2005 Norway Tour

Monday, June 27	Hadeland to Tretten, overnight at the Glomstad Gård. Stop at Gjøvik to visit the "In the Mountain" Olympic soccer rink, then on to Lillehammer. Visits there included a half-day at the Maihaugen Folk Museum, a stop at the Olympic ski jump and a lunch break in downtown Lillehammer. Then on to Tretten. Glomstad Gård is a very interesting mountain hotel run by a local citizen, Janna Glomstad. Here there is wonderful scenery overlooking Gudbrandsdalen, very tasty Norwegian food - in a setting of old buildings that have been combined with modern structures to make a very inviting atmosphere (dinner included).
Tuesday, June 28	Tretten to Nordfjord After leaving Tretten, we continued north through Gudbrandsdalen to Otta, then turn to the west into Lomsdalen and travel on to Lom. We then followed Highway #15 by way of Grotil through some of the most beautiful scenery in Norway, one hairpin turn after another in Geiranger where we had a lunch break. Then we will took an hour-long ferry ride through the very scenic Geirangerfjord to Hellesylt. From there we continued on into the Nordfjord area where we stayed at a local hotel. (Breakfast & dinner included.)
Wednesday, June 29	Nordfjord area to Skei i Jølster One of the best ways to view Norwegian nature close up is to get out of the touring bus and use another mode of somewhat slower transportation. This morning we drove south through the beautiful Olden Valley to Briksdal. There we found seats on John Deere-drawn caravans that brought us to the Briksdal Glacier, a part of the Jøstedal Glacier, the largest glacier in Europe. When the road ended we walked the last several hundred yards to get a closer look at the Briksdal Glacier. This is a unique half-day tour, one of the best in Norway. The scenery is spectacular. After lunch in the Briksdal cafeteria, we traveled through more of this scenic western Norwegian countryside via Innvik, Utvik, Byrkjelo and on into Skei, beautifully situated on the shore of Jølstravatnet (Jølster Lake). Overnight in Førde. (Breakfast and dinner included.)
Thursday, June 30	Skei to Stalheim Leaving Skei we take Highway #5 through the Fjærland Tunnel, under the Boya Glacier, another arm of the Jøstedal Glacier. Several more tunnels took us to Sogndal, the largest town on Norway's longest fjord, the Sognefjord. We crossed the fjord by ferry to Fodnes. Within a few miles we found ourselves at the entrance to the longest tunnel in the world, the Lærdal Tunnel - nearly 80,000 feet long (about 15 miles)! After lunch, we boarded the famous Flåm-Myrdal Railroad which climbs some 3,500 feet in just 12 miles through breathtakingly beautiful scenery, full of waterfalls, switch-backs and outstanding scenic beauty. After a short stopover in Myrdal, we returned to Flåm. A short drive through several more long tunnels brought us to Gundvangen, situated at the head of another arm of the Sognefjord. Another half-hour drive brought us to one of the most scenically located hotels in all of Norway, the world-famous Stalheim Hotel where we spent the night. (Breakfast and dinner included).
Friday, July 1	Stalheim to Bergen After breakfast, we reluctantly said good-bye to this beautiful hotel and headed toward Bergen. We stopped in Voss, one of Norway's many ski resorts and the birthplace of Knut Rockne, the famous football coach. When we arrive in Bergen in the mid-afternoon and there was an introductory "get-acquainted" tour of this historic city. After that, everyone was able to do some exploring and sightseeing on their own. (Breakfast included)
Saturday, July 2	In Bergen A morning walking tour included a visit to Bergen's famous Fish Market, the historic Hanseatic Bryggen harbor area, medieval St. Mary's Church and concluded with a ride on the funicular to the top of Fløyen for an excellent bird's eye view of the city. The afternoon allowed more free time for exploring the city (Breakfast included.)
Sunday, July 3	Bergen to Geilo or Gol in Hallingdal From Bergen, we traveled southwestward toward the Hardanger Fjord, through Tysse, Norheimsund, Kvanndal, and Granvin before taking a short ferry ride to Brimnes. At Eidfjord we headed east on Highway #7 through the very rugged mountains to Hardanger Vidda and finally into the broad Hallingdal (Halling Valley). Hotel accommodations were in Geilo, in the midst of Hallingdal's ski area. (Breakfast and dinner included.)
Monday, July 4	Into Oslo We returned to Oslo, Norway's capital city. Upon our arrival there was a short tour of the city with stops at historic sites that we did not visit when our Lag visited Hadeland in 2000 or earlier on this year's tour to Hadeland. A final "Farewell Dinner" gave everyone a chance to say good-bye. (Breakfast and dinner included.)
Tuesday, July 5	Breakfast included at the hotel.

Western Norway Tour June 27-July 5, 2005