Flam Railway on your own - be aware!

[bj24]

The best way to do the Flam train is to have a group reservation. The leader of each group collected everyone's payment the day before and then got off the ship ASAP once in Flam to get the ticket. It is a single ticket for each group, and there is a reserved train car with your group name on .

 

 

Hi

 

Since we have a group reservation, is it still necessary to "get off the ship ASAP"? I would think the group reservation line would be smaller ( we are on the second train at 9:45am)

[cruiser620]

Sorry, I can't really answer your question since I wasn't the leader for our group. That's just what the person actually buying our group ticket said she would do so there wasn't any problem getting our ticket. I did not actually go inside the station building, but the line outside was huge.

[SoBaycruiser]

The best way to do the Flam train is to have a group reservation. The leader of each group collected everyone's payment the day before and then got off the ship ASAP once in Flam to get the ticket. It is a single ticket for each group, and there is a reserved train car with your group name on .

 

 

Hi

 

Since we have a group reservation, is it still necessary to "get off the ship ASAP"? I would think the group reservation line would be smaller ( we are on the second train at 9:45am)

 

I wasn't the leader but there was a separate line for group tickets that was much shorter. However, your timing might be affected if you have to tender. We arrived at 9 and had to tender to shore, buy the tickets and get on the train. We barely made it for 9:45.

[bj24]

 

I wasn't the leader but there was a separate line for group tickets that was much shorter. However, your timing might be affected if you have to tender. We arrived at 9 and had to tender to shore, buy the tickets and get on the train. We barely made it for 9:45.

 

I appreciate the information. Luckily we are not tendering and I think we are the only ship I port that day so I do not think it will be super crowded.

 

Thanks again

[bird123]

There is another way to buy individual tickets. The NSB (the Norwegian rail company) has an application you can download into your mobile phone which you can use to buy and pay for time-specific tickets. In this case do you still need to queue up for validation since you are buying directly from the train company?

[leahsdad]

yes ----you are buying an open ticket for that specific train---you are lining up for a seat assignment----its possible to have a ticket and no seat available for you

 

Paul

[TLCOhio]

Lots of great info and background has been shared on this helpful thread. The Flam rail trip is super wonderful and very dramatic/interesting. On our cruise as detailed below on my live/blog, we had the morning in Flam and then went in the afternoon via more of the spectacular Sognerfjord as we sailed to our afternoon stop in nearby Gudvangen. We did a fun land trip up above and around Gudvangen, etc.

 

As outlined below, this is a unique and special trip. There are also "trade-offs" on doing this trip through the ship and their somewhat over-priced excursion. Versus, buying tickets on your own, taking some of the risks, hassles. Either way, the key decision is doing this rail and "up country" adventure. Your choice depending on your budget, number of ships in this small port on your day, etc. Don't miss!!

 

Added reactions, questions??

 

Flam, with a population of about 500, is nestled in a tributary of the world's longest and deepest fjord. It is 128 miles long and has a maximum depth of 4,291 feet. On the question of how deep are these fjords, local say: “A mermaid could swim all the way to China.” The chief attraction here is the 73-year-old Flam Railway. It includes twenty tunnels and eight stops as it goes up the mountain. This rail lines rises from Flam’s gingerbread rail station going up 2,835 feet to Myrdal and this "Roof of Norway" rail station. In 2010, this railway was chosen as one of the top ten most beautiful train journeys in Europe by National Geographic Traveler Magazine. In 2012, there was a new passenger record of 635,368 riders carried. That is a big jump up in ridership from 475K in 2005 and 380K in 1994.

Railroad website with more history and technical details for its construction, operations: http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 112,318 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Here are a few highlights from the Flam train ride, including where you stop in a stone tunnel to get out and then see this dramatic 305-foot-high Kjosfossen Waterfall half-way on this 12.4 mile trip. We then exit the train at the Vatnahalsen Hotel, to see the grounds, nearby mountains, etc. Here is also the view at the hotel deck of the nearby mountains and passengers re-boarding to return to Flam and our ship.. Lots of great views on this routing, up and down. :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Flam railroad car with information on its twenty tunnels.:

 

[ahlanmak]

Just came back from Norway and was taking Flam railway on June 30th. Would like to let everyone know that if you plan ahead, you can get round trip ticket from the website achttp://www.acprail.com/attractions/scandinavia/scenic-rail-tours/flam-railway

 

We bought our tickets in early May because we left US in Early June to have some land tour before boarding the ship in the end of June.

Although it is open ticket for certain dates. We had no problem to get on the train. We did not need to go to train station to stamp or valid the time and date. We just showed the tickets at the platform at the time of the train we would like to take and aboard the train without any problem. According to tripadvisor local expert, there are always seats can not be reserved by cruise ship. You just show at the platform first in the line for individual travelers.

 

The price of the ticket is 1/2 the price of excursion. You just take the train to Myrdal, the last stop and return to the Flam with the same train immediately. Our ship only had 3 hours in Flam and we made it without any problem and delay and got back to the ship with all excursion people.