Flam agony:train, boat or bus?

[ny cruisequeen]

I am torn with indecision over which excursion to book in thus port.

 

I know all about the train. It has been thoroughly detailed here.

 

The ship offers a bus trip to Stalheim Valley and Tvinde Waterfall that takes you through Gudvangen, stops at waterfall, and also Stalheim Hotel.

 

There is also the World a Heritage cruise, and we were thinking about just the first part which is the boat ride.

 

Which is the best for seeing beautiful scenery and PHOTOGRAPHING it? We will be seeing lots of similar scenery during our cruise and which might be a bit different or most spectacular...or does it really make a difference?

 

We stop in Stavanger, Olden, Molde, Alesund, Geiranger, Flam, Bergen and Oslo.

We are in Flam from 8-6.

 

The boat can be bad in rainy bad weather and choppy too. We dock in a Flam July 3. Will the mountains have snowy peaks then?

Just cannot seem to make a final decision. Really need help and appreciate all advice.

 

Oh...does the train have bathrooms? Does the boat? Just curious. HELP!!!!!

[moviefan2010]

The train has bathrooms and getting there that early, it should be easy to buy tickets yourself and save about 50%.

 

 

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[Cruise_Christy]

You said you already knew about the train so I won't go into details but there's a reason it's the most popular excursion - it really is the best and I'd strongly recommend it. We went in a prebook group of 10 from the roll call and saved over 50% and the train is literally 2 mins from the ship. There are very limited bathrooms on the train (one every couple of carriages), and when it stops at the top for the photo opportunity there are also bathrooms on the platform.

 

We went in July last year and I don't remember seeing any snow at Flam but at Geiranger when we did an excursion into the mountains there was a LOT of snow including a fully iced over lake and snowy peaks around so if you are going there I can recommend an excursion that goes to Dalsnibba for amazing photo ops.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Cruise_Christy

[shoreham01]

Agree with Cruise Christy. Train for Flam and trip to Dalsnibba from Geiranger. I would not bother with the boat as you will see the similar scenery from the ship.

 

As for the Flam railway tickets, you are better to get the reservations before you dock. Sometimes if you have an active roll call someone can organise a group ticket direct from the railway which does work out cheaper than buying from the ship. If you leave it to when you get there, it is possible all the seats will be sold especially if there are a couple of big ships there that day. There are also bus loads of tourists booked to go on the train. Quite honestly, I would say if you cannot get on a private group ticket then buy before you cruise from the shore excursion department of the ship. If you leave it until you are on board it may well be too late.

[Eboracum_d]

We have done the Flam railway a couple of times. The first time we just bought a ticket on the day at a fraction of the cost of the NCL excursion. The second time, when we knew there were 3 ships in Flam we joined a CC organised group which was at about 65% of the Ship's cost. There was a very long line for those buying tickets from the railway on the day but as far as I could see all of them did manage to get on.

 

As others have said, I would definitely go on the train but give the sail a miss. You will see the Fjord on the way out -- or on the way in if you get up,early.

[kaisatsu]

An important correction: If the boat goes to Gudvangen, unless you're on a very small cruise ship, you will NOT see the same scenery from the cruise ship on your sail-in/sail-out. Gudvangen is at the end of the Nærøyfjord (meaning "narrow fjord") which is one of the two UNESCO-listed fjords (the other is Geirangerfjord, which ships do sail through). The fjord is extremely narrow with very steep walls, and the only port is the tiny town of Gudvangen (which makes Flåm look huge), so most ships skip it.

 

The train is unique to a fjord cruise, but if your primary goal is photography, I honestly don't think it's the greatest for photo opportunities, because you're limited to a moving window view. You can get some nice shots at the waterfall on the way up, but it's mostly winding valley like you'd see from a car driving up a switchback. And of course, you're shooting through the window glass.

 

If you do a Google image search for the Stalheim Hotel view, you know what you're getting there.

 

The photos from within the Nærøyfjord also aren't terribly amazing, because the best fjord views are generally from above, looking down into the fjord. In that regard, I agree with the other posters that a scenic viewpoint in Geiranger (e.g. Flydasjuvet) would be better for pictures.

[prish]

An important correction: If the boat goes to Gudvangen, unless you're on a very small cruise ship, you will NOT see the same scenery from the cruise ship on your sail-in/sail-out. Gudvangen is at the end of the Nærøyfjord (meaning "narrow fjord") which is one of the two UNESCO-listed fjords (the other is Geirangerfjord, which ships do sail through). The fjord is extremely narrow with very steep walls, and the only port is the tiny town of Gudvangen (which makes Flåm look huge), so most ships skip it.

 

The train is unique to a fjord cruise, but if your primary goal is photography, I honestly don't think it's the greatest for photo opportunities, because you're limited to a moving window view. You can get some nice shots at the waterfall on the way up, but it's mostly winding valley like you'd see from a car driving up a switchback. And of course, you're shooting through the window glass.

 

If you do a Google image search for the Stalheim Hotel view, you know what you're getting there.

 

The photos from within the Nærøyfjord also aren't terribly amazing, because the best fjord views are generally from above, looking down into the fjord. In that regard, I agree with the other posters that a scenic viewpoint in Geiranger (e.g. Flydasjuvet) would be better for pictures.

 

 

We were in Flam mid-July 2012 and took a ship's tour which combined these elements, train till Voss, then bus to Tvinde, Stalheim and Gudvangen, so we got to see quite a lot of different places, it was one of the highlights of our cruise. No snow in/near Flam but lots near Dalsnibba as Cruise Christy says, that was again a wonderful experience!

Edited April 26, 2014 by prish

[MetravelUtoo?]

In May 2013 we took a bus from Flam to Gudvagen, caught the ferry back to Flam (2-1/2hr), then took the 13:30 train with return at 15:40. We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather that morning and the ferry ride through that fjord provided some of the best scenery of the whole trip! We enjoyed the train ride as well but for photography and LOTS of beauty, don't miss that ferry ride!