Walking in Olden and Flam

We will be in both Olden and Flam in May and we have previously done the train and glacier trips, so would like to just go for a walk directly from the port if possible in those places.

I know you can walk up a valley road in Flam and I had seen an excursion that took people on a guided walk uphill and around the bay a bit in Olden but I cannot find it now. We do not want to find ourselves in the middle of nowhere with no acess to facilities, so is there anywhere we can walk and find a cafe where we can get a drink (+ poss snack) that has toilet facilites?

We have walked up the valley road in Flam. It parallels the train route as the train nears the village. It is a nice walk, but you are pretty much just walking along the side of the road. We walked this route for forty minutes or so and then turned around because it didn't look like we were going to see much other than houses and small farms. You can also walk all of the side streets in Flam. We spent two days in Flam on a land-based Norway trip and stayed in the hotel at the head of the bay. I recall a trail around a point of land, but nothing in the way of spectacular vistas while on foot. We did not walk in Olden.

Norway's tourism bureaus may have information on local guides who could escort you on a private walking or hiking tour.

Another walk in Flam is to go on the opposite side of the fjord. There is a path (separate from the road which leads to a small hillside farm called Ortenes. This is generally open to the public as a somewhat informal museum of bygone rural life. There is a small cafe -- we very much enjoyed their pancakes.

The walk probably takes an hour in each direction and the path up to the Ortenes farm buildings is fairly steep. There are plenty of photo opportunities when you are up there as well as from the pathway.

In Odense we walked upstream along the river. There are a couple of churches ( one old and one more modern) where there are toilets but no cafe as I recall.

The town of Olden is indeed close enough for you to walk to from the ship. On my visit, I took a ship excursion that included a boat on a lake and a glacier visit. But after we were returned to the ship, I had enough time to walk into town. There are a couple shops directly beside the ship, but if you're willing to walk about 1/4 mile along a nice pedestrian path that follows the road, you'll be in downtown Olden. And there were a few shops and such to explore, but not a lot.

If you look at the list 5 or 6 pictures in this photo album, you can see what's directly next to the ship and then the small town center about 1/4 mile off in the distance. You can see people on the pathway to the left of the road coming to/from the town and ship. Also, in one picture, you can see a little trolly vehicle which looks like it probably ran between town and the ship. I don't recall it and i didn't use it, so I can't verify that's it's purpose. But it would seem logical.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickchapman/sets/72157631866012871/

Thank you for the replies - they are all very useful.

Much appreciated,

Barbara

Take the tour to Aurland Lookout. Book at tourist centre in Flam. You only have about 15 mins at the lookout but the tour gives great views of fjord.

Take the tour to Aurland Lookout. Book at tourist centre in Flam. You only have about 15 mins at the lookout but the tour gives great views of fjord.

Is that a walking tour to Aurland Lookout? If so is it on a path that we could walk inpependently?

I am hoping this would not need to be pre booked, we are now planning to get off the ship and see what we can find from the tourist centre, but are well armed with other details we have looked into. There are some good pics on Google Earth and I have been for a couple of short 'walks' on street view.

I assume the Aurland Lookout is a drive up to a view point. Since Flam was 'opened up' with a new tunnel it has become a bit of a 'honey-pot' so it attracts a lot of visitors, most of the head to the visitor centre and then go on the railway. Given it's geographical location you can either walk along the fjord or head up the valley. You should still be able to get away and find a quiet spot.

By the way I grew up in a town called Tring!

Thanks for that.

Not sure why I took the name tring, but I was getting pretty frustrated as everthing I tried was unavailable - perhaps I should have added a number to my first choice. I did once work with someone who had moved from Tring, (to the west of London - not sure which county), but I think I was more or less just stringing letters together at that stage, so I am not so sure that was particularly in my mind, but I suppose it sounded familiar!

Cheers,

Barbara

You can definitely walk to town in Olden, in fact, we walked a couple of times! Also, there were many walking trails that we didn't get a chance to explore.

My blog posts should be useful for you. The walking routes can be seen in this blog post.

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2014/07/adventure-of-seas-day-11-olden-part-3.html

That is extrememly useful Iluvcruising2.

I have made a small printout as a rough guide and will dust off the walking boots if the weather is good. We should be able to check the details on the day.

Thanks again,

Barbara

That is extrememly useful Iluvcruising2.

 

I have made a small printout as a rough guide and will dust off the walking boots if the weather is good. We should be able to check the details on the day.

 

Thanks again,

 

Barbara

Pleasure to be of help. Some of the walks look very interesting and I think I want to do them if I ever cruise to Olden again. Do come back and share with us on your adventure in Olden please. Would be most interested to learn from your experiences too.

Will do, but we will not be there until early May and may not get time to post before late June.

We have 3 cruises in the next few months, so I am looking at Northern Lights ports for late March, Fjords for early May and also Canada (up the St Lawrence), which we leave on soon after getting back form the Fjords. We really will need some time at home after that lot!

Cheers,

Barbara

Barbara,

Another option for Flam is to take the train up to Myrdal and then hike back down to Flam. We did this few years ago and stands out as one of our favorite all time hikes. The trail was well marked and a good surface. As you get closer to Flam you are actually hiking along a road ( virtually no traffic so it was quite safe). The scenery was amazing -- waterfalls roaring on either side of us as we hiked down into and through this lovely valley.

That sound amazing Chairsin, but I do not think we would be brave enough to do that from a ship in case we missed the departure and we are not as fit as all that. Someone may well see this and be able to do that sort of thing though, so it is great that you made the posting.

If we were twenty years younger, I would love to stay in Norway and do that sort of hike. It is interesting that the trail was good, my memories of an Austrian holiday, included many good trails - often along mountain tops. It is a shame that many walking paths in Britain are often overgrown or not well marked.

Hi, another option in Flam would be the walk to the Brekkefossen waterfall. You can see it in the distance as you sail in, and from the town. We picked up a map in the tourist office and it took us about two hours there and back, stopping for plenty of photos up by the waterfall. This would depend on the weather, as it was dry and sunny while we were there - could get muddy if it's wet. We were so glad we'd done it, it was a beautiful waterfall and the views from up there were stunning.

That sounds really good pollypops, we could take walking boots in case it is muddy. Am I right in thinking the whole walk took you about 2 hours, or do you mean 2 hours there and another 2 hours back?

Barbara

You can definitely walk to town in Olden, in fact, we walked a couple of times! Also, there were many walking trails that we didn't get a chance to explore.

 

My blog posts should be useful for you. The walking routes can be seen in this blog post.

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2014/07/adventure-of-seas-day-11-olden-part-3.html

Was there a charge for the Tram in Olden from the ship to town?