Norway: Aurlandsfjord and Flam Railway

Aurlandsfjord is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord flows through the municipalities of Aurland, Vik, and Lærdal. The 29-kilometre long fjord is a branch off of the main Sognefjorden, Norway's longest fjord. The Flåm Railway has been described as one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world and is one of the leading tourist attractions in Norway. The train runs from the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, up to the high mountains at Myrdal station. The journey features the finest aspects of the stunning scenery of Western Norway. It offers an immediate return journey.

🙂 SO scenic! BEST waffles in the world!

🙁 Norwegians always say no.

Up at 6.30m after an excellent night’s sleep. Breakfast at 7am.

Went to queue for fjord ferry – first on boat so excellent seats. FULL sunshine!!

The scenery changed and got better and better! We were in the world’s deepest fjord at 1,200m depth! The views just got better and better. We of course had the obligatory hot dogs from rollers and a beer and waffle! In between taking thousands of photos I did some work on this blog. Truly stunning part of the world.

We heard the Captain announce Aurland – which is where our hotel was – so we raced to get off here instead of Flam – too late! We had already started pulling off – but he turned around and went back to drop us! AMAZING!

Our hotel was right next to the ferry! It was Tony and Vannessa’s wedding anniversary the next day so they had the room on the water which was lovely. Our room was also very comfortable with lots of space and a view. The Vangsgaarden is a lovely hotel with a restaurant.

We did a bit of exploring and found an outdoor shop where I bought a lovely fleece at 50% reduction. We enjoyed a cup of tea and cake while absorbing the stunning vista.

We ordered a taxi to Flam. The scenery from the road was wonderful. The taxi driver was quite amusing when we asked him for a return fare later that evening … he replied defensively to say, ‘No, definitely not! Taxis in this area are always fully booked days in advance and were not impacted by Covid at all as tourism amongst the Norwegians continued uninterrupted.’ We were a little taken aback and worriedly asked how on earth we would be able to get back given that we had not known this issue – he then checked whether 8pm return was feasible and he said yes without hesitation! In fact, we came back at 7pm and he was there waiting – very odd national attitude of saying no first to everything! LOL!

The Flåm Railway: Flåm–Myrdal–Flåm

Flam Rail journey is considered as one of the most scenic in the world – again tickets can be purchased in advance from Ninja Rail. If you want to get the best views on the Flam Railway then you should sit on the right hand side when departing from Flam. Alternatively, if you’re taking the train from Myrdal to Flam then you will want to sit on the left hand side. We covered both sides, just in case – although we came straight back and had the same great views again in the opposite direction!

During the course of one hour, the train takes you from sea level at the Aurlandsfjord in Flåm to Myrdal mountain station, situated 867 metres above sea level. Myrdal is also on the Bergen Line, meaning the Flåm Railway connects with trains running between Bergen and Oslo. It is truly stunning.

From the comfort of a vintage train compartment, you can enjoy the changing scenery of the Flåm Valley.

Before ascending into the more impassable sections of the valley, the train runs through agricultural landscapes, the old Flåm village centre and the old church. The sparkling blue river follows the railway for large parts of the trip, and you will pass small farms in locations you’d think no one could live.

The train takes a five-minute photo stop at the Kjosfossen waterfall where you can disembark and go out onto the platform. Paul thought this was cheesy – I loved it.

As we had taken the immediate return journey we still had time to kill before our ‘very busy’ taxi driver was collecting us an hour earlier. The warehouse shop was ridiculously expensive so gave that a miss! But we headed for a beer on the fjord. We asked if we could try so that we could make a choice on beer – a resounding NO – lol – so we all opted for something different.

Back at our hotel we enjoyed a meal at the restaurant before heading back to Nessy and Tony’s for ‘sundowners’ – although the sun never set! LOL.

Great day exploring such an astonishingly beautiful part of our world. Very blessed and grateful.

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