Highlights of the Sognefjord & Hardangerfjord

Welcome to Oslo

Upon your arrival, check into your centrally located hotel in Norway's capital. Read our guide on how to travel to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, consider visiting some of Oslo's landmarks. Start with the Opera House, where the sloping marble roof invites you to walk up for waterfront views.

Art enthusiasts might visit the Munch Museum, dedicated to Edvard Munch's works including "The Scream" – painted in 1893 after he experienced what he described as "a great scream in nature." For panoramic views, visit the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, hosting ski competitions since 1892.

After exploring, enjoy Oslo's culinary scene or stroll the waterfront. For a memorable first evening, consider adding our optional Oslofjord Electric Dinner Cruise – a three-course meal served as you glide past islands and coastal landmarks.

Bergen Line, Flåm Railway and overnight in Flåm

Morning departure from Oslo aboard the Bergen Line, crossing Hardangervidda plateau where Europe's largest mountain expanse stretches between eastern and western Norway. At Myrdal station, transfer to the Flåm Railway – an engineering marvel that took seventeen years to build, with twenty tunnels carved by hand through mountain rock between 1923 and 1940.

The train descends through landscapes so dramatic that it stops at Kjosfossen waterfall, giving you time to step out and feel the spray from water dropping beside the tracks. Arrive in Flåm, tucked at the end of Aurlandsfjord where the village has welcomed travelers since the railway opened access to this remote corner.

Free morning in Flåm & Sognefjord express boat to Bergen

Wake in Flåm with the entire morning at your own pace. Consider adding our optional Stegastein Viewpoint excursion – a viewing platform that juts thirty meters out from the cliff face, designed by architects to frame the fjord like a photograph. Or choose the Fjordsafari RIB boat tour, zipping across the fjord to reach waterfalls up close.

In the afternoon, board your express boat for the journey along the Sognefjord – called "the King of the Fjords" because it cuts deeper into the mountains than any other, reaching places where vertical walls rise directly from the water. Glide past tiny villages accessible only by boat until the railway arrived, before docking at Bergen's Fish Market where vendors have sold fresh catch since the 1200s.

Bergen at your own pace

Full day to explore Bergen like a local. Visit Bryggen's UNESCO-listed wooden buildings – merchant warehouses that survived fires in 1702 and 1955 while much of the rest of the city burned. Ride the Fløibanen funicular up to Mount Fløyen for views across the city and islands beyond.

For optional additions, consider the Mostraumen fjord cruise through narrow straits where strong currents squeeze between cliffs, or dinner at Cornelius Seafood Restaurant on a small island – the restaurant harvests much of its own seafood from the waters around it.

Journey to Lofthus and Hotel Ullensvang 

Leave Bergen by bus through landscapes that shift from coastal to fjord country, then board an express boat across the Hardangerfjord to Lofthus. This village sits in the heart of Norway's fruit-growing region – locals call it "the garden of Hardanger" because fruit trees have thrived here since Cistercian monks planted the first orchards in the 1200s.

Check into Hotel Ullensvang, started in 1846 when the farmer's wife began taking in travelers and it grew from a simple farmhouse into the hotel that's hosted everyone from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Edvard Grieg, who composed here with the fjord as his view.

Vøringsfossen Waterfall & return to Bergen

Start with a morning fjord cruise to Eidfjord, then journey by bus through the dramatic Måbødalen canyon to reach Vøringsfossen waterfall. Water from the Hardangervidda plateau drops here into the canyon below – a sight that's drawn visitors since the 1800s when Norway's first tourists arrived by horse and carriage to witness what they called "savage beauty."

The Norwegian Nature Center explains the geology that created these landscapes before you return to Eidfjord. Board the express boat back to Norheimsund, then continue by bus with a stop at Steinsdalsfossen – a waterfall where a path lets you walk behind the cascade itself. From there, scenic bus ride back to Bergen for your final night.

Tour ends after breakfast the next day. Now go home and make everyone jealous with your photos!