Oslo to Bergen train question (Viking extension)

[Jay23]

15 hours ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

We are on for the pre excursion in 2023 and a little concerned about how comfortable the train seats are.  My husband has back issues and is very tall.  We fly first class due to discomfort in economy seating.  How comfortable are the train seats for 7 hours!?

We travelled first class on the train.  Seats not like armchairs!  but they are two and two and not bad..   The downside is that the train sways and bucks a lot and making way to the restaurant car was quite difficult.  They do not bring food or drink to your seat.  My husband really enjoyed the journey; me? not so much..    J

[Squawkman]

41 minutes ago, Jay23 said:

We travelled first class on the train.  Seats not like armchairs!  but they are two and two and not bad..   The downside is that the train sways and bucks a lot and making way to the restaurant car was quite difficult.  They do not bring food or drink to your seat.  My husband really enjoyed the journey; me? not so much..    J

Was your travel part of the Viking extension or did you go first class on your own?

[Cienfuegos]

When my wife and I did the Oslo to Bergen extension, Viking occupied the last two cars of the train. The snack car / cafe was two cars ahead.

 

Viking met us in the lobby of the Thon hotel, and walked the group 500 feet to the station platform. Each car had a Viking guide who made occasional announcements, etc and shepherded us to the Viking bus at the Bergen station.  The guides returned to Oslo by plane.

 

My European Rail Timetables don't show a 10 am departure for the last several Summers. There's an 8-8.30 train, and a noon train. There is a note that train service may be adjusted for maintenance, etc.

[sundaycreek]

17 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

When my wife and I did the Oslo to Bergen extension, Viking occupied the last two cars of the train. The snack car / cafe was two cars ahead.

 

Viking met us in the lobby of the Thon hotel, and walked the group 500 feet to the station platform. Each car had a Viking guide who made occasional announcements, etc and shepherded us to the Viking bus at the Bergen station.  The guides returned to Oslo by plane.

 

My European Rail Timetables don't show a 10 am departure for the last several Summers. There's an 8-8.30 train, and a noon train. There is a note that train service may be adjusted for maintenance, etc.

We are doing the Oslo extension in June and here is the train schedule for June 11th:  https://rail.ninja/trains/order/45d0087de2c1336bba11e54fa5eb074d/timetable

[Cienfuegos]

6 minutes ago, sundaycreek said:

We are doing the Oslo extension in June and here is the train schedule for June 11th:  https://rail.ninja/trains/order/45d0087de2c1336bba11e54fa5eb074d/timetable

 

Thank you. I see the noon train is off the schedule. I wonder if the rail company is doing maintenance in that substantial time gap.

[Jay23]

We organised the whole trip, from London, Oslo, London ourselves. I appreciate that is much easier for us than for those of you coming from America.  We booked the train pretty early and the price  was considerably less than later prices.  Also we are "older" travellers and so got a pensioners discount on the train!!!!  J 

[2cruisecats]

5 hours ago, Jay23 said:

We organised the whole trip, from London, Oslo, London ourselves. I appreciate that is much easier for us than for those of you coming from America.  We booked the train pretty early and the price  was considerably less than later prices.  Also we are "older" travellers and so got a pensioners discount on the train!!!!  J 

Agree.  It is quite easy to arrange the train and hotel on your own. My husband's a pro after doing our third booking for this July. I love train travel and will admit I was expecting VIA 1 service (business class on Canadian train system -- very comfy seat, dinner service, snacks, etc) the first time we did the Bergen-Oslo trip in comfort class. At least the coffee station is close. We had been advised by the desk manager at the hotel to take our own snacks and enjoy the scenery -- great advice.  Seniors discount is good too!

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

Is food included if you book through the Viking excursion?  We may just bring our own if allowed....we have some food issues and I'm not sure what they offer on the train. 

[Cienfuegos]

My recollection is the snack bar car offered beer, soda, various waters. Microwave pizza, previously made sandwiches, salads, and various empanada like cheese hand helds. 

[Jay23]

7 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

My recollection is the snack bar car offered beer, soda, various waters. Microwave pizza, previously made sandwiches, salads, and various empanada like cheese hand helds. 

That's right. J

[CILCIANRQTS]

We got a lunch bag - sandwich, etc, - and a voucher for coffee.

Better to bring your own food!!

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

2 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

We got a lunch bag - sandwich, etc, - and a voucher for coffee.

Better to bring your own food!!

That's what I was guessing....will make note to self......bring food! 

[SailorPaulH]

1 hour ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

That's what I was guessing....will make note to self......bring food! 

There are lots of food options in the Oslo S train station (for Oslo->Bergen).

There is a Narvesen in the Bergen train station (for Bergen->Oslo).

[CCWineLover]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:33 AM, 2cruisecats said:

Agree.  It is quite easy to arrange the train and hotel on your own. My husband's a pro after doing our third booking for this July. I love train travel and will admit I was expecting VIA 1 service (business class on Canadian train system -- very comfy seat, dinner service, snacks, etc) the first time we did the Bergen-Oslo trip in comfort class. At least the coffee station is close. We had been advised by the desk manager at the hotel to take our own snacks and enjoy the scenery -- great advice.  Seniors discount is good too!

We are trying to do our own Bergen-Oslo booking in July (30 or 31).  The site keeps saying reservations not available yet for those dates.    https://www.vy.no/en/buy-tickets/train-and-bus-tickets

How did you make your reservation?   I started to try Railninja site but I couldn't find a place to get the senior rates like on the vy.no site.   Also you couldn't select seats on Railninja so who knows if or when they assign them.

[janetcbl]

15 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

We are trying to do our own Bergen-Oslo booking in July (30 or 31).  The site keeps saying reservations not available yet for those dates.    https://www.vy.no/en/buy-tickets/train-and-bus-tickets

How did you make your reservation?   I started to try Railninja site but I couldn't find a place to get the senior rates like on the vy.no site.   Also you couldn't select seats on Railninja so who knows if or when they assign them.

Sometimes tickets can only be booked 60 days or less ahead. I don’t know what the rules are for the difference between 60 or 90 days; usually it has been 90.

[knoxclone]

We purchased sandwiches/snacks and bottled water at the station. Much better than the train food available. 

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

We are trying to do our own Bergen-Oslo booking in July (30 or 31).  The site keeps saying reservations not available yet for those dates.    https://www.vy.no/en/buy-tickets/train-and-bus-tickets

How did you make your reservation?   I started to try Railninja site but I couldn't find a place to get the senior rates like on the vy.no site.   Also you couldn't select seats on Railninja so who knows if or when they assign them.

We were originally on this trip, now deferred to 2023. I booked the Bergen-Oslo with Rail Ninja (1st class), who advised that they would ticket 90 days before the trip. An email to vy.no resulted in my being advised that I could alter my tickets (we wanted forward-facing) if needed, by using the vy.no site once we had our tickets from Rail Ninja (still with me?).

 

There was no senior discount that I saw on Rail Ninja, but I'll add it to my list of things I will be trying to change once we are ticketed in 2023. (PS - Rail Ninja was very slick when I asked to modify my booking - I lost the service charge, but that was clearly stated up front).

 

All this to say that you may want to open a query with vy.no and ask how you might get the senior discount if you book with Rail Ninja. Best of luck! 🍺🥌

[Twitchly]

A few pluses for the Viking extension:

- They take your luggage in a separate van so you don’t have to lug it yourself.

- The tour guide we had on the train was great, fun and informative. 
- Viking reserved two train cars, and we had a fun group.

- We were given vouchers for food.

- At the other end (we went Bergen to Oslo), we got a quick tour of Oslo, followed by a good dinner in a restaurant on the water. 

We extended our stay in Oslo to two nights instead of one, which gave us a full day in the city on our own. We would definitely do that again.

[Lets Go Hawks]

1 hour ago, CurlerRob said:

We were originally on this trip, now deferred to 2023. I booked the Bergen-Oslo with Rail Ninja (1st class), who advised that they would ticket 90 days before the trip. An email to vy.no resulted in my being advised that I could alter my tickets (we wanted forward-facing) if needed, by using the vy.no site once we had our tickets from Rail Ninja (still with me?).

 

There was no senior discount that I saw on Rail Ninja, but I'll add it to my list of things I will be trying to change once we are ticketed in 2023. (PS - Rail Ninja was very slick when I asked to modify my booking - I lost the service charge, but that was clearly stated up front).

 

All this to say that you may want to open a query with vy.no and ask how you might get the senior discount if you book with Rail Ninja. Best of luck! 🍺🥌

We got burned by Rail Ninja. We reserved seats with them in February for a July train (Bergen to Oslo). Waited and waited for our first class seat assignments. Finally about 50 days before the train ride date, we were notified by Rail Ninja that we could not get seats on the departure we had their reservation for. AND, if we wanted a different departure time that day, it would cost us an additional $94 per person. 

 

Be very leery of Rail Ninja. I was able to rebook the train via the vy.no site and app.  Rail Ninja said they are refunding what I paid them, but it was tough getting the tickets we wanted through VY because many seats were already booked by the time Rail Ninja screwed us.

[CCWineLover]

16 minutes ago, Lets Go Hawks said:

We got burned by Rail Ninja. We reserved seats with them in February for a July train (Bergen to Oslo). Waited and waited for our first class seat assignments. Finally about 50 days before the train ride date, we were notified by Rail Ninja that we could not get seats on the departure we had their reservation for. AND, if we wanted a different departure time that day, it would cost us an additional $94 per person. 

 

Be very leery of Rail Ninja. I was able to rebook the train via the vy.no site and app.  Rail Ninja said they are refunding what I paid them, but it was tough getting the tickets we wanted through VY because many seats were already booked by the time Rail Ninja screwed us.

Wow - thank you so much for your post and information.  I will keep that in mind for certain.  I was fearful of that possibility.

Note - the Viking post-extension was sold out way more than a year in advance, so no possibility for us doing that (this is for Midnight Sun London-Bergen July 15-29)

[czrunner]

This is interesting.  We are on the Reykjavik to Bergen cruise (Iceland's Majestic Landscapes) on the Jupiter.  We are arriving at Bergen a day after you, July 29, 2022, and our post extension to Oslo, starting Saturday, July 30, still has openings.  I wonder if you could stay an extra night in Bergen and take the Viking Oslo post extension with us.  I know that it is overpriced, but It should be in Viking's interest to work with you to fill up the extension.  (And we would love to meet a wine expert from Paso Robles.)

[Jay23]

15 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

We are trying to do our own Bergen-Oslo booking in July (30 or 31).  The site keeps saying reservations not available yet for those dates.    https://www.vy.no/en/buy-tickets/train-and-bus-tickets

How did you make your reservation?   I started to try Railninja site but I couldn't find a place to get the senior rates like on the vy.no site.   Also you couldn't select seats on Railninja so who knows if or when they assign them.

Oh.  Very sorry.  I made a mistake.  My husband tells me there are no senior rates on the Ninja rail.  Smack on the wrist for me.  However, they will allocate seats.  You have to say what seats you want,.  Forward facing. windows. table etc and Ninja will give you the seat you request if at it is available..  Husband does say however, that the earlier you book the better for price.   Good luck..  J

[Jay23]

10 hours ago, Lets Go Hawks said:

We got burned by Rail Ninja. We reserved seats with them in February for a July train (Bergen to Oslo). Waited and waited for our first class seat assignments. Finally about 50 days before the train ride date, we were notified by Rail Ninja that we could not get seats on the departure we had their reservation for. AND, if we wanted a different departure time that day, it would cost us an additional $94 per person. 

 

Be very leery of Rail Ninja. I was able to rebook the train via the vy.no site and app.  Rail Ninja said they are refunding what I paid them, but it was tough getting the tickets we wanted through VY because many seats were already booked by the time Rail Ninja screwed us.

Very sorry to hear that.  Not a good service.  J

[CCWineLover]

13 hours ago, czrunner said:

This is interesting.  We are on the Reykjavik to Bergen cruise (Iceland's Majestic Landscapes) on the Jupiter.  We are arriving at Bergen a day after you, July 29, 2022, and our post extension to Oslo, starting Saturday, July 30, still has openings.  I wonder if you could stay an extra night in Bergen and take the Viking Oslo post extension with us.  I know that it is overpriced, but It should be in Viking's interest to work with you to fill up the extension.  (And we would love to meet a wine expert from Paso Robles.)

Thanks!   Worth a try.