The Flåm Railway
The Flåm Railway is one of the ‘musts’ when you come to Norway, and it’s easy to see why. It has repeatedly been named the “most beautiful train journey” in the world by travel magazines and appears on endless lists of Norway’s highlights.
Information on the Flåm Railway is mixed and oftentimes confusing. Norway in a Nutshell? Cruise ships? Which side is best? And when you see the price tag for a ticket, you want to make sure you’re doing it right.
Fear not! I’ve done the Flåm Railway dozens of times in my four years of guiding in Norway, so I’ve put together an overview of what exactly the Flåm Railway is and how it works.
In this article...
What is the Flåm Railway?
The Flåm Railway is a train journey between the villages of Flåm and Myrdal in Western Norway. It is one of the steepest railways in Europe, rising from 2m above sea level to 864m above sea level over a distance of 20.2km (12 miles). It has a gradient of 1 in 18 (5.5%) throughout 80% of the trip.
The journey takes 55 minutes, starting by the fjord and travelling through the valley towards the top of the mountains. As you can imagine, it’s incredibly scenic.
National Geographic Traveller Magazine called the Flåm Railway one of the top 10 train journeys in Europe, while in 2014 Lonely Planet went further and named it the best train journey in the world.
Brief history of the Flåm Railway
Planning
In the early 20th century, as the Bergen to Oslo Railway (or Bergensbanen) was being built, it was decided that a railway was needed to connect Norway’s two largest fjords – the Sognefjord and the Hardangerfjord – to the Bergen Line to help with the transportation of goods from the farms to the big cities.
The train link to the Hardangerfjord was completed first and then work began on the Flåm Railway. At the time, Flåm was a tiny farming village that had an occasional cruise ship but wasn’t the popular attraction it is today. it was just conveniently located for the building of a train line.
Construction
Work on the Flåm Railway began in 1923, and as you can imagine it was a major challenge for the workers. To start there were 120 men working on the construction, though the number generally fluctuated between 80 and 280 people. Barracks were constructed to house the employees.
The local economy was stimulated by farmers being paid for transport. Using horses, they transported tourists by day and materials by night.
18 of the 20 tunnels were carved out by hand. On average, it took between 116 and 180 man hours per metre (35-55 hours by foot).
By the time Norway was invaded by Germany in April 1940, the railway wasn’t complete. It was the Germans who expedited the completion of the railway. It opened for steam trains on the 1st of August 1940 purely for cargo. The line opened for passenger trains in February 1941. In November, regular operation began.
Shift to Tourism
After the war, the tourism potential of the Flåm Railway was soon realised. With the construction of roads, the train was no longer needed to transport cargo. The Flåm Railway was transformed for tourists, with the Kjosfossen Waterfall stop opening in 1951. At that time, the Flåm Railway was taking 115,000 passengers per year.
Flåm Today
The Flåm Railway has since earned a reputation as a ‘must-do’ when in Norway. In 2007, it was the third-most visited attraction in Norway, carrying 547,000 passengers in 2010. That number has ridden considerably since then.
Flåm has transformed itself from a small farming village to one of the busiest tourist areas in the country. As late as the 1980s almost all of the residents were farmers. Today, almost all of the 400 people who call Flåm home work in tourism. Flåm is one of the busiest cruise ports in Norway, receiving 150+ cruise ships in the summer months.
If you want to learn more about the history of the Flåm Railway, there’s an excellent museum in the old station that’s free to visit and open all year.
What time of year is best?
The Flåm Railway runs all year, and it is completely different depending on the season. If you travel in the early months of the year, you’ll see lots of snow. With May comes bright green trees and plants, and there are large waterfalls from the melting snow. In October you get the lovely autumn colours. There is no right time of year to do the train – it’ll fit in with your travel plans whenever. The only thing to consider is the high season.
If you are travelling in the high season, which lasts from May to September, you are going to encounter many other visitors. Flåm is one of the busiest cruise ports in Norway, and there are cruise ships almost every day in the summer. As you can imagine, almost everyone on a cruise ship wants to do the Flåm Railway. If there’s a cruise ship with 3,000 people in, you can expect the train to be busy that day. That doesn’t even include visitors travelling through Flåm by coach. In 2019, there were 159 cruise ships between April and October, carrying 297,673 passengers.
If you have the flexibility, try to do the Flåm Railway either as the first thing in the morning or as the last thing in the evening. Most cruise ship passengers and tour groups go in the middle of the day.
You can check the cruise ship schedule here: https://www.aurlandhavn.no/ (select cruise and click on the year you are visiting – it only shows the current year).
Norway in a Nutshell vs. Doing it Yourself
Norway in a Nutshell
Norway in a Nutshell provides you with the convenience of organising all the public transport for you.
Norway in a Nutshell is done in two ways: either a round trip from Bergen or as part of a Bergen – Oslo (or vice versa) journey.
The day trip from Bergen starts with a train to Voss, then a public bus at Gudvangen. At Gudvangen you board a two-hour ferry cruise on the fjords to Flåm. At Flåm, you take the Flåm Railway up to Myrdal, where you then board the train back to Bergen. The trip generally takes around 10 hours.
The Bergen – Oslo trip is similar, except at Myrdal instead of taking the train back to Bergen you take it to Oslo. If you’re doing the trip from Oslo to Bergen, you get off at Myrdal, take the train down to Flåm, the ferry to Gudvangen, the bus to Voss, and then the train to Bergen. The journey takes a little over 12 hours.
There is no right direction or way to do Norway in a Nutshell. You see the same things. The only suggestion I have is that the Bergen – Oslo trip is very long, and I’d recommend breaking it up with a night in Flåm.
Doing it Yourself
Doing it yourself simply means booking all the tickets individually. You do the exact same thing as the Norway in a Nutshell people; you ride the same public transport at the same time, and the Norway in a Nutshell people do not get priority or anything like that.
The only difference between the two is the convenience of booking all the tickets and working out the itinerary.
You do have to book well in advance. In the summer season, parts of the trip may be sold out – especially the Flåm Railway.
How it works
Boarding the train
If the train is leaving Flåm, you can typically start boarding the train 10-15 minutes before departure. If you are taking the train from Myrdal, sometimes you only have minutes.
Your ticket will either be free seating or assigned seating. Pay close attention to this – if you have free seating, make sure you don’t sit in someone else’s seat. They don’t put stickers on the actual seats that are reserved, so it can be tricky to work out. To know what’s a reserved seat, there’s an A4-sized sticker on the door you enter through. It says which seats are taken by groups. Pay attention to it, because if you sit where a group is supposed to sit, the trip leader will tell you to move. I’ve had to do it so many times!
From experience, the individual travellers sit towards the front of the train and the groups sit towards the back.
Information on board
Television screens are in each carriage providing images and general information about the train. The languages depend on who is in the carriage, and that’s another reason to make sure you sit in the right spot. For example, if you somehow end up in a seat reserved for a Chinese group, you will get all the information in Mandarin.
In the general seating area they have the information in German, Norwegian and English. There are speakers that announce the information, but they can be very quiet.
If you look up and down the carriage, there are cardboard boxes with maps you can take for free – you can also get them from the information centre in Flåm. It’s not always guaranteed that the maps will be onboard, so it’s best to get one beforehand.
The noise in the tunnels
There are some small windows on the train that can be opened (though half the time I find them stuck!), and it’s great if you want to take photos, but bad if you don’t like the screeching of the train. And who doesn’t? The sound can be pretty unbearable.
You also need to be very quick with the photo taking. A good portion of the journey takes place in tunnels – after all, there are 20 of them on a 55 minute trip. The television screen will announce a point of interest, what side it’s on, and then you have seconds to get the photo!
Highlights on the train
After leaving the station in Flåm, you make your way through the valley and pass the original Flåm village. You will see farms with sheep and goats as well as the Flåm Church, which was built in the mid-17th century. If you are staying in Flåm, it’s easy to walk here – it takes around 40 minutes from the town centre.
You will be alongside the river for the first part of the journey. This was a famous salmon river, and you can still see all the platforms the fishermen built for optimal salmon fishing (again, you can walk back here on your own – they have signboards along the river with historical photos and information). The Flåm Railway crosses the river three times. Instead of building bridges for the train, the engineers opted to run the river through tunnels under the railway line.
At Berekvam station your train may stop and wait for the train coming in the other direction to pass. This is a great time to open a window and take a photo of your train against the landscape – you can also get a good photo of the train coming in the other direction.
Along the trip, you see traces in the mountainside left by avalanches and rockfalls that show the forces of nature. The landscape shows boulders that have been pushed down by glaciers, as well as rocks that have broken away from the mountainside. You can also see green pastures and historic traces of rock fences and cabins.
A popular photo opportunity is the hairpin road that the railway workers used. The old transport route has 21 hairpin turns. it’s also a great viewpoint to see how the Flåm valley is a classic U-shaped valley formed by glaciers, ending at the steep mountain where Myrdal is. This photo opportunity allows you to see the tunnels in the mountainside, the hairpin road, and then Myrdal station at the top. But you have to be quick – it’s only visible for around 20 seconds.
Some tunnels are open so you can see out the side. You’ll be able to see the tunnels where the train turns 180 degrees in the mountainside. It’s very impressive.
Towards Myrdal you pass Vatnahalsen Station – a popular stop for many people. It is a unique hotel with old cabin-style rooms and a cosy setting. It’s popular for those who want to take part in outdoor activities because that’s practically all there is to do there!
Kjosfossen has a drop of 225m (738 ft) and is being fed by the Reinunga Lake (Reinungavatnet), which you can see if you spend time at Vatnahalsen. In the winter, the waterfall freezes. It is strongest in spring and early summer when the snow is melting.
The train makes a brief stop at Kjosfossen waterfall and you have a chance to leave and take photos. The best way to handle this is to be ready ahead of time – this can be tricky if you haven’t done it before, but use the map they have on the train. They also announce that the train will be stopping soon.
It’s often a mad rush to the waterfall, so that’s why it’s good to be one of the first. Position yourself where you can see the ruined stone cabin – in the summer months they have a short performance there with a Huldra and you don’t want to miss it – many of the famous photos of Flåm are of the Huldra dancing with the waterfall.
Once the performance is over, I recommend heading straight back to the train. When they blow the whistle, it’s time to go. Just as everyone rushed off the train, everyone is going to rush back on. Again, it’s good to be first
Practical information
Is there Wifi on board?
There is no WiFi; for most of the trip you don’t even get a mobile signal.
Can I buy food on board?
No – there are no options for food. Buy some at Flåm or Myrdal before boarding.
Are there toilets?
Yes, but I would recommend going in Flåm or Myrdal instead of onboard. The toilets can be quite far from where you are setting and they sometimes may even be locked. Considering how short and scenic the train ride is, you don’t want to waste time pushing through crowds to find a toilet.
Are some seats backwards facing?
Yes. If the train is fully booked and you get a backwards facing seat, there’s little to do about it. If you notice spare seats after leaving, you can move – the staff don’t really mind.
Is it accessible?
To get on the train, the stairs are very narrow and steep, with a bit of a jump between the last stair and the ground.
Can I store luggage on board?
Many people staying overnight in Flåm (which I highly recommend) will bring luggage on the train. This is a slight nightmare, especially in summer when you’re not only pushing through crowds but fighting for very limited luggage space onboard. You have to get luggage in and out of the train as well, which is also a problem.
I recommend using Porter Service. It picks up your luggage at your hotel (in Bergen or Oslo) and then delivers it to your next hotel after Flåm (Bergen or Oslo). The luggage is left in the hotel’s luggage room for you to collect. The service is excellent and takes out a lot of the stress of moving your own luggage. Simply pack an overnight bag for Flåm and you don’t have to deal with the hassle of suitcases.
Can I get off at stations along the way?
Yes, but this has to be requested beforehand. The train doesn’t stop at every platform unless it knows someone wants to get off there. This is usually done when you book your ticket.
Which side is best?
Well both sides are best, but there are better sides at certain points on the trip. If you are riding the train from Flåm to Myrdal, the best views are on the right for the first third of the trip. For the middle third, the best views are on the left. Then it switches back to the right for the last third.
