Flam Railway

[Jeremiah On a Cruise]

On 2/1/2023 at 9:56 AM, CCJack said:

Yes, we booked a one way train and had reserved bikes at the Cafe as Hallasm suggested.   At the time we went, I saw no other bike rental options  besides the cafe.   Maybe it is different now.   

 

The biking down was fantastic.   However, note the first part after leaving the cafe is a little difficult.   Most people walked their bikes for about the first 30 minutes due to the large stone gravel path.  However, the path gets smoother as you go, and most of it is paved asphalt.   Endurance / stamina is not an issue as it is all downhill !     

Great info!

 

Outside of the first 30 minutes that can be walked, would the trail be OK for kids?  Ours are ages 9 and 11.  Both can ride a bike, but would struggle with even modest climbs, and neither has done anything resembling mountain biking.  

 

I've love your thoughts or additional details.

[CCJack]

16 hours ago, Jeremiah On a Cruise said:

Great info!

 

Outside of the first 30 minutes that can be walked, would the trail be OK for kids?  Ours are ages 9 and 11.  Both can ride a bike, but would struggle with even modest climbs, and neither has done anything resembling mountain biking.  

 

I've love your thoughts or additional details.

After the first 30, the condition of the trail was excellent.  Either asphalt or finely packed gravel, you are not going over tree roots or boulders or anything like that.    I recall no climbs.  Downhills are not too crazy - but keep in mind you are biking down a mountain so the kids would need to know how to brake and maintain a safe speed.  If it were me, I would put an adult in the lead bike and tell the kids they are not allowed to pass the lead bike.   We also had to walk the bikes a couple other spots due to sheep laying on the bike trail, etc.   Kids would have fun with that though.  

 

A couple other thoughts...  once you leave the bike rental place and head downhill, you are pretty much committed to completing the trail.   I don't see biking uphill to return to the start as much of an option.  

 

Also, the people in the cafe (bike rental place) were extremely friendly (as most people in Norway I thought) but it was not real organized.   Although the online reservation asked for our heights, when we got there they pretty much said pick out a bike and take it.   My wife is 4'11" and we struggled to find a bike that fit her, although there were some kid's bikes.   I would buy the roundtrip train ticket just in case there is a problem, you would have a backup plan to return to ship.

 

I will post a couple more photos of the condition of the trail later.  Currently our broadband is down due to Michigan snowstorm and have slow connection..

[CCJack]

On 3/3/2023 at 6:30 PM, Jeremiah On a Cruise said:

Great info!

 

Outside of the first 30 minutes that can be walked, would the trail be OK for kids?  Ours are ages 9 and 11.  Both can ride a bike, but would struggle with even modest climbs, and neither has done anything resembling mountain biking.  

 

I've love your thoughts or additional details.

these photos show you the general condition of the trail.   The one with the Myrdal sign is right near where we were able to start riding after the first 1 km of walking due to rocks.    We had to walk again because the goats wouldn't move, we saw sheep later on as well.  The photo with the buildings is near the end at Flam and the path is the black asphalt to the right. 

[Jeremiah On a Cruise]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:50 PM, CCJack said:

these photos show you the general condition of the trail.   The one with the Myrdal sign is right near where we were able to start riding after the first 1 km of walking due to rocks.    We had to walk again because the goats wouldn't move, we saw sheep later on as well.  The photo with the buildings is near the end at Flam and the path is the black asphalt to the right. 

 

Wow - this is amazing!

 

I also love your idea of booking both the train and the bikes for the trip down, knowing that you'll simply overpay and not use one of the two.  Money isn't the big concern here - an awful experience is 🙂

 

Anyhow, just wanted to say thanks,

[chismrules]

On 2/9/2023 at 11:11 AM, janetcbl said:

Yes. We hiked down and saw a number of bikers. The path is wide enough and the hikers give right of way to the bikers (at least they did the day we hiked).

Hey how long was the hike down. I don't ride a bike and the roundtrip on our day in Aug is already booked up except for 8:25 which I'm worried we can't get or tender early enough. 

 

[hallasm]

4 hours ago, chismrules said:

is already booked up except for 8:25 which I'm worried we can't get or tender early enough. 

If tender you cannot catch a train at 08:25 unless you arrive early.  
 

Tour operators can only buy a certain number of tickets. Vy will have tickets for sale 120 days before departure on their website.  
Check at vy.no and book from 'Flåm stasjon' to 'Myrdal stasjon' 120 days prior to your visit. Price is NOK 350 each way.

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by hallasm

[CCJack]

Agree with Hallasm, try to get a round trip train ticket if that is what you want.  I would hike down only if you want to hike, not because you can't get a return train ticket.    It is an easy hike, but it is not short.   I think about 11 miles.  Our bike ride was about 2.5 hours but that is at a leisurely pace and stopping for photos.    I would guess 3 or 4 hours to walk it.

 

Also, our ship tendered and it was very slow process.  Our ship did not have its own tender boats, so the port's tender boats were used.   They were way behind schedule.  

[chismrules]

19 hours ago, hallasm said:

If tender you cannot catch a train at 08:25 unless you arrive early.  
 

Tour operators can only buy a certain number of tickets. Vy will have tickets for sale 120 days before departure on their website.  
Check at vy.no and book from 'Flåm stasjon' to 'Myrdal stasjon' 120 days prior to your visit. Price is NOK 350 each way.

 

Thank you, I tried to go and look and it shows that it stops 7 times each way. Is that the same even if you buy the train tickets from Flam RR with like norwaysbest.com.

[hallasm]

4 hours ago, chismrules said:

I tried to go and look and it shows that it stops 7 times each way. Is that the same even if you buy the train tickets from Flam RR with like norwaysbest.com.

A public railway operated by Vy.  Same train, same route and same stops - most stops, however, just as needed.  

Norway's Best is a tour operator and only sells excursions as a return trip from Flåm to Myrdal - at a lower price than Vy.  
At vy.no you can buy partial route or single tickets.

[chismrules]

8 hours ago, hallasm said:

A public railway operated by Vy.  Same train, same route and same stops - most stops, however, just as needed.  

Norway's Best is a tour operator and only sells excursions as a return trip from Flåm to Myrdal - at a lower price than Vy.  
At vy.no you can bu

8 hours ago, hallasm said:

A public railway operated by Vy.  Same train, same route and same stops - most stops, however, just as needed.  

Norway's Best is a tour operator and only sells excursions as a return trip from Flåm to Myrdal - at a lower price than Vy.  
At vy.no you can buy partial route or single tickets.

y partial route or single tickets.

 

8 hours ago, hallasm said:

A public railway operated by Vy.  Same train, same route and same stops - most stops, however, just as needed.  

Norway's Best is a tour operator and only sells excursions as a return trip from Flåm to Myrdal - at a lower price than Vy.  
At vy.no you can buy partial route or single tickets.

Thank you  

8 hours ago, hallasm said:

A public railway operated by Vy.  Same train, same route and same stops - most stops, however, just as needed.  

Norway's Best is a tour operator and only sells excursions as a return trip from Flåm to Myrdal - at a lower price than Vy.  
At vy.no you can buy partial route or single tickets.

 

[mackfam]

Looking on the vy.no site and is  R45 the correct route? The departure times are slightly different from those listed on Norway’s best.

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, mackfam said:

Looking on the vy.no site and is  R45 the correct route? The departure times are slightly different from those listed on Norway’s best.

Yes, R45 is the right train - only one train operating at the line.
The departure time I can see at vy.no is exact the same as Norway’s Best - at vy.no you might have chosen a different location- chose ‘Flåm Stasjon’ - and return from ‘Myrdal Stasjon’ - take the first (same) train back from Myrdal. Nothing to see or do in Myrdal.

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by hallasm

[mackfam]

Thanks, you’re right, I thought I had picked Flåm stasjon but must have picked something else as when I went and looked again, I saw the same departure time as Norway’s Best.

 

I don’t have a cruise booked yet, originally was thinking of 2024, but now am considering one in early September. Norway’s Best is already sold out for round trip tickets the day the ship will be in Flåm, but they have availability for one way to Myrdal (which I found strange). This could work as I would like to bike back, but wondering if it’s better to book a return on vy.no  just in case the weather is awful. Tickets are not available to book yet but will be soon. I think I am right in thinking that tickets are refundable up until a certain point.? I won’t know for another month if I’m booking the cruise but want to make sure I can do the Flåm railroad in the event I do.

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, mackfam said:

but wondering if it’s better to book a return on vy.no  just in case the weather is awful. Tickets are not available to book yet but will be soon. I think I am right in thinking that tickets are refundable up until a certain point.?

Tickets for the Flåmsbanen on vy.no can only be purchased 60 days before travel. If you want to be able to cancel, you must create a profile on vy.no when booking tickets so that you can cancel tickets online.

Although Norway's best is sold out, there will still be tickets for sale at vy.no. Travel agents cannot buy all tickets for the train.

[ericosmith]

9 hours ago, hallasm said:

Tickets for the Flåmsbanen on vy.no can only be purchased 60 days before travel. If you want to be able to cancel, you must create a profile on vy.no when booking tickets so that you can cancel tickets online.

Although Norway's best is sold out, there will still be tickets for sale at vy.no. Travel agents cannot buy all tickets for the train.

I bought my tickets 90 days in advance.

[hallasm]

2 hours ago, ericosmith said:

12 hours ago, hallasm said:

 

I bought my tickets 90 days in advance

My mistake - yes, tickets are available 90 days in advance at vy.no.

Edited May 7, 2023 by hallasm

[queen_kathy1]

On 5/7/2023 at 3:15 AM, hallasm said:

My mistake - yes, tickets are available 90 days in advance at vy.no.

How long in advance you can book must have recently been changed because I keep getting error messages that our Aug 7 "departure is more than 60 days from now".

 

I am looking to book one-way tix for my family from Flam to Myrdal station and then rent bikes for the return trip.  In the event that it rains, do you think we'd be able to book return tickets either in Flam or in Myrdal once we're there instead of getting wet on the ride back?  I'm thinking since we'll already occupy 3 seats for the trip up to Myrdal, I'm wondering what are the chances of those 3 spots being already booked for the trip back to Flam by someone else, that they should be available for last minute purchase though I do realize there are no guarantees.

 

[hallasm]

8 minutes ago, queen_kathy1 said:

How long in advance you can book must have recently been changed because I keep getting error messages that our Aug 7 "departure is more than 60 days from now".

I tried to make a booking - No problems. 
I believe you will be able to book a single from Myrdal to Flåm on the day - no guarantee 

[ericosmith]

6 hours ago, queen_kathy1 said:

How long in advance you can book must have recently been changed because I keep getting error messages that our Aug 7 "departure is more than 60 days from now".

I got that message too but I still bought the tickets at 90 days.  I believe that message means that schedules aren't necessarily locked in until 60 days.  Go ahead and try a booking.  

 

You might also consider booking a round trip on Norway's Best.  Round trip is 680 as opposed to 470 for one way.  That way you would be protected.

[CCJack]

19 hours ago, queen_kathy1 said:

How long in advance you can book must have recently been changed because I keep getting error messages that our Aug 7 "departure is more than 60 days from now".

 

I am looking to book one-way tix for my family from Flam to Myrdal station and then rent bikes for the return trip.  In the event that it rains, do you think we'd be able to book return tickets either in Flam or in Myrdal once we're there instead of getting wet on the ride back?  I'm thinking since we'll already occupy 3 seats for the trip up to Myrdal, I'm wondering what are the chances of those 3 spots being already booked for the trip back to Flam by someone else, that they should be available for last minute purchase though I do realize there are no guarantees.

 

When we biked down, we booked a rountrip train ticket.   In case of rain, we would have a ride back on the train.   It turned out to be beautiful weather so we rode bikes, but it was worth the extra cost to have a backup plan...

 

 

[oakridger]

@CCJackdid you ask if it was possible to get a refund on the unused tickets?

 

~Nancy

[kaisatsu]

On 5/20/2023 at 10:53 PM, queen_kathy1 said:

I'm wondering what are the chances of those 3 spots being already booked for the trip back to Flam by someone else, that they should be available for last minute purchase though I do realize there are no guarantees.

Very likely for those seats to be booked. A lot of people book Oslo-Myrdal-Flåm as part of the Norway in a Nutshell route between Oslo and Bergen. Since it's a weekday, it is actually more likely that Myrdal-Flåm will sell out than Flåm-Myrdal. (On weekends in early August, there is an increase in one-way traffic the other direction due to people cycling the Rallarvegen from Finse or Haugestol.)

[queen_kathy1]

Super helpful, thanks so much for your replies!  @hallasm, @ericosmith, @CCJack, @kaisatsu   I will book tix today!

[queen_kathy1]

I liked the idea of booking through Norway's best, but the 2 most suitable departure times - 12pm and 1:20 - are already sold out.  I am not confident that we'll get off the boat quickly enough to make the 10:45am train, as it only arrives in port at 10am.

 

So checking back on the VY website, i just checked their cancellation policy and it says this:

Cancellation terms and conditions for Vy trains and the Flåm Railway

For many ticket types, you can usually make changes easily yourself via My account.

Single ticket

If you have a Single ticket, you may amend or refund this free of charge via My account until the scheduled time of departure. 

 

So this is giving me confidence to buy roundtrip tix through vy and I could cancel the day before we arrive in Flam depending on the weather forecast. I am able to book the 12pm departure through vy.  Does this sound like a good way to proceed or am I missing something?  

[queen_kathy1]

Let me clarify, cancel just the return part of our tickets if the weather is good, so we can ride bikes back to Flam instead.