phyllis3

My husband and I , both in our early 70's, reasonably fit, are planning a trip to Norway in September for 22 days. Although we have had our tickets to Norway for awhile, we are just getting back to the plans. As of now the overall plan is this-
Arrive in Oslo and spend 1 night , Norway in a nutshell, with one night stopover in Aurland, Bergen 1 night ,4 days exploring the lustrafjord and Balestrand by car, return to Bergen for 1 night, 4 days in Lofoten Islands including getting there, 4 days in Trumso including getting there and 2 days in Oslo.
These are my questions
1- We wanted to come back to Oslo at the end of the trip rather than spending more time in the beginning to give ourselves the best chance to see the Northern lights up North with no moon later in the month, but should we spend another day in Oslo at the beginning so we won't be so jet lagged?
2- Norway in the Nutshell followed by exploring the Lustrafjord and Balestrand . So my first question is should we complete the Norway in a nutshell, with overnight in Aurland and rent the car in Bergen or would it be better to go as far as Gudvangen and rent a car for our explorations on the Sognefjord and then head to Bergen? If we did this as an extension of Norway in a nutshell and went to Bergen afterwards, which town would be best to rent the car? It seems it is more expensive to rent a car one way so we'd have to find a town that we could both get and return the car to.
3- We wanted to go by boat on the Hurtigruten. Would it be best to do that between Bergen and the Lofoten Islands or from the Lofoten Islands and Trumso? Does one have more interesting scenery on the water? Would it make sense to fly between one of these places?
4- We wanted to rent a car to see the Lofoten Islands. Should we take the ferry to the lands and rent a car or get the car and bring it on the ferry?
5- Does this basic itinerary seem reasonable. What else should I consider in making thee plans.
6- I am assuming that since we are traveling after the summer season, it will be easy to get reservations for hotels, ferries, etc Is that right?
Thank you o much for you help
Phyllis