Norway is extraordinary. A friend likened it to Jupiter, if you've been there recently, although less crowded. If you grew up on Grieg, eat only Munch, or eyeball all Ibsen, you'll find them well-remembered. Cultural identity is manifested in breakfast herring, a love of (and profound respect for) nature, and a regard turned resolutely north. You'd think that they were already there! You'll be awed by a past filled with difficult labor, difficult wars, and difficult geography, all in a difficult climate. As you sip coffee in the cosseted luxury of an 80 mile per hour train to the mountains, it's tough to imagine that the trim fields and towns out your window are on the same latitude as Fairbanks, Alaska!
Most come here for scenery that humans have not touched, and there is plenty of it. Fjords, glaciers, wildflowers, the craggy coastline of the North Atlantic ... Norway is stunningly beautiful! Superlatives quickly give out in written description of scenes which are hard to grasp even as you see them. There aren't many roads (Norway's biggest cities were only linked by asphalt in the 1980s), so you do as the Norwegians do: mountain bike when there are tracks, and hike when the best you can find is a path.
Mountain biking and hiking in the land of fjords and Vikings. A week of truly unique and stunning scenery, a fascinating social structure, and lots of salmon and herring (for breakfast!).
Fjord boats, railways built up mountains, and your legs carry you over immensely varied and always breathtaking terrain.
Tour Details
Duration
7 Days/6 Nights
Location
Norway
Season
July- August
Tour Type
Combo
Nearest City
Oslo
Physical Condition Required
Good
Destination(s)
Norway
Distance Traveled
Varies Day to Day
Fully Guided
Yes
Guest Capacity
19
Support Vehicles
Local Rail Lines - No Sag Wagon
Bike Rentals Available
Yes
Bike Brands
Mountain bikes are kept and maintained locally.
Accommodations
All hotels (and sleeping berths on overnight trains) are included in the cost of the trip. Blue Marble bypasses chain hotels in favor of family-run inns: pretty in the country, central in the towns. A 17th century courtyard is preferred to an in-room TV.
Transportation to Start Site
Please Contact Blue Marble Travel for details.
Dining
Breakfast (continental) is included, except on overnight trains. It is generally taken at the hotel. Snore.
Most dinners are also included. You are on your own for dinner (and its expense) two nights per “trip week”. Included dinners may be taken in a group, or you may dine on your own, or in smaller “sub-groups”, with suggestions offered by the coordinator. On nights when you prefer one of these latter options, funds will be distributed sufficient to permit a wide selection of restaurants.
Meals are special events, and a focus of the trips, especially in the Latin countries. Choice is never lacking. But Blue Marble pride themselves on their ability to show local cuisines, often different from anglo-American tradition. “Picky” eaters, or those with special diets which exclude food types or groups, may find this focus tiresome. And since special diets are rare in Latin Europe, hosts are surprised by them. Complex dishes may contain some food you wish to avoid, hidden as a seasoning. Chefs who take pride in their creations are not only unwilling (or unable) to remove the offending ingredient, but can be unwilling to even discuss the recipe! Fortunately, the flexibility of the meal program allows you to retreat to a pizza place if the cultural experience becomes oppressive.
About Liquor
Guides showcase regional wines and beers. Guests pay for their own drinks.
Additional Activities
Travel in Norway includes three days of mountain biking, three days of hiking, and a day for cruising the fjords and visiting Bergen. It is not a road bike trip.
Rates
$2,195.00per personCurrency Converter (Rates shown are in US Dollars. Rates and terms are subject to change.)
Additional Rate Info
Optional Private Single Room Supplement: $330 See Blue Marble's website for Canadian and Euro rates.
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Tour Itinerary
Days 1-4: Hiking/Mountain Biking: Biking to the Sognefjord The Oslo - Bergen railway is an engineering marvel. It draws a line across some of the world’s harshest mountains, culminating in eternal snows at 4,000 feet. Oddly, this is where Blue Marble choose to detrain. Go for a glacier walk, read the polar bear warnings, or retreat hurriedly to the hotel for a hot chocolate.
Mountain bikes get you outta’ here, on a three-day descent to vegetation, following an old Hanseatic trail. Multi-trip alums rank this ride among the most spectacular.
Reach sea level at Voss, where the folk museum clearly illustrates the effect of central heating on farmhouse living. Then double-back to the top of a mountain by train, so to descend a spectacular gorge to the Sognefjord, Norway’s longest.
A country (wilderness?) bus carries you to the “hütte”, a hiking refuge that offers more comfort than many hotels. Hot showers, hearty meals, blond wood, blonde guests.
Days 5-6: Hiking: The Aurlandsdalen Two days of hiking surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery Blue Marble knows. This wild valley is one that Norwegian hikers refer to with awe, and they are the arbiters of taste in the matter.
Take day trips from the base hütte, over moors, down deep dales, past cascading waterfalls and along idyllic brooks. Return home tired and happy, for evenings of singing your favorite Norwegian folk songs in front of the fireplace (yes, we’re kidding). Or bang out some Grieg on the hütte’s piano.
Day 7: Fjord Cruise: The Sognefjord, Bergen A sedate ferry carries you through the lonely splendor of the Sognefjord, and up the dramatic Nærøyfjord, Norway’s narrowest. The country’s smallest zip code is on the banks: six houses and a post office. So are seals, farms you reach by ladder from the valley floor, and all sorts of other geography-induced craziness. On to Bergen by bus and train: try the diner’s salmon for lunch!
A micro-climate explained by the gulf stream makes Bergen one of the warmest places in Scandinavia, though that’s not saying much. It’s also tough to tell that the city has been around as long as it has: it is made of wood, and burns down with unnerving regularity. Visit the Hanseatic Museum or the reconstructed port, buy kilos of salmon, sample culinary delights such as reindeer n’loganberries. A sleeper train returns you to Oslo.
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