do so in a environmentally responsible manner. Anorthocyte is used in several modern technologies and the only other places that it is found is in a fjord in Canada and on the moon. The town also has a Viking village where people live as Vikings. The entire area is a recreation of a Viking village the people there have agreed to live year round as Vikings only wearing, eating and doing things that were done in Viking times.




Our fjord safari finished by about 3:00 and we had the afternoon on our own. We went through the Flam railway museum which was free and somewhat interesting. It took about 30 minutes. We then wanted to do some hiking around the area. There is a hike up to one of the waterfalls, the Brekkeflosssen, overlooking Flam. It is easy to get to. The hotel or your guides can direct you. We just followed directions we found on the internet. The entire hike from the hotel is about 2.6 miles round trip. It is about a 3/4 of mile on the road out of town which is flat and easy. We ran into a group of about 20 pigs coming down from the trail going to their farm. My daughter was a little unsure as they were coming at us pretty quickly but just oinked on by us on their way their way to eat. It seems all the animals in Flam are trained to return to their farms to eat at certain time. The hike up the trail is short (about 1/2 a mile) but very steep. It was tiring but worth the effort as the views were wonderful.



One comment about what to bring on the trip. We had two pair of shoes. I would strongly recommend taking two pairs as one will likely either get very muddy or wet during one of the days. Also you will want a couple pairs of some type of water resistant/adventure pants as you will find these can get wet and muddy as well if you do any of the hikes. After The hike we washed up and dinner was on our own. We had the buffet at the hotel which was good but not as good as the one in Geirenger and if you are getting a little tired of Norwegian food, I would recommend the brewpub in town and save the buffet for the Hotel Union in Geirenger. However, this one did have some things that you will not see at other locations. We were able to try whale meat (did not like it) and reindeer sausage (very good).
Well that concluded day 3. I will post day #4 soon (off to Geirenger)

 

[Mathmagicland]

Lisa's house is the white one in the middle. You can see her Dad at the right side of the porch waving a flag for us.

This is so fun! I’ll bet he enjoyed waving the flag for your group!

 

[jimmymc]

The pictures are beautiful. This is definitely an area of the world I want to visit.

And are those GT jackets for Georgia Tech?

 

[mmmears]

I was just thinking about trying to book this trip and wandered over here looking for some info and I found your trip report. It's fantastic! Looking forward to future installments. It looks like you had a wonderful time.

 

[purpliequeen]

Really fantastic! Enjoying following along.

 

[lmgustafson]

Norway ABD trip report (august 2022) - Day 4
Today was a travel day. We were on our way to Geiranger. We left Flam and passed through the Laerdal tunnel which is the longest car tunnel in the world. It is so long (took about 20 minutes to get through) that they have emergency phones every mile so that if your car broke down in the tunnel you could call for help. They also have a recording that counts every car that goes in and ensure the same number come out. To break up the monotony of 15 miles of tunnel they have created 3 open cave areas that they light with this techno blue light. The Norwegians call it the disco tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel is Laerdal which is where the Norwegian royalty go salmon fishing. The river and town were beautiful. Unfortunately we only got to drive past and not stop and try our own hand at catching some of the salmon. We stopped at the Borgund stave church which is one of the best preserved stave churches in the world. We had a great tour explaining the construction of the stave churches which are characterized by the stave posts in the corners supporting the church. They were built between 1100 and 1300 A.D. There are only 26 left in Norway which are the only ones in the world. To preserve the Borgund church they used tar to paint the outside of the church and preserve it. They have had to do some occasional renovation/preservation work but the church is still 90% original on the inside and 70% on the outside. The church has both Norse and Christian iconography. The builders included Norse iconography to make Christianity more palatable when it was introduced to Norway in the 1100's The Borgund church has 12 staves possibly representing the 12 disciples. There is no door on the north side because it was believed the devil lived in the north and they didn't want a way for him to enter the church.


The tar makes the church look black. You can see both the dragons (Norse) and the crosses on the roof of the church.


The tar melts and drips in the sun you can see this all around the church.


You can see the multiple stave poles supporting the church.

We then pulled the bus onto a ferry to cross a fjord. Ferries are an integral part of the roadways in Norway. In fact they are shown as bridges on maps as the Norwegians just consider them part of the road. They treat ferries like rest stops on our highways. They use the 15-20 minute crossings for bathroom breaks and food. Every ferry has a small cafe. Traditionally they eat the sweet pancakes folded over with sweet cream or the Norwegian brown cheese in them or sausages.



There is a ferry going each way back and forth across the passage. This was the other ferry passing by ours.

The traditional sweet cream pancake on the ferry. Really was delicious.

We then drove through Sogndal which was the larger city near Aurland and Flam where the kids in the area (including our guide, Lisa) went to high school. Most of the towns are so small that there is either an elementary or middle school and they all go to the bigger city for high school. However because these cities are often a couple hours away by car (even today with the tunnels and before only reachable by a longer boat trip), the kids all leave their homes and go live in the city monday through friday to go to school. Lisa left home at 14 and lived in an apartment with other friends going to high school. This is common in western Norway where the schools are very spread out. Lisa taught us about the two official forms of written Norwegian (bokmal and nynorsk) that are taught in all the schools. Nynorsk is used in western Norway and bokmal is the Norwegian that developed from the Dano-Norwegian language during the Danish rule of Norway.
We stopped at the Hotel Fjaerland for lunch. It sits right on the Fjaerland fjord near the Jostedalsbreen (the Jostedal Glacier) which is the largest glacier in Northern Europe. We had fresh broccoli soup, hamburgers (or veggie burgers) and potatoes (of course :>) with a brownie and ice cream for lunch. It was very good. The hotel has a beautiful view and is the local hangout for the town. There is a wall in the hotel where the locals hang their beer steins so that they are ready for them when they come visit the bar.



The Fjaerland Hotel - great lunch break.

View from the deck of the Fjaerland hotel.

View in the other direction. - just gorgeous.


The local villagers' beer steins.

After lunch we drove to Geiranger. We passed by the Jostedal Glacier and saw a small portion of it. While on the bus Kira and Lisa were great at telling us stories and keeping up entertained. Of course we watched Frozen but also played multiple games during our drives on the bus. Lisa would have us try to guess what certain Norwegian idioms meant, we played a scavenger hunt game, Disney trivia of course, and Norwegian culture and history trivial pursuit. Overall the bus was very comfortable, the riding segments were not that long and there was plenty to keep our attention both on the bus and in the landscape around us.
One of the realities of car travel in Norway are the animals. The goats and other animals are allowed to wander freely and often just stand there on the road making us wait until they decided they wanted to move.

Norwegian Traffic Jam!

We arrived in Geiranger and were staying at the Hotel Union. It is a gorgeous hotel with amazing views. We had dinner at the buffet at the hotel which was fabulous. There was a ton of things to try and the food was very good. I will post pics of the hotel and area in tomorrows update. I apologize for the lengthy delay in getting this day up, but life happens and I now have some time to focus on this again. Until our next day...

 

[lmgustafson]

The pictures are beautiful. This is definitely an area of the world I want to visit.

And are those GT jackets for Georgia Tech?

Yes - we are from Georgia and my daughter is a junior Mechanical engineering major at Tech. Go Jackets!

 

[lmgustafson]

If the trip still takes the ferry to Geiranger be ready to book dining reservations in advance. Many of the restaurants were at capacity and weren't accepting walk ups. We did end up finding somewhere to eat, Café Olé, and it was amazing with great views of the fjord. Also, at the hotel there was no A/C and it was more than a little warm at night. They do have plug in fans available at the front desk but they have a limited number, so if it looks like it's going to be warm then ask sooner than later.

View attachment 695347

We didn't make any reservations as the restaurants that seemed to be recommended (and I am sure were very good) were mostly norwegian fare and at that point we were looking forward to something different. So we just walked up and ate at Naustkroa and had some moose burgers and pizza. We were tempted by the Texican food truck however. The lack of air conditioning was not an issue on our trip as the temperatures were around 40-60 degrees the whole time.

 

[lmgustafson]

ABD Norway Trip Report (August 2022) - Day 5
I am going to start by talking a little bit about our stay in Geiranger. The Hotel Union is FABULOUS. The rooms were great, the views were wonderful, the buffet was the best of the trip and the lounge, common area was expansive and relaxing to sit in and have some drinks after the day was done. The hotel has an antique car museum in it as the owners used to use the old cars to carry people from the boats to the hotel and sites around Geiranger. The Hotel sits above the city proper and has wonderful views over the fjord. There is a staired pathway from the Hotel down to the city that runs by a beautiful waterfall (take this not the road to get down to the town for dinner as the views are much better). There are definitely some nice restaurants in the town for the dinner on your own. The first night we were there all the adults had diner at the buffet and the kids had dinner in a game room in the hotel with pool, air hockey and lots of other games and crafts. They seemed to love it.. The second night was on our own. Most of the restaurants (not unexpected) are Norwegian fare but there is some variety. There are a few souvenir shops in the town but nothing different than anywhere else. There is a great little chocolate factory/store with some great chocolates and wonderful hot chocolate.
Hotel room at The Hotel Union

View from our room- Beautiful


View of hotel from walk down to town.

A portion of the car museum in the hotel.

This morning we had the option of three different hikes. We could do all or none. We were going to a farm up the mountain to see how it worked and have lunch. There was an option of getting up early and hiking up the mountain to the farm. It was about a mile hike up about the equivalent of 70 flights of stairs. We opted to just wake up a little later and take the shuttle. The people who did the hike said it was good exercise but really did not have great views. The farm manages llamas, and goats and has been in the family for generations. When we arrived the owner showed us how they used to cut the grass with a sickle and then haul it down the mountain for the animals in the winter on tree limbs. He let us all try our hand at it and then had some races with the kids trying to haul the grass with the younger kids riding on the limbs. Lots of fun.


View of the valley from up at the farm.

My son cutting the grass old style.

The quick way to haul grass down a mountain. Having a person sit on the grass helps keep in place :>

The second hike of the day was level hike about 3/4 of mile to a view point. It is really easy except that day it had rained and there was lots of mud. Be sure you pack a spare pair of shoes as it is very likely you will have one pair that gets very muddy. The view was wonderful and we interacted with the llamas and goats (at least as much as the llamas wanted to interact with us).



Our trek through the mud. The view was worth it however.



I am going to go ahead and post this and start a separate post for the rest of the day (Lunch at the farm and our afternoon hike and walk/dinner in the town) so I can include more pictures.