Epic Norway Vacation With Kids (11 Days)

Norway Campervan Itinerary (11 Days)

Day 1

We flew Air France premium economy from Detroit to Oslo, Norway. Our flight left at 9PM and we arrived to Oslo the next morning. This worked out perfect because it gave us an entire day to explore Oslo before we started our journey through the fjords.

JET LAG PRO TRIP: Honestly? Mindset is a huge part of it! If you convince yourself before you leave that jetlag will be bad, then it will. We try not to acknowledge it and really focus on being SO excited to be somewhere new and explore.. There is a 6 hour time difference between Michigan and Norway. Tyler and Haddon don't have a problem sleeping on planes, and Emsley and I usually don't sleep at all! So trust me, we are tired. But usually once we get off the plane we get a new burst of energy to explore. That night we go to sleep and usually by the next morning or the morning after we are completely adjusted.

Favorite things we did day 1:



-Eat at Oslo Food Hall. It is indoors but filled with different food trucks vendors. Pretty much any type of food you can think of they have. Its the perfect place to eat if you have a family where everyone likes to eat different food (that's us)!!!!

-Oslo Opera House is absolutely beautiful and you can walk on top of it!!! Fun free activity for kids to get their wiggles out!

-Take a quick metro stop to Frognerparken. This is one Norways largest parks!

Day 2

The hotel that we stayed at for the beginning and end of our Norway trip was The Hub Oslo. This is a Choice Hotel that we booked on points. There was a room that fit 4 and we paid 15,000 points a night. Best part?! Breakfast is free for everyone! Not hotel status needed. And it's AMAZING!! Like seriously, thee largest breakfast spread I've ever seen. We experience something similar to this when we were in Sweden on a different trip. Scandinavians don't mess around with breakfast!

After breakfast we packed up all of our luggage and took a train to the airport so we could pick up our campervan for the next 9 nights. Some of you might be hesitant to do a trip like this. Trust me, I was. I am totally bougie. Give me a luxury hotel and I'm a happy girl. I don't camp...EVER. BUT!!! Norway is a country that is made to be explored slowly, and you will miss so much staying in cities. An alternative option is to rent a car and stay in Airbnbs. We found price wise getting an RV was cheaper! And as you'll see, the camp sites are spectacular!

After we picked up our campervan from Arctic Campers we got groceries and headed out on first adventure. This was a 3 hr drive to Groven Camping.

On the way we found Heddal Stave Church. This is only one of 27 stave churches left in Norway. It's absolutely beautiful and like nothing we have seen here in the states. From there we made it to Groven around dinner time, ate dinner and went to bed.

Day 3

We had our first big day heading closer to the fjords. Norway’s landscape is ever changing. First you have city. Then as we head more west we hit lush green forest. And today we will finally reach the fjords! Our goal today is to reach Kinsarvik Campground in the Hardangerfjord. We only spent one night here but you could easily spend a week exploring.

Along the way to Kinsarvik we hit Mjønøy Bakeri AS. It’s so adorable. Imagine a lush green forest and deep in the woods is a bakery. It’s traditional small Norwegian huts and all the baked goods are made fresh there. You’ll need cash! You can get this from the ATM easily in Oslo. The raspberry cinnamon rolls will change your life! I think we spent $50 on baked goods here!

As you are traveling West to the Hardangerfjord you will come upon Haukelivegen Road on E-134. We stopped along the way and took pictures in the most beautiful field with the mountains as the backdrop. Around this time we also passed an adorable town with all black houses with bright green grass top roofs. I dream of going back here! One nice thing about Norway is there are pulls off everywhere for cars and vans to explore.

You’ll know when you hit Hardangerfjord. It’s absolutely breathtaking. There also are fruit stands all along the fjord you’ll want to stop at. It’s mostly plums and apples. Only one took PayPal so have cash. Prices are similar to USD. I would expect to pay $4–$5 for a small box of plums. You can convert that into NOK to see how much you’d need. At Mjønøy Bakery I think we spent $50. We wanted baked goods for a few days. We took out 100 USD in cash at the ATM in Oslo and that was all we needed for the trip!

Kinsarvik Campground was one of our favorites. The view of the fjord was incredible. Makes me want to tear up thinking about it. This is another reason why campgrounds are so important. For whatever reason in Norway they have the absolute best views. You’re not going to get that from Airbnbs and hotels. I think that might be something very unique to Norway. They really cater to the van life community. There is also a really fun amusement park. I’m not really sure if that’s the word but they have some rides and other children’s activities. It’s called Mikkelparken. We ended up passing on this because I think it was $80–$100 USD for the four of us. So we decided to just relax at the campground for free. Well I shouldn’t say for free. Each campground was about $25–$50 USD a night. So I think total for our trip we spent around $500–$600 to stay at the campgrounds for the 11 days.

Kinsarvik Campground also has a little playground and there is a calisthenics park as well. You’re literally inside the fjord so you’re surrounded on all sides by beautiful mountains and the water. And the crazy thing is the campground is right next to the school. What an amazing place to go to live. I definitely would recommend exploring here for more than a day if you have the time!

Day 4

This is the day we had to say goodbye to Kinsarvik Campground and head toward Gudvangen Campground. This is the part of the trip where every day just keeps getting more and more beautiful and more and more epic. This is really when you are in the heart of the fjords.

On the way to Gudvangen we knew there were a few waterfalls that we wanted to hit!

The best is Skjervsfossen. You can see it from a few different viewpoints but there is one in particular where you can go down to the bottom of the waterfall. The parking lot for this waterfall is extremely small. I would recommend getting here in the morning especially if you have a campervan so that you have a place to park. We ended up having a rainbow that day at the waterfall when we were there so it made for the best pictures!

Next waterfall is Tvindefossen. I’d skip this one. It was crowded and nowhere near as good!

Gudvangen Campground is absolutely adorable. They even have a fun little shop in the reception area. They can make you lattes, alcoholic drinks and they have some handmade items for sale. We met the most kind people when we were here. Thor was our favorite person that we met. He works at the Viking Village down the road and actually lives at the campground! We didn’t end up going to the Viking Village because we were crunched on time and we didn’t want to spend any money on it. I think it was around $80–$100 USD for the four of us to visit. But it’s a complete replica of a Viking village. And the people that work inside it have Vikings as their heritage and love sharing it with the world. It’s definitely worth going if you have time!

There are also lots of hiking trails in this area. We didn’t end up doing any hiking because the kids wanted to play at the playground at Gudvangen. That’s what I love about Norway because you can easily have a kid trip or an adult trip. There is so much to do for all ages!

Day 5

After Gudvangen our goal was to get to Olden, Norway. From here you basically have to go to the top of the mountain and back down to get there.

At the top of the mountain is a really popular viewpoint called Stegastein Viewpoint. This is the first time we encountered the cruise people. I definitely don’t want to sound like I’m complaining about cruise people, it’s a great way to see Norway, but they literally take up an entire town when they dock. The road to get up the mountain to the viewpoint is extremely narrow. We were stuck behind a bike tour that was biking to the viewpoint. It made the traffic so bad and made it take way longer than it needed to. So just keep that in mind if you hit cruise ships this day. Once you get up to Stegastein Viewpoint again there was hardly any parking. This is a common theme. Not sure why because they have so many tourists. But the viewpoint is gorgeous and definitely worth a stop. From there you will finish driving up to the top of the mountain and back down! You’ll want to take this drive slow and stop along the way. There are streams, waterfalls and when you get to the very top you finally get to see the snow that is making all of the beautiful waterfalls! It’s crazy how cold it is at the top of the mountain compared to being at the bottom where the towns are. If you live in a mountain town this isn’t surprising to you at all, but being that we are from Michigan this was really exciting for us!

We are reaching the part of the trip where we decided to stay two nights instead of one, and I literally dream of staying an entire month here again someday. This is where you really start to hit the bright blue glacial water. Our campground happened to be right on the water. It was called Oldevatn Campground. Besides the view this was the campground that had the most amenities. It had an epic playground and free access to kayaks, row boats etc to go out on the water. You also are walking distance to many hikes and also about a 10 minute drive to Briksdalsbreen Glacier.

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but the campgrounds in Norway are amazing! Extremely clean and well kept. I originally got an RV with a bathroom and shower because I thought it was the only place I would use those things. But we hardly ever used the bathroom in the RV and never used the shower. Even gas stations in Norway have impeccably clean bathrooms. Very different than the US.

When we arrived to the campground it was around dinner time so all the kids wanted to do was play on the trampoline and the playground. The playground also has a small little zip line and our kids went on that for hours. I also wanted to mention that this campground also has freshly baked bread and cinnamon rolls. You put in your order the night before and they have it ready in the morning. The cinnamon rolls are definitely nowhere near the level of Mjønøy, but having freshly baked cinnamon rolls while you sit outside and look at the glacier blue water of the fjord is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. They also have a really fun outside cooking area with lots of tables, chairs, swing chairs etc. You can buy firewood from them and cook your food in these hanging kettles. If you look at the pictures in my highlights on my Instagram page you’ll be able to see what I’m talking about. We ended up having burgers on the grill that night as we watched the sun go down over the fjord. It’s hands down a core memory for our family and why we chose to stay a second night.

Day 6

Day six we went to Briksdalsbreen Glacier. Walking to the glacier is free but you do have to pay $5 to park (you can pay with a credit card). The hike is kind of long, about an hour and a half each way. If you have kids you can actually pay to have what they call "troll cars" take you up the mountain and back down if you don’t want to walk. I don’t know what the cost is but that definitely would be an option if you are in a time crunch or have mobility issues. The walk is really pretty and at one point I felt like I was living with the trolls in Frozen. It looked exactly like where they lived in the movie. You get to see absolutely amazing waterfalls along the way and at the top is the glacier. The glacier is bright blue just like the water. It was so amazing to see!

I also wanted to mention before I forget that Oldevatn campground also had lots of supplies inside the store. Not every campground has that. They also had handmade items by the owner’s mother. We bought some knit socks here. They also had handmade wool sweaters but not in our sizes. They gave us a tip that the grocery store in town has a café attached to it and the owner’s mom hand knits wool sweaters there. We went that day and she was exactly right! Because it was fall they only had five sweaters left. She spends all winter knitting and then in the spring puts out everything she has and when they are gone they are gone. I happened to find one in my size that I absolutely loved. It’s handmade baby merino wool. In USD it was $160 which I know sounds like a ton of money, but that’s actually a crazy good deal. You are going to see some popular wool sweater brands all through the fjords. Dale is one of them. Most of those are easily $250–$450 and they are made in a factory. So if you go to Olden, Norway I highly recommend stopping at the café next to the grocery store. The café is called Bunnpris.

We also did the hardest hike of our lives this day! The views once you get to the top are absolutely amazing but I definitely don’t think we would ever do this hike again. It’s called Rakssetra. It actually isn’t that long of a hike but it’s incredibly steep. You basically hike straight up for about an hour and a half and you come out to what looks like a beautiful lush green forest with the typical Norwegian huts with the grass on the top. They look more like cabins. We didn’t see anyone there when we went up so I’m not sure if anybody lives in them. But you have a beautiful view of the fjord from here.

We went back to the campground, had dinner, the kids played outside and we just soaked up our last night at Oldevatn. We wish we didn't have to go.

Day 7

We were so incredibly sad to leave this campground so we soaked it up as long as we could. We took the row boat back out on the water. The kids played on the playground and we made our way to Loen Skylift. This is about a 10 minute drive from the campground and we could have done this a different day as well. We knew it was on the way to our next campground so we saved it for the last day. You are probably getting the theme here; there are lots of free activities in Norway, but the ones that do cost money are expensive and add up quick. I think we paid around $100–$120 for the Skylift.

Unfortunately, we ran into the cruisers again. If we could do it again we actually would have tried to stop here on the first day because if you get stuck with a group of cruise ship people it really puts a damper on the experience. This time of year there is really no line unless you happen to be there when the cruise ships are there, so we just had awful luck. We had to wait in line about 30 to 40 minutes. You take a gondola all the way up to the top of the mountain. It’s called a Skylift because it’s a little bit different than what you usually imagine when you think of Switzerland as an example. I think you can fit 40 people in it! The ride up takes about seven minutes. At the top there is a really beautiful restaurant. It has floor to ceiling windows and looks out over the fjord.

The restaurant is called Hoven and if you want to have the front row seats by the windows you’ll need to reserve at least a day in advance. We didn’t super love the food here. It was also kind of expensive. I think our lunch was around $100. You can’t beat the views, so it’s worth going if you don’t plan to ever come back here. There are also tons of hikes that you can do up here as well. You also don’t have to take the Skylift up. You can actually hike all the way to the top. We met a couple that did this and you can take the Skylift down or hike all the way back down. It was kind of cold and rainy this day and the kids were a little grumpy, so we didn’t do any hiking up here. We just let them run around outside for a little bit and we took the Skylift back down. Because all the cruise ship people were up there at the same time as us we had to wait in line about 30 to 40 minutes to go back down the Skylift as well. Like I said, a regular day is never busy like this especially in September.

You can actually pull up cruise schedules for all of these towns. If I was planning my itinerary again I would make sure to really check the cruise schedule before I make any plans!

After the Skylift we headed to a town called Geiranger. We knew this was a very popular town based on YouTube videos that we had seen. The cruise ships dock here as well. And again unfortunately we seemed to follow them. My big issue here is the campground that we stayed at is right on the base of the water. The views are absolutely breathtaking unless the cruise ships are docked there. There were two cruise ships docked our first night there so we couldn’t hardly see the fjord. They left the next morning around 10 AM and that made all the difference!

Day 8

This is definitely the most touristy town that we encountered. All of the shops are really geared toward the cruise ship people. There is one place that I ate that I absolutely loved and was really looking forward to. It’s called FISKAKE. The fish that they use for this is caught right in the fjord that we were staying on. It’s a small little mom and pop shop and I highly recommend it!



Day 9

Once the cruise ship people left the town was extremely quiet.

It’s really fun because the campground has this wooden sign that shows you all the hikes you can get to from the campground and how long they are. So we did a shorter one with the kids. There are beautiful waterfalls all over Norway and the one right next to the campground is gorgeous! To get to the top there are tons of steps to get there. We definitely had some whining along the way even from myself! But once you get to the top there is also a really fun playground as well.

You might also notice as a theme for our trips that I always focus on countries that really put an emphasis on children. This was the same with Denmark and Sweden. You can travel anywhere around the world with your kids, but if you really want them to enjoy their time it’s important to find countries to visit that have things your kids will enjoy. My kids are 7 and 9 and it won’t be much longer that they will love playgrounds. So I really try to choose countries that have epic playgrounds. It’s a great way to build memories that your kids will never forget. With points and miles you can always come back when they are older and do the harder hikes!

We left Geiranger and headed towards Trollstigen. This is a really famous drive that is incredibly tight and windy. It’s also really interesting because when you get to this part of Norway the landscape changes as well. I’m trying to think of a way to describe it, but it changes from lush greenery to almost feeling kind of like the Dolomite Mountains. The mountains become more sharp looking and dull gray color. There is still some green but it’s completely different here!

I’m going to be completely honest with you that we were really exhausted by this day. Most days we are driving at least two hours, and every day has an activity. So we were feeling very tired. I think this just goes to show you that you could literally stay for months in Norway and still not see it all. There are some really amazing hikes up here but we honestly didn’t do anything.

We stayed at Trollstigen Campground. This was probably our least favorite campground. The playground was fun, but Trollstigen is really known for hiking and there really wasn't much else to do. The terrain is also more rugged, so we were really missing our glacial blue water views from the day before.

I definitely think if we had a few more days we would have really loved exploring this part of Norway! If I could go back and do things again I think I would stop at Olden and really explore there more, or take a few more days up near Trollstigen and really see what this area has to offer.

Day 10

This was our extremely long drive back to civilization! We had four hours of driving this day. We also shed some tears having to leave the fjords. Thankfully our last campground was one of the best yet so it was a great way to end the trip.

Sveastranda Campground was our last campground and it was huge! There was hardly anybody there because once you hit September it’s technically the off season. This campground is right on the water as well. This had the best playground yet! It had amazing free bathrooms and showers and the kitchen was huge as well! We usually only use the kitchens to do our dishes, but you could definitely cook a huge meal in here! The camp store here is also really nice and they have a pizza restaurant as well. We had lots of groceries that we needed to use up so we just ate dinner in the RV.

Day 11

We got up early this day and cleaned the entire campervan so that way we were ready to drop it back off at Arctic Campers. From this campground the drive was about an hour back. I highly highly recommend Arctic Campers. They were incredibly kind and helpful. I forgot to mention at the beginning that they have a little area on the inside where you check in for your camper where they keep all of the extra supplies. Everything is free and I highly recommend grabbing as many things as you can. Things like a rubber mat for your shoes, olive oil, sugar, salt etc. Groceries in Norway are expensive and anywhere you can save is a great idea. We also grabbed toilet paper and paper towel from there as well. We had to buy more paper towel along the way, so we left all of our extra supplies there for the next campers!

*When we got back to Oslo we had one more stop to Haralds Vaffel. This is a viral waffle shop in Oslo. The waffles are really good and I highly recommend trying it!!!!*

Unfortunately flights to the United States usually leave in the morning. So we took the train back into Oslo again and stayed at the same hotel we stayed in at the beginning. If I could do it again I would find a hotel right next to the airport instead of going back into the city. We were so exhausted and it just takes up so much time.

I also wanted to share where I made a crucial mistake. I’ve never thought about this before, but if you go to Norway this is definitely something you’ll want to check into. What time the trains run. I wrongfully assumed that the trains in Oslo run 24 hours a day. Our flight was around 6 AM. The train in Oslo doesn’t start until 5 AM. We didn’t realize that until we got all the way back into Oslo, so we had to scramble to figure out what to do. They don’t really have Uber in Oslo. They have a different company called Bolt. We couldn’t find any drivers to take us. The train that you take from the airport to the city center is a high speed train. It’s much faster than regular trains. So the drive is actually closer to over an hour. Unfortunately we had to pay $180 for a taxi to take us to the airport so that was a big bummer! Again, that’s why if I could do it again I would stay right at the airport.

We flew Air France economy home with a one night layover in France to do Disney. But that’s a story for another day!

Final Thoughts

Overall, Norway was hands down our favorite country we have visited yet (Denmark is a close 2nd)! We also fell in love with campervan trips. There were times where it was hard and we were frustrated with each other living in such small quarters. But the memories that we made I’ll never forget. We also loved our RV trip so much that we plan to take one every year!

If you really enjoyed hearing about this trip make sure to stay tuned for later in 2026. We have an RV trip coming up at the end of September where we are starting and ending in Munich, Germany and doing a big loop through Germany, Austria, Italy and Slovenia. We will be visiting the Bavarian Alps and the Dolomite Mountains!

I’d love to hear from you! Message me and let me know where you think we should do a campervan trip in 2027!