UKC

I'm planning a return trip to Norway for a week from August 30th to September 6th in the Jotunheimen. Trying to research bus services etc is awkward enough on the websites offered and they don't give you the option to search more than three weeks in advance. All was looking good with a bus connection at either end of my six day hike so I went ahead and booked flights and trains. Now I find that the busses don't run at the dates I'm there It's not exactly the middle of winter. For one of the wealthiest countries in the world their public transport system (and the associated websites) are pretty pants. It looks like possibly cancel the trip or fork out a couple of hundred on taxis.

In reply to goatee:

Why not rent a car?

In reply to goatee:

Or hitch hike ?

In reply to GrahamD:

I might just do that but its a bit of a chance when you need to make connections and a flight. I better start practicing my sad pleading face

In reply to goatee:
Well, your OP didn't contain much details on your preferred destination, so it's difficult to offer some help. As far as I know, there is still lots of possible bus lines to the most usual destinasjons at the outskirts of Jotunheimen at the time of your planned trip.
I'm quite sure that is possible, even easy, to get a good view of all possible busfares months in advance. But again, travel details...

Also remember that Jotunheimen is a vast national park, and hence is the least densely populated part of an already sparsely populated country. And in september summer holiday is passed.

In reply to goatee: where are you flyging to? And which 'town' in Jotunheimen ?

Without a car a lot of places in Jotunheimen are a pain to get to - there is often a long stretch of dirt road between the main road and the start of the track

In reply to hillman:
Well I had planned to go from Lom to Spiterstulen and return from Gjendesheim to Otta. It seems that the bus services to either place finish on August 21st. Strange. It doesn't seem to be a tourist friendly set up...unless you hire a car.

In reply to goatee:

The Norwegian summer pretty much 'ends' by mid August throughout most of the country, the ferries even go on to winter timetable. The simple reason is that most Scandinavians are heading back at school/work by then having been on holiday since mid-June.


Chris

In reply to goatee:

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahah.

Try to do what you're doing now but to go from, say, Watford to, say, Hathersage.

Then come back and explain why the Norwegians are backward.

In reply to goatee:
You are sort of correct in that the bus service to these distant locations ends at that time of year. At the end of the summer season the bus service narrows down to weekends, and final day is sunday Sep 4.
But by a bit of changing on destinations you can still get bus transport to another destination, Leirvassbu, close to Spiterstulen.
The bus from Oslo bus terminal Aug 30. 13.05 will arrive at Leirvassbu at 20.30 the same day.
All local bus service in this mountain area ends at Sep 4. At that date it is still possible to take the bus to Otta (via Lom) or better direct to Oslo via Fagernes.
If you insist on exstending the trip to Sep 6. you need to choose another ending, like Tyinkrysset, which has regional bus service year round.
It is also possible to hitch hike, and in that area the chance of getting picked up is reasonably good.

In reply to hillman:

Thanks very much for that excellent info. I'll look into that straight away. Much appreciated