Scenic Rail Trip to Flam

 4th September 2023

As instructed we had our main luggage downstairs by 6.30am, for them to be collected and transferred to our Hotel in Bergen for our arrival on 5th September. We are staying overnight in Flam and were only allowed to take one small bag each with us.

The weather is a bit overcast, but only  slight rainfall is predicted. It is a bit cooler today but should still be pleasant. Once again, we enjoyed the hotel breakfast after which we collected our small bags, checked out and wandered 150 m to the railway station. Our train is due to depart from Oslo station at 8.35 am.

On the platform ready to go

Our train (the Bergen Train) arriving at the platform, on time

The rail trip today is in 2 parts. Firstly we catch the Bergen train to Myrdal, we then change trains to catch the Flam Railway to Flam. The following day we will complete the journey to Bergen from Voss Station.

We departed Oslo pretty close to on time with a pretty full train. It is unclear how many are going straight through to Bergen, via Flam or getting off at one of the stations along the way. The train is very comfortable, quiet and smooth.

Soon we are out of the city and begin to see some of the stunning Norwegien countryside.

The early landscape is largely rural with very fertile looking farming country interspersed with farmhouses  

small rural villages.

Fast flowing rivers, a few hydro power stations and tranquil lakeside scenes were all part of the amazing scenery.

As the journey progressed we headed up into more mountainous country with sheer vertical rock walls dominating the landscape.

As we approached Finse, the weather changed and wind and rain replaced the beautiful still conditions we had enjoyed earlier.

We also noticed some very creative architecture that used an old rail car and rail as connecting passageway between two buildings.

It was not a particularly quick train trip and we seemed on many occasions to be sitting on a side track waiting for passing trains before we continued our journey. So, it was not surprising to hear that we were running 30 minutes late for our arrival at Myrdal, but the Flam railway would not depart without us. On arrival there we realised why they would not go without us, our train contained at least 50% of the passengers booked.

Most people on our train diverted to the Flam Railway rather than continuing on directly to Bergen.

As our arrival at Myrdal was 30 minutes late and the train was waiting for us, we had to abandon our plan to get something for lunch at the station. A further complication was that the Flan Railway does not allow pre booked seating, so there was a stampede to get window side seats. 

Whilst the route to Flam only takes an hour, the scenery is spectacular, but difficult to capture it all in photos from a moving train.

The highlight was the Kjosfossen, a waterfall of 93 metres that had a viewing platform where we could get off the train to photograph it.

A train stop to view  the falls

To add further intrigue, there was eerie music playing and a nymph dancing around the edges of the falls.

You can see her here with the red costume

There were lots of waterfalls, deep valleys and some pretty amazing feats to carve a railway through this.

Arriving in Flam delivered a huge surprise, because right in the backdrop of this small mountain town, was a huge cruise ship.

As we were getting off the train we were astounded to see a huge cruise ship in the background

We should not have been surprised, as Flam is located at the end of a very long Fjord. It was the size of the cruise ship in relation to the "town" that took us by surprise as well.

Flam is where the blue dot is

The town is full of people, this lot mostly from the train. We found a couple of food outlets and managed to get something to eat. Most of the store keepers seemed overwhelmed by the crowds from the ship and almost reluctantly served the next surge from the train.

Our accommodation in Flam is a small guest house, Heimly Guesthouse, located looking down the fjord, and required a walk of around 900m from the township.

Heimly Guesthouse

The guesthouse is very comfortable and the hosts very helpful. The view from our room accentuates the sheer magnitude of the cruise ship in town.

Once settled in, I went for a bit of a walk along the shoreline. There is a small marina near our guesthouse, also with accommodation, and a few other quaint little cabins for hire on the waterfront.

There was an Axopar at the marina set up for high speed fjord tours and an interesting stern anchor adaptation

Of course there are also floating saunas available. 

Looking down the fjord from just in front of our guesthouse

Some cute little cabins right on the waterfront.

By 5 pm it was time to sit out on the veranda, have a pre dinner drink and chat to a couple of the other visitors staying here. Dinner came around quickly at 6.30pm. Our package here includes dinner and breakfast tomorrow.

 The dinner was surprisingly good, and we were hungry

After dinner there was activity on the dockside in town, and it appears that the ship is departing. By 7.30pm, they had cast off and we slowly moving away.

A view of the town without the cruise ship

We are told that an even larger ship will arrive tomorrow. Fortunately we are moving on. Tomorrow's program is pretty relaxed, as we don't leave Flam until 11.30 am, and expect to be in Bergen at around 6 pm, after a fjord tour, a bus ride and a further train trip.