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Day 1 |
Fly to Oslo |
Overnight flight. |
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Day 2 |
Day in Oslo, recover from jet lag. |
Oslo |
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Day 3 |
Afternoon drive north from Oslo to Ringebu |
Sør-Fron, a bit north of Ringebu |
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Day 4 |
Drive west to mountains near Fortun. |
Turtagrø Hotell near Fortun |
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Day 5 |
Hike in mountains. Enjoy Lustrafjord. Drive to Mundal. |
Mundal |
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Day 6 |
Day to enjoy the fjords. |
Flåm |
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Day 7 |
Fjords and mountains, then on to Bergen |
Bergen |
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Day 8 |
Full day in Bergen |
Bergen |
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Day 9 |
A fairly long day's drive with stops for mountain hikes. Bergen to Aurdal. |
Aurdal (Danebu) |
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Day 10 |
Danebu to Oslo |
Oslo |
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Day 11 |
Full day in Oslo |
Oslo |
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Day 12 |
Return flight to home |
home |
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Day 1 |
Thursday |
Thursday fly to Oslo. |
Overnight flight from America |
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Day 2 |
Friday |
Day in Oslo. You will have jet lag, but try to stay awake until at least 8:00 p.m. There are many good things to do in Oslo. |
Oslo, stay at the Comfort Hotel Xpress. |
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Day 3 |
Saturday |
Rent a car for the week (you’ll return it on Friday). Drive north, stopping to visit Lillehammer, Ringebu, and stay in Hundorp bat Sygard Grytting. The total drive time today is about 3 hours and 40 minutes, but adding 2.3 hours in Lillehammer and 2 hours in Ringebu means a total trip of about eight hours. So, a 9:30 a.m. departure from Oslo will mean a 6:30 p.m. arrival in Grytting. The hotel serves dinner to overnight guests at 7:00 p.m.. This hotel in Grytting is about 700 years old.
The drive to Lillehammer is 137 kilometers. It is another 57 kilometers to Ringebu. Harpefoss is only 10 kilometers beyond Ringebu. The map shows the location of the hotel.
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Sygard Grytting. near Sør-Fron, a bit north of Ringebu |
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Day 4 |
Sunday |
More time in Ringebu or Hundorp, then drive to Turtagrø (near Fortun).
The drive to Turtagrø Hotel is likely to take about 2 hours and 40 minutes, but there will be nice scenery along the way and places to stop. Assume an 11:00 a.m. departure from Hundorp and an arrival at 4:00 p.m. should be easily achieved.
Turtagrø hotel is in the mountains, and a little hike may be a good afternoon objective.
The road from Hundorp to Turtagrø is 50 km to Otta, then 65 km on Highway 15 to Lom, then 64 km to Fortun on highway 55. Highways 15 and 55 are mountain roads, and one would probably drive only 40 or 50 km per hour on them. The Turtagrø Hotel is near Fortun, on Highway-55 just east of Luster Fjord and Skjolden.
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Turtagrø Hotel near Fortun |
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Day 5 |
Monday |
In the morning perhaps hike up to the lake in the mountains above the hotel (Skagastølsvatnet). In the afternoon drive to Fjarland (about two hours), stopping for some food in Luster. Enjoy views of the Lustrafjorden along the way. Stay at Hotel Mundal. To get to Fjarland one drives along some beautiful fjords. Assuming a 1:00 p.m. departure from the mountains and a couple hours of stopping to eat or gaze at the fjords along the way, arrival in Mundal should be around 5:00 p.m.
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Mundal, Fjaerland |
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Day 6 |
Tuesday |
Take your time to enjoy the views in the morning, and depart Mundal around 11:00 a.m. Drive to Flåm (2 hours of driving), arriving around 2:00 p.m. (allowing an hour for stops and lunch). In Flåm one can take the scenic railroad up to Myrdal (departures at 2:50 and 4:05 in the afternoon, arriving at 3:47 p.m. and 5:03 p.m.), and then walk down the valley to the Heimly Pensjonat, or perhaps just walk down to Berekvam and catch a later downward-bound train (5:15 p.m., 6:29 p.m., and 7:41 p.m. departures from Myrdal downward). Stay at the Heimly Pensjonat.
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Flåm.
Heimly Pensjonat. |
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Day 7 |
Wednesday |
Begin the day with a 2-hour fjord cruise out of Flåm. Around 1:00 p.m. drive to Bergen. This will be an extremely scenic drive, so add an hour to drive time and plan to arrive in Bergen at 4:00 p.m. Stay at the Hotel Park Pension. The drive from Aurlandsfjord to Bergen is only 176 km, The first 50 km are up a mountain valley, but then the rest of the driving is on major road that looks pretty good (Highway 13).
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Bergen
Hotel Park Pension |
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Day 8 |
Thursday |
Spend the day in Bergen.
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Bergen
Hotel Park Pension |
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Day 9 |
Friday |
Drive to Valdres or Aurdal. The drive from Bergen to Aurdal covers about 310 kilometers, and will take approximately six hours of driving time. To see some more fjords and mountains you could take a different route back toward Oslo, using highways 7 and 51, passing through Haga, Northeimsund, Eidfjord, Haugastøl, and Geilo. So, with frequent short stops to admire the scenery or take walks, the total driving time might require nine hours. Thus, departing Bergen at 10:00 a.m. would allow a 7:00 p.m. arrival in Fagernes or Aurdal.
Aurdal is in the mountains. (deep in the countryside with mountain views).
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Stay at Danebu Kongsgård Hotel in Danebu. |
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Day 10 |
Saturday |
Morning and lunch in Aurdal. Visit the Valdresmusea. Around 1:00 p.m. drive to Oslo. Arrive in Oslo around 4:00 p.m., and return rental car. The drive to Oslo is 180 kilometers via Hønefoss, so it will probably take about two hours and 40 minutes. This evening visit Vigeland to enjoy the sculpture park. |
Oslo |
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Day 11 |
Sunday |
Day in Oslo. Be certain to visit the National Gallery and the Viking Ship Museum. |
Oslo |
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Day 12 |
Monday |
Fly home |
home |
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Expenses |
In 2011 US $ |
In Myrfti (100 Myrfti is 1% of the median year-round full-time worker’s wage/salary in the United States) |
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In Oslo, three nights in hotels. the Comfort Hotel Xpress costs about $130 per night for a double. Two rooms there for a family of four will cost $260. Family rooms for four persons at other good hotels (such as Thon Hotel Oslo Panorama or Carlton Oslo Hotel Guldsmeden) in Oslo cost between $300 and $380 per night for two-night stays in the summer. |
Budget
2 persons $390
4 persons $780
Luxury:
2 persons $810
4 persons $990 |
Budget
2 persons 79
4 persons 158
Luxury:
2 persons 164
4 persons 200 |
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Flights between the Midwest and Oslo in the summer cost about $1,400 per person. Going in November reduces the cost to about $1,000. Flights in October or June might be as low as $1,150 or $1,200. |
2 persons $2800
4 persons $5600
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2 persons 566
4 persons 1131
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An eight-day car rental out of Oslo (Saturday to Saturday) costs between $800 and $950 for a compact car. |
2 persons $800
4 persons $800
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2 persons 162
4 persons 162
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Dinner and breakfast and a room in the Sygard Grytting. |
2 persons $600
4 persons $1200
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2 persons 121
4 persons 242
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Dinner and breakfast and a room in the Turtagro hotel. |
2 persons $506
4 persons $1012
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2 persons 102
4 persons 204
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Dinner and breakfast and a room in the Hotel Mundal. |
2 persons $435
4 persons $810
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2 persons 87
4 persons 164
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Breakfast and a room in the Heimly Pensjonat. |
2 persons $142
4 persons $284
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2 persons 29
4 persons 57
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Breakfast and a room in the Hotel Park Pension. (two nights) |
2 persons $444
4 persons $886
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2 persons 90
4 persons 179
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Room at the Danebu Kongsgård hotel |
2 persons $135
4 persons $270
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2 persons 55
4 persons 109
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Food: 11 lunches, 7 dinners, and 2 breakfasts not covered in hotel expenses. |
2 persons $660
4 persons $1200
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2 persons 267
4 persons 485
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Other expenses: admissions to a dozen museums and historic sites, gas for the car, tolls, mass transit, souvenirs, snacks, and so forth. |
2 persons $560
4 persons $900
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2 persons 226
4 persons 364
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This trip is estimated to cost:
I use Myrfti currency (10,000 multiplied by the percent of a median year-round full-time income in the United States). If something costs 100 Myrfti, that is the same as costing 1% of a median year-round full-time worker’s income. In 2011 when I estimated costs for this trip, a reasonable estimate for a median income of a year-round full-time worker was $49,500. Thus, something costing 100 Myrfti would be $495, and one Myrfti was equal to about $4.95.
For two persons, I estimate the costs of this trip at $8,830 in 2011. That is about 1,780 Myrfti. A year-round full-time worker earning the median American income would need to save about 8.9% of their salary in order to pay for a trip like this every 2 years.
For four persons, the estimated costs are $16,110. That is 3,250 Myrfti. A person with median income would probably need to save about 16% of their salary in order to take a family of four on this trip every 2 years.
Expenses:
Flights to Europe. About 566 Myrfti for two and 1131 Myrfti for four.
Food and lodging. About 830 Myrfti for two and 1600 Myrfti for four.
Rental car, fuel, parking, tolls, and mass transit costs: 190 Myrfti for two and 200 Myrfti for four.
Other expenses (admissions, souvenirs, etc.): 194 Myrfti for two and 319 Myrfti for four.
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