Norway - Lovely loop through the fjords
Norway Without a Car: Ferries, Buses, Boats, Trains (and Zero Parking Stress)
Here's a confession: we spent nine days in Norway's fjord country and never once touched a steering wheel. No rental car. No hairpin-bend panic. No circling a village of 300 people looking for parking.
Just ferries, buses, boats and trains — and a lot of staring out of windows going "wow."
Norway's public transport is built to connect, so the trick is simple: plan around the timetables and let them do the heavy lifting. You lose a little spontaneity. You gain the freedom to gawk at waterfalls instead of the road. Fair trade.
The route at a glance
Our loop: Bergen → Ålesund → Sogndal → Flåm → Bergen. The tally: one ferry, three buses, a speed boat and two trains. (We counted. We were proud.)
Day 1: Fly into Bergen, hop on an overnight ferry north. As you do.
Days 2–3: Ålesund — Art Nouveau streets, a tourist train up Aksla and excellent seafood.
Day 4: The most scenic bus ride of our lives, south to Sogndal. We stand by this.
Day 5: Local bus, then a speed boat down the Sognefjord to Flåm. Evening fjord tour.
Day 6: The Flåm Railway up a mountain, then the Bergen Line back to the coast.
Days 6–9: Bergen — a harbour sauna, two walking tours and an irresponsible amount of fish soup.
Want every connection time, mapped? It's all in our Norway guide.
Fly straight into Bergen, then sail north
For this route, fly directly into Bergen. Trust us. The coastal ferry leaves Bergen's harbour that same evening, so you can land in the afternoon, grab a bite and be on board by nightfall. (Well — "nightfall." More on that later.) No time lost connecting through Oslo, and the Bybanen light rail gets you from the airport into town.
The overnight ferry to Ålesund is a brilliant way to kick things off. It's your transport and your hotel, and you wake up sailing into an Art Nouveau postcard. Efficient and dramatic.
Two companies sail the coast: Hurtigruten and Havila. Havila has the much more modern fleet, so if the schedule works for your dates, go Havila. Either way, book a port-to-port cabin early. People are often on these ferries for a multi-day journey north. It is
Ålesund: on foot and by tourist train
Ålesund is small, walkable and ridiculously photogenic. The whole town burned down in 1904 and was rebuilt almost entirely in Art Nouveau style, so every corner looks like it's posing for you.
Two days was just right. Visit the Art Nouveau Centre to find out how they rebuilt so fast. Eat all the seafood. And go up Mount Aksla for the view — and you can skip the 418 steps. We rode the oldest tourist train in town to the top instead, and it was awesome. Zero regrets. (If you insist on earning the view, the steps are still there. They're not going anywhere.)
The Atlantic Sea-Park is a few kilometres out of the centre if you fancy a half-day outing.
Ålesund to Sogndal: the bus with the best seats in Norway
Yes, a bus. Hear us out.
It's a long day — about five hours to Skei, then a short hop on a local bus to Sogndal. But the road winds through mountains, past lakes and along fjords the entire way. It might just be the most scenic ride of the trip.
Our top tip: book the front-row seats on the top deck. Panoramic windscreen. Fjords coming straight at you. It's basically a sightseeing tour for the price of a bus ticket. Those seats go fast, so book early.
The practical bits:
Book the long-distance bus in the Vy app; the local buses around Sogndal are on Entur.
You'll change at Skei. If the first bus runs late, there's a later local bus as backup — no panic required.
Pack a picnic. Food stops are few and far between, and hangry fjord-gazing is nobody's best look.
By boat into Flåm, by railway out
From Sogndal, a 25-minute local bus gets you to Leikanger. From there, the Norled speed boat whisks you about an hour and a half down the Sognefjord — Norway's longest — and into the narrow Aurlandsfjord. Sit outside on the back deck if the weather plays nice. Waterfalls will tumble straight into the fjord right beside you. Casually. Like it's nothing.
Flåm itself is tiny, so you're back on foot. Take an evening fjord tour, when the day-trippers have gone home and the light goes soft.
Then leave in style on the Flåm Railway, one of the steepest standard-gauge lines in the world. In under an hour it climbs from the fjord to Myrdal through tunnels and hairpin turns, with a photo stop at the thundering Kjosfossen waterfall. (Keep an eye on the rocks for a mysterious figure in red. We'll say no more.) At Myrdal, switch to the Bergen Line for the ride back to the coast. Book the Flåm Railway ahead in summer — it fills up.
Bergen: a sauna in the harbour and walking tours
Bergen is a walking city. Bryggen's wooden wharf, the fish market and the lanes winding up the hillside are all close together, and the Fløibanen funicular hauls you up Mount Fløyen. No car, no sweat.
The floating sauna. Don't leave Bergen without trying City Sauna: a sauna floating right in the harbour. You heat up. You jump into the sea. You question your life choices. You do it again. Bracing, slightly ridiculous and completely worth it. Bring swimwear, a towel and sandals for the dock.
Walking tours. The best way to get under Bergen's skin. We did two, and they turned out to be the perfect pair:
Bergen's Best Walking Tour: Cultural Comedy with a Sprinkle of History — a GuruWalk tour serving up Bergen's history and quirks with a whole bunch of laughs. You pay what you think it was worth at the end.
Bergen's Famous Ghost Tour — a self-guided audio tour in the WalknTours app, done at your own pace. Zero overlap with the comedy tour, so you get the funny side and the spooky side.
The light (and the weather) in June
If you go in June or July, prepare to be confused by the sun. In late June it doesn't set in Bergen until around 11 pm, and it never gets properly dark. You'll be on a ferry deck at midnight, or riding the funicular up Mount Fløyen late in the evening, wondering where the day went. (It didn't go anywhere. That's the point.) Plan some late outings and pack an eye mask.
And the weather? Honestly, a little smug-worthy. June in western Norway was very reasonable — perfect for walking and hiking — while much of the rest of Europe was melting in a horrible heat wave. Bergen does have a rainy reputation, so bring a waterproof jacket and a warm layer for boat decks. But we were very happy to be up north.
Our car-free Norway tips
Book the fixed pieces first. The ferry and the Flåm Railway sell out in summer. Lock them in, then build everything else around them.
Download Vy and Entur before you land. Between them, they cover nearly every bus, boat and train on this route. Tickets live on your phone. Easy.
Respect the connections. Some buses and boats only run a few times a day. Know your backup for every tight transfer.
Pack light. You'll be hauling bags on and off ferries, buses and trains. Future you will thank present you for the carry-on.
Grab the front seats. On buses, boats and trains, the view is the whole point. Get there early. Sit up front. Gawk freely.
Ready to ditch the car? The full Norway itinerary has every connection time, where we stayed and where we ate, all mapped.
