Hello everyone!
We are planning on traveling to Aurland from Oslo in August. We arrive at Flam day 1 on the 2:22 pm train and will stay that night at Aurland. Our plan is to do some sightseeing around Flam and Aurland on Day 1, with some hikes potentially sprinkled in with a dinner reservation at 8:00 PM.
Then on Day 2, we are planning on leaving Aurland to Bergen and here's where the dilemma sets in. Should we leave via the Norled ferry from Aurland to Bergen or Nærøyfjord cruise/Gudvangen Bus/Voss train to Bergen?
Option 1: Norled Ferry - Leave Aurland at 3:40 pm and arrive at Bergen at 8:45 pm
This seems like the easiest option without having to travel/transfer a bunch of times between a cruise/ bus/ train as we might be bringing our luggage with us (haven't decided yet if we will use a portal service). Plus it arrives at Bergen at a reasonable-ish time for us to possibly do something at Bergen that night or check in and rest at the hotel.
I have heard that the view from the Norled ferry is quite nice as well. Of course, it would mean we would not be able to see Nærøyfjord.
Option 2: Nærøyfjord ferry from Aurland 5:50 pm/ Bus to Voss 7:30 pm/ Train to Bergen 9:07 pm/ Arrive at Bergen at 10:30 pm
Just typing this makes me nervous with the amount of logistics involved.
It seems there's really only two departure times available from Aurland, one at 9:55 am and the other at 5:50 pm. Of course there's more from Flam to Gudvangen, but that will involve another bus/taxi ride to Flam. It seems like the trip just seems clunkier this way, and there's just more things that could potentially go wrong. Plus, we end up arriving at Bergen at a pretty late time, which isn't exactly the most ideal.
However, I have been hearing great things about the views from the Nærøyfjord cruise, and it's often advertised as a must-do if you're in the area.
Which one of these routes would you recommend?
Is the view on the Nærøyfjord cruise worth it for the potential inconvenience of the multiple transfers? Or are the views from Norled cruise enough and worth the convenience? If you had to choose one, which would you pick and is there a third option I haven't thought of?