Oslo to Bergen by Train: A Norway Holiday, Month by Month

The short answer

What is an Oslo and Bergen holiday?

Norway’s two biggest cities sit on opposite sides of the country — Oslo at the head of its fjord in the east, Bergen on the west coast — and the railway between them crosses the mountains rather than skirting them. That is the whole idea of the trip: two very different cities, joined by one of Europe’s great train journeys, with no day lost doubling back.

Oslo and Bergen by Rail, five nights. You fly from London to Oslo and stay two nights at a 4★ hotel such as Thon Hotel Opera or similar. On the third day you are transferred to the station for the rail journey to Bergen, and on to three nights at a 4★ hotel such as Scandic Ørnen or similar. You fly home from Bergen. The flights, the rail journey and every airport and station transfer are included.

Two things to know before you choose it. The flights include cabin baggage only — a suitcase in the hold is extra, and it is worth deciding before you book rather than at the airport. And both stays are room only, so breakfast and every other meal are your own. Travelling light suits this trip anyway: you carry your own bag onto the train.

What is the Oslo to Bergen train journey like?

The Bergen Railway is the reason to do this trip by land, and it is included in the price.

How long it takes. Visit Norway, the national tourist board, describes it as a seven-hour trip over almost 500 kilometres of railway; Visit Bergen puts it at about seven hours, through about 180 tunnels. It is a day on the train, and the best way to treat it is as one of the days of the holiday rather than a transfer between them.

Up onto the plateau. Visit Bergen describes the line leaving Oslo through lowlands, forests and past lakes. After Geilo, in Visit Norway’s words, the train climbs up to the Hardangervidda mountain plateau.

Finse, the highest point. Bane NOR, which runs Norway’s railway infrastructure, gives Finse station’s altitude as 1,222 metres above sea level: it sits at the highest point of the line and is Norway’s highest railway station, opened in 1908. Visit Norway describes Finse as a tiny mountain village only accessible by train.

Myrdal and the Flåm Railway. Myrdal is where the Bergen Railway and the Flåm Railway connect; the Flåm line runs down from the mountains to Flåm on the fjord. It is not part of this package, which goes straight through to Bergen, but if you want to break the journey there, tell us and we will price it.

Then down to the coast. West of the mountains the line descends towards Bergen, with what Visit Bergen describes as views of fjords, waterfalls and rivers.

How much does an Oslo and Bergen holiday cost?

These are our lead-in prices per person, based on two sharing, for five nights with flights from London, the rail journey, 4★ room-only hotels and transfers. The daylight column is the time from sunrise to sunset in Bergen on the 15th of each month, calculated for the city’s position.

The spread is £250 between the cheapest and dearest months. Five months share the lowest price, £499, and July and August share the highest, £749. May and September sit in the middle at £649 — £100 below the summer peak.

What sits outside the package price. Checked baggage, all meals, fjord cruises and other excursions, city transport and travel insurance. Budget for meals in both cities alongside the package.

When is the best time to go to Oslo and Bergen?

The two cities have very different weather. The figures below are the World Meteorological Organization’s official averages for 1961–1990, supplied by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

Bergen is the wet one, in every month. It has more rain days and more rainfall than Oslo in all twelve months, and across the year it gets nearly three times as much rain — 2,250mm against 763mm. Oslo is the colder one in winter: its average high is below freezing in December, January and February, while Bergen, on the coast, stays around 4°C. Pack a waterproof for Bergen whenever you go.

May and June: long days, and Bergen at its driest

May is the month we would suggest to most people. Bergen has its lowest rainfall of the year, 106mm, Oslo averages 15.8°C, there are over seventeen hours of daylight, and the holiday costs £649 per person. June is £699 and has the longest days: around the summer solstice there are about 19 hours between sunrise and sunset in Bergen, and June has Bergen’s fewest rain days of the year, at 16. In either month the day is more than twice as long as the train journey.

July and August: warmest, and the dearest

Oslo averages 21.5°C in July and 20.1°C in August, Bergen around 17°C. These are the warmest months and the most expensive, at £749 per person. Bergen’s rain rises again in August, to 190mm.

September and October: autumn, and Bergen’s wettest months

September is Bergen’s wettest month by rainfall, at 283mm, and October its wettest by rain days, at 24. September costs £649 per person and October £499. The days shorten quickly — from about 13 hours of daylight in mid-September to about 10 in mid-October — but both are still longer than the journey.

November to March: the cheapest, the coldest and the darkest

All five £499 months fall between October and March; December, the other winter month, is £549. This is winter: Oslo’s average high is −1.8°C in January, and the days are short. Around the December solstice there are about 5 hours 55 minutes of daylight in Oslo and 5 hours 45 minutes in Bergen — less than the seven hours the train takes, so part of a midwinter crossing is in the dark. By mid-February there are over nine hours, and by mid-March nearly twelve. If the journey is the point of the trip for you, February and March give you the £499 price with days already longer than the journey.

Oslo in two nights

Two nights in Oslo give you one full day, which is enough for the city’s two headline sights. Walk up the sloping roof of the Opera House for the view over the fjord, then spend the afternoon in Vigeland Park among its sculptures.

For the Viking Age, go to the Historical Museum in the city centre. The Viking Ship Museum is closed: the museum’s own site says it is closed for rebuilding and will reopen as the Museum of the Viking Age in 2027, and in the meantime it points visitors to the Viking Age objects at the Historical Museum.

Bergen in three nights

Bergen gets the extra night because it has the fjords on its doorstep. Start at Bryggen, the old Hanseatic wharf with its row of wooden merchant buildings along the harbour, then take the Fløyen funicular up the mountain behind the city for the view back over the harbour.

The last full day is for the fjords. A fjord cruise from Bergen is optional, paid locally or arranged in advance on request; otherwise the harbour and the city fill the day comfortably. You fly home from Bergen the next day.

Is Oslo and Bergen a Northern Lights holiday?

No, and we do not sell it as one. This trip is about the two cities and the railway between them. If the Northern Lights are the reason you are travelling, our Lapland holidays guide covers the Helsinki and Rovaniemi trip, which is built around winter in the Arctic and sets each month’s price against the aurora season.

Who is it for, and who should look elsewhere?

It suits people who travel light and like a trip with a journey at its centre; couples and friends who want two contrasting cities in five nights; and anyone who wants to see Norway by rail rather than by ship.

It is less suited to anyone who needs a suitcase in the hold and has not budgeted for it; to people who want meals included; and to anyone after guaranteed dry weather — Bergen does not offer it in any month. For a city pair with warmer weather and a train between them, see our Rome and Venice holiday, or browse all our city breaks.

Practical things worth knowing

Entry. No visa is needed. Norway is in the Schengen area, and GOV.UK says British visitors can travel without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the date you arrive, and have an expiry date at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area.

The Entry/Exit System. When you enter the Schengen area for a short stay you may need to register biometric details, such as fingerprints and a photo. GOV.UK says there is no cost, and the digital record is valid for 3 years.

Entry rules are GOV.UK’s guidance, checked on 28 September 2026. Check again before you travel, as they can change.

Time and money. Norway is one hour ahead of the UK all year, because both countries change their clocks on the same dates. The currency is the Norwegian krone.

Booking and protection

The package is protected under ATOL 10713, and you receive an ATOL Certificate setting out what is covered. A deposit of £99 per person secures the booking. ATOL protects the money you pay if a travel company fails; it is not travel insurance, which is not included and which you should arrange when you book.

Frequently asked questions