Norwegian Flam Excursion

[Lottie_Cruiser]

Going on RC Jewel of the Seas in a couple weeks. Has anyone taken either the Overland to Myrdal, Geilo, & Flam excursion or the Overland to Voss, Tvinde & Stalheim excursion? They both take the Flam Railway, but then one has lunch in Geilo and then goes back to the ship via the Aurland Valley and the other one has lunch in Voss then back to the ship via the steep Stalheimskleivane road and then 12 miles of tunnel back to the ship. I need help deciding which one to do.

[Andee]

We did the Flam RR round trip on our own, and enjoyed it very much. It was quite inexpensive compared to the ship's excursions.

[eldercruser]

We were in Flam last summer. Unfortunately, the overland tour that included the railroad was not available on our cruise. However, we did visit Stalheim, which was most worthwhile - beautiful scenery and some interesting history. A tour than includes Stalheim and the railroad to Flam would be a great tour.

[Sue G]

We were on a coach holdiay in Norway in 2002 and did "Norway in a Nutshell" which included coach, train and boat. It was a wonderful trip even though weather wise it was the worst day of the holiday. The train ride is a highlight especially when they stop the train by the waterfall and you are allowed of the train o take photos - watch for the girls singing in the waterfall. We stayed in Voss for a couple of nights and our hotel room looked out across the lake.

 

Sue G

[cadreamer]

Andee - Plese tell me more about taking the Flam Railway on your own. It looks very simple. Did you just walk to the station and buy a roundtrip ticket?

[Ine]

Any advise from someone who did the railway in Flam by himself.

I know the station is not far away, but how full is the train when a cruiseship is in port? Still room enough for individual passengers?

[Sparkle 123]

We are thinking of doing the Flam railway by ourselves on our upcoming Fjords cruise in May.

I found this website which has all the information about the timetables and prices. Hope it is of help.

http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng/

 

Lisa

[Ine]

We are thinking of doing the Flam railway by ourselves on our upcoming Fjords cruise in May.

I found this website which has all the information about the timetables and prices. Hope it is of help.

http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng/

 

Lisa

 

Thanks that is the info I got too. I just wondered how quick that train will fill up with cruise-passengers. Reservations for groups (ao shipexcursions) only, not for individual passengers.

What sailing to Flamm are you on?

 

I remember the pier in Skegness from many many years ago!!!

[Sparkle 123]

Hi Ine

We are on the Century 26th May sailing from Amsterdam.

Funny you should remember the pier in Skegness, unfortunately it was blown down in a bad storm in 1978, so it is only a very small pier now!!!

Which sailing are you on?

[Ine]

Hi Ine

We are on the Century 26th May sailing from Amsterdam.

Funny you should remember the pier in Skegness, unfortunately it was blown down in a bad storm in 1978, so it is only a very small pier now!!!

Which sailing are you on?

 

Like I said it is a long time ago!! We had fish and chips in one of those newspapers too. Things to remember.

We intend to sail May 09, so I will report back after that.

First time ever that we will be at a cruise terminal within 20 minutes drive, feels luxurious...no jetlag etc..

[jewel_maiden]

Hello, we did the Flam railway by ourselves a few years ago whilst on Jewel of the Seas and we were very surprised as most of the passengers on board were local so finding a seat was easy and that was just as soon as we got off the ship after it docked. It was I think about a quarter of the price of an excursion that included the railway. When we reached the top most of the passengers disappeared on the connecting mainline train to Oslo and we were there alone.

 

Hope this helps, any more questions about it feel free to ask but it is one of the most spectacular train journeys ever so enjoy.

[TourDeCruise]

We are on the same cruise as Abbafan (Lisa).

 

We also prefer to do the train on our own, but have contemplated the Celebrity tour that uses the train and then hikes down 7 miles. Has anyone on the board taken Celebrity's train & hike excursion or taken the train on their own and then hiked part of the way down the mountain back to Flam on their own?

 

According to the Flamsbana Train website that Lisa posted, the train has a brief stop at Kjosfossen and then continues to Myrdal. We might be able to hike back from Myrdal to Flam, but how easy would it be to find our way back to Flam?

 

It sounds like Flam is small. Is there enough to see walking around Flam after the train ride?

 

Kathy

[MacThespian]

Funny you should remember the pier in Skegness, unfortunately it was blown down in a bad storm in 1978, so it is only a very small pier now!!!

 

Not a cruise memory, but when I saw "Skegness" it triggered memories. About 30 years ago I was engaged to a woman from Skendleby, and have great memories of the area. (We broke it off before we made the mistake of getting married to each other, in case you're wondering, but I think we both grew during our relationship.)

[Andrew9999]

I was getting excited about this ... until I realised that our cruise (Jewel 5 August 2007) docks at Oslo which is 200 miles from Flam!

 

Maybe another time...

 

Andrew.

[mpbmark]

I had also thought about doing the trip to Flam, but it doesn't appear possible if the ship docks in Oslo. The Jewel is scheduled to leave port at 4:00 pm and as I read the schedule, the train doesn't return until 6:00 pm. That would make for a long swim.

 

To those of you planning this trip, where are you docked? If Oslo, please explain the itinerary.