Norway in July-August was a marvellous experience. We were only there for 8 days and couldn't have had a nicer trip for our 40th wedding anniversary! It was at least 10 deg cooler than in many other parts of Europe, everything worked like clockwork and nobody didn't speak English! Our route was Oslo - train for 7 hrs to Bergen (unbelievably beautiful with all those waterfalls, lakes and glaciers) - 2 gloriously sunny days in Bergen - train to Voss - bus to Nærøyfjord at Gudwangen (in rain - down the hairpin bends of the Stalheimskleiva rd) - a 2-hr fiord cruise to the village of Flåm on the Aurlandsfiord - Flåm railway (stupendous - one of the steepest railway lines in the world on normal tracks) to Myrdal - train to Gjeilo and stay at beautiful olde worlde Dr Holm's hotel - train to Oslo - 2 days in Oslo (tiny bit of rain). The transport and hotels were organized by www.authenticscandinavia.com but there was no group - only us. I think I loved Bergen, with its harbour and fish market, and Grieg's home and performance of his piano music at Troldhaugen most of all, although the fiord and Flåm railway trips were unforgettable (especially the magnificent Kjossfossen waterfall where the train stopped on the way up the mountain) and the Bygdøy peninsula, where we visited Viking ships, the Holocaust Centre in Quisling's Villa Grande (with its Auschwitz-like entrance), the Kon-Tiki and Nansen and Amundsen's Fram, equally spectacular but in a very different way. Munch's paintings, at both the National and Munch Museums for his 150th anniversary, were an eye-opener for someone like me who had previously only been familiar with the various versions of "The Scream". My no-longer-so-well-functioning legs just managed to stand up to all the walking involved, although with our Oslo Card, we could actually have taken public transport more often. The desire to SEE everything always wins over a simple underground ride, no matter how slowly I get along!

BTW I should add here that the painter of this super little Viking picture (2012) is Ketil Kvam ( www.kvams-flisespikkeri.com/page1/page1/html ), who has a gallery in the most atmospheric part of Bergen, the houses and alleys of the old Hanseatic port of Bryggin.