Maximize our time in Flam

[Blue Eyes]

Six of us will be on the Celebrity Apex in May of 2025.  Our stop in Flam is  8:30–4:30. We want to take the train and a boat trip, not the RIB. Both will be on our own.  Or would a scenic drive be better than the boat?  I realize we will see the landscape from the ship but I think a smaller boat gives a different perspective.  Any suggestions as the order to arrange this for best use of our time. I realize we can’t see everything, but it would be nice to have time to see the town.  Never enough time to do it all.

[hallasm]

Possible with boat and train trip.
You get a pretty good impression of the fjord from the ship - If a boat trip, I would recommend Fjord Cruise to Nærøyfjord from Flåm to Gudevangen (or vice versa) - the trip takes two hours plus transfer Flåm/Gudevangen (30 minutes).

The train ride also takes a couple of hours.
Another possibility is the Stegastein viewpoint. You can see more and book tours at Norways Best. 
Book train as soon as booking is open for your date - train will sell out.

[cruizingOmi]

5 hours ago, hallasm said:

Possible with boat and train trip.
You get a pretty good impression of the fjord from the ship - If a boat trip, I would recommend Fjord Cruise to Nærøyfjord from Flåm to Gudevangen (or vice versa) - the trip takes two hours plus transfer Flåm/Gudevangen (30 minutes).

The train ride also takes a couple of hours.
Another possibility is the Stegastein viewpoint. You can see more and book tours at Norways Best. 
Book train as soon as booking is open for your date - train will sell out.

Where and How do I find out about Opening for Train in 2025, looking for Sept.

[kitkat343]

Personally, I'd make sure there was a good buffer in front of the train.  The few people who didn't like it got really bad seats where they couldn't see much (the seats are not assigned, so if you are in the front/middle of the line you'll have plenty of options.  If your ship is delayed, you don't want to miss the train - it can't be rescheduled since later trains usually sell out.    

 

Stegastein should be fairly flexible.  Talk to the people running the boats about their timing.  

 

We did the train in the morning, and easily did another lovely tour in the afternoon in Flam (visited a goat farm for our kids) .  You absolutely can do two, but just want to make sure you don't miss the train if your ship is running late.

Edited August 30 by kitkat343

[Blue Eyes]

2 hours ago, cruizingOmi said:

Where and How do I find out about Opening for Train in 2025, looking for Sept.

I’ve been checking through Norwaysbest.com and directly with the Flam railway site.  Only showing bookings through mid-December right now…..keep checking back…someone said about 4-5 months out…

[Blue Eyes]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

Personally, I'd make sure there was a good buffer in front of the train.  The few people who didn't like it got really bad seats where they couldn't see much (the seats are not assigned, so if you are in the front/middle of the line you'll have plenty of options.  If your ship is delayed, you don't want to miss the train - it can't be rescheduled since later trains usually sell out.    

 

Stegastein should be fairly flexible.  Talk to the people running the boats about their timing.  

 

We did the train in the morning, and easily did another lovely tour in the afternoon in Flam (visited a goat farm for our kids) .  You absolutely can do two, but just want to make sure you don't miss the train if your ship is running late.

The cruise line shows all Flam train excursions sold out…so if ship is late docking…do they miss their train trip…I’m assuming the train doesn’t delay their departure for the cruise ships

[ericosmith]

You can also book the train at 90 days through vy.no.  Those tickets are in addition to those sold to the cruise line and Norway's Best.  I wouldn't worry about having time to see the town.  It's 100% tourist stuff.  The round trip to the viewpoint is 90 minutes with a half hour each way and a half hour at the viewpoint.  

[gnome12]

Booking the train for this year on Norway's Best began in mid-December of 2023.

The timetable for 2025 should be available here some time in December (look for R45 in red near the bottom of the list of trains)

https://www.vy.no/en/traffic-and-routes/times?item=2893#item-96c83897df82

 

Trains were available on Norway's Best a few days after the schedule was posted. Don't worry if you get a message that all trains are booked and to choose another date. Just keep checking daily and they will appear. Book fast. However, some train times will show as sold out. They may be not have any allocations from vy.no because they have been allocated to the cruise companies.

[hallasm]

Tickets for the Flåm train are distributed between the cruise lines, Norways Best and Vy.

I found out that tickets became available at Norways Best after they had announced that they were sold out.

Tickets are cheapest at Norways Best. Same train, same tickets.

[Blue Eyes]

Is there a round trip sightseeing boat trip from the Flam pier?

 

Thanks for all the advice and comments. These forums offer so much good advice and information….

[BuckeyeMark]

The Flam Bakeri is a MUST stop. Sun buns rule!

[hallasm]

4 hours ago, Blue Eyes said:

Is there a round trip sightseeing boat trip from the Flam pier?

 I think there is only Flåm to Gudevangen through the Aurlandsfjorden and the Nærøyfjorden - the highlight is the UNESCO listed Nærøyfjorden.
As mentioned earlier shuttle between Flåm and Gudevangen.

If only Aurlandsfjorden be at upper deck in the morning one hour before arrival as well as departure - then you’ll experience the fjord.

Edited August 31 by hallasm

[Blue Eyes]

5 hours ago, BuckeyeMark said:

The Flam Bakeri is a MUST stop. Sun buns rule!

I just made that a note in my travel journey information for Flam….

[NightOne]

On 8/30/2024 at 10:34 AM, Blue Eyes said:

Six of us will be on the Celebrity Apex in May of 2025.  Our stop in Flam is  8:30–4:30. We want to take the train and a boat trip, not the RIB. Both will be on our own.  Or would a scenic drive be better than the boat?  I realize we will see the landscape from the ship but I think a smaller boat gives a different perspective.  Any suggestions as the order to arrange this for best use of our time. I realize we can’t see everything, but it would be nice to have time to see the town.  Never enough time to do it all.

 

Once Norway's Best opens the schedule you will want to book the following:

 

Fjord Cruise 9:00am - 11:30am

Bus back to Flam 11:45am-12:05pm AND/OR 12:45pm-1:05pm *

Roundtrip with the Flam Railway 1:30pm-3:46pm

 

This assumes the schedule for next year is the same as it was this year.

 

* I had a BAD experience with the bus driver and apparently a lot of people do too. If you book the 11:45am transfer make sure you prepare to get off the boat first. It can take up to 10 minutes to get off the boat as it holds a lot of people. When you exit the boat walk to the RIGHT side until you find a parking lot with several buses in it. The sign will be on a small piece of paper on the front windshield of the bus however the bus may not be facing the bus. There is someone holding a sign to direct people but they did a poor job and were not visible in my experience. The parking lot with the buses is behind a building and you cannot see it directly from the boat exit. Do not go left or walk over a long wooden bridge. (those are the wrong buses)

 

Otherwise, hang and out an chill in Gudvangen and take the 12:45pm bus. Although it would be better to back back in Flam killing an hour. 🙂

 

Found some info on Google maps and I will reply with some photos

 

 

[NightOne]

Blue = Building that block view

Green = Correct Path to walk

Purple = Buses could be facing away or towards you

Red = Do not go this way even though you see buses over the bridge

 

[NightOne]

Simple route once you know it 🙂

 

[Blue Eyes]

1 hour ago, NightOne said:

Simple route once you know it 🙂

 

Thank you so much….have added this to my travel journal….

do you have any advice on a private tour in Nordfjord port to Briksdal glacier…we think a small tour would be better since we are only in port 6 hours…

[NightOne]

20 hours ago, Blue Eyes said:

Thank you so much….have added this to my travel journal….

do you have any advice on a private tour in Nordfjord port to Briksdal glacier…we think a small tour would be better since we are only in port 6 hours…

 If the port stop is Olden check this out:

 

https://www.norwayexcursions.com/en/destinations-in-norway/olden/

 

if it is Nordfjordeid then this:

 

https://www.norwayexcursions.com/en/destinations-in-norway/nordfjordeid/