Western Norway trip in August – would love your suggestions!

Hello all,

I am looking for some advice on my upcoming first trip to Norway that I am planning to do with a couple of my friends. I am very excited to soak in all the nature and beautiful sceneries, and I am really hoping I am not overlooking something important.

I am sharing my itinerary below and the specific questions that I have at the bottom. I would really love to know if there is something we should account for or include?

We are planning to cover western Norway for the most part, as it looks so beautiful and it seems like there is so much to do there in the limited days that we have.

* 8/12 – Land in Oslo in the evening
* 8/13 – Take late afternoon flight from Oslo to Bergen
* 8/14 – Spend morning in Bergen and drive to and stay in Rosendal
* 8/15 – Maybe explore the Bondhuvatn lake and drive back to Bergen. Take evening flight from Bergen to Alesund. Stay the night in Alesund
* 8/16 – Drive to Geiranger or take the boat to Geiranger and pick up car in Geiranger
* 8/17 – Geiranger or Loen
* 8/18 – Geiranger or Loen
* 8/19 – Take the boat back or drive back to Alesund. Night flight back to Oslo. Stay the night in Oslo
* 8/20 – Spend the day in Oslo
* 8/21 – Return

1. I am looking for advise on whether it’s recommended to take the boat from Alesund to Geiranger ([https://www.geirangerfjord.no/](https://www.geirangerfjord.no/)) and back which looks like a stunning ride and pick up a rental car in Geiranger or it is better to pick up a car in Alesund and drive from Alesund to Geiranger and back and make stops along the way. I would like to drive if it is not to steep/difficult and if the route is scenic and worth the drive 🙂
2. If the drive is recommended, is there a route that is better? We saw 2 route options (route options [https://goo.gl/maps/9HmPLzrexX7n3B6i7](https://goo.gl/maps/9HmPLzrexX7n3B6i7) or [https://goo.gl/maps/7W4YPC4miXw6m2hQA](https://goo.gl/maps/7W4YPC4miXw6m2hQA)), one suggested by google maps and one recommended by someone, one involving 2 ferries and one involving only 1 ferry. But the one with 2 ferries, seems to take the ferry to the fjord itself, so that might offer great views and offer an experience similar to the boat. And picking up the car from Alesund might prevent the hassle of picking up the car from Geiranger which is pretty remote.
3. Any suggestions welcome on how to spend 8/17 and 8/18 around Geiranger.

Note, we are avoiding the drive all the way from Bergen to Geiranger and back as it might be a pretty long journey. And also avoiding the one way car rental drop off as that seems very expensive. Hence, we are taking flights in between.

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