Oslo to Bergen (train) Pre-Extension question

[SailorPaulH]

A question for those that have done 'The Best of Norway & Scenic Train' Viking Pre-Extension. On the day we leave the hotel for the train to go from Oslo to Bergen, does Viking take your luggage the prior night or on the morning of the train departure day (in our case we would be on the 12:03 PM to Bergen, if that may matter)? Just want to be prepared as we will be out late on the last night in Oslo.

[shipboy]

From memory (it was 6 years ago), they collected the luggage on the morning of the train journey

[SteelCity Cruiser]

We did this last year. My recollection is they collected luggage the night before.  We kept a small carry on for our overnight necessities and what-not and took that on the train with us the next day.  There is plenty of space to store luggage on each car.

[rmalbers]

Interesting, I guess I thought (I'm not sure from where) that the train station was across the street from the hotel they use, so I figured it was a 'roll your own'.

[bookbabe]

In September, it was that morning…but it was EARLY morning, we were on the very first train of the day.  I didn’t realize other trips might use later trains, I’m very jealous.

 

FYI, depending on your hotel, you may be walking over to the train station.

[SailorPaulH]

3 hours ago, bookbabe said:

In September, it was that morning…but it was EARLY morning, we were on the very first train of the day.  I didn’t realize other trips might use later trains, I’m very jealous.

 

FYI, depending on your hotel, you may be walking over to the train station.

Our hotel is Clarion, The Hub just across the road. We are making our way there independently as we took a deviation to fly in a day early. Viking agent told me our train was the 1203 pm (so working on that assumption) the day we leave Oslo. We have a collapsible duffel bag in case it's a night before luggage pick-up. It would be great if these little details involving transfers were available in MVJ, but I guess these logistics could always be in a state of flux .... Thanks everyone for the input!

[whitbob]

We did this trip in August 2022, so somewhat dated info, we put the luggage out the night before.  It was held in the hotel somewhere and then sent to Bergen by truck very early the next morning.  The next time we saw it was in our cabin on the ship.  Used AirTags, so we could follow the movements.   
 

Like you, most of what we learned about the pre-extension trip we learned from others here on CC.  It wasn’t until we arrived at the hotel in Oslo, and were handed an envelope by a Viking cruise rep that we had details about tours and the train trip to Bergen.

[SteelCity Cruiser]

On 5/31/2024 at 9:06 PM, SailorPaulH said:

Our hotel is Clarion, The Hub just across the road. We are making our way there independently as we took a deviation to fly in a day early. Viking agent told me our train was the 1203 pm (so working on that assumption) the day we leave Oslo. We have a collapsible duffel bag in case it's a night before luggage pick-up. It would be great if these little details involving transfers were available in MVJ, but I guess these logistics could always be in a state of flux .... Thanks everyone for the input!

Just FYI on the Clarion hotel: It is a lovely hotel, and it is basically across the street from the train station so you will walk over there the morning of the train trip (takes 5 minutes, max).  The bad news is that rooms there are quite small.  We had 1 checked bag and two roll ons and lived out of the roll ons during our pre-stay (never opened the big suitcase) which was easier in the smaller hotel room.  The good news is that it is a lovely hotel, beautifully located (easy walk to the opera house and other attractions), and it has a fabulous breakfast buffet - one of the best we've ever seen anywhere.  Being on the noon train, you'll be able to avail yourself of a hearty breakfast the morning of your journey!

[SailorPaulH]

7 hours ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

Just FYI on the Clarion hotel: It is a lovely hotel, and it is basically across the street from the train station so you will walk over there the morning of the train trip (takes 5 minutes, max).  The bad news is that rooms there are quite small.  We had 1 checked bag and two roll ons and lived out of the roll ons during our pre-stay (never opened the big suitcase) which was easier in the smaller hotel room.  The good news is that it is a lovely hotel, beautifully located (easy walk to the opera house and other attractions), and it has a fabulous breakfast buffet - one of the best we've ever seen anywhere.  Being on the noon train, you'll be able to avail yourself of a hearty breakfast the morning of your journey!

Yes, I was happy to see that it was the Noon train - because I can go for an early morning 5k run before breakfast (got my route mapped out). Interestingly, my research turned up that due to construction on some of the lines in July, the train will head north on the Gjovik line towards Roa and then on to Honefoss (which is considered the true eastern end of the Bergen line), instead of the usual Oslo -> Drammen -> Hokesund -> Vikersund -> Honefoss route.

[OneSixtyToOne]

We are doing the Bergen to Oslo train post-extension. Does anyone have information as to what time we disembark, when it departs Bergen and what time it arrives in Oslo?

[SailorPaulH]

27 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

We are doing the Bergen to Oslo train post-extension. Does anyone have information as to what time we disembark, when it departs Bergen and what time it arrives in Oslo?

Here is a 2024 train time-table:

https://www.vy.no/files/eyx1eny7/vyno-production/59a9b8d84df25c2ca1d65498ca4f072a97ebd5c5.pdf

I was told my train time asking a Viking agent on the Viking Chat

[deec]

there were two separate departures, I learned this afterwards, when we learnedthe "earlier" trainhad mistakenly taken both departures boxed lunches.... we were in the group that left the ship about 9:30  the other group left significantly earlier....not sure how it was decided who was in which group.  Glad we were in the later as we had a delightful dining room breakfast we did wait in the train station IMO for too long before boarding the delightful train ride.

[donaldsc]

This does not answer the OP's question but we took the train Bergen to Oslo during the winter when there was lots of snow on the ground.  I am not a train person but this one was absolutely great.  I can see why it is considered one of the great train rides in the world.  You will enjoy it.

 

DON

[Peregrina651]

On 5/31/2024 at 5:25 PM, rmalbers said:

Interesting, I guess I thought (I'm not sure from where) that the train station was across the street from the hotel they use, so I figured it was a 'roll your own'.

 

The luggage goes by truck.  There is not enough room in the train car for all that luggage and there is no luggage car.

 

Most of the hotels that Viking chooses are contiguous to the train station, so they walk the group over.  

 

[Cienfuegos]

On our Oslo to Bergen extension, the luggage went out in the hotel hall at night, and was delivered to our ship cabin.

 

The Norwegian rail service adjusts its train schedules twice yearly, and then amends them as needed for periods of track work or construction, etc.

[Peregrina651]

14 hours ago, donaldsc said:

This does not answer the OP's question but we took the train Bergen to Oslo during the winter when there was lots of snow on the ground.  I am not a train person but this one was absolutely great.  I can see why it is considered one of the great train rides in the world.  You will enjoy it.

 

DON

 

Took this photo 24 May as we stopped to discharge pax at Finse. It was in the high 70s when we left Bergen the day before. To do this trip in winter must be surreal.

[Liz Masterson]

Tip... Yes, Viking provides a box lunch. Maybe they have improved since June 2022... however, I'd suggest you pick out something nice from the train shops. They have a lovely variety of options better than the blah Viking cheese sandwich we got.  Just my 2 cents...

[PRH]

We did Norway in a Nutshell itinerary and booked our own accommodation in Flam.  Taking the trip down into Flam and the ferry through the fjords is stunning.  My sister took the direct train from Oslo to Bergen with Viking and while very nice, nothing like the scenery into Flam.  Our trip, including accommodation in Flam and then Bergen was significantly less than the Viking extension.  

[Cienfuegos]

Oslo seems to be a very convenient city for an independent traveler. There's a train from the airport to downtown. Several hotels in and adjacent to the train station plaza. Many light rail lines pass the plaza. The train station has several food shops and sit down restaurants. The Bergen / Flam trains originate in the train station several times daily.

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

Oslo seems to be a very convenient city for an independent traveler.

 

I can confirm that. We booked at the Thon Opera (Viking used to use it). We arrived by train from Bergen via Flam. The hotel is practically connected to the station -- and in case of rain, the walk can be done almost completely undercover. And no need to go through the station to reach the FLYTOGET platforms. Very convenient.

 

We used the FLYTOGET train to the airport (runs every 10minutes). We used the machine in the station with the help of the FLYTOGET agent (he pushed all the buttons, senior rate; all we did was to insert our card. Ticket good for 90 days).

 

2 hours ago, PRH said:

We did Norway in a Nutshell itinerary and booked our own accommodation in Flam.

 

When the room price was the same whether we booked on our own or through NIAN, we booked through NIAN.

[20Cruise20]

OneSixtyToOne: We completed the Bergen to Oslo post-extension in July of 2023. Our schedule follows: 715 AM in the Atrium, 725 AM to Bus, 10 minutes to the train station, waiting on the train tracks @ 8 AM to board. Guide assigned us seats via Post-it note and provided a box lunch. Our trained arrived in Oslo @ 3 PM. About a 10 minute walk through the train station to the hotel lobby. We did not have an option to select our train time or seat. Should you have additional questions, please ask. 

[PRH]

We did the same.  The Thon Opera is so convenient and lots of places to eat in the train station.

34 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I can confirm that. We booked at the Thon Opera (Viking used to use it). We arrived by train from Bergen via Flam. The hotel is practically connected to the station -- and in case of rain, the walk can be done almost completely undercover. And no need to go through the station to reach the FLYTOGET platforms. Very convenient.

 

We used the FLYTOGET train to the airport (runs every 10minutes). We used the machine in the station with the help of the FLYTOGET agent (he pushed all the buttons, senior rate; all we did was to insert our card. Ticket good for 90 days).

 

 

When the room price was the same whether we booked on our own or through NIAN, we booked through NIAN.

 We did the same.  Crazy convenient from the airport too!

[nikitty]

On 6/29/2024 at 10:07 AM, PRH said:

We did Norway in a Nutshell itinerary and booked our own accommodation in Flam.  Taking the trip down into Flam and the ferry through the fjords is stunning.  My sister took the direct train from Oslo to Bergen with Viking and while very nice, nothing like the scenery into Flam.  Our trip, including accommodation in Flam and then Bergen was significantly less than the Viking extension.  

 

 

Hello!

The 2 day Oslo Scenic train ride is sold out for the August 31st sailing out of Bergen so we are very interested in the tour you mentioned. Thank you for including the name of the tour operator!

Would you consider this a difficult itinerary to do on your own? My mother has mobility issues and has difficulty walking so I'm not sure if there are a lot of stairs in the train station.  Also, the reason we booked a Viking cruise was so that others could handle bags. I'm concerned I'll be the one trying to juggle 2 large suitcases and 2 smaller carry on suitcases.  I'm not sure if there are porters, etc so wondering what to do as I want this to be as stress free as possible. 😁

I was told that Viking isn't likely to add more openings to the Scenic Train ride so not sure that there are a lot of options for us other than this one.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[PRH]

Using Norway in a Nutshell, you can include luggage transfer in your itinerary.  We did the Oslo to Flam (with over night in Flam) and Flam to Bergen.  Took Uber to the hotel Thon.  There is a train transfer at Myrdal to Flam but people to help if you have mobility issues.  This is an incredibly beautiful trip and the fjords from Flam are superb.  You can find Norway in a Nutshell through Google search.

[PRH]

There are stairs involved in transferring from the bus to the train but I seem to remember ramps were available.  Anyway, communication with NiaN and see what they have to say.  This is a far superior trip to the Viking one (my sister took that one) but it does involve coming into Oslo a day or two earlier.