Flam Railway Questions

[Wayfairers]

We will be in Flam Tuesday, May 5, 2020 on Holland America Nieuw Statendam.  I have booked a 1pm lunch at Aegir Brew Pub and now I am looking at the possibility of also taking the Flam Railway.  I don’t know if timing will work so I’ve got questions for those of you familiar with Flam and the port/train area.

 

Looks like my 2 options on the train are leave Flam 8:35am and return Flam at 10:35am OR leave Flam 2:50pm and return Flam 4:55pm.  Our ship will be using tenders and arrives at 8am and sails at 6pm.  

 

My questions are:  

How likely are we to have fog morning of May 5?  I know it is impossible to predict weather, but I live on the coast and know certain times of the year are more prone to fog than others.  I have emailed the visitors center in Flam asking this question, but thought some of you may know.

 

Is it even possible for us to make the 8:35am train since we dock at 8am?  We are 5* on Holland America so will have priority tender boarding.  I’m not sure how far the train station is from the tender dock.

 

If we take the later train and return at 4:55, I would think that would be enough time to make the ship, but again, I’m not sure how far the station is from where we meet the tender.  

 

I am going to email the brew pub and ask for an approximate dining time since we are doing a beer pairing meal and planning to order the Viking Plank.  That will help me know whether or not he later train would work.  I may have to reschedule lunch.

 

Am I missing something that would affect my decision to prebook the train ticket at one time or another?

 

 

[kitkat343]

The train station is a 2 minute walk from where the ships dock, and I am assuming they tender in the same place.  

[hallasm]

Niewe Statendam is the only ship in port that day and listed as docked - not likely that the ship is delayed. The train station is very close to the pier.

Just note that the train does sell out quickly - book in advance. If sold out at the Flåm Railway page you can book at Norway Rail - return from Flåm To Myrdal - booking from 90 days In advance.

 

[MAVIP]

Agree with above info of Kitkat and Hallasm of course, but for photo of situation etc, see also Whatsinport website, choose Norway and Flam. (If I may suggest: take the train before the beer 😉).

[MeHeartCruising]

The distance from where the ship docs to the train station is about the length of a football field with no problems seeing where it is as you dock and get off the ship.  I would think your ship probably has sold excursions that go on that train at 8:35, so they will likely be there in time to make that happen.  If you pre-book directly with the train, I believe you have to get in line at the station and pick up your actual ticket (unless they changed this recently).  It seemed a bit chaotic when I was there due to this.

 

If you choose the later trip, you will definitely have time to get back to your ship before sailing.

[Capt_BJ]

[Wayfairers]

Thank you all!  This is great information and map.  I had In my notes that we were tendering at that port but after reading hallasm’s post I checked the Flam port schedule and it has us as docked and, yes, we are the only ship in port.  Since everything is so close to the dock, I am no longer worried about time to get between the train and ship.  

 

We have booked the later train at 2:50 and changed our lunch reservation from 1:00pm to noon to allow plenty of time to enjoy the meal and beer. The brew pub said lunch normally takes around 1.5 - 2 hours.

[djwcruisejunkie]

The only issue will be if there is a line of pre-booked train passengers. with a cruise tour ticket you skip the line. But if you've bought it yourself you join a line with everyone else. 

 

I would also take bottled water, it gets really hot and stuffy on board and is pretty much full to capacity every journey. 

[MeHeartCruising]

20 hours ago, Wayfairers said:

Thank you all!  This is great information and map.  I had In my notes that we were tendering at that port but after reading hallasm’s post I checked the Flam port schedule and it has us as docked and, yes, we are the only ship in port.  Since everything is so close to the dock, I am no longer worried about time to get between the train and ship.  

 

We have booked the later train at 2:50 and changed our lunch reservation from 1:00pm to noon to allow plenty of time to enjoy the meal and beer. The brew pub said lunch normally takes around 1.5 - 2 hours.

 

This sounds like a great choice.  At some point in the morning after the first train leaves and the related crowd around the station subsides, I would go visit the train station and see if they can process you for the afternoon train.  I don't know the specifics, but it seems like you pick up an actual ticket from the train station, even if you pre-book.  I could be wrong on this.  It won't hurt to stop in while there are minimal lines to make sure on what you need to do for the afternoon train.

 

Enjoy your day.  It's a fun stop.  Unfortunately, it rained most of my day in port, but that was all part of the adventure.

Edited January 17, 2020 by MeHeartCruising

[Capt_BJ]

https://www.visitflam.com/information/webcam/

[Wayfairers]

On 1/17/2020 at 12:09 PM, MeHeartCruising said:

 

This sounds like a great choice.  At some point in the morning after the first train leaves and the related crowd around the station subsides, I would go visit the train station and see if they can process you for the afternoon train.  I don't know the specifics, but it seems like you pick up an actual ticket from the train station, even if you pre-book.  I could be wrong on this.  It won't hurt to stop in while there are minimal lines to make sure on what you need to do for the afternoon train.

 

Enjoy your day.  It's a fun stop.  Unfortunately, it rained most of my day in port, but that was all part of the adventure.

Thank you!  That sounds like great advice!  We will run by the station sometime that morning.

[Wayfairers]

On 1/17/2020 at 11:24 AM, djwcruisejunkie said:

The only issue will be if there is a line of pre-booked train passengers. with a cruise tour ticket you skip the line. But if you've bought it yourself you join a line with everyone else. 

 

I would also take bottled water, it gets really hot and stuffy on board and is pretty much full to capacity every journey. 

Thanks for the info.  We will take water with us and check in early if they will let us.

[Wayfairers]

Wow!  Just checked the web site and the train I booked is now sold out.  Glad I booked it when I did.  They really do sell out early.