Our train ride departed from Bergen Sentrum Station in the morning, which was about a mile walk from where we were all staying. Our train was the main line that would take you all the way across Norway to Oslo, if you wanted to go that far, but our stop was in Myrdal so we could connect to the Flåm Railway.
"The Flåm Railway has been described as one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world and is one of the leading tourist attractions in Norway. The train runs from the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, up to the high mountains at Myrdal station. The journey features the finest aspects of the stunning scenery of Western Norway. Over the course of one hour, the train takes you from sea level at the Sognefjord in Flåm to the Myrdal mountain station, situated at 867 metres above sea level. Myrdal is also a station on the Bergen Line, meaning the Flåm Railway connects with trains running between Bergen and Oslo.
The Flåm Railway is one of the steepest standard gauge railway lines in the world, with 80% of the journey running on a gradient of 5.5%. The train runs through spectacular scenery, alongside the Rallar Road, vertiginous mountainsides, foaming waterfalls, through 20 tunnels, and offers so many viewpoints that, for many people, a single trip up and down is not enough."
Shortly after departing Myrdal the train stopped at Kjosfossen. All of the train piled out to take pictures and watch a pretty random theatrical display to music, involving two women in red dresses to which I didn't quite understand the significance other than to add a little bit of entertainment.
"The Huldra, seductive beings of Norse Mythology are brought to life with the backdrop of the magnificent Kjosfossen Waterfall along the delightful Flam Mountain Railway."
Down, down, down the train went to the fjord town of Flåm. When we arrived I wasn't expecting a giant cruise ship to be anchored in the narrow valley of Flåm, but after looking at the map, the waterways connect all the way to the ocean. It was just an unexpected sight to see such a large ship in that small area, proof that the fjords in Norway are quite deep.
I was also not expecting Flåm to be such a tourist trap. People and shops were everywhere, but I guess that makes sense since the area is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Norway. Personally, I didn't really like it, but at least it gave us something to do for a little bit while we waited for the boat to leave for our fjord cruise.
The cruise was really pretty and just what you would expect. The first half of the voyage was along the Aurlandsfjord before we took a left turn and went down to the end of Naerøyfjord. There were waterfalls left and right coming off of the top of each mountain and into the fjord, but many of them didn't really turn out in pictures. My favorite part of the cruise was passing villages and single farm houses clinging to the sheer cliff face above the water.
The cruise ended in Gudvangen, which took us by bus back to the main train line between Bergen and Oslo. Along the way we stopped at a hotel, which had an amazing view of a valley below it (picture is below). After this quick photo op we joined back up with the train and rode it back to Bergen. I'm not sure I remember the walk home, since this adventure was an all day affair. As the quote above mentioned, I feel like I should go back and spend a lot more time in the area to really soak it all in.
"The Huldra, seductive beings of Norse Mythology are brought to life with the backdrop of the magnificent Kjosfossen Waterfall along the delightful Flam Mountain Railway."
Down, down, down the train went to the fjord town of Flåm. When we arrived I wasn't expecting a giant cruise ship to be anchored in the narrow valley of Flåm, but after looking at the map, the waterways connect all the way to the ocean. It was just an unexpected sight to see such a large ship in that small area, proof that the fjords in Norway are quite deep.
I was also not expecting Flåm to be such a tourist trap. People and shops were everywhere, but I guess that makes sense since the area is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Norway. Personally, I didn't really like it, but at least it gave us something to do for a little bit while we waited for the boat to leave for our fjord cruise.
The cruise was really pretty and just what you would expect. The first half of the voyage was along the Aurlandsfjord before we took a left turn and went down to the end of Naerøyfjord. There were waterfalls left and right coming off of the top of each mountain and into the fjord, but many of them didn't really turn out in pictures. My favorite part of the cruise was passing villages and single farm houses clinging to the sheer cliff face above the water.
The cruise ended in Gudvangen, which took us by bus back to the main train line between Bergen and Oslo. Along the way we stopped at a hotel, which had an amazing view of a valley below it (picture is below). After this quick photo op we joined back up with the train and rode it back to Bergen. I'm not sure I remember the walk home, since this adventure was an all day affair. As the quote above mentioned, I feel like I should go back and spend a lot more time in the area to really soak it all in.
