Scandinavian route: 2 alternatives for Stockholm - Olso

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi Leen,

I would opt for the first route via Mora - Östersund -Trondheim. Especially Mora - Östersund and Trondheim - Oslo are quite scenic routes. Stockholm - Oslo isnt that much different from lets say Stockholm - Malmö or Oslo - Göteborg - Malmö. We have travelled the northern part of Inlandsbanan last summer and apart from the landscape the travel itself was worth it...trundling through the woods in that small railcar with only a handful of other travellers, very nice. :)

I think if you are just staying in Östersund overnight you can find some simple place to stay which will be cheaper than anything in Oslo...but I cant give you a certain recommendation.

What kind of ticket do you wanna buy? I think the 10in22 would be the best for your trip.

I would say that you can skip one day each in Oslo and Kobenhavn...not that much to do there IMO. Maybe think about a trip to Bergen from Oslo? Nice route, nice town...

I think the Kobenhavn - Amsterdam night train [u]https://rail.cc/en/copenhagen-amsterdam-night-train/f3010[/u] is the best solution for your way home. If you dont want to go by night train (which is quite comfortable btw) I think Hamburg would be the best choice for another stop.


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, it already gave us a lot of answers!

We tought about buying a 5in22 ticket. I know we have to many travel days then, but because of the very short distance between Tampere and Turku we thought about paying for that ride separately. But for the first alternative, we still have 1 day missing because the night train Kopenhagen-Amsterdam already leaves around 5PM, so we need two travel days there.
So not sure about what we're going to do, I have to compare the two options I think: pay for 5in22 interrail pas + pay separately for Tampere-Turku and e.g. Östersund-Trondheim VS 10in22 interrail pass with the advantage that we can still change our route back home if we don't need 2 days in Oslo and 2 days in Kopenhagen. Maybe Hamburg can be a stop indeed... Is it necessary to make a reservation for the nighttrain (for the first weekend of July, so I think that might be a busy weekend) more than 2 days beforehand? Because if we want to be able to change our plans, we can't book that in advance...
Another thing, about the starting date of the validity of the Interrail Pass. I we would pay for Tampere-Turku separatly, but we want to make use of the discount for the ferry Turku-Stockholm, is that possible? For most train passes in Belgium, the validity starts when you fill in your first day of use, but we won't use it before the ferry...

And about the Bergen trip. I read about it that it is very nice (and the Flam trip too, but I don't think we have time for that :-s), but we can't go by train direct from Trondheim to Bergen just to win some time (instead of doing Trondheim-Oslo = full day + Oslo-Bergen and back). Are there alternatives (busses? ferries?) that aren't too expensive?

Leen

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi,

first: There is no 5in22 ticket. There is a 5in10, 10in22 and a 15continuous to choose from...

- It is difficult to predict when/if the night train to Amsterdam will be full...however since you can make the reservation online (as described here [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/germany/de[/u]) you can always check if there are still free places.
An interesting alternative could be the Berlin-Night-Express from Malmö to Berlin: [u]https://rail.cc/en/berlin-night-express-sweden-berlin/f1186[/u] Total travel time isnt much more that with the direct train. And if you pay a regular ticket for Kobenhavn - Malmö this is even possible with only one travel day.

- You have to select the starting date of your pass when you purchase it but you dont have to travel on the first of day of validity. However your pass has to be valid already to get the benefits for the ferry. So if you want to go from Tampere to Turku with regular tickets and then use the ferry your ticket has to be valid already on this day. But it is sufficient to write only the following day as a travel day (when travelling overnight).

- Bergen - Trondheim: I would recommend to go Bergen - Oslo in the afternoon and continue with the overnight to Bergen. Make a reservation for 50NOK for the whole journey to have your seat guaranteed. In the night train you'll get a complimentary package of pillow, blanket, eye mask and ear plugs.
On the way back I would recommend going during the day to see all the nice scenery along the way. Flamsbana would be really nice of course but you'd have to invest another day, that's true.
I dont know about alternatives...there is certainly a bus operating Trondheim - Bergen but I dont know about prices...


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Indeed, the Dutch brochure of interrail isn't that clear, but indeed there's no 5in22, my mistake... Than the 10in22 will be the best I think, we have some freedom than to do day trips in Oslo or Kopenhagen maybe, if we want too...

It doesn't seem a good idea to go from Trondheim to Bergen direct. There's only a bus, and that's driving only during night so you don't get to see the scenery (so than a night train is a better option, especially since we will already have the interrail pass), and hiring a car to drive along the magnificent coast is too expensive.
So, there are two options. Go from Östersund to Trondheim in the morning, stay in Trondheim till the next day and take the train to Oslo around noon. Or go from Östersund to Trondheim as early as possible and continue to Oslo immediately, and then we can go on to Bergen and back to Oslo. What would you recommend? It might be possible to do both, but wouldn't that be too much? (that would mean:
day 5: Östersund - Trondheim (+/- 3u40) + visiting Trondheim a little bit
day 6: Trondheim - Oslo (+/- 6u45)
day 7 & 8: visiting Oslo
day 9: Oslo - Bergen
night 9-10: Bergen - Oslo
day 10: Oslo - Kopenhagen (+/- 8u40)
day 11 & 12 & 13: visiting Kopenhagen
day 13 + night 13-14: nighttrain Kopenhagen - Amsterdam (15u40)
day 14: Amsterdam - Antwerpen)
Is there a reason why you specifief going from Bergen to Oslo during day, or can we do Oslo-Bergen during day and then return during night?

In the schedule above, if we only spent 2 days in Kopenhagen, we can even do the Flam railway... :-p

Thanks,
Leen

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hi Leen. odd bits of information . i live in norway.
1) there is a bus from oslo to bergen.
2) the night train takes about 7 hours from oslo and arrives in Bergen around 6-30am, if you took that train then right opposite the station is the >>Terminus Hotel where you are able to walk in and buy Breakfast.
3) the train from Bergen to Oslo leaves around 11pm and arrives in Oslo about 6-30am.There is a great cafe on the mezzanine floor in the station concourse that serves a great cooked Breakfast.
5) I have used the night train from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, and it arrived 2 hours late, so something you need to watch if you are going on.
6) The Flamsbana railway is great , it is one of the great rail Journeys of Europe, but for you it would mean going down the line to Flam and then back up again to get the train on to Oslo.
the trip from Oslo to Trondheim is a nice journey, depending on time you could go one way by night train and then the other by the daytime.
I stayed one night in Copenhagen and part of the next day, it is a nice city , but quite large if you want to see much
Hope information is useful.
have a good trip .

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hi,

Yes, the info can be of much use when we are going there! In the meanwhile we decided to skip Copenhagen and take a flight from Oslo to Brussels, so that we have more time in Norway. Now we plan to go to Bergen, and do the Flam railway when going from Oslo to Bergen.

[b]Itineray:[/b]
June 20th evening: Tampere - Turku (IR day 1)
night June 20th to 21st: ferry Turku - Stockholm
21st & 22nd: Stockholm
23rd: Stockholm - Mora & Mora - Östersund by Ilandsbanen (IR day 2)
24th: Östersund & Östersund-Trondheim in evening (pay seperatly?)
25th: Trondheim
26th: Trondheim - Oslo (IR day 3)
27th: Oslo - Myrdal - Fläm - Myrdal - Bergen (IR day 4)
28th: Bergen
night 28th tot 29th: night train Bergen - Oslo (IR day 5)

So we have 6 days of train travel, but thought about doing this with the 5in10 pass and pay one day separately. We want the IR pass to be valid when we take the ferry (50% discount on the cabin), so that means that it will be valid from 20th of June until (and included) 29th of June. So we have to check the prices to see what we pay separately, what will be the cheapest (probably the shortest trip, or not?)?

Right now we have one day in Trondheim and one in Bergen, still doubting if we do it like that or choose one of the two towns. But we wanted to make a reservation for the ferry, Inlandsbanen and hotels in Stockholm and Östersund in advance, after that we wanted to be able to decide while travelling, what do you think? Is it possible, for 2 persons, to find a hostel/hotel in Oslo at the end of June without a reservation?

Greetings,
Leen

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hi Leen.
re Bergen or Trondheim for staying , personally i would much prefer 2 days in Bergen and skip the day in Trondheim, there is much more to see and of interest in Bergen.
There should be no problem about hostels in Oslo, there are plenty of them or even c heap B&B, it is always as well to ring on the day if you can, but not really necessary.
Re the trip from Oslo , Myrdal,Flam , Bergen. Another thought on that.

Train from Oslo 8.11, arrive Myrdal 12.53.
Myrdal 13.27 Flam 14.25.

BUS Flam 16.20 Bergen 19.15

buses are very comfortable, no need to book, seat guaranteed and 99.9% on time, also a different view of the scenery going back to bergen. Bus goes to the Bus station which is across the road from the Railway station.

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hi,

About the bus from Fläm to Bergen: we don't like to take a bus, just because I get carsick now and then, so that's why we prefer the train journey. We had a look to the boat trip ( www.fjord1.no ) also, but the trip from Fläm to Bergen takes quit a lot of time and it seems that it is an express route, not a tourist route so no benefits from our railpass there...

We love B&B's, so if you have any suggestions for Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim please tell! :) We will try to have a look around on the internet before leaving, and note down some telephone numbers so we can maybe call one day in advance to check if they have rooms available.

Leen

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

The Express Boat Flam to bergen is Used alot by Tourist companys, as it is another experience that they can have. Re whether it would come under your pass im afraid i cant answer that. So in that case you would have to go on by rail to Bergen, but still an interesting journey. You will have reserved seats for this Train , all tickets require a seat reservation , no extra cost though. A thought ,before you leave Oslo see if you can buy yourselves some food for the day as Food on the Train and at Flam will probably be expensive.

Trondheim Pensjonat Jarlen 4773528080 670Nk for two bed room
Trondheim Vandrerhjem Rosenborg 4773874450 190 bed hostel 15mins from railway station 4 people in aroom with shower 290 kr each per night .

Will look out some for Bergen and Oslo later .

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

[quote] You will have reserved seats for this Train , all tickets require a seat reservation , no extra cost though..[/quote]

According to my informations that is not true. Reservation is not compulsory but recommended for travel on long distance services. It is 50 NOK per route, ie if you travel Bergen - Trondheim via Oslo (where you have to change trains) it is still 50 NOK (and not 50 NOK for each train).

Trains1, maybe you could verify that at a local NSB station if you have time? :)


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

As you will be travelling on a long distance route you will have seat reservation,and it will be free, Bergen-Oslo is a long distance route and the train you will be on is a long distance train , local trains do not run as far as Myrdal in either direction. There is only one rail line on this route. Wherever you get on the train you will be allocated a seat when you get your ticket. There will be trains around Oslo that are local ones , but not anywhere else, other than there are trains from Bergen to Voss which may not require reservations .Norway is a very different country to the U S A , the line from Oslo to Trondheim is the only line going in that direction and there are no branches off that line, the same for the line between Trondheim and Bodø.
You say local NSB station, Bergen is my local one 5 hours away, that is the nearest rail line . I suggest you get your map out and look at the make up of the country before you come, distances are great and internal transport is reliant on the Express bus service, there is nothing else unless you hire a car, which i think will be way out of your budget.I have checked the N S B site and there are no extra charges for a standard seat unless you go in the comfort class, then it is 90kr extra.

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Well, I've been travelling myself in Norway last year...Lofoten, Bodo - Trondheim - Oslo - Bergen - Oslo - (Göteborg). There was no compulsory seat reservation on any train. For instance on the Bodo - Trondheim we didnt have reservations and just asked the conductor for unoccupied seats.
However, for comfort reasons we got a reservation for Trondheim - Oslo - Bergen (the latter section with the night train) and were charged 50 NOK per reservation. I can post a photo of this reservation later.

I didnt know that you live that far away from a railway line - it seemed you knew something about train travel in Norway so I thought maybe you live somewhere close to a railway line. No offense.


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Oslo _Bergen night train , there is no extra charge for a seat only if you use a sleeper cabin, i have just done abooking on line for Bergen oslo and my booking comes up with my seat number ,its automatic and no charge for it,who did you book with ,if it was with someone other than N S B then you probably would be charged, but the actual rail company do not charge anything . try the N S B site for booking in Norway .

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Umm, well, what you get on the NSB site are regular train tickets - those include a reservation. But we are talking about travelling with an InterRail ticket...and there's no reservation included when you travel with an InterRail ticket. I bought the mentioned resevation at the counter at Trondheim station. And another one at Bergen station...

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Ok, so we just buy our seat reservations (because we travel with interrail pass indeed) when we arrive in Trondheim.

Flow, thanks for your (maybe not ment) hint for taking the night train from Oslo to Bergen right after our trip from Trondheim to Oslo, because that way we don't have to find a hotel in Oslo for just 1 night and unpack things...
I'm still not sure about how we go from Bergen to Oslo again... 2 options: just go by train and do the Flamsbana with a return ticket (probably the most cheapest one), or go by boat from Bergen to Fläm (maybe, if we find enough time - that means at least 1 day extra - , with a visit to the Sognefjord and the glaciers there) and then continue by train to Oslo. But than we miss the rail journey from Bergen to Myrdal... And because it is a scenic rail in Norway, we might miss something there. So... still doubting... :-p