dossier

Norway - Fjordland

Travel Information

Season: Mid July to late September. 

The first Hotel:At Geilo, which is easily reached by train from Oslo. Train services from Osloare normally 4 times a day. The journey time is approx. 3.5-4 hours. Clientsshould aim to arrive in Geilo by 8 pm on the first evening. Our hotel is 1.7 kmfrom the small town of Geilo, and the hotel will collect you from the station.

Nearest airport: Although Bergen is slightly nearer the startof the tour and is also a possibility, (although most of these flights are notdirect); most people from North America will fly to Oslo, where thereare more flight departures everyday.     

End of Tour:            The tour ends on day 8 at Aurland.Take a taxi taking approx 10minutes to Flam, then an hour on the scenic trainfrom Flam on Sognefjord to Myrdal and onwards arriving mid afternoon inOslo.  We recommend overnight stay inOslo for this reason and so that you can make the most of what this city has tooffer including the Viking Museum.

What'sIncluded

The price is based on two people sharing a twin or doubleroom and includes half board (dinner, bed & Breakfast accommodation on 7evenings). Lunches are also provided in Finse, but these are packed lunches,that you need to make up at breakfast time. There is only one baggage transferincluded on this tour.  The baggagetransfer included is from Flam to Aurland. Because most of your transfers areby train and you will need to travel with your own bags, we recommend that youkeep your travel weight down and for convenience use an easily portable methodof carrying your things such as a backpack and then bring with you a muchsmaller day sack as well. On the plus side is the fact that the accommodationsare pretty near to the train stations. Cost of the train transfers are notincluded, nor are the other local transports such as cable car (a possibilityin Geilo) taxi or ferry services while you are in Norway.

Level of Difficulty

Fitness:  We grade this tour as moderate (B) with somechallenging options; anyone used to hill walking with a daily height gain/lossof up to 3,300 feet (1000 metres) should find the tour within their capability.Most days are a lot easier than this. There are usually walking options andexperienced walkers can of course extend their range if they want to. There maybe a chance to do an optional glacier walk from the hotel in Finse, which willrequire a local payment to the hotel directly of about 300 NOK. Although itemslike crampons are supplied, if you want to do this guided tramp, you should atleast make sure that your walking boots are stiff enough to be compatible witharticulated walking crampons.   Thisoption is subject to availability and weather conditions.

Day Stages:  The duration of walk­ing per day varies. Youwill have to attend to a morning train (or a ferry transfer) on some days toget you to the next hotel; these are normally under an hour’s journey. So youhave to fit in the walking with this. However you will normally be able tospend up to 6 hours happily walking per day. In Geilo the walking route can beshortened by taking the Geilohogda chairlift (not included) this runs up to midAugust.

Waymarking:  As one would expect in Norway, the trailsare pretty well way marked, well mapped and often signposted. However poorvisibility at times will mean that it is advisable to carry and be able to usea compass in case of mist or fog.

There can be snow patcheson higher trails, especially on our two most challenging walks while newsnowfalls are possible   during thesummer period when we operate this tour. We would recommend that laterdepartures in September would be more suitable for the more experienced walker.

Accommodation& Meals

Accommodation is on a half board basis for 7 nights (7evening meals included) in characterful, traditional style hotels. We alwaystry to book en suite rooms, if this is not possible for the dates that you wantto travel then we will let you know. Lunches are not included in thetour cost, however in Finse packed lunches are included, which you normallymake up out of the breakfast buffet.

Night 1&2: Geilo.  Ourhotel is the perfect place to relax, let alone start walks from and is withinwalking distance from the center of Geilo. Rooms are newly renovated and there is a cozy informal atmosphere.Facilities include restaurants, indoor swimming pool, sauna and tennis court,lounge -bar and pub. 

Night 3&4: Finse.  Here we stay at a cosy chalet styled hotelwith a spectacular views. The hotel is a short walk from the train station. Infact Finse was built around the railway. At 1222m, the hotel started as ashelter for the occupants of snow bound trains (an increasingly rare event inthese days of global warming). Over the years this cabin has been through manyupgrades, converting it into an extraordinary hotel with the emphasis onoutdoor activities within a superb landscape. Rooms are basic but comfortable (don’texpect a T.V.) often with great views.  Thereis a little pub in the basement that has become a bit of a museum with railwaymemorabilia. There is a relaxation center with a sauna and ice bath…if youthink you are hard enough! 

Night5: Flam.  We become “flamiliar” with a cozy pension,run by the owners, which is located next to the Aurlandsfjord, only 400 m fromthe famous Flåm railway.  The pension isnot too ‘flamboyant’ but has an informal atmosphere, with a large dining roomwith panoramic view onto the fjord. There is a room with an open fireplace,TV-lounge and a large garden.  The roomsare the most basic of the tour, but are warm and simple en suite.

Night 6&7: Aurland. Our resplendant hotelhere overlooks the fjord. The hotel is spacious with fine rooms and there is acafé bar and the restaurant produces great local meals.

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Outline Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive Oslo, taxi torailway station for the railway journey up to Geilo, a scenic railway journeyin itself, whilst not traversing the fjords, the route winds up into the higheagle swept moorlands of Norway.

Day 2: Geilo is superblylocated by the Hardanger Vidda Mountain Plateau at 800m above sea level.  You can until mid August take the chairliftto access the Hallingkarvet Mountains to reduce the height gain and complete agreat introduction walk with great views in reasonable weather.  We offer a challenging walk to climbPrestholtskarvet 1859 m in the Hallingskarvet, or there is a nice moderatemoorland walk, or an easier Lakeland ramble.

Day 3: Morning train to Finsea place first populated by British aristocrats before the railwaysarrived.   Then you can undertake a walkacross the moorland towards the ice of the Hardanger glacier for a picnic. Oryou can walk 2km/1.6mi (return) along the old railway workers track thatconnects Geilo with Finse, where captain Scott did his winter training for theAntarctic.   In good weather, strongwalkers may like to attempt the ascent of St. Paul (1700m).

Day 4: On the second day inFinse we recommend doing the guided walk up on to the glacier, donning cramponsas you go. All equipment provided by the hotel and there is a local payment forthis. Itineraries will depend on conditions. Otherwise undertake more localwalking over the plateau.

Day 5: Train transfer toMyrdal and walk onto Flam (21 km/13mi). This is an easy-ish classic walk! Youhave to first submit your baggage at Myrdal for local transfer down to Flamstation (50 NOK/approx US$8 per bag which you have to pay locally).  The walk down to Flam is beautiful,following the lush valley route, through woods and pastures, always with thesounds of rushing waters. Eventually drop down to the Aurlandsfjord, a branchoff Sognefjord.

Days 6 & 7: A short ferryjourney takes you to Aurland for two nights, giving you plenty of time to walkround this beautiful area. There are some little circular walks you can dohere, or walk up the breathtaking Aurland Valley, using a local bus at thestart and end of the walk. In some ways this place is lost in time, fromOvstebo, you can only follow a mule track into the higher pastures, enjoyingthe sights and sounds of this landscape.  We would also recommend a 4 hour fjord cruise (about 240 NOK/approxUS$40) into the Sognefjord, which was in March 2004 described as the mostbeautiful destination in the world by a panel on “The National GeographicalMagazine.”

Day 8: Depart from Aurland toOslo. Taxi to Flam and then catch the scenic Myrdal  - Flam train, a private line claimed to be the steepest “normalgauge” railway in the World. You should get beautiful views back to Sognefjordand around. At Myrdal, join mainline trains back to Oslo.

Localtrain to airport for late afternoon or evening flight. We wouldrecommend you to have an extra night in Oslo so that you can make the most ofwhat this city has to offer including the Viking Museum.

On this SelfGuided Tour we provide you with. Route notes and maps.

TrainTravel

You need to use the train a lot onthis tour, and with the stop offs involved, it is probably advisable to buyyour tickets in advance especially considering that we recommend a seatreservation between Oslo and Geilo at the start of the tour and between Flamand Oslo at the end of the tour. You may or may not be able to reserve seats onthe trains from Geilo to Finse and from Finse to Myrdal because these are shortsections of under an hour. Depending on how busy the train is, you may or maynot get a seat for these short sections. We advise you to book your traintickets in advance with Rail Europe, www.raileurope.comor 1-800-848-7245. They will need to know your dates of travel to make youroutward and return reservations.  Youcan also look for timetables on www.nsb.no,which is the Norwegian state railway site (NSB). Note that the Flam line is aprivate line and does not appear on the NSB timetables but it does link intothem via Myrdal.  The flam railway is 160NOK (approx US$30) one way.

The routings that you need are:  (note there may be new timings for summer2006)

Day 1: Oslo – Geilo (reservation recommended)e.g. depending on when you arrive in Oslo, there is generally a train around16.11 that gets you into Geilo at 19.40.

Day 3: Geilo  - Finse, (10:15 train is ideal)

Day 5: Finse – Flam via Myrdal (11:10train is ideal) You will walk from Myrdal and you need to pay locally to getyour baggage taken through to Flam.

Day 8: Flam to Oslo via Myrdal (reservationis recommended).  E.g. Dept Flam 08:50Arrive Myrdal.   Dept Myrdal: 09:51Arrive Oslo 14:52., or you could  deptFlam on the next train  at 11.20 –arriving at Oslo 17.52

Norwegian rail tends to be veryreliable. Trains run every 15 min. approx from the airport to Central Station,(Oslo S), taking 25 min. and vice versa (150 NOK approx – US$25).

We advise that you have a night inOslo at the end of the tour as the rail journey back to Oslo will likely be toolate for flights that day.