Flam train on your own

[chrissie p]

Hi

We are cruising the Fjords in May and it'll be our first time in Flam. We would like to do the train journey but the ship tour is booked up. If we book our tickets independently online, I just wanted to ask for some advise please as to how far the train station is from the port and how long to leave to get there. If anyone has any other hints or tips that they found useful too that would be great.

Thanks in advance 

Chris

[devonuk]

You could probably throw a stone between the 2 on a good day 😃

 

 

[chrissie p]

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Edited December 23, 2022 by chrissie p

[chrissie p]

You've just made my day, thanks 😄

[devonuk]

Just now, chrissie p said:

You've just made my day, thanks 😄

Just get off straightaway and head to the ticket office, we’ve never had a problem getting a slot but I believe some have in the past by not getting over there quickly 🤷‍♂️

I don’t know if you can book direct in advance so perhaps try that. This is certainly a trip where you do not need to waste money on a ship excursion. 

[chrissie p]

Thanks. It looks like if we are quick off the ship we haven't got much to worry about but will check out the online booking in a bit more detail, just in case.

[jaydee6969]

This was taken from on Azura a few years ago, you can see the train station is very close.

 

 

[devonuk]

17 minutes ago, chrissie p said:

Thanks. It looks like if we are quick off the ship we haven't got much to worry about but will check out the online booking in a bit more detail, just in case.

If you’re feeling adventurous take the journey on to Voss, you won’t regret it. It just requires a change of train at Myrdal and often the ships excursions will do this as well. If you’re in port all day it’s very doable 👍

 

 

[rhino29]

You can buy tickets in advance and wait for the crowds to subside a little

We did it about 7 years ago
Flamsbana Train & Flam Railway Tickets Online - NORWAY TRAINS

Edited December 23, 2022 by rhino29

[chrissie p]

Thanks everyone. Looks like we have a few options to consider. Lovely photo too, we can't wait 😀

[happy v]

3 hours ago, chrissie p said:

Thanks everyone. Looks like we have a few options to consider. Lovely photo too, we can't wait 😀

We booked online. Makes it easier as there is often a queue. You can pay a little bit extra to get a refund if you don't travel

[Fionboard]

If you are not getting off, sit on the left for best view.

[chrissie p]

1 hour ago, happy v said:

We booked online. Makes it easier as there is often a queue. You can pay a little bit extra to get a refund if you don't travel

That's good to know as fingers crossed we would be able to travel, but it would hopefully cover any issues if the ship was late etc. Thanks

[chrissie p]

50 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

If you are not getting off, sit on the left for best view.

Thanks, I'll remember that 👍

[Bill Y]

3 hours ago, happy v said:

We booked online. Makes it easier as there is often a queue. You can pay a little bit extra to get a refund if you don't travel

That's good to know in case the port is missed for some reason.

 

We were due to go on a ships excursion to Voss via the railway but it was cancelled the day before due to a road tunnel on the return becoming blocked, So we disembarks as early as we could and joined the brisk short march to the station, we found all the earlier trains booked up but booked a return trip to the main line junction for aboult lunchtime.  The earlier trains did not appear to be full so suspect that P&O had block booked.

 

The train may pause half way up at a passing point then later on will stop by a waterfall on the left, there is a platform and we thought that people were just getting off at a station,  after a bit realised that there were maidens dancing by and on a derelict building or there was nine years ago. Luckily the train stops on the way back so we were able to get out to see the performance.

 

The topic at diner was were they really maidens or men in wigs?

Edited December 23, 2022 by Bill Y

[davecttr]

Ah! the maidens at the waterfall stop. I had a chat with a railway worker whist people were taking photos etc. That maiden was an Australian bloke doing  a summer holiday job, aided by it being so cold 😁

[CRUISENSNOOZE]

On 12/23/2022 at 6:45 AM, chrissie p said:

Hi

We are cruising the Fjords in May and it'll be our first time in Flam. We would like to do the train journey but the ship tour is booked up. If we book our tickets independently online, I just wanted to ask for some advise please as to how far the train station is from the port and how long to leave to get there. If anyone has any other hints or tips that they found useful too that would be great.

Thanks in advance 

Chris

Hi, The train station is about a 5 minute walk from where the ship docked. We did buy our tickets on line and were glad we did, as many people were disappointed as couldn't get on the train. NB..if you are doing a return and not walking down!, don't leave much time at the top as there is nothing really to do. I think we got the train up about 11.45am...after all the tours. Ours train was not too full. At the top, we had 40 minutes to spare and as it was drizzling, we had waffles in the station restaurant. Try to sit on the left both ways....and halfway up at one of the stops, on the left, look out for the singing girl!!!

[CCJack]

We took the train up (booking on our own) and biked down.  It was a great day.  Very beautiful bike ride.

 

As others have said train boards very close to the ship.   However, note that we were late getting off of the ship.   Our ship docked and only let passengers on a cruise excursion off, then it backed out and everyone else tendered.   Another ship took the dock.   I still don't know why they did this, but we were a little later and expected off of the ship.   

[janetcbl]

Any good TA can book the full round trip for you. It is called “Norway in a Nutshell” and can usually be fit into a day. You can check it out online by Googling “Norway in a Nutshell”.

[chrissie p]

22 hours ago, CRUISENSNOOZE said:

Hi, The train station is about a 5 minute walk from where the ship docked. We did buy our tickets on line and were glad we did, as many people were disappointed as couldn't get on the train. NB..if you are doing a return and not walking down!, don't leave much time at the top as there is nothing really to do. I think we got the train up about 11.45am...after all the tours. Ours train was not too full. At the top, we had 40 minutes to spare and as it was drizzling, we had waffles in the station restaurant. Try to sit on the left both ways....and halfway up at one of the stops, on the left, look out for the singing girl!!!

Thanks for the heads up 😀

[chrissie p]

19 hours ago, CCJack said:

We took the train up (booking on our own) and biked down.  It was a great day.  Very beautiful bike ride.

 

As others have said train boards very close to the ship.   However, note that we were late getting off of the ship.   Our ship docked and only let passengers on a cruise excursion off, then it backed out and everyone else tendered.   Another ship took the dock.   I still don't know why they did this, but we were a little later and expected off of the ship.   

Thanks, we'll take that into consideration!

[hallasm]

22 hours ago, CCJack said:

We took the train up (booking on our own) and biked down.  It was a great day.  Very beautiful bike ride.

Just note that there might be too much snow for biking in May. Bike rental in Myrdal is possible from June 1 to September 30

Edited December 25, 2022 by hallasm

[oakridger]

They really ought to get the dancing "Maiden" a better wig!!! 😉

 

I loved the Flamsbana and scenery!