Awoke early on our last morning in Oslo to catch the 8:05am (not the 7:05, Kuce!) express train west towards Bergen. We all packed a sandwich as this was going to be a long day with little time for lunch. We upgraded to Komfort Class, which is analogous to "economy plus" on an airplane. You get extra legroom, a table, free wi-fi, free coffee/tea and newspapers--a great bargain at $15! Today our "Norway in a Nutshell" tour includes a nearly five hour express train, a one hour scenic train ride, a two hour ferry ride through the fjords, an hour bus ride and then two more hours on a "local" train into Bergen--totaling nearly 13 hours!
The train ride from Oslo-Bergen is widely regarded as one of the most scenic train rides in the world. The first segment of our trip took us through Drammen, Honefoss and Gol--where we entered a scenic high plateau with the train tracks over a mile above sea level. The landscape changed from urban to small towns to rugged terrain with snow and glacial streams. The mid-70 temperatures we enjoyed in Oslo dwindled to the mid-40s over this nearly five hour panoramic segment.
We disembarked at Myrdal station in a cold drizzle. It was too crowded and steamy inside the train station, however outside it was nearly sleeting at one point. Luckily, we had just a short wait before the Flamsbana train appeared on the adjacent set of tracks.
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| Our train from Oslo departing Myrdal |
The Flamsbana is a scenic train trip which runs from mountainous Myrdal down to the small sea level town of Flam on the Aurlandsfjord--which is a tributary off Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway. From the Norwegian Sea, Sognefjord cuts into Norway for more than 125 miles and has sections that are nearly 4000 ft. deep.
The Flåm Railway (Flåmsbana), one of the world's steepest railway lines, takes you in and out of 20 tunnels through snow-capped mountains and past cascading waterfalls. At the Kjosfossen waterfall, according to Norwegian legend, a temptress lives behind the falls and tries to lure men into the rocks. With thanks to our lovely wives, Manfred and I were able to resist the wily temptress!
The Flamsbana is not a cogwheel railroad, but has steel wheels with five separate braking systems. The train slows/makes short stops at particularly scenic vistas...and after just about an hour, the town of Flam comes into view.
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| Flam |
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| Manfred getting ready for the ferry segment |
After a short wait in Flam, the ferry departs on Aurlandsfjord towards the towns of Aurland, Undredal and Gudvangen. If you like waterfalls, this region is waterfall nirvana. At first, you are tempted to take a photo of every little rivulet in this scenic vista. After awhile, you start to become a bit more discriminating about which waterfall photos are worthy. In the latter portion of the cruise, it REALLY has to be an impressive waterfall to exert oneself to press the shutter release button. Apparently the locals call this condition "waterfall sickness".
The ferry winds its way through fjords with towering rock faces, goats/sheep, small towns, awesome cliffs and other interesting scenery. At one point we passed a group of kayakers who had pulled up on shore for the evening.
Finally, we entered the beautiful 6 mile long Naeroyfjord (Narrow Fjord), which is just over 800 feet wide, and cruised into the town of Gudvangen. To be honest, Naeroyfjord looked expansive when compared to the much more narrow mouth of Trollfjord, which is only 325 feet wide--and the Hurtigruten ship was much larger than the ferry. To date, we have had very good fortune with our weather. Although this was a mostly cloudy day, the fjord scenery was still amazing!
Our bus driver from Gudvanger to Voss was a bit of a ham and obviously aspired to do standup in a comedy club. He told stories, jokes, myths, legends and still was amazingly precise with a huge bus on some very narrow and steep roads. The steep Stalheimkleiva road is a series of switchbacks with an 18% grade--the steepest in Norway...and yet MORE waterfalls.
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| Notice the elevation and distanceso to Oslo & Bergen |
Upon arrival in Voss, we discovered the small cafe in the train station served wine...so, it now became "wine-thirty"! The folks here certainly have gotten these various Nutshell connections down to a science. After one glass of wine, our Bergen train arrived and it was time to hop on our final means of conveyance on this day trip.
Although it has been a long travel day, we are having a great time and looking forward to our time in the coastal city of Bergen!
Posted by TBW Travel Today!
These pictures are incredible! The town almost doesn't look real - it looks like something from a model railroad landscape! Good thing there are some great "people pictures" so that we know it was all real! :)
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