During the night we headed up the Sognerfjord, Norway’s longest (122 miles) and deepest (up to an astonishing 4,200 ft or 8/10 mile!) fjord to Flam. This aptly named village means “little place between steep mountains”.
The tiny (pop. 350) village of Flam sits in the heart of Norway’s fjord country. Despite being inundated with 450,000 visitors in the course of a typical travel year, it’s managed to retain its small town feel. It would be interesting to stay for a night or two in the absence of cruisers.
People come to Flam from all over the world for the views, to kayak the fjords, cycle the trails and climb the surrounding mountains. But people come especially to ride the Flåm Railway.
This is not it.
The legendary Flåm Railway is one of the world’s most spectacular train journeys, listed in National Geographic Traveler Magazine’s top ten European train rides, and named by Lonely Planet Traveller as “the world’s best train ride”.
Of all the things we’ll see on this trip, the Flam Railway was the thing I was most anticipating. We’d reserved a ride from Flam to Myrdal, and were then going to hike 6 miles back to a lower station where we would hop back on the train to return to Flam. However, when we boarded the Rotterdam two days ago, we were notified that this trip was cancelled. So we settled instead for a round trip ride on the train this afternoon.
It was exciting to wake up in Norway this morning, at the end of the Aurlandsfjorden which obligingly looked just like the fjords in my elementary geography textbook - only foggier. The weather was supposed to be miserable, raining all day and chilly. But my weather karma held up this morning. With only light intermittent drizzle, we walked around the harbor and hiked on some well-marked trails in the Frethium Kulturpark
The port of Flam
Without Norway’s amazing tunneled road system, its towns in the western fjords would be isolated during much of the year. Norway has 1245 tunnels bored through the mountains. By comparison, the US, fifty times the size of Norway, has under 500. Just wandering around Flam, we saw two of the tunnels. The longest tunnel in Norway is the Laerdal tunnel, which is near Flam. It’s 24.5 km -15 miles. It was designed with input from a tunnel psychologist who used colorful lighting and turnouts in the tunnel to reduce both driver boredom and anxiety. We went to a talk about it yesterday on the ship. We thought about renting a little electric car this morning to drive through it, but the car doesn’t have enough charge to go both ways. If you’re curious, you can read more about it here:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/the-longest-tunnel-in-the-world
Not sure what this bench represents: The origin of Manspreading, or the origin of Oompa Loompas?
After a light late lunch back on the ship, we joined our group to get on the train. Construction on the Flam Railway started in 1924 and was completed in 1940. The engineering marvel is one of the world’s steepest train rides built on normal tracks. The railway climbs more than 2,800 feet during the 12.5 miles from Flåm Station at sea level to Myrdal Station. It averages a 4.4% grade, with the steepest incline 5.5%.
The train runs up and over the side of a gorge for 45 harrowing minutes. We wove in and out of twenty tunnels, past countless waterfalls and a 180 degree spiral turn inside a tunnel. It was hazy, but still a beautiful ride up the gorge. While there was some comfort in the knowledge that the train is equipped with five sets of backup brake systems, it is still not a ride for the faint-hearted or those afraid of heights. (A woman sitting near us was clearly unnerved by the tunnels.)
Village of Flam
140 meter (455 ft) free falling waterfall.
We emerged from the line's longest tunnel at Naali to the stunning vista of Myrdalsberg Mountain. We could see how the railway is built on multiple levels and the snow sheds over the tracks. The Raller Road, with its 21 hairpin turns paralleling a waterfall, was built in 1893.
On both the way up and back, we stopped for 5 minutes at the Kjosfossen waterfall for a spectacular photo opportunity, and a somewhat cheesy performance by a local dance student posing as a Huldra. We all piled out of the train cars to take photos of the waterfall, getting drenched by spray in the process. Lo and behold, some appropriately mysterious music began and the Huldra appeared high on the cliffs. (According to Norwegian folklore, the Huldra is a beautiful forest spirit that lures men into the woods to seduce them. She is stunningly beautiful although from behind she has the tail of a cow or fox. She was careful to show us only her best side.)
The Kjosfossen has a total drop of 738 ft, with the longest drop 305 feet. There is a small power station at the waterfall, which is used to power the Flam Railway. It’s fitting, as the train is the only way to visit the falls. -
Kjosfossen
With the Huldra
By our highest point, we could see patches of snow and icefields.
And then we reversed course, heading backwards back to the port, the ship, and onwards to our next destination.
Stunning photos. We saw spiral tunnels in Canada—very interesting!
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