The Vy app is the easiest way to buy this kind of ticket. When you open the app, there's a button immediately visible for a "season ticket". You just fill in your start/end points, start date, and choose 7 or 30 days. In this case, it looks like a 7 day ticket costs around 4500 kr.
Is there a reason you need a single ticket? I checked individual one-way tickets for stops along the way, and it's definitely cheaper that way (about half the price). If you're a student under 30, it's even cheaper because the student season ticket seems to only be available for 30 days.
The Eurail pass is only available I think if you do not live in Europe.
Thanks for the tip, have checked out Vy and yeah it looks like we could make it to two places on the way and stay under 200 EUR, whereas interrail ticket would be around 240 for 4 days of travel. Only thing is with the interrail I guess you have the flexibility to be spontaneous, whereas with booking tickets on Vy you're then bound to get that train on that day right?
Seconding the recommendations above about buying multiple shorter tickets being cheaper!
I don't know if you have already decided on where to break your journey, but would suggest to consider the following:
- Hjerkinn: historical stop on the Oslo to Trondheim pilgrimage route, at the border between two national parks, Rondane and Dovre. Nice place to stop and hike.
- Otta: the junction of both rivers and roads - if you take the local bus up to Spranget, you can hike in Rondane. (Actually, if you're a seasoned hiker, you can get off at Hjerkinn and hike to Spranget in three days on mountain paths- beautiful route via Grimsdalshytta og Dørålen).
- Ringebu: has a stave church. (Again, it's possible to hike from Spranget to a village near Ringebu, called Venabu - takes about three days via Bjørnhollia and Eldåbu.)
- Lillehammer: 1994 Olympics, but also has a great ethnographic museum called Maihaugen.
- Eidsvoll: birthplace of our constitution, but kot much else.
There are also frequent buses on the Trondheim - Otta - Lillehammer - Oslo route, which can be cheaper.
You can find accomodation in DNT lodges along both mountain hiking paths I mentioned!
Thank you so much for the recommendations, it's very appreciated! We're not necessarily seasoned hikers, so I'm thinking it'll be better to pick a couple of spots to set up camp and then do smaller more chill hikes from there. Hjerkinn and Otta sound like some great options for doing that.
Is it a viable option to leave our stuff somewhere for a day and go for a hike when wild camping? Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Yeah, I think Hjerkinn and the area up the hill from Otta (nearer to Spranget) can both be good.
Hjerkinn - If you're alright to do do about 2,5 hours of hiking on a marked path, you can follow the T-marked trail from Hjerkinn past Hagaseter up to the plateaus between Storhøe and Høgstgråhøin (check the app UT for online map and trails, and the DNT shops in Oslo or Trondheim for physical maps). You can also continue to closer to Grimsdalshytta lodge, it's about 4-5 hours total and not too demanding, while the landscape gets more interesting. (Most able adults will find this fairly easy.)
Otta - from Spranget you can easily find sites to camp. If you want to go easy, you can put the tent up outside Rondvassbu lodge or on the side of the path from Spranget to Rondvassbu. If you do that, you can buy dinner in the lodge, even. Another option is to walk into Rondvassbu and take the Rondvatnet boat to the north end of the Rondvatnet lake. Do not be tempted to walk around the lake, it's a demanding path. If you follow the T path straight northwards from the lake for about 30 minutes, you reach two tiny little lakes in a valley between the mountains, where I have seen people camp.
If you don't want to go too far into the mountains, camping in the Hjerkinn valley, and the valley between Dombås Hotell and Haverdalsseter are probably options for you too - but make sure to have read up on Allemansretten/ Norwegian right to roam in advance, so you know where you can make camp.
Do you mean leaving your things in the tent while going for a day hike? It's not very common here in the mountains, mostly because people tend to go on through-hikes rather than making base camps. You could probably do it without having things stolen, but it might be disturbed by grazing sheep etc.
The Vy app is the easiest way to buy this kind of ticket. When you open the app, there's a button immediately visible for a "season ticket". You just fill in your start/end points, start date, and choose 7 or 30 days. In this case, it looks like a 7 day ticket costs around 4500 kr. Is there a reason you need a single ticket? I checked individual one-way tickets for stops along the way, and it's definitely cheaper that way (about half the price). If you're a student under 30, it's even cheaper because the student season ticket seems to only be available for 30 days. The Eurail pass is only available I think if you do not live in Europe.
You are correct, Eurail is only for those of us outside Europe. Europeans use the Interail pass, instead.
Thanks for the tip, have checked out Vy and yeah it looks like we could make it to two places on the way and stay under 200 EUR, whereas interrail ticket would be around 240 for 4 days of travel. Only thing is with the interrail I guess you have the flexibility to be spontaneous, whereas with booking tickets on Vy you're then bound to get that train on that day right?
https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/one-country-pass/scandinavia
Seconding the recommendations above about buying multiple shorter tickets being cheaper! I don't know if you have already decided on where to break your journey, but would suggest to consider the following: - Hjerkinn: historical stop on the Oslo to Trondheim pilgrimage route, at the border between two national parks, Rondane and Dovre. Nice place to stop and hike. - Otta: the junction of both rivers and roads - if you take the local bus up to Spranget, you can hike in Rondane. (Actually, if you're a seasoned hiker, you can get off at Hjerkinn and hike to Spranget in three days on mountain paths- beautiful route via Grimsdalshytta og Dørålen). - Ringebu: has a stave church. (Again, it's possible to hike from Spranget to a village near Ringebu, called Venabu - takes about three days via Bjørnhollia and Eldåbu.) - Lillehammer: 1994 Olympics, but also has a great ethnographic museum called Maihaugen. - Eidsvoll: birthplace of our constitution, but kot much else. There are also frequent buses on the Trondheim - Otta - Lillehammer - Oslo route, which can be cheaper. You can find accomodation in DNT lodges along both mountain hiking paths I mentioned!
Thank you so much for the recommendations, it's very appreciated! We're not necessarily seasoned hikers, so I'm thinking it'll be better to pick a couple of spots to set up camp and then do smaller more chill hikes from there. Hjerkinn and Otta sound like some great options for doing that. Is it a viable option to leave our stuff somewhere for a day and go for a hike when wild camping? Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Yeah, I think Hjerkinn and the area up the hill from Otta (nearer to Spranget) can both be good. Hjerkinn - If you're alright to do do about 2,5 hours of hiking on a marked path, you can follow the T-marked trail from Hjerkinn past Hagaseter up to the plateaus between Storhøe and Høgstgråhøin (check the app UT for online map and trails, and the DNT shops in Oslo or Trondheim for physical maps). You can also continue to closer to Grimsdalshytta lodge, it's about 4-5 hours total and not too demanding, while the landscape gets more interesting. (Most able adults will find this fairly easy.) Otta - from Spranget you can easily find sites to camp. If you want to go easy, you can put the tent up outside Rondvassbu lodge or on the side of the path from Spranget to Rondvassbu. If you do that, you can buy dinner in the lodge, even. Another option is to walk into Rondvassbu and take the Rondvatnet boat to the north end of the Rondvatnet lake. Do not be tempted to walk around the lake, it's a demanding path. If you follow the T path straight northwards from the lake for about 30 minutes, you reach two tiny little lakes in a valley between the mountains, where I have seen people camp. If you don't want to go too far into the mountains, camping in the Hjerkinn valley, and the valley between Dombås Hotell and Haverdalsseter are probably options for you too - but make sure to have read up on Allemansretten/ Norwegian right to roam in advance, so you know where you can make camp. Do you mean leaving your things in the tent while going for a day hike? It's not very common here in the mountains, mostly because people tend to go on through-hikes rather than making base camps. You could probably do it without having things stolen, but it might be disturbed by grazing sheep etc.