Norway's Flam Railway: A Beautiful Train Ride!

“All aboard!”

We could almost feel the excitement ripple through the train as passengers took their seats.

For this ride on Norway’s Flam Railway (or Flamsbana) promised to be special.

The train was about to climb at an almost impossibly steep angle, from fjord shores up to Myrdal, a station at the top of craggy mountains above.

The Flam Railway

Europe is known for some spectacular train journeys.

Consider, for example, Switzerland’s scenic mountain trains on the historic Jungfrau Railways, offering jaw-dropping views of the Alps.

In Norway, the Flam to Myrdal train is the premier train ride.

Among Norway’s top tourist attractions, it’s been named one of the top 10 train rides in Europe by National Geographic Traveler.

Like us, many visitors – especially those visiting on a cruise – board the train in the storybook hamlet of Flam.

Flam itself is tiny (population 400).

But it still welcomes cruise passengers from almost 200 cruise ships that visit the area each year – and the return train trip on vintage carriages between Flam and Myrdal is a popular two-hour excursion.

You can also experience the Flamsbana Railway ride by taking the train from Bergen to Flam.

The Bergen train goes to the mountain station of Myrdal (also a very scenic ride), where you get on the Flamsbana for the Myrdal to Flam train ride.

We were on a Baltic cruise on the lovely Viking Star.

It included the opportunity to visit Flam, and this Flam Railway ride was a trip we couldn’t wait to experience.

Fun Flamsbana facts for train buffs

Number of years to build – 20
Length of the track – 12.5 miles (20.2 kilometers)
Ascent – 2,821 feet (860 meters)
Tunnels – 20
Stops – 8
Journey time between Flam and Myrdal – 60 minutes

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Flam cruise port information

Flam Railway from cruise ship

Ships from several cruise lines dock right at the Flam cruise port. From there, it’s only a short walk to the Flam train station to board the train.

Flam Railway excursion from Eidfjord

At the time we visited, the Viking Star also docked in Flam, but it now docks in Eidfjord, which is about 60 miles away.

If you’re cruising with Viking Ocean Cruises, you’ll want to book your Flam Railway excursion as a ship shore excursion.

To book Flam Railway tickets

See the Visit Flam website for information on booking Flam train tickets.

You can buy Flam Railway tickets in advance (which you might want to do in high summer).

Flam Railway photos

Also have a look at these Flam Railway photos below!

Have you enjoyed this Flam train ride?

Let us know in the Comments below!

Also check out Visit Norway (the official website for Norway’s tourism office).

Experience more of Norway!

Svolvaer and Lofoten Islands: Have a serious fjord crush that needs even more taming? Want to see the northern lights? Get yourself to Svolvaer and the Lofoten Islands.

Bergen: If in Bergen, be sure to book a lunch-time Grieg concert at Troldhaugen, where Norway’s most famous composer and his beloved wife lived; their home, now a museum, is charming and the concert is wonderful!

Everything Norway: Intrigued by all of Norway and want to know more? Read about the top things to do in Norway.

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Photo credits: 3, 5 to 7, 9, 11 © Janice and George Mucalov, SandInMySuitcase | 4 Visit Flam, Sverre Hjornevik | 2, 8, 10 Visit Flam

About the authors

Luxury travel journalists and SATW, NATJA and TMAC “Best Travel Blog” award winners, Janice and George Mucalov are the publishers of Sand In My Suitcase. Between them, they’ve traveled to all 7 continents. See About.

Find destination guides, global food-and-wine stories, luxury hotel reviews, articles on cultural explorations and soft adventure trips, cruise reviews, insanely useful travel tips and more!

Tammy Vig

Tuesday 28th of August 2018

We were in Norway this past July and stayed two nights in Flam.

We took the train up to Myrdal, which was fantastic. Even better, we rented bikes at the top and coasted all the way back down to Flam on a road that is hardly used by cars, mostly used by bikes.

One of the best days of my life! The weather was incredible too!

Janice and George

Wow! Biking down would have been lots of fun! We had thought of walking down, but it is rather a long walk... (And we were afraid we could miss our boat if we didn't get back down in time.)

Pat Shirley

Thursday 17th of August 2017

I always wanted to see Norway and early in May that dream came true. Travelling on the Flam Railway was memorable. The scenery was stunning and unforgettable. Words are inadequate to describe the breathtaking beauty and the stunning scenes. A wonderful experience which I will treasure forever.

So fabulous you enjoyed the Flam Railway ride! The fjords are pretty impressive, eh?

Ionna

Friday 30th of December 2016

I took the train from Oslo to Bergen two years ago, but didn't stop to make the detour in Flam. I was still really happy with my train ride - I didn't want to go to the loo because I was worried to lose another magnificent view! I was just jumping from one window to the other with camera in my hands. Absolutely fantastic train ride! Next time I'm there I'm stopping in Flam!

So you know what we're talking about when we say the views are fantastic! (Glad you had the opportunity to see some of Norway's magnificent scenery...)

Kristina

Tuesday 29th of November 2016

Wow, absolutely stunning! We love trains and would love to do this ride, adding it to our bucket list! :D

Wednesday 30th of November 2016

There's a reason people like it :-). We enjoyed it very much...

Leigh

Thursday 24th of November 2016

I haven't done much train travel, but it looks like a very relaxing way to see the sites!

The Flam Railway ride we did is shortish, only about 1 hour each way. But it's a great way to see some of that awesome mountain scenery! Don't know if we'd call it "relaxing" though, not with all the bobbing up-and-down to cram everything we possibly could in our sights :-).