Norway in a Nutshell

This unique tour using public transport takes us through some of Norway’s most beautiful scenery. We travel by rail on the famous Bergen and Flåm railways, by fjord steamer along the arms of the Sognefjord and by bus through the dramatic Stalheim Gorge. 

The Bergen railway rises from sea level with a spectacular backdrop of deep blue fjords and snow covered mountain tops, travelling through orchards and a landscape typical of Norway’s West Coast. From Ustaoset, the trip continues across a desolate and windswept mountain plateau with not a tree in sight and with shimmering glaciers in the background. We cruise through the narrow Nærøy Fjord, thrusting its way between steep mountains, where tiny farmsteads cling precariously to green ledges high above the water.

We travel by motorcoach along the main road to Vossestrand, through open farm country and past a string of lovely lakes to the famed Stalheim Hotel. Here passengers can enjoy the fabulous view from an observation platform at the rear of the hotel, which affords a bird's eye view of the ravine like Naerøy Valley, hemmed in by towering mountains and dominated in the foreground by the soaring peak of Jordalsnuten.  The drive continues through the Stalheim Gorge, with its two superb waterfalls on each side of a road that zigzags dizzily down to the floor of the valley.

The Flåm Line is a marvel of railway engineering and the track twists and turns up the valley often making wide loops or doubling back as it steadily climbs to the plateau, 2,800 feet above sea level. Frequent halts are made for passengers to enjoy the scenery, while apertures cut in the tunnels provide grandstand views en route. The longest tunnel, three quarters of a mile in length, enables the track to complete a circle inside the mountain.