From Bergen
Hardangerfjord from Bergen: what actually fits into a day
Bergen sells Hardanger as a day trip and it is, technically. It is also two hours to the nearest fjord village and three and a half to the far one, which means five or six hours of a ten-hour day are spent on a road. This page is what that day really looks like, and what changes if you sleep on the fjord instead.
Quick answer
Norheimsund is about two hours from Bergen by road, Øystese a little further, Ulvik about two and a half and Eidfjord three and a half. A full-day organised tour from Bergen costs from $207 and spends five to six hours travelling. A RIB safari from a fjord village costs from $81 and takes an hour. If you can spare one night outside Bergen, spend it here.
Bergen to Hardanger, at a glance
- To Norheimsund
- ~2 hoursthe closest fjord village
- To Øystese
- ~2 h 10ten minutes further
- To Ulvik
- ~2.5 hoursvia Granvin
- To Eidfjord
- ~3.5 hoursthe inner end of the fjord
- Organised day tour
- $20710.5 hours, glacier included
- Private day
- $95410 hours, your own car and guide
- Private yacht
- $3,4747–7.5 hours on the water
- Public transport
- Bus to Norheimsundroughly two hours, several a day
- Best alternative
- One night on the fjordand a boat in the morning
- Cancellation
- Free to 24 hon every trip here
The three ways to do it
Organised, private or under your own steam
A coach with a glacier, a private car, or two hours of driving and a RIB.
An organised day tour. The Folgefonna trip at $207 is the best-evidenced one on this page: a coach from Bergen, the glacier, a guided walk to the turquoise lake at Bondhus, and back. Ten and a half hours, of which the walking and the looking are perhaps four. It is a good day and it is not a boat trip.
A private day. At $954 you get a car, a driver and a guide for ten hours and you decide the stops: waterfalls, orchards, a village, a fjord road. For four people it works out at a reasonable day rate; for two it does not.
Under your own steam. A hire car from Bergen to Norheimsund is two hours on good roads through tunnels and along the Kvamskogen plateau. Park at the quay, take a RIB safari at $94, walk behind Steinsdalsfossen, eat in the village and drive back. That is the cheapest version and the one with the most fjord in it.
There is also a bus from Bergen to Norheimsund several times a day, which makes a car-free version possible if you plan around the timetable.
Why one night changes everything
The argument for not doing it as a day trip
Two mornings, an evening, no clock — and the boats are better early.
A day trip from Bergen gives you roughly four usable hours in Hardanger. One night gives you two mornings, an evening and no clock.
The evening is the part people do not expect. The fjord goes glassy after the wind drops, the light stays low and long in summer, and the villages empty out as the day coaches leave. Norheimsund at seven in the evening in June is a different place from Norheimsund at two in the afternoon.
The morning is the other part. RIB trips are at their best early: still water, better reflections in the narrow arms, and no wind chop on the run out. If you are staying on the fjord you can take the first departure.
Accommodation along the fjord is small-scale — guesthouses, a couple of hotels, farm stays in the orchards — and in blossom season it books out. But it is cheaper than Bergen, and it removes four hours of driving from the day.
Doing it from Bergen properly
Six practical notes
If a day trip is what you have, these make it work.
- Leave early
The first hour out of Bergen is the slowest. An eight o’clock start is worth an hour at the other end.
- Pick one village, not three
Norheimsund and Øystese are ten minutes apart and can be combined. Eidfjord is a different day.
- Book the boat before you drive
The RIB trips are small and they fill in summer. Free cancellation means booking early costs nothing.
- Build in Steinsdalsfossen
The waterfall with the path behind it is in Norheimsund itself, five minutes from the quay, and free.
- Do not try to reach Trolltunga
It is at the far end of the Sørfjorden arm and it is a ten to twelve-hour hike. It is not part of any day trip from Bergen.
- Consider the glacier tour instead
If you want an organised day with someone else driving, the Folgefonna trip is the best-evidenced option on this page.
If you can move your base for a night, Norheimsund is the village most people should choose — and the boat there runs all year.
Norheimsund→Getting to the fjord without a car
Five options from Bergen
A car is easiest; it is not the only way.
- The bus to Norheimsund
Several a day, about two hours, and it drops in the village a few minutes from the quay.
- An organised day tour
The Folgefonna day at $207 includes transport from Bergen.
- A private car and guide
$954 for ten hours, which works for a group.
- Train and bus to Voss, then Ulvik
Slower and scenic, and it puts you at the greenest village on the fjord.
- A private boat
At $3,474 it is the most expensive route here and the only one that is entirely on water.
Common questions
Hardangerfjord from Bergen, answered
How far is Hardangerfjord from Bergen?
About two hours by road to Norheimsund, the nearest fjord village, and three and a half to Eidfjord at the inner end.
Can you do Hardangerfjord in a day from Bergen?
Yes, and five to six hours of that day will be travelling. The organised tours do it; a night on the fjord gives you far more.
Is there public transport?
Yes — buses run from Bergen to Norheimsund several times a day and take about two hours. A car-free version is possible with planning.
Which day tour is best from Bergen?
The Folgefonna glacier day at $207, which has 896 reviews at 4.9 and includes transport and a guided walk.
Is a private tour worth it?
For four or more people who want their own schedule, yes. At $954 for the day it is expensive for two.
Can you reach Trolltunga on a day trip?
No. Trolltunga is at the far end of the Sørfjorden arm and the hike is ten to twelve hours in itself.
Go deeper
More on the Hardangerfjord
Hardangerfjord boat tours
What the trips are, where they leave from and what you see.
The verdictWhich trip is best
Seven trips ranked, and which village to start from.
NorheimsundNorheimsund
The village with the waterfall you can walk behind.
FyksesundFyksesund
The narrow arm, the bridge and why the boats go in.
EidfjordEidfjord
The inner end, under the plateau and Vøringsfossen.
UlvikUlvik
A quiet arm of its own, and the longest RIB trip here.
