How to Book Train Travel From Oslo to Stavanger

Stavanger is Norway's fourth largest city (behind Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim), and is located on the southwest coast. A train trip there from Oslo will lead you all along Norway's southern coast and by some of the world's most beautiful fjords. The trip should take between 7 to 9 hours, but if you are lucky enough to travel on a beautiful day you may wish it took even longer.

Instructions

1. To book accommodations, contact Norwegian State Railways at 011 ([phone] or visit their Web site (see Resources, below). Select 'Oslo' as your 'From' city and 'Stavanger' as your 'To' city, then select your desired date and time of travel.

2. Choose between economy (Ordinær) and first class (Komfort) seats, the latter equipped with outlets for laptop use and cell phone charging. The Komfort seats are very popular on this run, as it tends to attract a lot of business travelers, so they tend to sell out fast and you will need to book one as far in advance as possible.

3. Select a payment method (credit cards only: Visa, Mastercard, Diner's Club or American Express) and fill out your contact information, then submit your secure online payment. Norwegian State Railways uses SSL encryption to protect your information from would-be identity thieves.

4. Pick your tickets up at the Oslo train station from a ticket seller or an automated ticket machine. Another option you may choose is to pick up your ticket on board the train, but this may create delays for others as you try to board the train--and you don't want to upset a Norwegian cowboy!

Tips & Warnings

• See if you can spot any offshore oil rigs. Stavanger is the center of Norway's oil industry and is a sister city to the USA's own Houston, Texas. Stavanger is also the city in Norway whose inhabitants are most likely to be spotted wearing cowboy boots and hats.

• Be sure to spell the names of the cities correctly when typing them into the Norwegian State Railways Web site, as it will not recognize any misspelled city names, nor does it supply you with a drop-down menu of choices.

• Before you travel in Norway, make sure to pack all of the little extras you may need. It can be pretty difficult to track down such simple items as toothpaste, shampoo and razors if you are not familiar with Norwegian 'chemists' (drug stores). Contact lens supplies are especially tricky to locate, as you may need to purchase them from an optician.