Norway Sightseeing - Places To Visit

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Vigelandsparken is full of sculptors of Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) who made them and the park. There are over 200 sculptures of bronze, granite and cast iron. More than a million people come here each year.

The Viking Ship Museum is full of items found from the Vikings that lived in this region. The world's two best-preserved wooden Viking ships are there as well.

(text from Norway in a Nutshell site)

Vigeland Sculpture Park

Trying to figure out what this building is

Views from the train on the Norway in a Nutshell Tour

From the Stalheimskleiva

One of many waterfalls

Arrived in Oslo by train, found a hotel and hit the town as it got dark. In the morning we walked to the Sculpture Park where around 200+ naked sculptures in different poses were scattered around a large park. It seemed to be the place as all the tour buses were there. Then we took a back route to the Viking museum by walking through some woods. Ended up getting in free by walking behind a large tour group. From there we walked down to the public ferry where we took a boat downtown. Went over to the old military fort to see the Nazi resistance museum. Finally, back in the city the last art museum we were planning on seeing was closed on Tuesdays. Rachelle was bummed wanting to see the painting "The Scream". Found a bus back to the hotel, picked up the bags and found our way to a campground. Nice campground with views over the city but boy was it crowded. After a nap, went for a walk since it didn't get dark till well after 10 p.m.

The next morning we got up around 4:45 a.m. expecting to walk an hour to the train station in town. We found some shortcuts cutting that time in half. Our train arrived in Myrtle to start the Norway in a Nutshell route. The Flam train was nice, dropping 2,500 feet down into a fjord at sea level. Finse was nice, I should return there someday. We got on the boat and did the 2-hour fjord tour to Gudvangen. The weather was overcast but it didn�t block the fjords. Blue sky would have been nice. The fjords were impressive. Then we got on the bus to Voss. The bus climbed out of the fjord by a small one-lane road with 20-30 switchbacks. It was amazing a bus could do this. My truck would have struggled. At Voss, most people got on the train back to Oslo. Rachelle and I waited for a train to Bergen. Bergen was really a cool town we saw in only a few hours, no problem. We ate at the TGI Fridays. Took the 2300 night train back to Oslo.

In the morning we arrived in Oslo, picked up tickets to Malmo, slept to Malmo as well, took bus to ferry terminal, walked on ferry. This was a very basic ferry and they charged us even though we should have been free with our eurail pass. The boat staff was really rude as few tourists use this route anymore and they didn't seem to like us there.

Norway in a nutshell takes you through some of Norway's most beautiful fjord scenery. You can experience the scenic Bergen Railway, the breathtaking Flam Railway, the Aurlandsfjord, the narrow Naeroyfjord (now included on UNESCO's World Heritage List) and the steep hairpin bends of Stalheimskleiva.

The Bergen Railway is a unique experience on Northern Europe's highest-altitude railway line. One of the greatest challenges is the harsh and changeable weather. The line is exposed to deep low-pressure centres from the west, which can mean strong winds and heavy snow for part of the year. Keeping the railway open demands great effort and technical expertise. Today, skilled workers, effective equipment, tunnels and snow tunnels make the Bergen Railway one of the safest and most comfortable ways of travelling between Oslo and Bergen. The line was voted one of the 20 best railway experiences in the world in 1999.

The journey on the Flam Railway is regarded as one of the highlights of the Norway in a nutshell� tour. The 20-km-long train journey from the mountain station of Myrdal down to Flam, down beside the fjord, takes around 55 minutes. On the journey, you have views of some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in Norway with an ever-changing panorama of tall mountains and cascading waterfalls. The train moves slowly or stops at the best views.

Splendid Norwegian fjords - on UNESCO's World Heritage List!
Down at the picturesque village of Flam, there is time to eat and to wander around before continuing your journey by boat. The boat sails out the Aurlandsfjord and into the Naeroyfjord, one of the narrowest fjord in Europe. The Naeroyfjord is included on UNESCO's famous World Heritage List. Surrounded by towering mountains up to 1,800 metres high, this branch of the Sognefjord is amazingly beautiful. On the journey, you have excellent views of small traditional farms. If you are lucky, you will see goats grazing right beside the fjord and seals basking on rocks before the boat moors at Gudvangen.

The journey continues by coach up the steep and spectacular hairpin bends of Stalheimskleiva*. The road up to Stalheim Hotel has 13 steep bends. After enjoying the wonderful views of the Stalheimsfossen and Sivlefossen waterfalls, continues the journey on to Voss and further by train to Bergen or Oslo.

Ready for a long night of Fanta and candy

Vigeland Sculpture Park

Views from a train ride