Inter rail query Norway and Sweden

[1874]

Hello, just wondering for a bit of advice please, cost of tickets are obviously high in Scandinavia. We’re thinking of maybe train from Oslo to stavanger, couple of days, boat to Bergen couple of days. Train to Flam return on 1 day in Bergen. Then either sleeper or day train back to Oslo..Then finally taking the train from Oslo to Stockholm.
This counts as 4 journeys, we may do another as having one in the bank, for maybe something else.
Does anyone agree that a 2 country inter rail pass is the best value for this itinerary
Thanks for any replies

 

[rvdborgt]

You'll have to do the maths. Make a plan, look up prices and then compare with an Interrail pass plus mandatory reservations (see Seat61). Regular prices are dynamic but can indeed go up quite high. Seat reservations in Norway are free of charge with a 1st class pass. The Flåm line has a 30% pass discount, which doesn't need an active travel day if you're not using any trains included in the pass that day.
There is no 2-country Interrail pass. There are one country passes and there's a global pass.
Interrail doesn't count journeys but travel days (0:00-23:59). On a travel day, you can board as many trains as you want.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Hello, just wondering for a bit of advice please, cost of tickets are obviously high in Scandinavia. We’re thinking of maybe train from Oslo to stavanger, couple of days, boat to Bergen couple of days. Train to Flam return on 1 day in Bergen. Then either sleeper or day train back to Oslo..Then finally taking the train from Oslo to Stockholm.
This counts as 4 journeys, we may do another as having one in the bank, for maybe something else.
Does anyone agree that a 2 country inter rail pass is the best value for this itinerary
Thanks for any rep

Can't advise on tickets, but note that the ferry from Stavanger to Bergen departs around 0700 and the ferry terminal is way out of town some 9 miles away. You have to take a connecting bus at a rather uncivilised hour!

The 'traditional' ferry from Stavanger itself was withdrawn when the 'Atlantic Road' was opened - there is a bus service along it.

 

[rvdborgt]

Can't advise on tickets, but note that the ferry from Stavanger to Bergen departs around 0700 and the ferry terminal is way out of town some 9 miles away. You have to take a connecting bus at a rather uncivilised hour!

The 'traditional' ferry from Stavanger itself was withdrawn when the 'Atlantic Road' was opened - there is a bus service along it.

A few years ago, we looked into the ferry but decided against it because of the early departure way out of town and used the bus instead. It's a beautiful ride, including 2 ferries IIRC.

 

[jamesontheroad]

For the last part of your trip, there are typically three direct trains per day between Oslo S and Stockholm Central, all operated by SJ but using different rolling stock.

Morning and evening departures are typically four-carriage X55 trains, a long-distance variant of the Bombardier Regina. If you are interested, the early afternoon departure is normally hauled by an Rc6 locomotive and a rake of older A7/B7/RB7 carriages. It's a bit slower but a more "classic" kind of journey. All trains have bistros with coffee, snacks and hot/cold food.

Seat reservations for Interrail holders can be booked on www.sj.se/en .... Search Oslo S to Stockholm Central and then, under "Travellers" click "Travels with travel card" and then select Interrail/Eurail from the dropdown. Seat reservations are normally around 40 or 100SEK for 2nd and 1st class, respectively.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 May 2026 ==

PS. For hotels, one of the bigger chains in the Nordics is offering their usual summer passes, which allow 5 or 10 ten nights at a fixed fee.

Strawberry Hotels: https://www.strawberryhotels.com/offers/summer-pass/

 

[Polarbear]

Another factor to consider is whether you opt for 1st or 2nd class. In Sweden, seat reservations for 1st class cost a fair bit more than those for 2nd. As noted by @rvdborgt, resevrations are free in Norway with a 1st class pass.

In my experience, standard is fine in that part of the world.

 

[1874]

Thank you so much for replies so far, some brilliant information which we never knew. I’m thinking interail for Norway and then a single ticket to Stockholm.
Just one last thing, we’ve been looking for maybe a stop in Sweden between Oslo and Stockholm, for mainly sightseeing but nowhere stands out, any suggestion?.
Thanks once again, plenty of info to take on board.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Thank you so much for replies so far, some brilliant information which we never knew. I’m thinking interail for Norway and then a single ticket to Stockholm.
Just one last thing, we’ve been looking for maybe a stop in Sweden between Oslo and Stockholm, for mainly sightseeing but nowhere stands out, any suggestion?.
Thanks once again, plenty of info to take on board.

Karlstad in Värmland county is a pretty town, with a walkable city centre and a prime position on the northern side of Lake Vänern. It claims to be Sweden's sunniest city, with the greatest number of hours of sunshine per year. If you stop there, you could switch to a different operator for some variety, including SJ Regional or Tåg AB (whose older locomotive-hauled trains can be booked via SJ's website and app).

Tourism info: https://www.visitvarmland.com/karlstad/en/

There are a couple of nice museums, as well as Sandgrund Lars Lerin, which is an art gallery that exhibits and sells paintings by the prolific Swedish painter (and minor celebrity) Lars Lerin. I once got delayed for 4 hours in Karlstad and had a very nice time eating lunch on SJ's dime and visiting the gallery.

 

[JonasB]

Thank you so much for replies so far, some brilliant information which we never knew. I’m thinking interail for Norway and then a single ticket to Stockholm.
Just one last thing, we’ve been looking for maybe a stop in Sweden between Oslo and Stockholm, for mainly sightseeing but nowhere stands out, any suggestion?.
Thanks once again, plenty of info to take on board.

What are you looking for? Karlstad is not a bad place to stop. The town has its charm, and if you want to make a short side trip I can recommend a trip to Torsby or Sunne on the branch line Fryksdalsbanan. The scenery might be a bit dull if you've just been to Norway, but the line runs along the Fryken lakes that provide great views in my opinion.

Autumn views from the line:

 

[GTM]

If you're going to Flåm, you could consider going out/returning from Bergen on the boat 890 operated by Norled up Sognfjord, although it is a bit expensive and not covered by interrail. Also, if you are a distance from the airports you are flying out of and would be using travel days on the days you landed and flew out of Scandinavia anyway, worth considering global pass as that would cover getting to the airports as well (outbound/inbound days).

 

[ricohallo]

Just one last thing, we’ve been looking for maybe a stop in Sweden between Oslo and Stockholm, for mainly sightseeing but nowhere stands out, any suggestion?.
Thanks once again, plenty of info to take on board.

Maybe you can go via Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden's second largest city. There's a train every 2 hours from Oslo to Gothenburg and many trains from Gothenburg to Stockholm either operated by SJ (including X2000 high(er)-speed services) and some trains ran by the Finnish state operator VR in competition to SJ (though I think I'd personally recommend taking an SJ X2000 train, those are great!). The train from Oslo to Gothenburg is operated by Norwegian operator VY using it's long-distance BM74 FLIRT EMUs, which are comfortable enough for the 3.5 hour journey.

 

[peterblue]

Thank you so much for replies so far, some brilliant information which we never knew. I’m thinking interail for Norway and then a single ticket to Stockholm.
Just one last thing, we’ve been looking for maybe a stop in Sweden between Oslo and Stockholm, for mainly sightseeing but nowhere stands out, any suggestion?.
Thanks once again, plenty of info to take on board.

The sightseeing (natural landscapes, rivers, mountains, sea, etc) is best in Norway. You can go to Karlstad or Gothenburg depending on whether you want a 'small town's vibe or a larger city. Maybe Karlstad would be better for you as it's a smaller town and slightly different to the port cities you'll see in Norway.

I would recommend getting the bus between Stavanger and Bergen - it also goes on some ferries during the route, and it is very scenic.

 

[30907]

Can't advise on tickets, but note that the ferry from Stavanger to Bergen departs around 0700 and the ferry terminal is way out of town some 9 miles away. You have to take a connecting bus at a rather uncivilised hour!

It works much better southbound, though IIRC a couple of years ago you needed cash for the bus and some pax were caught out by that.

 

[rvdborgt]

It works much better southbound, though IIRC a couple of years ago you needed cash for the bus and some pax were caught out by that.

I'd be surprised if that's still the case. In addition, booking in advance can save quite some money.

 

[1874]

Thankyou all so much, just got in from work. Loads of new information from all replies much to ponder now, but at least it’s all valuable.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 

[Porty]

Hello, just wondering for a bit of advice please, cost of tickets are obviously high in Scandinavia. We’re thinking of maybe train from Oslo to stavanger, couple of days, boat to Bergen couple of days. Train to Flam return on 1 day in Bergen. Then either sleeper or day train back to Oslo..Then finally taking the train from Oslo to Stockholm.
This counts as 4 journeys, we may do another as having one in the bank, for maybe something else.
Does anyone agree that a 2 country inter rail pass is the best value for this itinerary
Thanks for any replies

Just wondered if you would share the results of your maths, in due course, as I'd be interested in the answer. I think you can find the fares on the entur app/ website.
Though Norway is an expensive country as a whole I don't think the train fares are particularly high. The sleeper from Bergen to Oslo always used to be remarkably good value.

 

[YorkshireBear]

I too would be interested in the maths. Whenever I did the maths I just bought the tickets, usually finding some very good value first class fares (Trondheim to Bodø was £50 each). Interail never nearly came out cheaper.

In terms of my experience I found Gothenburg amazing to visit for a few days. Very chill city with excellent transport. The run to Oslo was very pretty too.