Flam Railway

[dorsetlad]

We are going to Flam on Aurora in July, and want to do the railway trip to Myrdal. We can book tickets online for just over £73 for the 2 of us. Does anybody know what P&O's shore excursion costs, as I imagine it will be considerably more. I understand that the train station is very close to the ship's berth, but would appreciate confirmation of this. Thanks in advance.

 

Brian

[gosport11]

it is with in easy walking distance,pre buy your tickets as the trains get really busy,When we went the tickets guaranteed a seat but not a designated seat.We made a mistake and got off at the top and caught the next train back and couldn't find a seat,its a fascinating journey a vist to the small museum is well worth it,The stop in the middle is good fun

[kruzseeka]

Yes the train station is very close to the berth - perhaps about 200 yards. If you can book your tickets online I would definitely recommend that you do as the train gets pre booked by the cruise line and tour companies so there are limited tickets for independent travellers. The first time we went we got off the ship early and went straight for tickets. There was a big queue and the first train we could get was one at about 13.00. We just went up and back with about 20 mins at Myrdal - not that there's anything much there anyway. It's a bit like the wild west up there! It's all about the journey.

 

It seems if you can buy tickets that is a new departure as it was only possible to buy tickets ahead of time for a group of minimum size 10 so I'd go for that option if you can. I would guess the ship's trip is about that price each.

[kruzseeka]

I've just been on the Flamsbana site and under the faqs 'can I buy tickets for two online' I'm a bit concerned about the reference to Bergen and it's connection to buying a Flam railway ticket. I've a feeling that you may only be able to buy tickets in advance (for less than ten people) if it's part of a longer onward journey. I hope that I am wrong but that would be consistent with my understanding of the situation up to a couple of years ago. I wish you luck and hope that the t&c have changed.

[mrbluesea]

You are correct that you will not be able to buy tickets on line for just 2 people. When I did the port a few people got the early tender to buy the tickets for later in the morning and then got the tender back for breakfast before returning to flam for the rail trip. If you search walking in flam you will find a very good map of the port as there are a few good walk in the port. We just got a later train journey mid morning and the queue was small to get the train tickets.

[Thejuggler]

Having done the Norway in a Nutshell tour for £90 each it offered much better value for money than the £37ish DIY return fare on the Flaam. A full day including lunch which was advertised at IIRC £40 each.

 

I was surprised how much of the Flaam railway is in tunnels and avalanche protection shelters. Impressive engineering, not so good for views. The half way stop is impressive, but no need to see it twice.

[BORDER REIVER]

We called at Flam 2 years ago with Queen Elizabeth & because a Celebrity ship arrived less than 1/2 an hour before us, she got the only berth and we were anchored well out into the fjord and had to be tendered ashore - quite a time-consuming process. We had expected to be tied up at the pier. Might be worthwhile checking with P&O, but they mightn't know at this stage. We had Geiranger cancelled at just a few weeks notice because of too many other ships in the fjord.

We didn't do the Flam railway, but booked an amazing rib trip instead.

[Dryce]

You are correct that you will not be able to buy tickets on line for just 2 people.

 

Well we managed to do just that last summer.

 

https://www.visitflam.com/en/sightseeing/aktiviteter/flamsbanaen/

 

It used to be the case that only groups of at least 10 could pre-book. That changed some time in the last couple of years.

 

When we went the printouts of the tickets were accepted on the train. So no need to queue at the ticket office.

 

As has been said elsewhere the station is just round the corner from the quay. When we went they marshalled the passengers into two queues on the platform for boarding - the 'official' tours were allocated to reserved carriages. The ordinary mortals were directed to unreserved carriages.

 

On the way up it was about 50% full in our section of the train. It filled up on the way back down.

 

As regards timing changes that's where you're on your own doing it DIY. You have to allow for the fact that even if the ship is one time that if originally booked to berth it may change to tendering (and vice versa).

Edited January 17, 2015 by Dryce

[kruzseeka]

Thanks for that update Dryce - useful to know you can now book ahead. We even tried buying tickets in Bergen the day before on one occasion as I had been told that was a possible way around the pre booking difficulties online. But that didn't work either unless travelling as part of a longer journey ie not just up and down to Myrdal. I thought that was really miserable and discriminated against independent travellers and couldn't understand why! Hopefully we're going again later this year so I'm very pleased to know it's now possible.

[dorsetlad]

Thanks for all the replies, very informative. I am now beginning to have doubts about going it alone because of the risks of itinerary change and the possibility of tendering. We have experienced changes of itinerary on P&O cruises before, including after we have sailed, so it is always a risk. We will probably end up doing the P&O excursion, but there is 6 months to go yet, so plenty of time to change our minds.

 

Brian

[pete14]

As an alternative, there is a micro brewery pub on the 'quayside'. Beer is expensive but cheaper than the railway.

[kathsmum]

We visited Flam in August last year. I first checked which ships were in on, cruisetimetables.com, (click on cruise destinations and put in the date) and as we were the only ship in, I pre-booked our tickets on visitflam.com - not all times were available as they had been taken up by P&O. If there is more than one ship in it is highly likely that the P&O one would be tendered - it's not a case of which ship gets there first - its the cost of the berth. The time we chose had half the carriages taken up by P&O, but we didn't have to queue at all as we had our printed confirmation which was our ticket. Hope this helps.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

When we went in 2013 on Crown Princess, I joined the Princess Roll Call and were able to get into groups to buy 10 tickets. Our "leader" bought the tickets and we all met up on the first day and paid him. It worked out about £38 each, but of course that is just up and down again. I think the ship's trips go one way on the train and back by coach (or vice versa) and may provide a meal.

 

I seem to remember that people who bought tickets in Bergen found that they did not specify a time and so the only times left were after the ship had left!

 

This shows how close the station is if you are docked. The ropes are from our ship and the station is just behind the small blue and white boat.

 

[WINDSONG2]

This is an amazing train journey and well worth doing. When we last visited Flam, we were the only ship there. We got off at 8.30am and had no problem obtaining tickets at the station (reduced fares for over 60's). We caught the 9am train which is the first train of the day. Half way to Myrdal the train stops for photo shoots at the 305ft. Kjosfossen waterfall. If you have a choice, on the way up sit on the right hand side of the carriage for the best views. We caught the first train back as we wanted to visit the Museum and then went for a most enjoyable walk out of Flam. I hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did.

[kruzseeka]

This is an amazing train journey and well worth doing. When we last visited Flam, we were the only ship there. We got off at 8.30am and had no problem obtaining tickets at the station (reduced fares for over 60's). We caught the 9am train which is the first train of the day. Half way to Myrdal the train stops for photo shoots at the 305ft. Kjosfossen waterfall. If you have a choice, on the way up sit on the right hand side of the carriage for the best views. We caught the first train back as we wanted to visit the Museum and then went for a most enjoyable walk out of Flam. I hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did.

 

Yes it is pretty spectacular isn't it? Talking of a walk though, if you have time it is a lovely walk up the valley to the stave church - you will spot it from the train.

[Jo and Rob]

We loved the Flam railway. I have attached our cruise video of the Norwegian Fjords on Azura. Scroll to 4.06 of our video link to go straight to our day in Flam, and our trip on the train.

 

[dorsetlad]

Thanks Jo & Rob for the wonderful video. It really gave us a taste of what to expect.

 

Brian

[Jo and Rob]

Thanks Jo & Rob for the wonderful video. It really gave us a taste of what to expect.

 

Brian

 

The Norwegian Fjords are fabulous. Have a great cruise.

[susan the jambo]

Hello

 

We have booked the "Norway in a Nutshell" trip in Flaam for our cruise in April. The cost is £210 for two. Includes railway trip and lunch. Hope this helps.

[dorsetlad]

Just had a look at Norway in a nutshell and it looks very good. It has the added advantage of going to Voss, and a scenic coach journey back to Flaam. Plus you get lunch. As expensive as it is, it may be a good option, particularly as our Peninsular discount brings the price down to about £194. Have to give it some consideration.

 

Brian

[2irisheyes]

We will be there in May and P&O's price is £62 pp for 2.5 hour trip - walk short distance to station followed by return train journey. Independent train tickets are NoK 420 pp (haven't checked exchange rate yet). P&O will get group discount so they will only pay in the region of NoK 300 pp (large group I guess. For groups of 10 price is NoK 389 approx. I suspect trains in the afternoon could be less busy. Not sure what we will do yet but we certainly won't pay £124 to P&O for the trip. At least it should be a bit warmer in July than in May.

[tonyl1956]

Another vote for the Norway in a Nutshell (P&O version of it anyway), which we did in 2013 from Azura. Brilliant day out. Given the general prices of everything in Norway, we thought it was pretty good value.

 

Tony

[Ranchi]

not really cruise based but....we visited this railway in mid 1970s as students on inter rail. One of our group had heard of this great rail ride and so we decided we would give it a go. We got off an overnight train at about 4 a m and waited for the first train down the valley. Absolutely no sign of life anywhere. About 20 mins before the scheduled departure time, two railway workers appeared and set up a three wheeled cart on the tracks. The cart had no source of power, only a brake. They pushed the cart off and headed down the valley. The scheduled train duly arrived and took us down. It is an incredible journey. Well worth a visit. The train stopped at various view points along the way. When we reached the bottom the staff who took the cart down were there to greet us. Wonder if that sort of transport would be allowed today?

[P&O SUE]

I agree with the person who said to sit on the right hand side - we were on the left! :o

[silver wedding]

Norway in a nutshell best excursion we have ever been on. Thought it was value for money. Yes we could have done it cheaper ourselves but we couldn't have done the package. we have been on some P&O excursions which have been overpriced and over hyped but this wasn't one of them.

Life is to short to penny pinch on the good things in life and this excursion is one of them.