The BEST 7 Day Norway Itinerary For First Timers

Wondering how to spend your 7 day Norway itinerary so that is filled to the brim? That’s how I roll too.

I spent 2 months in Norway, hiking famous trails like Preikestolen and Kjeragbolten, exploring fjords by boat in Bergen, and bouncing around between cities and small towns.

This itinerary covers the biggest and best adventures I experienced in my 2 months. It balances your time strategically between Bergen and Stavanger, which are in my opinion the best bases for a 1 week trip to Norway.

Bergen was my favorite city in all of Norway and ranks in my top five cities in the entire world. Stavanger puts you within reach of two of Norway’s three legendary hikes and the stunning Lysefjorden. 

Together they cover big mountain views, fjord adventures, and walkable old towns.

You can fly into either city and flip the order depending on your flights. For this guide we are starting in Bergen. Here is your complete one week Norway itinerary.

Quick Overview: 7 Day Norway Itinerary

As I mentioned in the intro, this Norway itinerary is split between Bergen and Stavanger. Here is a breakdown of the day by day at a glance:

Day 1: Bergen Sightseeing – Bryggen, secret viewpoint I found, Bergenhus fortress, fish market, etc.

Day 2: Full Day Hiking in Bergen – the Vidden hike and other shorter hike options

Day 3: Bergen and Beyond – Scenic town (Gudvangen), one of Norway’s top fjords, and the iconic Flam Railway

Day 4: Travel from Bergen to Stavanger – With 2 ferry crossings and dinner in Stavanger’s centre wharf

Day 5: Stavanger Sightseeing and Preikestolen – Explore Stavanger and then hike one of Norway’s Big 3 Hikes

Day 6: Stavanger Fjord Boat Tour – Another stunning fjord with waterfalls in Norway and one of Stavanger’s cool museums

Day 7: Stavanger to Kjeragbolten Hike – Another of Norway’ big 3 hikes.

Day 1: Explore Bryggen and Bergen’s Top Sights

Bryggen – Bergen’s #1 Sight

Bergen’s city centre is incredibly walkable. Start by checking out Bryggen, arguably the symbolic image of Bergen.

Bryggen is Bergen’s UNESCO-listed Hanseatic wharf and one of the most iconic sights in all of Norway and a MUST see spot in Bergen. The colorful wooden buildings line the harbor with a maze of narrow alleyways behind them.

I simply wandered around the alleyways without any tour. There were small galleries and craft shops to go in and out of.

The Hanseatic Museum  is open in peak season between June and September. It goes over the history of the Hanseatic League, which was an important merchant group that used Bergen as their main trading hub. They played a large role in the city’s history. 

Clarion Collection Hotel View Point

Right close to Bryggen, there is a fancy hotel with a tall tower that overlooks the city. My biggest secret tip for your trip to Bergen is go to the front desk and ask if you can go up to the top of their tower. 

Spoiler: they will say yes. I did that and it ended up being my #1 view point over Bergen. Even better than atop Mount Floyen. It is perfectly situated right above the harbour and just tall enough to get a birds eye view. 

Explore History at Bergenhus Fortress

Bergenhus Fortress is right next door so a good next stop. It is a medieval stone complex dating back to the 13th century and the grounds are free to explore. It still functions as a working site for military personnel, making it a living piece of Bergen’s history.

The grounds are free to enter. I just wandered in and explored, but they also have guided tours with a guide that gives you a real look into the history there. 

There are also some buildings on the complex that require tickets to enter. Like the Bergenhus Museum, the Rosenkrantz tower (which you can climb to the top of), and the King Hakons Hall. If you are interested in historical relics, it’s worth joining a guided tour or paying to enter.

The Famous Bergen Fish Market

Just a short walk away, the Bergen Fish Market has been at the center of the city’s economy and social scene since the 1200s. They have multiple food vendors to check out. You can get fresh seafood like crab legs or lobster, or grab some fish soup or sandwiches at the stalls.

Check Out Bergen’s Most Unique Bar – Magic Ice Bar

If you aren’t big on museums and have some extra time before or after dinner, I recommend checking out this ice bar. It’s one of those hidden gems not many people know about.

It’s completely made of ice, from the stools and the bar top to the actual glasses your drinks come in too. There are also beautiful ice sculptures and art created by Norwegian artists. And they play good music too.

They light up the bar with different coloured lights to add more magic.

Magic Ice Bar Bergen is exactly as it sounds, a bar completely made of ice. There are beautiful ice sculptures and art created by famous Norwegian artists spread throughout the bar and trendy music playing.

They give you warm ponchos and gloves as part of admission because the temperature in the bar sits around -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees F).

👉 You can find some other top things to do in Bergen if you want to add any more to the day here.

Dinner at One of Bergen’s Tastiest Restaurants

For your first night, I recommend grabbing a table at one of the waterfront restaurants.

• Bryggeloftet and Stuene – A classic, cozy Norwegian spot serving traditional dishes with great water views.
• Enhjorningen – Seafood-focused, located in one of Bryggen’s oldest buildings.
• Bare Vestland – More modern, with seasonal Norwegian tapas and great cocktails.

Day 2 – The Vidden Hike from Mount Floyen to Ulriken

This was my favourite day of my entire 4 days I spent in Bergen.

Some quick context, Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains. Mount Floyen and Ulriken are two of them. The hike between the two mountains is about 15 km (9.3 miles) and takes around 5 hours.

It is actually a really easy hike too and follows a ridgeline with the best views over Bergen and it’s surrounding mountains that you can get.

I’ll give you a few options for today based on your level of love for a long hike.

Option 1: Minimal Hiking – Funicular and Cable Cars

Start with the Funicular to the top of Mount Floyen. This mountain is right near the centre of town so the easiest to access. There is a short funicular ride (aka a train that goes up the mountain side basically) you can take to the top and back down if you don’t feel up for a hike.

At the top, there is a lookout platform with some cafes, shops and bathrooms. The view overlooks the main city centre and harbour so is 100% worth going up there to see.

There is also a series of short walking paths in a “troll forest” at the top. They have troll statues and cute little fairy decorations. Plus some adventure play areas for kids and families.

After you descend, you can head over to the cable car to access Ulriken. It is a bit out of the centre, 11 kms to be exact. So you have to either drive or take the bus to get there, but it’s straightforward.

The cable car rides up the side of the mountain, which is even taller than Mount Floyen at 643 metres. It has insane views over the entire city and some intense stone stairs that locals love to run up and down for exercise (every Norwegian I met there was in insane shape!!).

The cable car ride takes about 7 minutes, then once you’re at the top you can explore the viewpoints. They have a gift shop and even a restaurant on-site.

I highly recommend doing both. Each mountain top is really different from the other and the views are of different parts of the city.

*** If you do this option and you want an extra activity to fill the day, I recommend visiting one of the museums in Bergen.

• The Bergen Maritime Museum & Norwegian Fisheries Museum – You get to explore traditional sea houses and old trading boats, while learning about the importance that shipping had in Bergen’s past.
• Old Bergen Museum – This is an open air museum with 40 old wooden houses and traditional shops.
• KODE Art Museum – Check out some contemporary art by world-famous artists at the KODE.

Option 2: Hike the Entire Trail + Mountains

This is the option I chose and has the most hiking. It includes the 15 km’s between the two mountains, but starts with the hike up Mount Floyen and down Mount Ulriken.

There is a short 45 minute trail from the funicular stop to the top of Mount Floyen. It winds up the hill through a really beautiful forest, with different tiers of viewpoints as you go up. It’s surprisingly not that steep for a hike up a mountain and you see tons of others out walking the trail to the top.

The 15 km then starts by following some trail signs at the top of Mount Floyen. The trail is really easy to follow – I did it completely alone and didn’t ever feel lost or unsure.

You’ll pass incredible viewpoints of high elevation lakes, grazing sheep, views over the city, views of distant mountains. There are tons of others on the trail in the summer too so it doesn’t feel remote, but not too many that it feels busy.

Then once you reach Ulriken, you can do the hike down the mountain. There are big stone stairs that lead down before the last stretch brings you through a forested trail. The hike takes about 1 hour down to near the Montana hostel.

You can grab city bus pretty easy into the town centre from there. Bus 12 runs back to Bergen’s center in about 15 to 20 minutes.

The entire hike took me about 8 hours, including time at each of the main mountain lookout areas, breaks, sitting to eat a picnic lunch.

Option 3: Hybrid – Hike Between Mountains Only

The final option that I recommend if you want to shave off a couple hours to the already lengthy hike is to take the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen, do the 15km hike, and then taking the cable car down Mount Ulriken.

Some important information to know for this option:

• Mount Floyen’s Funicular hours are: 7:30 am – midnight on Mondays to Fridays. Or 8 am to midnight on weekends. You can find the ticket prices here.
• Ulriken’s cable car hours are: 9 am – 11 pm every day from April to September. Then in the off season they have limited hours. You can find the limited hours and updated prices here.

⭐ Tip: If you do any hiking, make sure to bring a rain jacket and some layers. The weather in Norway’s mountains changes insanely rapidly.

Day 3: Gudvangen, Naeroyfjord, and the Flam Railway

Day four is one of the best day trips you can do anywhere in Norway. You will cover one of Norway’s most beautiful train journeys, cruise a UNESCO fjord, and explore a glacial town.

If you have a rental car, you can self-guide this whole day. Otherwise I recommend taking it as a guided day trip.

This tour below is the best available price for this day trip and includes all of these stops mentioned below plus a local guide!

👉 The BEST Gudvangen, Naeroyfjord and Flam Railway Tour From Bergen

Stop 1: Gudvangen and the Stegastein Viewpoint

Gudvangen is a small town set inside a narrow section of Naeroyfjord. It is surrounded by glaciers and mountain peaks.

If you start early (7 – 8 am), you’ll have time to rent a kayak on the fjord or explore the nearby Viking village with reenactments, archery, and axe throwing.

If you are driving, stop at Stegastein Viewpoint on the Aurlandsvegen scenic road before reaching Gudvangen. Stegastein sits at over 600 meters above the fjord and it has a famous viewpoint. Highly recommend this detour.

(This viewpoint is covered on the guided tour I recommended above at the end of the day)

Stop 2: Naeroyfjord Boat Cruise

From Gudvangen’s harbor, board a Naeroyfjord boat cruise toward Flam.

Naeroyfjord is a UNESCO-listed section of the Sognefjord system and one of the most scenic fjords in Norway. Waterfalls pour down the cliffs, tiny villages cling to the shorelines, and at the narrowest points the fjord walls tower above the boat on both sides.

The ride to Flam takes about two hours.

Stop 3: Flam and the Flam Railway

Once you reach Flam, take a break and grab some lunch.

Then board the Flam Railway. This is one of Norway’s most beautiful train journeys, traveling 20 km through mountains via 20 tunnels carved entirely by hand.

It goes along some of the steepest standard-gauge railway tracks in the world. The train stops at Kjosfossen waterfall for people to get out. The vintage-style cars have wide windows built for exactly this scenery.

The ride takes about an hour to Myrdal Station.

Then from Myrdal station, make the 3 hour drive back into Bergen.

Day 4: Bergen to Stavanger Travel Day + Harbourfront Dinner

This is mostly a travel day, enjoying the views along the way. If you have a rental car, you can treat is as a mini road trip. But there are also direct coach buses between Bergen and Stavanger.

The journey between Bergen and Stavanger includes two ferry crossings. This is pretty straightforward, you just get in line, pay the toll and then drive onto the boat. If you are on a bus, the bus drives on, you get off and hang out in the pedestrian deck and then hop back on the bus.

Waterfront Dinner in Stavanger:

When you arrive in Stavanger, the first thing you should do after getting settled is heading to the main harbour. There are several restaurants lining the harbour and you can even see jellyfish right in the water.

I recommend enjoying one of the patios on this wharf:

• Villa 22 Trattoria & Bar – Italian food with wood-fired pizzas and great reviews
• Fisketorget Stavanger – Fresh seafood and Norwegian cuisine

Day 5: Stavanger Sightseeing and Prekeistolen Hike

Stavanger shocked me as a really cool city. There is an old town with narrow cobbled streets and old white houses. There are many different museums. The harbour front is gorgeous with it’s big ships and bars/patios lining the wharf.

Even the central downtown area lined with shops was really aesthetic with Norwegian-style buildings and stone walkways.

Spend some time wandering checking out:

• Gamle Stavanger – This is the old town
• Stavanger Cathedral, known as Domkirke – Has Romanesque-Gothic architecture and admission is free.
• Geoparken – It’s an urban park out front by the water. It’s made from recycled old shipping and oil rig materials. Very artsy.
• Stavanger’s Wharf

Lunch Options in Stavanger:

• Døgnvill Burger Stavanger – A delicious burger place that caught my attention from the number of good reviews it has
• Pasha Restaurant – Turkish food with soooo many good reviews.
• Bevaremegvel Bar & restaurant AS – One of the best spots to try local Norwegian food in Stavanger.
  

Hike Preikestolen

Usually I am the person at the trailhead first thing in the morning. However, I actually strongly recommend you flip it for this hike to avoid the crowds at Pulpit Rock.

Prekeistolen is one of Norways “Big 3 Hikes.” The other two are Kjeragbolten (day 7 of this itinerary) and Trolltunga (unfortunately not on this itinerary because it’s pretty isolated from other destinations).

So as you can image, the hike can get pretty busy. I worked at a hostel really close to Prekeistolen for a month and heard from countless guests that the morning was still crowded.

The owner of the hostel told me to instead go around 3 – 4 pm. That was around when people were all heading down from the hike. So the flow of traffic on the way up was a bit heavy but then the main lookout point was incredibly tame.

The hike takes about 3 hours to complete considering stopping and relaxing time. It is 8 km (5-miles). I’d say its a moderate hike, there are uphill portions but there’s nothing crazy steep. We saw kids doing the hike with families.

Day 6: Lysefjorden Boat Tour and Stavanger Sightseeing

For your first day in Stavanger, start by exploring it’s best fjord nearby by RIB Boat.

If you haven’t heard of a RIB boat, they are smaller inflatable boats that can fit like a dozen or so people, rather than a big cruise boat. They can move a lot faster and get right up close to the walls of the fjord and the waterfalls.

You’ll meet at the harbour in Stavanger and then the boat ride itself lasts about 2 hours. Some highlights you get to see on this tour:

• Vagabond Cave, aka ‘Fantahålå’. It is a hidden cave in the fjord’s mountainside tucked away in a narrow cove.
• Preikestolen from below. The scale of how tall this sheer rock face is, is not properly captured in photos. It’s guaranteed to shock you with its height still, especially from the water’s surface.
• Hengjanefossen waterfall. It’s also called Whisky Falls. It’s 75 metres high and you get right up close to it on the RIB boat.

⭐ Book the RIB Boat Tour of Lysefjorden

Explore One of Stavanger’s Two Best Museums

In the afternoon, check out either:

The Norwegian Canning Museum – Sounds strange but is genuinely fascinating. The canning industry dominated Stavanger in the 19th and 20th centuries and the museum has 35,000 different can labels on display. It’s really quirky and aesthetic, which I think is why such a random topic is so popular.

The Norwegian Petroleum Museum – This one is built like a real oil platform, with interactive exhibits, a burning-rig escape room, and detailed history of Norway’s offshore industry. Stavanger’s most popular museum.

Dinner on Fargegata

Fargegata, also called Ovre Holmegate, was my favorite street in Stavanger. Brightly colored buildings, string lights, outdoor patios in summer, and some of the best restaurants in town.

• Boker og Borst – Craft beer and tapas. Great atmosphere.
• Citra – Relaxed spot with pizzas, risottos, and a nice patio.
• CIRKUS – Casual pub, great for a low-key evening.

Day 7: Hike Kjeragbolten (Your 2nd of Bergen’s Big 3 Hikes)

Kjeragbolten is Norway’s most famous boulder. Sounds weird, but I’ve bet you’ve seen pictures of it before.

The main part of the hike is a giant rock wedged between two cliff faces 984 meters in the air. People walk out onto the rock for photos.

💡 Tip: The way you get out onto the rock to take the famous photo is actually soooo dangerous. I was shocked because I’ve seen so many people with photos there. You have to take a perilous step out onto the rock. I am not even scared of heights and that felt too stupid to me. You do you, but if you are cautious like me, I wouldn’t get your hopes up for this photo.

As pretty as that final spot is, the entire hike is actually ridiculously scenic too. It ascends up a huge rock face, then traverses the top high above a fjord.

The hike is challenging but so worth it. The trailhead at Oygardstol (the Eagle’s Nest) is about 2 hours from Stavanger by car. The route is 11 km round trip and takes 6 to 8 hours.

Leave early and double-check road conditions, as the mountain road to the trailhead typically opens in late May and closes in October. If it is raining, I’d recommend skipping it entirely. The wet rocks make Kjeragbolten pretty dangerous.

Travel Tips for Norway

Here are the most useful travel tips I picked up after two months in Norway.

1. Pack for the weather, always

Norwegian weather is famously unpredictable. Even in July you can get sunshine, fog, wind, and rain in the same afternoon. Bring layers and a waterproof jacket every day. This goes double on the hikes.

2. You do not need cash

Norway runs almost entirely on card. I took out cash when I first arrived and barely spent it. Even small vendors and bus fares use card or app payments.

3. Drink the tap water

Norwegian tap water is some of the cleanest you will ever drink. Bring a reusable bottle and fill it everywhere.

4. Download yr.no for weather

The international weather apps I used were wildly inaccurate in Norway. yr.no predicts Norwegian weather changes by the hour and is far more reliable.

5. Winter travel and northern lights

If you are doing this Norway itinerary in winter, you may see northern lights around Bergen and Stavanger, though your best chance is further north above the Arctic Circle. Winter driving experience is essential if you are renting a car.

💡 I have a complete list of all my recommended tips for visiting Norway here.

Where to Stay In Either City

Bergen – You can’t go wrong staying almost anywhere in Bergen because the transportation is so easy and cheap. I’d say aim to stay in the city centre right near the harbour. My specific Bergen hotel recommendations for all budget ranges lives here.

Stavanger – The area near the Wharf and Fargegata is the best. Also staying in one of the hotels that lines the big park, Byparken, is a good quiet option too. You can find the hotel recommendations for Stavanger here.

Next Steps For Booking Your Trip to Norway

Ready to fill in the gaps for planning out your trip to Norway? Check out my new post on the best things to do in Bergen for even more to see in the city beyond this itinerary, plus my post on Bergen’s best fjords if you want more boat options beyond Naeroyfjord.

On the Stavanger side, my 4 Days in Stavanger itinerary has more of the epic things to do there if you want to jam your days there even more full. I also have important tips on beating the crowds at Preikestolen you should check out.

And before you land, don’t skip my Do’s and Don’ts of Norway so you’re not caught off guard by anything on this list.

Happy adventuring!