All Boats on the Sognefjord

A lone ferry between Hella and Vangsnes, near Balestrand

When navigating on the Sognefjord, it can be hard to understand which boats go where and when. This is a guide to all car and passenger ferries on the fjord.

Route Planner

When you are planning to use public transportation, you’ll find the Entur app helpful, which collects public transportation information from all over Norway. When using it for boat travel, be sure to look for place names ending in kai or ferjekai (meaning harbor or ferry dock).

Express Boat

The Norled express boat from Bergen goes into the Sognefjord all year round, ending in Sogndal. In the summertime there is an extra boat that stops in Flåm instead of Sogndal. This boat is a part of the popular Sognefjord in a Nutshell tour sold by Fjord Tours.

Tickets can be booked online through Norled here. They are also sold at Strandkaiterminalen, the departure point in Bergen, as well as at the Tourist Information Offices in Balestrand and Flåm. Tickets can’t be changed, but they can be refunded up to 24 hours before departure. The boat ride is pleasant; you can go outside, and there is a small kiosk serving drinks and light meals. There is free seating on the boat; you can’t reserve specific seats.

We find that Norled’s online timetables can be hard to understand, especially if you don’t speak Norwegian. They have split the route into two timetables, Bergen–Sogn–Bergen for winter and Bergen–Sogn–Flåm–Bergen for summer. The summer route is dependant on tourist traffic, and has been shut down earlier than planned during the COVID-19 summers.

Norled hasn’t published the timetable for summer 2022 yet, and although there is insecurity about the start and end dates, but most likely the departure times will be the same as as 2020, shown below.

The only difference between the winter and summer is that there is no extra boat between Bergen and Flåm, and the Sunday boat from Sogndal leaves later, at 15:40 instead of 10:40. Below is the winter timetable for 2021 and 2022.

Be on the lookout for holidays you aren’t used to! Don’t be surprised by route changes on uncommon holidays like Pentecost Monday or Second Christmas Day. The holiday list for 2022 hasn’t been published list, but this is what it looked like in 2019:

Holiday Schedules

18.04.19 Holy Thursday Saturday route
20.04.19 Holy Saturday No 14:15 departure from Bergen
21.04.19 Easter Sunday No 10:40 departure from Sogndal
22.04.19 Easter Monday Sunday route
01.05.19 International Worker's Day Sunday route
08.06.19 Eve of Pentecost No 14:15 departure from Bergen
09.06.19 Pentecost No 10:40 departure from Sogndal
10.06.19 Pentecost Monday Sunday route
01.01.20 New Year's Day Sunday route
25.12.19 Christmas Day No routes
26.12.19 Second Christmas Day Sunday route, with extra departure from Bergen 10:00, arriving in Sogndal at 14:50
31.12.19 New Year's Eve Saturday route

Timelapse of the express boat HSC Vingtor from Bergen to Flåm.

Car Ferries

When driving along the Sognefjord, car ferries are unavoidable. The most important connections are Lavik–Oppedal, Mannheller–Fodnes, and Dragsvik–Hella–Vangsnes. These ferries are just like a part of the road. You can’t pre-book tickets. Before Covid, you could pay with cash or card, but now you just drive on, a machine takes a photo of your license plate, and you get an invoice in the mail. You pay just for the car, not passengers.

See the website for autopassferje, the ferry payment scheme for most of Western Norway. If you’re a frequent guest in Norway, it pays to get an AutoPASS tag and account. You get a 50% discount on all major ferries (summer ferries, like Kaupanger–Gudvangen, are not included). The minimum amount to put on the account is 3,600 kroner. Sadly, the new AutoPASS system is notoriously difficult to understand, and we recommend getting help to set it up.

On many ferries there are small kiosks selling coffee and sveler, a traditional Norwegian pancake. Usually they are sold with brunost or buttercream.

The car ferry Skagastøl heading towards Gudvangen

Lavik–Oppedal

This route has the world’s first all-electric car ferries. On weekdays they run every 20 minutes between 10:00 and 22:00. Otherwise they run every hour or half-hour. Here is a link to the schedule.

Mannheller–Fodnes

This route runs every twenty or thirty minutes between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. See the timetable for departures before or after.

Dragsvik–Hella–Vangsnes

This route runs about every half hour during the day, but less often at night. Here is a link to the schedule. Everyone traveling between Dragsvik and Vangsnes will be asked to turn their car around on the ferry dock at Hella. This is to make all the cars face the right direction when the ferry docks at Vangsnes. It’s free to take this ferry as a passenger or with a bicycle.

On some maps, it looks like there are car ferries that go from Balestrand, just next to Dragsvik. Don’t be mislead! There is only a single 7:20 a.m. ferry to Hella that goes on weekdays, for commuters. The ferry also goes from Balestrand directly if the road to Esefjord is closed for avalanche danger. Otherwise all ferries go from Dragsvik.

Solvorn–Ornes

This is a small ferry which takes only 90 passengers and 12 cars. It runs about every hour between 10:00 and 17:00 from May 2nd until September 30th, and less often in the winter. The winter times are published. Cars under 6 meters long cost 121 kroner. A walk-on ticket costs 45 kroner for adults, and 22 kroner for children. This ferry isn’t included in the AutoPASS ferry scheme. Here’s a link to the schedule.

If you’re taking this ferry to see the Urnes Stave Church, you can also leave your car in Solvorn and take the ferry as a foot passenger. The church is about 5 km. from the ferry dock, a 30-minute walk. Note that Ornes is also spelled Urnes. They’re the same place.

Krakhella–Rutledal–Rysjedalsvika

This ferry runs regularly throughout the day, but the timetables are hard to understand. Here’s a link to the timetables. If you don’t speak Norwegian, don’t even try to decipher them. Call Fjord1 +47 577 57 000.

Nordeide–Ortnevik–Vik

This route runs infrequently, with a confusing timetable. Be careful when planning to use this ferry. Here is a link to the timetable (only in Norwegian) from Vik to Ortnevik. The departures from Nordeide to Ortnevik are on a different timetable: Here’s a link. This ferry stops at Måren by request only, and the Wednesday afternoon departures must be booked the day before: Call +47 415 36 317. Be careful!

Kaupanger–Gudvangen

This is the only car ferry on the Sognefjord that can be pre-booked online. The trip takes 2.5 hours. It ran from May 1st to September 30th in 2020, but 2022 timetables have not been published yet. There is no AutoPASS discount for this ferry. Vehicles should be booked in advance.

Passenger Ferries

Apart from the Norled Express Boat, there are 4 passenger ferries that run on the Sognefjord. They only run in the summertime, and all can be booked online.

The electric Future of the Fjords on the Nærøyfjord

Vik–Balestrand–Fjærland

This route runs daily from June 1st to September 15th, leaving Vik at 11:20 and Balestrand at 12:10. The trip to Fjærland takes about an hour and a half. You can combine the boat trip with several different package tours.

For example, the Fjord and Glacier Tour, which includes a bus ride from the harbor in Fjærland to the Norwegian Glacier Museum, and then further on to the Jostedalsbreen glacier, before returning to the harbor. The half-day tour costs 805 kroner for adults, and the full-day tour costs 845 kroner. Children 15 and younger pay half price, and children under 4 are free.

The boat is called Fjord Lady, and has space for 99 passengers. She has a small café and plenty of space to sit outside.

Flåm–Gudvangen

This route runs through the well-known Nærøyfjord every day, all year round. Here’s a link to the 2022 timetable. The cruise takes 2 hours. You can also book a shuttle bus back to where you started. These correspond with each boat arrival. The map below shows how this connection works:

Balestrand–Flåm

This route runs on early in the morning on weekdays from June 21st to August 13th. The 2022 schedule hasn’t been published, but here’s a link to the 2021 schedule. Adult tickets cost 310 kroner, and children 15 and under pay half price. It costs 100 kroner to take a kayak or a bike. The trip takes two hours.

Hardbakke–Bulandet

The island-hopping mail boat from Hardbakke to Bulandet ran on weekdays between June 15th and August 21st in 2021. The schedule for 2022 hasn’t been published yet, but you can check and book here. Hardbakke–Bulandet takes about 3 hours, and Bulandet–Hardbakke takes about 2 hours.

Adult tickets from Hardbakke to Bulandet cost 400 kroner. From Bulandet to Harbakke they cost 300 kroner. Round-trip tickets cost 700 kroner. If there are no tickets left available online, contact Visit Fjordkysten and they may be able to help: +47 57 74 30 00 or mail@fjordkysten.no. Bringing bicycles is allowed, but let them know in advance.