Flam Railroad

[HermmyGranger]

How long is the walk from the ship to the Flam Railroad? I'm traveling with my mother who is somewhat mobility impaired. She's fine with walking short distances, but if it gets too long, she gets too tired. I know they're sort of close, but is there an alternative transport to the railroad? (We have not booked the ships excursion, but booked online directly because it was significantly cheaper.)

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, HermmyGranger said:

How long is the walk from the ship to the Flam Railroad? I'm traveling with my mother who is somewhat mobility impaired. She's fine with walking short distances, but if it gets too long, she gets too tired. I know they're sort of close, but is there an alternative transport to the railroad? (We have not booked the ships excursion, but booked online directly because it was significantly cheaper.)

Here is a map of Flåm. The train cars are on the left of the map, and the station to their right. If you dock the ship shows where you will be. If you tender, I believe that you are even closer to the railway station. I think that I have seen better maps in this forum, which you could try searching for.

[Meander Ingwa]

It is 300 meter per Google Maps

[gnome12]

Sorry, I can see the map on my desktop but not on my phone. I will try to repost now that I have saved the image to my desktop.

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by gnome12
I think that worked.

[hallasm]

It is a perfect excursion for someone with walking difficulties.
Book a departure so you have plenty of time - check whether it's a tender or dock.Be at the train half an hour before departure.
Some ship's excursions involve an additional walking- book a round trip from Flåm to Myrdal at Norways Best. Book well in advance as the trains sell out. 

[Capt_BJ]

[mskaufman]

Is there a way to get to Flam on an excursion from a port other than Flam?

[janetcbl]

2 hours ago, mskaufman said:

Is there a way to get to Flam on an excursion from a port other than Flam?

There is a guided tour from Bergen. Google “Flam Tours” for more info.

[LeeW]

A bit of a mob scene for train loading but we had lots of folks with walkers and canes last week.  Tour groups (like Princess) get reserved sections of train cars.  Recommend you sit facing forward on right side of train, although lots of folks swap sides at the top so they can get a different view on the way back.  The "Train on your own" stops a few times for photos up and back.  The "waffle" takes one train up, goes to restaurant, and takes a different train down (and cost $40 more).  It is also possible to book the train directly - didn't try that.

[hallasm]

6 hours ago, mskaufman said:

Is there a way to get to Flam on an excursion from a port other than Flam?

No, not possible from any ports of call on cruises.
@janetcblmentioned that it is possible from Bergen, a fantastic trip (part of Norway in a Nutshell) but it takes a very long time - transport from Bergen to Flåm alone is three hours.
Possible from Bergen, but if first (and only) time in Bergen, so much to see and do in Bergen. Cannot be recommended during the day of an ordinary cruise stop in Bergen.

 

[mskaufman]

On 9/5/2023 at 2:02 AM, hallasm said:

No, not possible from any ports of call on cruises.
@janetcblmentioned that it is possible from Bergen, a fantastic trip (part of Norway in a Nutshell) but it takes a very long time - transport from Bergen to Flåm alone is three hours.
Possible from Bergen, but if first (and only) time in Bergen, so much to see and do in Bergen. Cannot be recommended during the day of an ordinary cruise stop in Bergen.

 

So, if we want to go to Flam, we need a cruise that docks there.  Thanks all,

[Shiba_Lover]

On 8/29/2023 at 2:23 AM, hallasm said:

- book a round trip from Flåm to Myrdal at Norways Best. Book well in advance as the trains sell out. 

Does anyone know how to book a roundtrip ticket for the train, but have some amount of time between arrival and departure?  By this, I mean - we want to depart from Flam, then remain for longer than 1 hour at Myrdal.  If we want to spend some time hiking around, I am afraid 1 hour may not be enough.  From what I can see for the booking, it is only a booking to arrive, then depart again for the return in 1 hour.  If we wanted to return in 2 or 3 hours - is that possible?

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, Shiba_Lover said:

From what I can see for the booking, it is only a booking to arrive, then depart again for the return in 1 hour.  If we wanted to return in 2 or 3 hours - is that possible?

There is not much to experience around Myrdal and that is not the idea of staying in Myrdal. You can buy flexible/single tickets at vy.no.
However, I do not know how suitable the area around Myrdal is for hiking. One option might to get off the train at an earlier station.

[Shiba_Lover]

1 hour ago, hallasm said:

There is not much to experience around Myrdal and that is not the idea of staying in Myrdal. You can buy flexible/single tickets at vy.no.
However, I do not know how suitable the area around Myrdal is for hiking. One option might to get off the train at an earlier station.

So 1 hour at the Myrdal is plenty to just walk around a bit then?  Might be easier to just do the return trip and skip trying to hike.   Thanks! 

[gnome12]

22 minutes ago, Shiba_Lover said:

So 1 hour at the Myrdal is plenty to just walk around a bit then?  Might be easier to just do the return trip and skip trying to hike.   Thanks! 

I don't think that you have an hour at the top. Looking at the schedule from this summer, you would go up for example on train 1858 departing Flåm at 12:00 arriving Myrdal at 13:01, and the return is train 1859 departing Myrdal at 13:13 and arriving in Flåm at 14:11.

Ship's excursions that stop for a waffle don't go all the way to the top; the time for their break is when the train continues up to Myrdal and back to their location.

The current schedule can be found here, currently it only goes to Dec 9 2023.

https://www.vy.no/en/traffic-and-routes/times?item=2893

The train you want is R45, and it is 4th from the bottom of the list of trains.

[Shiba_Lover]

16 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I don't think that you have an hour at the top. Looking at the schedule from this summer, you would go up for example on train 1858 departing Flåm at 12:00 arriving Myrdal at 13:01, and the return is train 1859 departing Myrdal at 13:13 and arriving in Flåm at 14:11.

Ship's excursions that stop for a waffle don't go all the way to the top; the time for their break is when the train continues up to Myrdal and back to their location.

The current schedule can be found here, currently it only goes to Dec 9 2023.

https://www.vy.no/en/traffic-and-routes/times?item=2893

The train you want is R45, and it is 4th from the bottom of the list of trains.

Thank you, that is helpful.  I see what you are saying.  Do you know where the trains from ship exists stop?  I am trying to avoid a so excited as it is $250 US per person, and I can buy tickets directly for much less than that.  It does not say where they stop.  Don't necessarily need the waffles, so maybe we will just go to Myrdal anyway...

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, Shiba_Lover said:

Thank you, that is helpful.  I see what you are saying.  Do you know where the trains from ship exists stop?  I am trying to avoid a so excited as it is $250 US per person, and I can buy tickets directly for much less than that.  It does not say where they stop.  Don't necessarily need the waffles, so maybe we will just go to Myrdal anyway...

Sorry, I don’t know where the stop is. 

[cruisemom42]

18 hours ago, gnome12 said:

The current schedule can be found here, currently it only goes to Dec 9 2023.

https://www.vy.no/en/traffic-and-routes/times?item=2893

The train you want is R45, and it is 4th from the bottom of the list of trains.

 

Does anyone know when the schedule (and tickets) for 2024 become available?

[Shiba_Lover]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Does anyone know when the schedule (and tickets) for 2024 become available?

They seem to release tickets about 3 months out, so I am guessing the schedule will come out in October.  (Just a guess on my part)

[Shiba_Lover]

I think the cruise ships excursion stop at Vatnahalsen from some YouTube videos I have watched for anyone following along wanting to DIY....   the place where they go for waffles is Vatnahalsen Høyfjellshotell  ( Mountain Hotel) if anyone wants waffles.  I may skip waffles as I think it would be very busy.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Does anyone know when the schedule (and tickets) for 2024 become available?

I expect the schedule any time soon, since we are already less than 3 months out from the end of the current schedule. I know from reading these forums that people have been able to book tickets (I think for the summer) as early as December/January. 
 

It is not just the schedule for the Flåm railway; currently all of the Norwegian train schedules end by December 9. 

Edited September 13, 2023 by gnome12

[BrisbaneR]

I'm enjoying this thread and am wondering if people suggest a preferred time of day for taking the roundtrip on the train? I'll be in Flam late June 2024 and currently the ship is offering only 3 possible timeslots: 9.15am, 1pm and 2.15pm. Does anyone have experience with these times or have a view (e.g. weatherwise) on which is better to take or avoid? 

[hallasm]

8 hours ago, BrisbaneR said:

Does anyone have experience with these times or have a view (e.g. weatherwise) on which is better to take or avoid? 

The weather on the day determines which time is best - since you have to book tickets in advance you have to make a choice - morning can be just as good as afternoon.
Apart from the fact that most ship trips include 'waffles' at Vatnahalsen Høyfjellshotell, it is the same trip with trains when you book tickets yourself. Must be booked in advance as trains are sold out.

[fabnfortysomething]

I have copied and pasted our privately organised train trip in Flam a few years ago

 

we had from meet and greet had put together 2 private groups for 12.20 and 1.35pm Flam railway -29 people on each and at a cost of $59each. In contrast the NCL excursion on the same train was $169!

OK now lets be fair about this the NCL tour also offered coffee/tea and homemade Norwegian waffles with sour cream and jam at the hotel Vatnahalsen which is the penultimate stop-all I can say is expensive waffles-more on that later.

We were on the 1.35 train and due to meet   at 1pm outside the train station.

We had a leisurely morning and lunch then armed with waterproofs and umbrella we set off the ship and explored all the town had to offer.

2 minutes later we found the train station and found an overhang to keep dry until the rest of our party turned up.

A large group  wearing NCL stickers were herded past us and lined up on the platform to await the train and their reserved carriages. In contrast we stayed dry until time to board.

 

 

The train pulled up and disgorged its previous passengers and we boarded as a group our reserved carriage. There were 12 carriages altogether and we were in coach 8-this turned out to be a brilliant coach as will be described later.

 

The audioguide on the train described the history of the Flam railway and its construction as we wound our way up the mountain with some spectacular views. From 0m to 866m over a distance of 20 kilometres and 7 stations.

The line is single track apart from a siding at a short stretch mid way at Berekvam where we had to wait for the downhill train so points could be changed-we were waiting 10 minutes which would have an unfortunate consequence for the NCL group who’d been on the earlier train.

There was a 5 minute stop at Kjos-fossen waterfall at 670m where you could get off the train to take photos from the viewing platform-we pulled up directly opposite the falls . I got off  and realised how ideally placed carriage 8 was as the viewing platform was only 2 carriageways wide.Most of the train would be in blackout in the tunnel

 

We set off again and were now definitely at snow level ie lumps of ice.

Through some tunnels the audioguide promised spectacular views through a gap in the tunnel. There were groans and then laughter as we realised we were in thick cloud and couldn’t see a thing!

At Vatnahalsen we paused and saw a large group of wet and cold looking people with NCL stickers huddling around the station platform hardly visible for cloud/fog and with piles of snow and ice everywhere. The people on the 1.35 excursion got off to get their waffles ,look around at the scenery[what scenery] and would get the next train back in an hour. So these people on the platform were those from the 12.20 train who would catch our train on the return.

The operative word being the return! The conductor wouldn’t allow them to board saying we had to complete journey to the top and would pick them up as we were coming back down. The 10 minutes we had to wait for the downhill train meant we were running 10 minutes late.

 

We set off for the final stop at Myrdal 866m above sea level. As the train was running late the usual 10 minute stopover was being reduced and anyway it was still cold and foggy out there. A few hardy souls jumped off to get a couple of lungfuls of nicotine before the return journey to pick up those frozen miserable NCL excursionists!

 

Back at the waterfall we again pulled up directly opposite the falls and this time I caught the dancing “maiden” Again conjecture was is it male or female? .

We had a group photo taken outside the train which was a bit hurried as was still raining but we all agreed a fantastic day .

 

 

[hallasm]

44 minutes ago, fabnfortysomething said:

I have copied and pasted our privately organised train trip in Flam a few years ago

 Thanks for your very nice story -

here is the story in pictures - albeit in nice weather in June.