Flam Railway - Overrated ?

[wowzz]

It seems that everyone always says that the Flam Railway is a "must do" trip. So, on investigation, it is a two hour round trip, costing around $70pp. You have to book in advance, so take your chances on the weather.

Can I ask those of you who have done the trip - is it unmissable? 

[MeHeartCruising]

Well... since you asked.  I'm in the minority camp (it seems) of people that really didn't get all that much out of the trip.  Don't get me wrong.  It's a beautiful trip.  However, when I took the trip, getting on the train was a mad scramble for seats.  There were large groups of people who, naturally, wanted to sit together.  Everyone was jostling around to find where they could get their best seats.  By the time I was able to get seated, I was in an aisle seat, furthest from the windows.  I'm also tall.  I'm 6'4" tall.  In order for me to see out the window, I had to bend down the entire trip plus look around the people between me and the window.  And of course, those people between me and the window wanted to capture every minute of the trip on video or pictures.  So their arms were up in the air using their cameras and they were moving around to get their good view.  After a few minutes, I mostly gave up on trying to get a good view and just sat and looked around as best I could.

 

Would I do it again?  Probably, if no other excursion struck my fancy.  But I'd gladly do something else if the opportunity came up.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Well... since you asked.  I'm in the minority camp (it seems) of people that really didn't get all that much out of the trip.  Don't get me wrong.  It's a beautiful trip.  However, when I took the trip, getting on the train was a mad scramble for seats.  There were large groups of people who, naturally, wanted to sit together.  Everyone was jostling around to find where they could get their best seats.  By the time I was able to get seated, I was in an aisle seat, furthest from the windows.  I'm also tall.  I'm 6'4" tall.  In order for me to see out the window, I had to bend down the entire trip plus look around the people between me and the window.  And of course, those people between me and the window wanted to capture every minute of the trip on video or pictures.  So their arms were up in the air using their cameras and they were moving around to get their good view.  After a few minutes, I mostly gave up on trying to get a good view and just sat and looked around as best I could.

 

Would I do it again?  Probably, if no other excursion struck my fancy.  But I'd gladly do something else if the opportunity came up.

Thanks  -  you have reinforced some of my fears. I think I need to see how many other ships are in port, and what alternative excursions are available.

[janetcbl]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

It seems that everyone always says that the Flam Railway is a "must do" trip. So, on investigation, it is a two hour round trip, costing around $70pp. You have to book in advance, so take your chances on the weather.

Can I ask those of you who have done the trip - is it unmissable? 

I would say don’t miss it. I was a tour guide for many years and have done this trip with groups in all kinds of weather (we did the full NN, including the fjord boat to Gudvagen, up the mountain by bus to Stalheim, bus to Voss and train back to Bergen). No one ever said he/she was sorry they went, and many considered the Flam trip a/the highlight. I have done it in the middle of winter by myself  (no Gudvagen, etc.) in snow (sleet in Flam) and it was still magnificent. But, to each his own.

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

I would say don’t miss it. I was a tour guide for many years and have done this trip with groups in all kinds of weather (we did the full NN, including the fjord boat to Gudvagen, up the mountain by bus to Stalheim, bus to Voss and train back to Bergen). No one ever said he/she was sorry they went, and many considered the Flam trip a/the highlight. I have done it in the middle of winter by myself  (no Gudvagen, etc.) in snow (sleet in Flam) and it was still magnificent. But, to each his own.

Thank you for your reply. More food for thought !

[kitkat343]

14 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Well... since you asked.  I'm in the minority camp (it seems) of people that really didn't get all that much out of the trip.  Don't get me wrong.  It's a beautiful trip.  However, when I took the trip, getting on the train was a mad scramble for seats.  There were large groups of people who, naturally, wanted to sit together.  Everyone was jostling around to find where they could get their best seats.  By the time I was able to get seated, I was in an aisle seat, furthest from the windows.  I'm also tall.  I'm 6'4" tall.  In order for me to see out the window, I had to bend down the entire trip plus look around the people between me and the window.  And of course, those people between me and the window wanted to capture every minute of the trip on video or pictures.  So their arms were up in the air using their cameras and they were moving around to get their good view.  After a few minutes, I mostly gave up on trying to get a good view and just sat and looked around as best I could.

 

Would I do it again?  Probably, if no other excursion struck my fancy.  But I'd gladly do something else if the opportunity came up.

 

I felt this way about the White pass Railway - we were in the first railroad car, and the window was open and the smell of diesel fuel was so strong I got really sick (I was pregnant and while I would have expected to get sick on the helicopter excursion, I really didn't think I'd get sick riding a railroad.)  But everyone else loved this.

 

We got good seats on the Flam railway, although not ideal weather (thankfully we got that in Geiranger) and so for us it was worth it.  We did get there early to get on line early to try to get good seats, plus we had 4 people (including 2 children) so we took up one carriage near the window by ourselves on the ride up (I think people joined us on the ride back but we had the seats closest to the window).  My kids were 2 and 6 so understandably no one would choose to sit with us unless they had to!

[hbbae]

I agree with MeHeartCruising - when I went, I hadn’t expected the crowds, and I didn’t have a very good seat.  So I didn’t get the full experience, I didn’t see what everyone else saw.  I’d probably try again, if the opportunity presented itself.  This was just one blip on an otherwise awesome Norway experience.  Just go into it prepared (which you will be, since you posed the question and you’re gathering data.)