Throwback Travels: Scandinavia Trip Part I (Amsterdam to Bergen)

Since we are not traveling this year, I figured it would be good to look back and be thankful for the trips we took in years past. Our biggest, most recent trip to Scandinavia was almost a year ago and we haven’t really shared much from it (busy lives and all). But now is a great time to look back and recount the awesome times we had.

The first leg of the trip involved getting us from Seattle to Amsterdam via a quick layover in Reykjavik. We love Iceland and our brief stop allowed us to reminisce on our time we spent in the country back in 2016.

Once we were in Amsterdam we met up with Ariel, who had been on a work trip in Finland just prior to our rendezvous.

We tasted goudas, ate all the frites and enjoyed the good life that only Amsterdam can provide.

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The next day we hopped on a plane and headed to our first Norwegian stop of the trip—Bergen. It was a beautiful approach from the plane looking at the rugged Norwegian coastline.

Once we settled into our Airbnb, we set off to explore the city on foot. First stop—the Bryggen, or “dock” of old Bergen. This place was fun to explore with its narrow alleys. It dates back to the 14th Century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A little beyond the old waterfront, we took the funicular up to get a view of the city. It is such a cool experience to see the view open up before you.

The next morning we rented a car to get further into the Norwegian countryside and explore some of the fjords. We drove to a small town called Flåm, where we took the scenic railroad up to the top and back. It was very crowded but the waterfall stop was worth it (complete with a dancing forest siren). After that, we just drove around to explore the immediate area a bit and checked out the Stegastein overlook—part of Norway’s scenic tourist routes.

After that, we headed back to Bergen to return the car and get ready for our overnight train trip to Oslo. Neither Josh or I had been on a night train before. As we all know I have loved trains since I was a kid so this was definitely a highlight of the trip. Especially the part where Josh unknowingly opened our window in a tunnel, causing what seemed like a catastrophic loss of cabin pressure. But luckily, all was okay and we had a good laugh.