Flam Railway and Bike

[Hydro ergo]

Hi All,

 

Wondering if I did a stupid thing here...  I want to do the Flam railway while in port, but I would also like to bike back down.  Of course, the cruise line offers an excursion for this, but I would really like to have my own time on the way back down via bike.  (and of course doing it on your own is about half the price).  Here's the problem...The only available time slot for the railway up to Myrdal was 1220...with an arrival at Myrdal of 115. Our ship departs at 5pm, which means I wouldn't want to be on board any later than 4 (I assume 430 will be "all aboard" and I am not a close-cutter with time.)  Comfortably, that would give me about two hours to get back down to Flam...arriving around 330 or so.  Does this sound reasonable?  If booked through the cruise line, the excursion is listed as 3.5hrs...but also looks like you take the train part of the way back down from Myrdal to Berekvam before starting on the bike portion, which they include as 1hr 45 min.  I'm now thinking that I basically created a bike race down the mountain...which is of course exactly what I don't want.  Has anyone done this on your own or through the cruise line?  Thoughts?

 

Thanks much!

[just_dont]

Doing a quick bike route on Google Maps indicates 49 minutes to bike down. So if your time budget is 2:00, you'd have over an hour of 'sightseeing' buffer time.

And you wouldn't need a whole hour to return the bike and walk back to your ship.

 

Edit: Google Maps says it's 17 km (1:34 to bike UP the route)

 

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[hallasm]

6 hours ago, Hydro ergo said:

The only available time slot for the railway up to Myrdal was 1220.

You might be alle to book an earlier train at vy.no - however not available until 90  days before travel.

[kaisatsu]

Strange. Google Maps is telling me that the cycle time is 1:02 https://goo.gl/maps/fKGR738BLUSxxoZE6

 

We did it in around 1½ hours, stopping briefly for a few photos and riding down the steep switchbacks near the start. (I'd recommend walking them if you're not use to mountain biking. It's a fairly easy path, but it's steep and the loose gravel can make it easy to lose traction on the tight turns.) The Café Rallaren bike rental site lists the ride as "approximately two hours."

 

I would plan to spend a bit of time picking up the bikes in Myrdal. Even if there's no one else on your train renting, you need a little time to get set up and check the bike. Be sure to check the brakes (many have both hand and pedal brakes) and the tightness of the handlebars. Dropping the bike off in Flåm is generally quite quick and efficient.

 

13:15 to 15:30 should be fine, and with the extra half hour buffer before your 16:00 target, I wouldn't worry.

 

If you want to relax and give yourself more time, I'd consider hallasm's suggestion and book the ticket through the vy.no rail website. The one-way ticket is the same price as booking through visitflam. Just set a reminder so you book early in the 90-day window to have the most availability.

[Hydro ergo]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks for all the info!  I feel a little silly for not just checking google for bike time...duh!  I booked the bike rental in Flam, and a spot on the train for the bike, so perhaps that will save a few minutes at the top.  I REALLY appreciate the suggestion to see if tickets are available 90 days out--thank you both hallasm and kaisatsu!  I will check on that.  

 

Thanks again--I'm so excited for this trip.

 

T

[just_dont]

Strange. Google Maps is telling me that the cycle time is 1:02 https://goo.gl/maps/fKGR738BLUSxxoZE6
 
We did it in around 1½ hours, stopping briefly for a few photos and riding down the steep switchbacks near the start. (I'd recommend walking them if you're not use to mountain biking. It's a fairly easy path, but it's steep and the loose gravel can make it easy to lose traction on the tight turns.) The Café Rallaren bike rental site lists the ride as "approximately two hours."

I think I put in Myrdalsvingane as the starting point. It didn't seem like very far from the Myrdal station, but I agree about the dirt switchbacks going a bit slower than the road part.

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[kaisatsu]

19 hours ago, Hydro ergo said:

I booked the bike rental in Flam, and a spot on the train for the bike, so perhaps that will save a few minutes at the top.  I REALLY appreciate the suggestion to see if tickets are available 90 days out--thank you both hallasm and kaisatsu!  I will check on that.

Have you already booked the rail ticket? If so, it would only make sense to check on Vy if your current ticket is fully refundable.

 

Also worth noting that the cycle tickets on Vy are far more limited than passenger tickets, so if you're renting in Flåm, it's a good idea to get the rail ticket as soon as it goes on sale. Especially if you'd be visiting on a weekend or at the end of July or in August, when the full Rallarvegen is open. At those times, it's very common for people to bring their own cycles from Oslo/Bergen to Haugestol or Finse, ride the full route, and then take the train back from Flåm the following morning.

[aljo66]

We did this 2 years ago and was the best thing we did in Norway. We rented bikes from the top in Myrdal and then rode down but walked the very first part with the sharp turns. All we had to do was leave the bikes at the station in Flam with no-one there to meet you - so very fast. We also booked our seats via the Norwegian railways app and this was easy and smooth.

 

You can easily do this in 2 hours but to get the best experience I would plan to leave more time.

[Hydro ergo]

3 hours ago, kaisatsu said:

Have you already booked the rail ticket? If so, it would only make sense to check on Vy if your current ticket is fully refundable.

 

Also worth noting that the cycle tickets on Vy are far more limited than passenger tickets, so if you're renting in Flåm, it's a good idea to get the rail ticket as soon as it goes on sale. Especially if you'd be visiting on a weekend or at the end of July or in August, when the full Rallarvegen is open. At those times, it's very common for people to bring their own cycles from Oslo/Bergen to Haugestol or Finse, ride the full route, and then take the train back from Flåm the following morning.

Thanks for the additional tips---this is very helpful!

Yes, I paid the couple extra dollars for refundable tickets.  I try to do that whenever I travel as plans can change unexpectedly.  I will check 90 days out to see what the status is...and the best bike rental location (top or bottom).  

I also realized that if I can't make the train work, I could bike up and both down, starting early in the morning.  I realize this would be quite the workout---I'm very fit, it's nothing for me to hike 30+ miles. 

Lots to consider...I think I will just see how it goes 90 days out and finalize then.  Thank you again for all the info, it's really great to have someone that has done it before.