Air Arrangements from Bergen

[QRB4539]

Thank you Peregrina! I always read your comments and responses because you are so knowledgeable. Hope we get a response from anyone in the know.

[knoxclone]

I used NSB - the official norwegian train site - it rebranded its self earlier this summer - here is the link

https://www.vy.no/en

 

It was super easy. Im not sure there is anything called "First Class"  we booked Komfort class which gave us reserved seat w. access to tea and coffee machines.  They would not take my Amex so I used my pay pay account - no problems. and emailed me receipt and tickets which I printed out and that was it - just showed it to conductor during the trip. 

 

As far as the airport train - we just walked up to the kiosk and used amex to buy tickets before getting on,  They run every 20 minutes or so. it was fast, clean and easy - about a 2 minute walk across the parking  main door to the Thon hotel. 

Would stay on Thon again - location was great for sight seeing and access to local transportation.

 

[knoxclone]

II should add, if I were to do it again, I would have still started un Stockholm,  (but only spent 2 days instead of three...) and  have spent the extra day in Bergen, and then train to Oslo for 2 nights.

 

Really enjoyed Bergen, and you really only have 1 day during the cruise there before disembarking.  There is such a contrast between Oslo and Bergen.

 

We enjoyed the train, it was a great "down day". The scenery ranged from snow capped mountain, lakes, to beautiful swathes of forests and farmland.  We purchased a couple bottles of water and some sandwiches ( and a few norwegian chocolate bars) at the train station and had a made our game plan for Oslo!

[Peregrina651]

13 minutes ago, knoxclone said:

I used NSB - the official norwegian train site - it rebranded its self earlier this summer - here is the link

https://www.vy.no/en

 

Thank you! Great post! Full of very helpful details--which give cause for even more questions😉.

 

How far in advance did you book your train tickets?

 

16 minutes ago, knoxclone said:

It was super easy. Im not sure there is anything called "First Class"  we booked Komfort class which gave us reserved seat w. access to tea and coffee machines.  They would not take my Amex so I used my pay pay account - no problems. and emailed me receipt and tickets which I printed out and that was it - just showed it to conductor during the trip. 

 

Thank you for the correct terminology! Most helpful. Seems like Komfort class is first class, just with a more p.c. name.

 

Could you tell, did people show their tickets on their mobiles? Some readers may be interested in this option.

 

29 minutes ago, knoxclone said:

As far as the airport train - we just walked up to the kiosk and used amex to buy tickets before getting on,  They run every 20 minutes or so. it was fast, clean and easy - about a 2 minute walk across the parking  main door to the Thon hotel. 

Would stay on Thon again - location was great for sight seeing and access to local transportation.

 

Which Thon hotel did you stay at? There are 4 within walking distance of the train station and at least a dozen in the city. (Man, do I love Google maps!)

 

 

 

[knoxclone]

I did see people showing their phones to the conductor, to be scanned,  however,  not an option for me (since i will be clinging to my old Apple 4SE until they pry it from my cold dead hands...). 🙂  I did book our seats early - just checked and my email receipt showed a purchase date of 9 April for a June 22 departure.  The mini pris fare is non refundable and must be booked ahead of time.

 

We stayed at the Thon Opera Hotel... and you are correct  - there are several in the immediate area. This was directly across from the main exit from the train station. 

[just_dont]

I concur with knoxclone - Express train tickets are easily obtained at the kiosk in the airport, and there was a worker there providing assistance in English. Departures may be even more frequent - maybe 10 minutes or less.
Last month in Oslo we stayed at the Clarion "The Hub" hotel - also across from the train station. Paid a bit extra for a premium room and had an amazing 11th floor corner room with a view across the whole city. It's just been remodeled and is a VERY modern hotel. Breakfast buffet (included) was extensive.

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[QRB4539]

Thanks to everyone! All great info.

[Peregrina651]

12 hours ago, knoxclone said:

I used NSB - the official norwegian train site - it rebranded its self earlier this summer - here is the link

https://www.vy.no/en

 

Okay. Took a little effort but I finally figured out the website. I hope I remember what I did this evening when the time comes to actually book my tickets in March.  I get the impression from the website that you can't book tickets more then 90 days out, so I have marked my calendar for March to buy tickets. There is really only one choice of train (unless you want to travel overnight, but aren't we taking the train for the view??)

 

I found the timetables and with the help of the Google Translate app on my phone was even able to read all the explanations in Norwegian.  I just turned on the app and aimed it at the timetable open on my computer screen.

 

 

[just_dont]

Yes, the NSB tickets 90 days out.

If you book the Norway in a Nutshell through its site, you can book the trip farther in advance, but it will only ticket the train 90 days out. Not sure if it's more expensive that way if you're just taking the train, but the website is completely translated in English, and it's got great trip planning features.

I learned a lot about planning for Norway from[mention=678955]hallasm[/mention] in the Norway Fjords Cruise Q&A thread over in the Northern Europe ports forum. He's always ready to answer questions for folks trying to figure out plans in Norway, including navigating Norwegian cities and websites. He's posted some great YouTube videos, too.

 

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[just_dont]

If you're going in the summer, I'll add a recommendation for doing the 2-day NiaN from Oslo to Bergen with an overnight in Flåm. The Flåm railway was quite an experience, and the fjord cruise from Flåm was beautiful.
We added days in both Oslo and Bergen and were glad we did. Plenty to see and do in both cities.

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[knoxclone]

12 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Okay. Took a little effort but I finally figured out the website. I hope I remember what I did this evening when the time comes to actually book my tickets in March.  I get the impression from the website that you can't book tickets more then 90 days out, so I have marked my calendar for March to buy tickets. There is really only one choice of train (unless you want to travel overnight, but aren't we taking the train for the view??)

 

I found the timetables and with the help of the Google Translate app on my phone was even able to read all the explanations in Norwegian.  I just turned on the app and aimed it at the timetable open on my computer screen.

 

 

Sorry - I thought I attached the english version of the site - if you go all the way to bottom, you can change language option to english... 

[Peregrina651]

19 minutes ago, knoxclone said:

Sorry - I thought I attached the english version of the site - if you go all the way to bottom, you can change language option to english... 

 

No, you gave the right link. It is the English version of the site but the Timetables are in Norwegian only, especially the fine print. Google Translate will  at least give you a word by word translation of what is on the page and will give you an idea of what it is saying. It let me read what all of the symbols and abbreviations mean.

 

It is a fantastic app; it works offline. We used it all through France to translate menus and other signage. Just hold the camera up to whatever you want to translate --including what is on your computer screen.

 

[QRB4539]

I went to that website last night and booked our Komfort Klass tickets for September. It was easy after I figured out that I wanted to leave from Oslo S. I found it all in English!

[mhb1757]

Couple of 2 cents to throw in here...

if you are doing the nutshell route via Flam (overnight or not, although I’d totally recommend spending the night in Flam...spectacular) I would highly recommend the Porter Service. They pick up your luggage from your Oslo hotel or meet you at the train station and transfer it to Bergen for you and deliver it to your hotel there to be held until your arrival. So great not to have to lug it on/off train, ferry, bus and train again. Nominal cost. 

 

Second i I would highly recommend doing Komfort Class or whatever they call it now. Was only about $12/pp extra and you have a nice reserved seat. And trains can be crowded especially during peak summer months. A seat on the left side of the train (facing the front) will have the best view on the Oslo-Bergen direction. 

 

Finally, if anyone is planning for 2020, on the Nutshell route, if you book it yourself the bus from Gudvangen to Voss does not run regularly until mid June. If you go before then many guide books say the bus will be waiting at the ferry stop and you can pay the driver when you board. Alas, this isn’t true unless you travel during peak season. The good news is there is a public bus stop about 1/4 mile down the road that goes to Voss train station or all the way to Bergen that you can catch. It runs every hour or so and there’s a time table in the bus stop. We had planned to get off in Voss and ride the train but the bus ride was very scenic and less trouble than transferring to the train so we just took it all the way to Bergen. 

[frenchhorn]

if you are doing the nutshell route via Flam (overnight or not, although I’d totally recommend spending the night in Flam...spectacular) I would highly recommend the Porter Service.

I agree completely with the recommendation to take the Norway in a Nutshell, stay overnight in Flam, and use the porter service.  We did this from Oslo to Bergen in May 2018, and the Porter Service was well worth the small cost.  However, if you plan to use the porter service, check with them on the hotels they use for pickup and delivery.  We had booked at the Thon Opera in Oslo but found that they did not pick up there at that time.  We switched to the Thon Hotel Terminus, which was on their pickup list.  It was fine but probably not as good as the Opera.  We had the luggage delivered to the Rosenkrantz in Bergen, and it was waiting for us the next day, when we checked in.  We booked our Norway in a Nutshell with Fjord Tours and found that very easy - booked online and picked up the various train, bus, and boat tickets at the train station in Oslo.  We booked our Flam hotel on our own.  We had seat reservations on the train, but I don't think we were in Komfort class.  It was a wonderful way to get to Bergen and very easy using Fjord Tours.  It costs extra to book through them, but it was so easy and worth it to us.

We are currently trying to figure out a reasonable way to get home (Charlotte) from Bergen next May.  We do not have time to stay longer but don't want to begin our trip home with a 6 am flight.  An overnight at LHR might be in our future.   

[mhb1757]

3 hours ago, frenchhorn said:

 

We are currently trying to figure out a reasonable way to get home (Charlotte) from Bergen next May.  We do not have time to stay longer but don't want to begin our trip home with a 6 am flight.  An overnight at LHR might be in our future.   

No idea if this would work for you but we flew from Bergen to Oslo on SAS (non stop flights all day almost hourly fares about $100-120/pp). We flew late in the day so we had some time in Bergen then just spent the night at the Radisson Blu in the Oslo airport (very nice room and was not very pricey as I recall) and then flew back to the US via Newark nonstop the next day then on to our home airport. The Oslo airport is SO much easier than Heathrow. Since you live in Charlotte you may be AA devotees and SAS is Star Alliance/United so it might not be your first choice but it was a really easy way to get home (relatively speaking). 

[Scootoir]

On ‎6‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 12:27 PM, sabrefan said:

Going on the Majestic Fjords & Vibrant Cities cruise on 5/23/2020 from Copenhagen to Bergen. Just starting to look at flights connections and plan on flying in and out of Toronto, Canada. I see some flight departures from Bergen at 10:00am on disembarkation day. Fortunately the ship will already be in Bergen the day before. I am wondering if there will be any problem getting off the ship at 6:00 am on disembarkation day? We would plan on keeping our packed luggage with us in our cabin. Just wondering if this would be a problem?

 

My husband and I just completed this cruise and we had to put our packed luggage out side our room by 10pm the night before disembarking.   We were allowed to keep our carry-on bags with us overnight and took them on the Viking Shuttle to the airport our selves.  Our assigned time to leave the Viking Sky was 5:45am for our 9:40am flight from Copenhagen to Paris so no problem getting off the ship at 6am.  In Paris we boarded a nonstop for Los Angeles.

[sabrefan]

Scootoir,

Thank you for the response. How did you like this cruise? What was your favorite port? Did you have some favorite excursions? Of all the ports on this cruise my wife and I have only previously been to Bergen on another cruise.

 

Thanks

[Scootoir]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 5:20 AM, sabrefan said:

Scootoir,

Thank you for the response. How did you like this cruise? What was your favorite port? Did you have some favorite excursions? Of all the ports on this cruise my wife and I have only previously been to Bergen on another cruise.

 

Thanks

 

I had only been to Copenhagen and that was many years ago so it was all new to us.  My Swedish friend recommended we sail in June or July and in June we had the midnight sun which was interesting.  We did 4 excursions, 3 included and 1 optional.  We toured Bergen on our own including the funicular (go there first if the weather is good and avoid lines).  Sailing in Eidfjord is beautiful.  We did the included tour to the nature center. The included tour of Oslo was interesting and we had an excellent guide. The second day in Oslo we went to the Viking Ship and Folk Museums on our own.  We had Viking customer service call a taxi for us and it worked out for us to share it with another couple.  We met a friend who toured us in Gothenburg and we did enjoy the botanical gardens. 

DH and I were feeling some pain at the end of the trip so decided to take a bus excursion in Copenhagen.  Between aches, pain and the weather (was 85 degrees the day we spent there) we would not have enjoyed touring on our own.  Jens, the guide, was very good and the tour stopped at the Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Castle and the opera house for photos and to hear more from Jens.  We returned to Nyhavn via the Viking shuttle in the afternoon but the area was hot and crowded.  We took some photos then tried to walk away from that area but were confronted by a large area of Metro construction and gave up.  We went back to the bus and relaxed on the ship.

We upgraded our cabin one level and were glad we did for the extra space.  The ship is beautiful and rarely felt crowded. Food and service were good, I especially enjoyed The Restaurant for its quiet and attractive space.  DH preferred World Café in part because we are not used to having the level of service offered on Viking and felt sort of fussed over in the other restaurants.  We dined outside of World Café on deck as we sailed out of Oslo--just wonderful. 

My review was just posted, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=660288&et_cid=3214772&et_rid=24473151&et_referrer=NULL

[sabrefan]

Hi Scootoir, 

 

Thank you for the detailed information and trip report. This is very helpful and much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

[Scootoir]

1 hour ago, sabrefan said:

Hi Scootoir, 

 

Thank you for the detailed information and trip report. This is very helpful and much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

You are very welcome.  Your cruise leaves from Copenhagen doesn't it?  I would consider arriving early to recover from jet lag and have more time to tour the city.  I would have liked visiting Tivoli at dusk (did that 35 years ago) and spending time at Rosenborg Castle and shopping on the Stroget.

[sabrefan]

Scootoir,

 

Our Cruise does start in Copenhagen. We are planning on arriving in Copenhagen one or two days before embarkation. We have also decided to go to Rekyjavik, Iceland from Bergen. Icelandic Air have afternoon departures from Bergen. The flight time is just over two hours and we will spend a couple of nights there. We have been to Iceland three years ago on another cruise. Then just a short 6 hour flight to Toronto, not too bad. At least we can take our time leaving the ship in Bergen.

[Scootoir]

1 hour ago, sabrefan said:

Scootoir,

 

Our Cruise does start in Copenhagen. We are planning on arriving in Copenhagen one or two days before embarkation. We have also decided to go to Rekyjavik, Iceland from Bergen. Icelandic Air have afternoon departures from Bergen. The flight time is just over two hours and we will spend a couple of nights there. We have been to Iceland three years ago on another cruise. Then just a short 6 hour flight to Toronto, not too bad. At least we can take our time leaving the ship in Bergen.

 

The flight from Iceland to Toronto sounds easy to us! Traveling to Bergen from southern California was tough.  Had I to do it again I think I would look into to flying to London and spend a couple of nights in Windsor to adjust then fly on to Bergen.  

[seveneleven]

On 6/26/2019 at 3:13 PM, cocopico said:

We would have loved to have had a 6:00 a.m. disembarkation when we left Bergen -- we actually had a 6:00 a.m. flight out, which meant a 3:00 a.m. disembarkation!  You will not have any problem at all getting off the ship at 6:00 a.m. 

We were on the 6/19/19 cruise Bergen to Sweden.  Our disembarkation called for being in the lobby by 3:00am for a Viking transport to airport about 45 ,minutes away. We ordered room service for breakfast and found Viking had prepared juice, coffee and pastries in lobby.  

[Michael219]

On 7/15/2019 at 6:19 PM, Scootoir said:

 

I had only been to Copenhagen and that was many years ago so it was all new to us.  My Swedish friend recommended we sail in June or July and in June we had the midnight sun which was interesting.  We did 4 excursions, 3 included and 1 optional.  We toured Bergen on our own including the funicular (go there first if the weather is good and avoid lines).  Sailing in Eidfjord is beautiful.  We did the included tour to the nature center. The included tour of Oslo was interesting and we had an excellent guide. The second day in Oslo we went to the Viking Ship and Folk Museums on our own.  We had Viking customer service call a taxi for us and it worked out for us to share it with another couple.  We met a friend who toured us in Gothenburg and we did enjoy the botanical gardens. 

DH and I were feeling some pain at the end of the trip so decided to take a bus excursion in Copenhagen.  Between aches, pain and the weather (was 85 degrees the day we spent there) we would not have enjoyed touring on our own.  Jens, the guide, was very good and the tour stopped at the Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Castle and the opera house for photos and to hear more from Jens.  We returned to Nyhavn via the Viking shuttle in the afternoon but the area was hot and crowded.  We took some photos then tried to walk away from that area but were confronted by a large area of Metro construction and gave up.  We went back to the bus and relaxed on the ship.

We upgraded our cabin one level and were glad we did for the extra space.  The ship is beautiful and rarely felt crowded. Food and service were good, I especially enjoyed The Restaurant for its quiet and attractive space.  DH preferred World Café in part because we are not used to having the level of service offered on Viking and felt sort of fussed over in the other restaurants.  We dined outside of World Café on deck as we sailed out of Oslo--just wonderful. 

My review was just posted, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=660288&et_cid=3214772&et_rid=24473151&et_referrer=NULL

Scootoir, thanks so much for your comments, suggestions and review - all appreciated!!  We are quickly approaching the dreaded 12 month in advance final payment date but that also means we're getting close to this fantastic trip!