Norway 6 Day Itinerary
Norway: 6-Day Itinerary
The Cost Reality
Norway is genuinely expensive, more so than most Western European destinations. A mid-range traveller should budget 1,800-2,500 NOK (roughly €160-220) per day excluding accommodation. A coffee costs 50-70 NOK. A pub beer runs 100-120 NOK. A sit-down lunch in a mid-range restaurant is 200-350 NOK per person. None of this should stop you from going; it should stop you from being surprised. The practical counter-move is to book train and ferry tickets well in advance (prices drop significantly), use the Too Good To Go app in Oslo and Bergen for discounted bakery and restaurant surplus, and accept that supermarket lunches with a good view are a legitimate Norwegian tradition, not a compromise.
Norway is almost entirely cashless. Your card will work everywhere including public toilets in remote fjord villages.
Getting In and Visas
EU/EEA citizens need only an ID card. Citizens of Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and most other Western countries can enter visa-free for up to 90 days within any 180-day period under the Schengen Agreement. Norway is part of Schengen but not the EU.
Oslo Airport Gardermoen (OSL) is the main international gateway, 50 kilometres northeast of the city. The Flytoget Airport Express runs every 10 minutes, reaches Oslo Central Station in 19 minutes, and costs 268 NOK. The Vy regional train is cheaper at 124 NOK and takes around 23 minutes, stopping at a few additional stations. Book Vy tickets through the Vy app; do not buy from unlicensed sellers at the arrivals level.
Day 1: Oslo
Getting to Know the City
The Norwegian capital does not announce itself. It is quieter, calmer, and considerably less crowded than comparable European capitals, which makes it possible to move through significant amounts of it without feeling herded. Start at the Vigeland Sculpture Park (Frognerparken, free entry, open always), a complex of over 200 sculptures in bronze, granite, and wrought iron designed by Gustav Vigeland across a 40-year career. The central monolith column is 14 metres of 121 intertwined human figures; it is either extraordinary or grotesque depending on your aesthetic tolerance for maximalism at scale. The surrounding park functions as an actual park for Osloites, which means you will share it with families, joggers, and people doing nothing specific.
Walk to Akershus Fortress (free entry, grounds open daily) on the waterfront. The castle dates from around 1300 and was last used as a Gestapo prison during the occupation. The Norway Resistance Museum inside (entry around 70 NOK) is a serious and well-assembled history of the occupation years.
Evening in Grünerløkka
The neighbourhood of Grünerløkka, a 20-minute walk northeast of the centre, has been the centre of Oslo’s independent food and bar scene for long enough that it has gone from edgy to established without losing too much of its character. The Akerselva river runs along its western edge. Cafes and small restaurants fill the streets around Thorvald Meyers gate. Mathallen (Vulkan 5), a covered food hall in a converted industrial building nearby, offers a range of quality street-food style options including good Norwegian seafood, cheese, and charcuterie without the price premium of a formal restaurant.
A hidden Oslo experience worth making time for: the Emanuel Vigeland Museum (Slemdalsveien 42, restricted hours, call ahead) is the mausoleum that Emanuel Vigeland (brother of the more famous Gustav) designed for himself, covering the interior with floor-to-ceiling fresco depicting the cycle of human life in highly explicit terms. It is dark, strange, and completely unlike anything else in the city.
Day 2: Oslo to Bergen via the Bergen Railway
The Bergen Railway (Bergensbanen) from Oslo to Bergen is consistently rated one of the most scenic rail routes in Europe. The full journey takes around 6.5-7 hours and passes through the Hardangervidda mountain plateau at altitudes above 1,200 metres, making it the highest railway in Norway. Book in advance through the Vy app; minipris (budget) fares can be around 299 NOK, while standard second-class tickets run 500-800 NOK depending on timing.
The train passes through Finse, which is the highest station at 1,222 metres and has no road access. In early summer there is often still snow here when Oslo is warm. The landscape opens into the plateau and then descends steeply into the fjord valleys approaching Bergen.
Arrive in Bergen in the late afternoon. Check in and walk to Bryggen (the old wharf, free to explore), a row of wooden Hanseatic trading houses dating from the 14th century, now UNESCO World Heritage. Many now contain shops and restaurants. The streets behind the facade are the interesting part: a narrow maze of wooden buildings preserved largely as they stood when Bergen was the most important city in Scandinavia.
Dinner at the Fish Market (Fisketorget), an outdoor and indoor market that has existed in various forms since the 13th century. It is oriented somewhat toward tourists but the fish is genuinely fresh and the setting on the harbour with views of the seven mountains is hard to improve on. Klippfisk (dried and salted cod), fiskeboller (fish balls), and fresh prawns are the local specialities.
Day 3: Bergen
Floyen and the Old Town
Take the Fløibanen funicular (around 110 NOK return, book online) up Mount Fløyen in the morning before the crowds build. The 7-minute ride covers 320 metres of vertical. At the top, trails spread across the mountain; the marked trail to Mount Brushy takes under two hours return and passes through forest with views across the Hardangerfjord on clear days. Bergen has a well-deserved reputation for rain (more than 230 days per year on average) so a clear morning should not be wasted inside.
Back in the city, the KODE Art Museums (Rasmus Meyers Alle 3, entry around 120 NOK) hold the principal collection of Norwegian painting including significant works by Munch, Dahl, and Harriet Backer. The same ticket covers access to the separate Rasmus Meyer building nearby, which holds furniture and applied arts. Bergen was Edvard Grieg’s city; the Troldhaugen museum and villa where he lived and composed (Troldhaugvegen 65, entry around 130 NOK) is 8 kilometres from the city centre by bus and takes around 90 minutes to visit properly. The short piano recitals in the recital hall, held several times a day in summer, are worth the journey.
Nordnes Peninsula
The Nordnes peninsula is the undervisited part of Bergen that locals know but most itineraries miss. It stretches west into the fjord from the city centre, ending at a small outdoor seawater pool and park. The streets are quieter, the views across to the Askøy island are good, and the old wooden houses on the peninsula’s slopes represent Bergen residential architecture rather than the tourist-facing Bryggen.
Dinner at one of the restaurants in the Nordnes or Nøstet neighbourhood rather than around the Bryggen. The area around Kong Oscars gate has several options.
Day 4: Bergen to Flam
This day involves the centrepiece of most Norway fjord itineraries, and for good reason. The sequence: express boat from Bergen along the Sognefjord to Flåm, with the Nærøyfjord section being UNESCO World Heritage and the most photographed stretch of fjord in Norway.
Boats leave Bergen Strandkai terminal (check current Norled or Fjord Tours schedules). The full Bergen-to-Flåm ferry takes around 5.5 hours. As of recent years, the main vessels on the Nærøyfjord section are fully electric (Future of the Fjords and Legacy of the Fjords), which means the only sounds in the narrow canyon sections are wind, water, and waterfalls. The fjord walls rise 1,300 metres on each side; at the narrowest point the water is 250 metres wide.
Flåm is a small village at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjord. It exists almost entirely to service tourists, which means accommodation and food options are available but not notable for quality-to-price ratio. Book accommodation well in advance for summer dates.
Take the Flåm Railway (Flåmsbana) late afternoon or early evening when day-trip groups have thinned. The railway climbs 866 metres in 20 kilometres, with gradients of up to 1 in 18 making it one of the steepest standard-gauge railways in the world. It stops at Kjosfossen waterfall for several minutes; in summer this includes a theatrical performance by a singer on the rocks beside the falls that divides opinion sharply. Return on the train in the evening. Entry around 400 NOK return.
Day 5: Flam to Alesund
The scenic route from Flåm to Ålesund involves a combination of bus and ferry and takes most of the day. One recommended route goes via Gudvangen by boat through the Nærøyfjord (shorter and cheaper than the Bergen route, good for a second look in different light), then bus via the Stalheimskleiva road with extreme hairpin bends, on to Voss for a connection, and then northwest toward Ålesund. Check current public transport combinations and prices on the Skyss or Entur apps, which aggregate all regional transport options.
Ålesund is an Art Nouveau town rebuilt almost entirely after a fire in 1904. The Norwegian king, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (a regular visitor to the fjords for hunting), helped finance the reconstruction, which explains why the architectural detail is notably more elaborate than the town’s size would normally produce. The Art Nouveau Centre (Apotekergata 16, entry around 100 NOK) explains the style and the reconstruction in detail.
Climb the 418 steps to the top of Mount Aksla (free, starts from Kongensgate in the city centre) in the evening. The view over the island city, its channels and bridges, and the outer islands dissolving into the Atlantic is the best angle on what makes Ålesund unusual as a Norwegian town.
Dinner at one of the restaurants along Apotekergata or around the waterfront. Fish is the obvious choice; Ålesund is one of Norway’s most important fishing ports.
Day 6: Alesund and Departure
Ålesund Airport (AES) connects to Oslo multiple times daily; the flight is around 55 minutes. Wideroe operates regional routes and Norwegian/SAS both serve the route. Check which airport serves your onward connection, since most international flights depart from Oslo Gardermoen.
Spend the morning at the Atlantic Ocean Park (Tueneset, entry around 250 NOK), an aquarium and marine centre on a peninsula jutting into the Atlantic. It focuses specifically on the marine environment of western Norway and has one of the larger outdoor seawater aquariums in northern Europe. It is genuinely interesting rather than just tourist-filling.
If time allows, a short walk or drive along the coast south of Ålesund to the beach at Sunnmøre reveals the outer island landscape that fjord-focused itineraries typically miss: granite, surf, and a coastal scale completely different from the enclosed fjord environment. This is where Norwegians go to fish and swim in summer.
Practical Notes
Transport Booking
Book all trains through the Vy app (www.vy.no). Book fjord ferries through Norled or Fjord Tours. Book the Flåm Railway through Flåm Railway’s own site or combined packages from Fjord Tours. Buy the day before or weeks ahead; the price difference can be 50-60 percent for the same seat.
Weather
June through August offers the best weather and the longest days. Above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway, the midnight sun means continuous daylight from late May to late July. In the Bergen area, expect rain at any time of year. A waterproof layer is non-negotiable kit for fjord travel.
Taxis in Oslo
Use the Norges Taxi or Uber app rather than hailing taxis on the street. Street taxis in Oslo include some unlicensed operators who inflate fares. The Flytoget and Vy trains from the airport are better value than any taxi for the airport run.
Language
Norwegian is generally easy to navigate given signage in English across transport networks, museums, and hotels. Learning “takk” (thank you) and “hei” (hello) costs nothing and is appreciated. English is spoken fluently by essentially everyone under 60 across the whole country.