Flam: Nutshell vs Naeroyfjord+stegastein+flam train

[gaudi1234]

Hello,

Will be in Flam from 8-6pm June 30th 2020. Will be docked and only ship in town (HAL Nieuw Statendam)

 

Am looking into doing Norway in nutshell as an option #1 (cruise to gudvangen, bus to voss, train to myrdal, train to flam)

 

Another option (#2) would be to do the Naeroyfjord cruise from Flam to Gudvangen (9-11h) and instead of continuing to Stalheim and Voss (nutshell route), to take the shuttle bus back to Flam (11:30-11:50), then do the bus tour to the Stegastein lookout (12:30-2:05pm) and finish with the flam train return to Myrdal and back (leaves flam at 2:50pm and arrives back in Flam at 5pm)

 

Doing option #2, we would miss the bus trip to Stalheim  and Voss and the train between Voss and Myrdal, but would add the Stegastein viewpoint.

 

Which should we choose? Is stegastein viewpoint better? or is the stalheim road from gudvangen to voss and the train from voss to myrdal better?

 

Thanks a lot for your input and insight!!

[kaisatsu]

I think it’s a matter of personal preference. The second option seems like it has a fair bit of backtracking, but that does give you a chance to see both sides of the Flåmsbana without fighting the crowds as much.
 

For comparison, here is a typical view from Stahlheim:

and from Stegastein:

 

The section of the Oslo-Bergen railway between Voss and Myrdal is okay, but it isn’t the most scenic part of the line. Only the last bit as you approach Myrdal actually starts to get up above the tree line, where you start to get some of the sweeping open views of the mountains.
 

You can get an idea of the scenery by skimming through the NRK broadcast of the train route. The train departs Voss around 1:12:00

and reaches Myrdal at 1:58:00. It was filmed in spring, so there will be much less snow in midsummer.

[gaudi1234]

Thank you Kaisatsu!! 

 

That is great info and will help in deciding!

 

The shedules/reservations for Norway in a nutshell (or the seperate train legs on vy.no) are not out yet, so will check on that.

 

 

[ski ww]

Thanks for posting the video, I started to watch it & got dizzy.

[mhb1757]

I may be a little late here but personally I’d do option one. I think there’s a decent chance you might not make the connection from the shuttle back from Gundvagen to the bus to Stegastein. The ferry is sometimes a little late getting in to Gundvagen and the bus may or may not leave right away for Flam. Also if the weather is overcast or rainy the view from the overlook may be pretty limited. But the ferry ride is spectacular regardless. 

You will be amazed!