Background
Norway had been at the top of my travel bucket list for years, but planning a trip through its fjords, glaciers and dramatic mountain roads felt overwhelming and expensive. In August, we finally made it happen. Instead of following a typical cruise itinerary, we explored Vestland by car, driving through some of Norway’s most spectacular landscapes and using two bases to visit glaciers, fjords, waterfalls and lesser-known scenic spots.
Our Trip in a Nutshell
- Dates of Visit: August 2026
- Travellers: 6 (including 2 kids aged 3 and 8)
- Length of this trip: 15 nights (6 nights in Vestland Region, 3 nights aboard Hurtigruten ship, 6 nights in Nordland region)
- Arrival Airport: Bergen
- Transport: Rental Car
- Main interest: natural attractions and photography
Cruise or Road Trip: Which Is Better for Norway?
I knew I wanted to visit two regions: Vestland (West) – the land of fjords and Nordland (North) – mainly the Lofoten Islands as one of the most photogenic places on Earth. I had heard countless times that “Norway is best seen from a cruise”. We are certainly not cruise experts and have only been on two cruises so far. However, we have realised that when we visit large destinations by cruise, we often leave with a sense of dissatisfaction, wishing we had seen more places or had more time for activities. This is exactly how we felt after visiting Iceland by cruise (learn more about our Iceland cruise here), and we did not want to have the same feeling in Norway, a destination that had been so high on our bucket list for years. We wanted to make the most of the long hours of daylight during the summer months.
I am sure a cruise may be perfect for other travellers who wish to relax more and just enjoy being taken in the fjords, instead of driving up and down winding mountain roads with countless hairpin bends. During a cruise you may visit one or two places a day and take it easier. Staying put is just not for us. In total we drove 3,126 km in the first 7 days so I am well aware this may seem too much for some travellers.
Cruising is better if you want:
- Less planning
- No driving
- More relaxing
- Easier access to coastal towns
- Accommodation stays the same
- Good for limited mobility
- Fixed itinerary
Road Tripping Norway is for:
- More flexibility
- Scenic driving routes
- More active
- Easier access to hidden places
- More accommodation changes
- Good for independent travellers
- Create your own itinerary
For us, a road trip was the better option because we wanted the freedom to stop for photography, visit places outside the main tourist route and make the most of Norway’s long summer days.
Want to know the exact locations?
Throughout this blog post, I will be sharing our journey through Norway and the regions we explored. However, I have kept the exact locations of many of the photography spots, viewpoints and lesser-known places featured in my photos exclusively on my Norway Google Map.
Planning this trip took me many hours of research, and the map was created to make it easier for other travellers to find these places and plan their own road trip.
The map also includes accommodation suggestions and will continue to be updated as I add more information from our journey through Norway.
This is an overview of our itinerary:
Flights to Bergen
We flew directly to Bergen, even though from Malta we have direct flights to Oslo. However I was not very interested in visiting Southern Norway this time and the drive from Oslo to Bergen was too long. To get to Bergen, we connected through Frankfurt airport and booked all our flights with Lufthansa.
3 nights in Sogn og Fjordane Region (5 hrs north of Bergen – this worked well since we landed in Bergen at around noon)
The first part of the trip started in Bergen, where we landed. Since our flight landed at around noon, we drove 5 hours North to our first accommodation in the lesser-known village of Breim. From here, we explored the spectacular landscapes around Jostedalsbreen National Park and its surroundings such as Nigardsbreen glacier, the UNESCO Geirangerfjord and lesser known places and hidden gems.
Here are some photos from the first part of our trip in this area:
Our base in Breim
Nordfjord
Innvikfjorden
Geirangerfjord
Want to visit these places?
The photographs above are just some of the incredible places we discovered while exploring this part of Norway. The exact locations of many of the photography spots, viewpoints and lesser-known places featured during our trip are available on my Norway Google Map.
Purchase your lifetime access to my Norway Google Map with over 120 pins which include:
- Top photogenic locations in the regions of Vestland from Bergen up to Geirangerfjord, Lofoten Islands and Versteralen Islands grouped by vicinity to easily plan your trip.
- Also includes recommended activities and tried and tested companies which we personally used
- Precise locations of the photo spots we visited.
- Lifetime access – once you purchase your access to the map you will have lifetime updates with new locations added.
- Bonus: Tried & tested accommodation suggestions.
3 nights in Hordaland (3 hours east of Bergen)
The second part of our Vestland road trip took us further south and closer to Bergen. We based ourselves in Kinsarvik, which gave us a great base for exploring the spectacular landscapes of the Hardanger region and Folgefonna National Park.
Here are some of the places we visited:
Our base in Kinsarvik
Nærøyfjorden Verdsarvpark
Hardangerfjord
Folgefonna
Bergen
If you are visiting Norway for the first time, this is where I would recommend starting your journey. If you’re limited by time or budget, you could easily end your trip here and simply add an extra night to each of the two areas where we based ourselves. Even after years of dreaming about Norway, this first part of the trip exceeded my expectations.
Continue Reading on our Norway Journey in the next post
If you wish to know more regarding the second part of our trip in a different region keep following as the next post will include the details about our trip on the Hurtigruten ship that took us to Nordland region where we visited the Lofoten and Vesterålen islands. In the next post I will also include all the financial details of how much this trip costed us and some budgeting tips that can make your trip to Norway more affordable.
