Hello Fodorites,
I am extremely confused with planning our upcoming trip to Norway next week for a week. Since, it is one of the most last minute trip I have ever booked have not been able to do sufficient research and hence am seeking some advice from travel experts/enthusiats like y'all.
This is our plan so far...Flying into Oslo on March 12th @8.40 am. Planning to take a flight within 2 hrs same morning to Tromso for 4 nights there to fulfill the main purpose of our trip which is viewing the Northern lights..do u have any tips for the best place/time/mode of transportaion to catch the perfect show??While in Tromso we are not sure of what kind of day tours we should do..any suggestions??Is renting a car in Tromso to get around a good idea?? However, it seems to be very expensive to do that..but if thats the only and best way to make the most of our time there than we r ready to do tht..
Another idea was to fly to Bodo from Oslo...spend one night in Bodo and try to catch the NL there and drive upto Tromso next day to reach Tromso by late evening...Is this a feasible idea?? Is it really worth making such a quick trip to Bodo? Is it possible to make a day trip to Lofoten by ferry from Bodo..How is driving there in the winter??.I havent come across any blogs about driving there in the winter...
Spend the next three nights in Tromso chasing the lights...Any must-do suggestions while in Tromso??
March 16th early morning fly back to Oslo..now this is the most confusing part..now we have 3 full days and want to make the most of it..One plan is to rent a car from the airport and start driving to Bergen the same morning to spend one night there and next day visit the nearby attractions and start driving back...Is it possible to the Sognefjord and how??..
Intend to be in Oslo for the last day i.e March 18th...to be able to explore the city for the last day...
But here are the doubts I have??Will we be able to do the Oslo-Bergen-Oslo drive in 2 days/1night??Even if we r driving is there something along the route that we should absolutely do..like taking a short train/boat ride??Will we be able to do justice to seeing all the highlights that are included in the NIN tour??Are all the roads easily acccesible in the winter along this route??Another option we are thinking of is to take a regular train from Oslo to Bergen on March 16th..(since we find the NIN ridiculously exp and also becoz we have done such train trips in Switzerland and have not been too impressed)..But will the normal train take us through the highlights along that route..

Also trying to save as much as I can by thinking of the alternatives...any tips on that?? Is the option of renting a car the most expensive one??

Would highly appreciate your expert advise..Looking forward to your response!!!!

Many Thanks!!