Norway in a Nutshell: Across the Country by Train Bus and Ferry

It’s called “Norway in a Nutshell,” and it’s a way to see a whole lot of this vast country in one very long day. We began our journey in the seaside city of Bergen, taking a train to the hiking center of Voss.

Then we boarded a bus to drive to Gudvangen, descending thousands of meters down to the valley floor in a series of hairpin turns that I’m still amazed the bus could actually navigate.

Then to a fjord where we cruised by ferry down its long length, viewing thousands-of-feet high rock walls and seeing the towns that get their mail delivered by these boats. The announcements on the ferry were done in six languages, that gets old fast but you learn a bit of Chinese along the way.

Our traveling was far from over–in a few hours we’d board a historic train built in the 1920s called the Flam, which climbs up 833 meters across an incredible panorama of Norwegian mountains, passing waterfalls (complete with corny music and an absurd dancing woman representing the spirit of the place!) and more stunning mountain views.

You’d think we were done…but we had a five-hour train trip to bring us back to Norway’s capital. Imagine how good trains could be…throw in free Wi-Fi and a decent cafe too. Maybe some day we’ll travel like this in the US!