Sail Away Stories: Riding Norway’s Scenic Flåm Railway

Flåm was the second of our three Norwegian ports, and after re-visiting Olden the day before we were looking forward to exploring somewhere new. And while we didn’t really know what to expect from Flåm itself, we knew we couldn’t miss out on one of the most scenic railway trips in the world, the Flåmsbana.

We spent a day ashore in Flåm as part of our 7 day cruise on P&O Iona. We also visited Olden and Stavanger on our trip! You can find similar P&O Norwegian fjord cruises here.

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About the Flåm Railway

The Flåmsbana runs between Flåm and Myrdal, departing from Flåm train station. You can walk to the station easily; it sits right in the centre of the village. Bottle-green carriages with a classic wooden interior await. They may look vintage, but each carriage has state-of-the-art screens, giving lots of information about your journey.

It’s an impressive feat of engineering, covering 20km of track and tunnel winding through sharp switchbacks and ascending steep slopes. 6km run through 20 manually excavated tunnels. Apparently I’m a bit of a railway and engineering nerd – I blame my day job.

At the Myrdal Plateau station 863 metres above sea level, it’s possible to connect to another train to make an onward journey to Bergen, connecting the two popular Norwegian locations. As we’re on a tight schedule we content ourselves with a roundtrip starting and ending in Flåm. It takes around 50 minutes to travel from Flåm to Myrdal.

I was expecting spectacular views from Myrdal but all you can really see is the train station itself. There’s a brief stop – Mr Fletche got off to stretch his legs – but the train really only stops long enough to pick up new passengers that have travelled from Bergen.

Our Flåmsbana experience

There are clear signs advising us where to queue for our particular train. At 10:15 there’s already a significant queue for our 10:50 departure. To get one of the coveted right hand side seats with an openable window, you have to queue about an hour in advance. Avoiding the melee we settle for four seats on the left. Why do some of those people that take the prime seats fail to look out of the window even once?

It’s true that the majority of the beautiful scenery is on the right as you ascend. However we still catch glimpses of cascading waterfalls, deep gorges, snow-sprinkled peaks, turquoise lakes and tiny settlements with their iconic red wooden houses. And the crowning glory of the journey – the 225m Kjosfossen waterfall is on the left. Here we have the opportunity to disembark for a five minute photo stop. The incredible force of the water sees me covered in a fine layer of drizzle immediately.

Norway is full of myths and legends, and at Kjosfossen we’re bewitched by a mysterious scarlet-clad Huldra. I manage to keep hold of Mr Fletche and Pa Lee for fear that they will be lured into the woods by this “Kate-Bush-in-Wuthering-Heights” temptress.

If you’re travelling on a fully-booked train, it’s difficult to move around to take photos, and to find an open window where reflections of the inside of the carriage don’t obstruct the view. I took what I thought was a great video of us passing an ascending train, curving away into the distance. Turns out that what I mostly shot Ma Lee waving like the queen to the passing train. It’s time to put the camera down and take in the scenery with my own eyes.

Mr Fletche and I have travelled on some pretty impressive trains before. How about the time we visited Europe’s highest train station? Or the 18 hours we spent traversing Canada?

Booking tickets for the Flåmsbana

A return ticket will set you back around 900 NOK (about £70) so it’s not cheap. This is Norway though – nothing’s particularly cheap. Tickets sell out quickly so it’s essential to book as soon as they’re released to get your preferred journey times. Tickets go on sale 180 days in advance of departure. You can book tickets at the station but I wouldn’t recommend taking the risk of all trains being fully booked.

The Flåmsbana runs all year round; in summer there are ten departures each day, less during the low season. Check the current timetable and book tickets via the Norway’s Best website.

You don’t have to simply ride the train both ways. You can cycle or hike down from Vatnahalsen (the penultimate station on the track), and for adrenaline-junkies you can even do some of the descent on Scandinavia’s longest zipline.

Fairy-tale Flåm 

Flåm lies on the banks of the spectacular Sognefjord, and it looks like it has been created for the tourists. If Alton Towers opened “Scandi-Land” this is exactly what I would expect it to look like. A wooden complex of stores, in an array of pastel colours. Wooden red houses look like those you’d find on a Monopoly Board. There’s even an eerie Viking-style building, which turns out to be the local brewhouse. Flåm is a Disneyfied version of a Norwegian village. It only has 350 permanent residents, yet it receives over a million visitors each year, from 150 different countries. So it’s no surprise that it capitalises on the tourist dollar.

Pronunciation lesson: Flåm rhymes with mom, and not with ham. It’s the little bubble over the “a” that makes all the difference!

There’s not a ton of things to do in the town itself. If you don’t fancy the Flåmsbana, you can always take a boat trip, with leisurely fjord cruises and speedy RIBs departing from the port. There’s a cool-looking floating sauna, with opportunities to plunge straight into the chilly waters. And there’s the Ægir Brewery, with its large biergarten right next to the cruise terminal – the perfect place to nurse an expensive local beer. Thanks Ma Lee for spending part of my inheritance on a round.

The Flåm sailaway

Olden is renowned for its sail away; we weren’t expecting similar from Flåm. In fact, we thought that the most fun thing would be the passengers disembarking from the final Flåmsbana five minutes before Iona’s all aboard time. Mr Fletche thought that the most fun thing was the gull that decided to deposit it’s slimy poop all over my arm. But we not only had a brass band send-off, but the port authority staff get involved with a gleeful chant of “Oggi oggi oggi”, much to the delight of the largely British clientele onboard.

Final thoughts on riding the Flåmsbana

If it’s your first time visiting Flåm, then taking a trip on the Flåmsbana should definitely be on your to-do list. If you’re visiting as a cruise ship passenger, you can guarantee that this won’t be a peaceful experience, but rest assured, everyone gets a view and it’s a great opportunity to sit back and enjoy one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world.

It is pricey, and I did wonder if it would be worth the money. But it’s not one of Norway’s top attractions for nothing. If you’re ready to embark on a Flåmsbana adventure I hope you enjoy this iconic train journey!