Flam - A day in port with alternatives to the train

Hi y'all,

Our cruise ship docked in Flam from 9 to 6 and since we are not necessarily fans of large crowds, we decided to forego the train experience for quieter hikes and viewpoints.

Weeks in advance, we were considering booking the train up to Myrdal and to bike back to Flam, but we really did not want to commit because rainy weather would have made the ride less enjoyable. Well, you never know....the weather on our day in Flam was absolutely gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky and almost warm enough to wear short sleeves.

The following is a pictorial to tell fellow cruisers about our day. Hopefully it will inspire others and give alternatives if Flamsbana is not appealing.

Some impressions from our sail in. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous.

We are getting close to the pier

We left the ship around 9:20 to purchase our bus tickets to Stegastein and arrived to a massively crowded ticket sales office. It was Mayhem! Everybody wanted to buy last minute train tickets. People were cutting in line, shoving and pushing, just to find out a few minutes later, that pretty much every train was sold out. We quickly purchased our bus tickets to Stegastein at the Cash-only counter, which was amazingly quiet and watched the crowds afterwards.

So, if you really want to ride the train, go online 4 months ahead of time and purchase your tickets on the website. It will save you disappointment and $. Our cruise line charged a lot more ($209.95) for this excursion, but you only ride the train back from Myrdal to Flam (one way). They will take you by bus from Flam to Voss, where you get lunch. Then you take the Bergen railway to Myrdal, where you transfer to the Flamrailway back to Flam. They also offered a simple roundtrip train excursion from Flam to Myrdal and back for $99.95. If you order tickets directly from the Trains website you will pay NOK 420 per person($51) for the identical trip.

After about 10 minutes, we left the "zoo" and boarded our bus right behind the train station. The bus was only half filled and very comfortable. The driver took us along the scenic Aurlandsfjord to Aurland and then up a very narrow and winding road to the viewpoint.

The viewing platform is enormous and features a curved glass railing at the end, which lets you get up close and personal with the wonderful background

The view was absolutely amazing. Here are some impressions

We spent about 20 minutes up there and then boarded the bus again to take us back to Flam. The trip cost was NOK 220 per person, which is $27 well spent IMHO.

We got back to Flam around noon and decided to walk around town for a while before returning to the ship for lunch.

We picked up a hiking map at the visitor's center and elected to first explore the so called Fretheim Cultural Park Hike. For a little over an hour we walked along easy, well marked trails with beautiful views of Flam. The hike has a lot of eclectic elements. We found small pieces of art well integrated with nature.

After a quick lunch on board we set out again to walk to Otternes Farms. This walk is also very easy and flat, except for the last 500 yards up to the farm. The farm is a museum, consisting of 27 buildings dating back to the 1700's.It gives you the opportunity to understand what life in rural Norway must have been like.

It took us a little over an hour to reach the farm. We spent about 30 minutes there. On the way back to Flam we stopped on a small, black-pebbled beach with ice-cold fjord water.

It was absolutely gorgeous and we were the only sunbathers on this beautiful summer afternoon

We truly enjoyed our relaxing day in port and were back on the ship by 5:15.

Brilliant. Thank you for your Flam review and photos. We were on this cruise too, having been to flam several times we knew about the train but as it was such a beautiful day we legged it up to the "Zoo" and got tickets for the 13.35 train. Your bus trip looks good so will try that next time. We loved the cruise but like many we were a bit disappointed with the lack of info from the bridge. Many passengers missed the north cape, crossing the arctic circle because of lack of info. The cruise log at the end of the cruise was full of mistakes. Thanks again for your brilliant review.

Happy Cruising.

John

Oh ! So excited by your review! We will be going to Flam next July and I have being researching alternatives to the train. What lovely options you have presented. Will keep them in mind.

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Another alternative for the trainride is this bustour up to a beautiful viewpoint.

https://www.visitflam.com/se-og-gjore/aktiviteter/stegastein-rundtur/

After a quick lunch on board we set out again to walk to Otternes Farms. This walk is also very easy and flat, except for the last 500 yards up to the farm. The farm is a museum, consisting of 27 buildings dating back to the 1700's.It gives you the opportunity to understand what life in rural Norway must have been like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took us a little over an hour to reach the farm. We spent about 30 minutes there. On the way back to Flam we stopped on a small, black-pebbled beach with ice-cold fjord water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was absolutely gorgeous and we were the only sunbathers on this beautiful summer afternoon

 

 

 

 

We truly enjoyed our relaxing day in port and were back on the ship by 5:15.

What amazing photos thank you, brought back great memories of a wonderful day

Thanks for sharing your experience with photos.

Keith

Thanks for sharing your experience with photos.

 

Keith

WOW!! Keith I am in awe of the amount of posts you have put on since 2000, an average of over 12 a day for 15 years! Incredible! :)

Another great review and photos.

Keep them coming I am loving this:)

Thanks

Lovely pics and a great write up

Thanks Lovely pics and a great write up

YES! YES!! Appreciate this very nice and charming sharing from your wonderful experiences in Flam. It bring back very good memories from five years ago when we enjoyed this great port, plus so many other exciting stops up and down this amazing coast of Norway.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 181,306 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Thanks for posting a fun day Flam. We are driving all of southern Norway next month and are stopping in Flam on our way from Bergen to Oslo. Looks Beautiful and will check out the Viewpoint... Thanks for posting Rlyans

Very well done. Now I want to take this cruise.

I have spent a lot of time in this area and love it! The Flam trip is worth doing, but there are other alternatives. We enjoy the walk to Auland that walks around the fjord, up through the farm mentioned in a comment above and then on to the Aurland. There is a little cafe there with good soup (the last time we were there we ran into Rick Steves having lunch !). The hike up or down from Myrdal to Flam is wonderful, but takes the better part of a day. If you are staying an extra day in Bergen look into "Norway in a Nutshell", which includes bus, train, boat and the Flam Railroad. No matter what you choose to do, it is a wonderful place!

Janetcbl. - do you mean you walked from the ship up to the viewpoint at Auland going past the farm first? Did you walk back also or take the bus?

i am making the north cape summer solstice cruise on the Emerald princess

I will taking the ship tours, I am traveling solo

not so adventurous to go off on my own

thanks for the beautiful photo

I hope my photos turn out as half as nice

thanks again Judy

I love the suggestions you have made for a day in Flaam without taking the train. Could I just ask, when I click on the bus to book this, it states one way, is this an error? I would hate to be stranded out in the countryside! Thank you

Hi, two years ago I did this... it took only a couple of hours but I very loved it. The view was beautiful

You can see the website for informations...

https://www.visitflam.com/en/se-og-gjore1/aktiviteter/stegastein-rundtur/

It looks amazing, thank you for the photos, I will definitely be doing this trip!

I had no idea ships this large went as far inland as Flam ..... near 100 miles ..... WOW

I've done Juan de Fuca but that's much wider!!!!!

can't wait for our trip ...

Fabulous photos! Just seen them - can't wait for our trip in July:)

Awesome! Thanks for the info