5 Days · Oslo · Trondheim · Bergen · Oslo
A short break that covers a lot of Norway
Sail and Rail Norway is the neatest way we know to see a great deal of the country in a short time. It is a loop. You travel north from Oslo to Trondheim on one of Europe's great mountain railways, board the Coastal Express for about thirty hours down the coast to Bergen, and then return to Oslo on the Bergen Line, crossing the roof of southern Norway. Three nights are spent in hotels and one on the ship, and you visit three cities that could hardly be more different from one another.
It is ideal as a first taste of Norway, as a long weekend with a difference, or as a sampler for anyone wondering whether a longer Hurtigruten voyage is for them. Because it starts and ends in Oslo, it is also easy to bolt on to a city break or a longer trip.
- Duration5 days
- RouteOslo, Trondheim, Bergen, Oslo
- Voyage1 night, Trondheim to Bergen
- RailDovre Line and Bergen Line
- MealsHalf board on board
- From£834 pp
£834per person, from
Three hotel nights, two rail journeys and one night on the Coastal Express
Who It Suits
Why this short trip works so well
The beauty of this itinerary is that each leg shows you a different Norway. The Dovre Line climbs through farmland and long valleys to an open mountain plateau. The Coastal Express shows you the western seaboard, its islands and fishing towns, the way Norwegians themselves have travelled it for more than a century. The Bergen Line then takes you across the high mountain country between west and east. You never cover the same ground twice.
It suits independent travellers who want the logistics taken care of but do not want a group tour. It also suits rail enthusiasts: the Dovre and Bergen lines are two of the finest scenic routes in Scandinavia, and doing both in one week is a fine thing. If you have more time and want the Flåm Railway too, look at Best of Norway or Complete Norway, both of which combine Norway in a Nutshell with a much longer voyage.
The tour runs throughout the year. In winter the mountain sections of both railways are deep in snow, and the views from a warm carriage across white plateaus are a big part of the appeal. In summer the days are very long, which means you see the whole coast between Trondheim and Bergen in daylight, apart from a few brief hours around midnight.
Three Cities
Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen, each with its own character
Oslo is the modern capital, a city that has rebuilt its whole harbour front in recent years around the Opera House, the Munch museum and the National Museum, while keeping its royal palace, medieval fortress and green hills within easy reach of the centre.
Trondheim is the old heart of the kingdom. Founded in 997, it was the capital in the Viking Age, and for centuries pilgrims walked from all over Scandinavia to the shrine of St Olav in its cathedral. Today it is also a lively university city, and the riverside and the old timber districts make it one of the most pleasant places in Norway simply to stroll.
Bergen faces the sea. For centuries it was the largest town in Norway and an outpost of the Hanseatic League, the trading network of north German merchants, whose wooden wharf at Bryggen still lines the harbour. Surrounded by mountains and with the fjords on its doorstep, it is the traditional gateway to western Norway and the southern terminus of the Coastal Express.
Seeing all three in one short trip gives you a real sense of how varied the country is, from the forests and lakes of the east to the trading coast of the west, joined by the mountains between them.
The Railways
Two great mountain railways
The Dovre Line. The railway over the Dovrefjell mountains between eastern Norway and Trondheim was completed and officially opened on 17 September 1921, joining up the route through the Gudbrandsdalen valley with the line north to Trøndelag. The Dovre Line itself runs about 485 kilometres from Eidsvoll to Trondheim, and the train journey from Oslo takes about six and a half hours. After following the shore of Lake Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake, and passing Lillehammer, host of the 1994 Winter Olympics, the line works its way up Gudbrandsdalen to Dombås, where the Rauma Line branches off towards Åndalsnes. From there it climbs on to the Dovrefjell plateau. Hjerkinn station stands at 1,017 metres, and the summit of the line, at 1,024 metres, is about a kilometre further north.
Dovrefjell is home to a herd of wild musk oxen, around 300 animals according to Visit Norway, and you may see one from the train. They are not native to the area. Ten animals from Greenland were released near Hjerkinn in 1932, but that first group did not survive the Second World War; the present herd descends from calves brought from Greenland between 1947 and 1953. Golden eagles hunt over the same plateau. The mountains here have an important place in Norwegian legend too: the troll king of Ibsen's Peer Gynt is the Dovre King, and Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King was written for that scene.
The Bergen Line. Opened in 1909, the line between Bergen and Oslo was the first railway across the mountains between western and eastern Norway, and Hurtigruten calls it the highest railway in northern Europe. The journey is about 495 kilometres and takes around seven hours. Its high point is the crossing of the mountain plateau around Finse, at 1,222 metres the highest station on the Norwegian railway network. Just west of the station the line runs through the 10.3 kilometre Finse Tunnel, opened in 1993, which contains the highest point of the line at 1,237 metres.
Watch
Five things to do in Bergen
Bergen is the last stop before the train home, and this Hurtigruten guide is a good way to plan your few hours in the city.
Video from Hurtigruten's official YouTube channel.
Your Tour
Sail and Rail Norway day by day
Optional excursions are listed where Hurtigruten offers them and are paid for separately. Train and ship times can vary by season and are confirmed with your documents.
Day 1
Arrive in Oslo
Hotel night in Oslo
Make your way to your central hotel and get to know the capital. Oslo is very walkable, and a first afternoon could take in the harbour front from the Opera House to the Aker Brygge waterfront, with City Hall in between, where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented every December. The Nobel Peace Center next door explains the prize and its laureates.
For culture, Hurtigruten suggests the Munch museum, which holds a huge collection of the painter's work, and the Ibsen Museum, set in the apartment where Henrik Ibsen spent his last years and where his study has been kept as it was. If you can, book a performance at the Opera House. Even if you cannot, walk up its sloping white roof at sunset for one of the best views in the city.
Day 2
The Dovre Line to Trondheim
By rail · Oslo to Trondheim, about 6 hours 30 minutes · Hotel night in Trondheim
Check out of your hotel in time for your train; Hurtigruten gives you a choice of two departure times. Heading north, the train passes Eidsvoll, where Norway's constitution was signed in 1814, and runs for a long way beside Lake Mjøsa before reaching Lillehammer. Then comes Gudbrandsdalen, a long and fertile valley of old farms, and the climb on to Dovrefjell, where the trees thin out and the land opens into broad, empty moorland. Keep watching the slopes for musk oxen. The descent towards Trøndelag follows river valleys down to the coast and into Trondheim.
Trondheim was founded in 997 and was the capital of Norway in the Viking Age. Check into your hotel and walk to Nidaros Cathedral, built over the grave of St Olav, the king remembered for establishing Christianity in Norway, who died in battle in 1030. Construction began around 1070, and the cathedral remains the most important church in the country. Then cross the Old Town Bridge to Bakklandet, a district of painted wooden houses and cafés on the far bank of the Nidelva river.
Day 3
Aboard the Coastal Express
Ports today · Trondheim, Kristiansund, Molde, Ålesund, Torvik
Your ship leaves Trondheim for Bergen at 09:30, and you will be on board for about thirty hours. The route runs out of the Trondheimsfjord and along the coast of Møre og Romsdal, with the mountains of the mainland on one side and islands and skerries on the other.
The first call is Kristiansund, where the ship stays for about an hour. Built on several islands, the town made its fortune exporting klippfisk, cod salted and dried on the rocks, and the old harbour district shows it. If you would like to see more, two optional excursions leave from here. Next comes Molde, known as the City of Roses, for about thirty minutes. Dinner is served in Torget, the ship's main restaurant, with drinks afterwards in the Explorer Bar. Overnight the ship makes short calls at Ålesund and Torvik.
Optional excursions
- The Atlantic Road (Kristiansund, not available in winter) A coach tour along the Atlantic Road, 8.3 kilometres and eight bridges across the islets of the open coast, opened in 1989.
- The Bergtatt marble mine (Kristiansund) A tour of the underground galleries of the Bergtatt marble mine.
Day 4
The Nordfjord, the Sognefjord and Bergen
Ports today · Flørø, Bergen · Hotel night in Bergen
Wake up off the outer coast, where the morning passage takes you past the mouth of the Nordfjord and the lighthouse at Stabben, perched on a tiny rock island near Flørø. The ship stops at Flørø, Norway's westernmost town, for about fifteen minutes, then crosses the mouth of the Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway, before threading the islands into Bergen, where you dock at 14:45.
That leaves the rest of the afternoon and evening for the city. Walk along Bryggen, the medieval Hanseatic wharf on UNESCO's World Heritage list, browse the Fish Market, or ride the Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen for the view over the harbour and the seven mountains around it. Hurtigruten also offers an optional post voyage programme this evening, an Island Seafood Dinner and Boat Trip.
Day 5 · The Bergen Line to Oslo
By rail · Bergen to Oslo, about 7 hours · Tour ends in Oslo
The train leaves Bergen in the morning. For the first hour or so it follows fjords and lakes to Voss, a lakeside town known across Norway for outdoor sports. Then the climb begins in earnest, past Myrdal, the junction for the Flåm Railway, and up on to the high mountains. Above the tree line the landscape becomes a vast plateau of lakes, rock and snow, and on the approach to Finse you may see the Hardangerjøkulen glacier, where scenes for The Empire Strikes Back were filmed. Hurtigruten's route notes point out the Hardangervidda National Park as the train crosses this high country.
Beyond the mountains the line runs down through Hallingdal, a long valley of forests and farms, and on to Oslo, where the tour ends on arrival. We are happy to arrange an extra night in Oslo or your flight home for the following day.
Departures & Fares
Sail and Rail Norway fares, 2026 to 2028
This tour departs regularly, with 292 departures in the period below. Hurtigruten sells it at a single package price rather than by cabin category, so the table shows the lowest price we found for any departure in each month, with the number of departures that month.
The price covers the whole package as described here: three hotel nights, the two rail journeys and one night on the Coastal Express on a half board basis. On board, your cabin is not chosen in advance. Hurtigruten assigns it at check in, based on availability, and there may be the option to upgrade on board. The price is per person sharing and does not include flights.
Prices are per person in pounds, based on two people sharing, and were checked on 20 October 2026. They are subject to availability and may change at any time before booking. Single supplements on request. Call 0333 405 0194 for current prices.
Your Package
What is included
| What's included |
|---|
| Hotels |
| Three hotel nights One night each in Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen, in centrally located 3 star hotels | Included |
| Rail |
| The Dovre Line Oslo to Trondheim, with a choice of two departure times | Included |
| The Bergen Line Bergen to Oslo | Included |
| On board the Coastal Express |
| One night, Trondheim to Bergen About thirty hours on board | Included |
| Half board Breakfast and dinner in Torget, the main restaurant | Included |
| Cabin Assigned at check in, based on availability, with possible upgrade options | Included |
Not included: flights, lunch on board, and optional excursions. Hurtigruten's page does not say whether transfers between stations, hotels and the ship are included, so please plan to make these short journeys yourself unless we confirm otherwise; all three hotels are central. You can arrange travel insurance online here.
Flights
Flights from London
As the tour begins and ends in Oslo, a simple return flight is all you need. We can quote flights from London to Oslo to go with your dates, and add an extra night in the city at either end if your flight times call for it.
| Package | Starts / Ends | Included in price | Price |
|---|
Sail and Rail Norway
Flight Package | Oslo / Oslo | The tour as described, plus return flights between London and Oslo | Call |
Package prices are per person based on two people sharing. Call 0333 405 0194 for a quote.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What cabin will I have on the ship?
The package price does not include a choice of cabin category. Your cabin is assigned at check in, based on availability, and there may be an option to upgrade. Hurtigruten's ships have four categories, from inside cabins to suites with sea views.
What does half board mean on this tour?
On the ship you have breakfast and dinner in Torget, the main restaurant. Lunch on board is not part of the half board arrangement.
How long is each train journey?
The Dovre Line from Oslo to Trondheim takes about six and a half hours, and the Bergen Line from Bergen to Oslo about seven hours.
How long am I on the Coastal Express?
About thirty hours. The ship leaves Trondheim at 09:30 on day 3 and docks in Bergen at 14:45 on day 4, with one night on board.
Will I see musk oxen from the train?
Possibly. Around 300 wild musk oxen live on the Dovrefjell plateau, which the Dovre Line crosses, and passengers do sometimes spot them from the window, but sightings are a matter of luck.
Does this tour include the Flåm Railway?
No. The Bergen Line passes Myrdal, where the Flåm Railway begins, but the branch line is not part of this tour. Best of Norway and Complete Norway both include it.
Can I see the Northern Lights on this tour?
The route stays south of the Arctic Circle, so the Northern Lights are not a feature of this trip, although strong displays are occasionally seen in central Norway. For the aurora, a longer voyage into the Arctic is a better choice.
Is it suitable all year round?
Yes. Departures run through the year. In winter both railways cross snowbound mountains and the days are short; in summer you see almost the whole coastal section in daylight.
Are flights included?
No, but because the tour starts and ends in Oslo, a return flight from London is simple to arrange, and we can quote one with your booking.
