Flam railway

[Bobbie]

Has anyone done the Flamm railway excursion with P&O? I am sure when my cousins went two years ago they took the railway to the top, had waffles and coffee in a hotel and a walk around before coming back down, however I've just looked at the excursions on my cruise personaliser and it says that the train only stops at the top for 5-10 mins and you are advised to stay on the train. That means being on the train for about 2 hours, just going up and coming straight back down. No mention of coffee and waffles. A bit disappointing. I know you can go on the railway yourself DIY, but I believe it gets very busy and sometimes you can't get a ticket, especially if there are other ships in port.

[Boris+]

Hi Bobbie,

Here is a link to whatsinport.com http://www.whatsinport.com/Flam-Aurlandsfjord.htm , so to start with you can look at the cruise calendar for the port of Flaam and see quite reliably if there are any other ships in port when you are there. I believe there is a good website for the railway which will give you the times of the trains - and so you may be able to plan your train excursion with the help of that - and maybe even book your tickets too.

We did the ride on the train last year - at the 'top' we only stopped for an hour, so the whole thing was just over 2 hours. The train also stopped half way up so that we could get out and see the 'troll' in her red dress and singing her special song. We had awesome waffles with hot raspberry sauce etc and hot drinks at the hotel - not to be forgotten.

I hope that you are able to find out if you will be on the only ship in port. We found that the train had a carriage /seas reserved for our excursion, the rest of the train was for public use - but there were coachloads of foreign tourists who took up the seats on the rest of the train.

Good luck.

Em

[Manoverboard]

Your desired choice complete with waffles seems to be ' Flam Railway and Vatnahalsen ' whereas mine would be ' Norway in a Nutshell '.

[Mervyn and Trish]

We did the waffles trip. It stops one station short of the top where you get off and have your refreshment and you then rejoin a train on it way down later, so the stop is a reasonable length. You can book the train yourself cheaper but if there is more than one ship in it can get sold out very early in the day. So if you want certainty book with P&O. If you're prepared to gamble do it yourself and if you can get on you'll save money. We've done it once each way.

[Bobbie]

Thanks for your replies, it seems P&O are no longer doing the Vatnahalsen stop but just going straight to Myrdal and back, no waffles sob sob! Maybe I'll just book the tickets myself on the website, wait an hour and get the next train back - says Myrdal station has a cafe and I imagine there will be some nice views up there.

[Holiday Planner]

We made sure that we disembarked as soon as possible after docking (about 9am) in order to secure tickets. We caught the 9.45 train. People more than about half an hour after us failed to get seats on trains that would get them back early enough for comfort.
There's very little at the top. We thought we'd go for a walk and get a later train, but that wasn't really an option. In the end we got straight back onto the same train, but got off early on the way back (Dalsbotn) and walked down (about 4 miles), which was a lovely walk. If you wish to do that, make sure you alert the conductor before you leave Myrdal. The train is too long for the platform and he will make sure you're seated in the right place and ensure that the train stops as it is by request only at those middle stations.

[Bobbie]

Thanks Angela, that's interesting, the walk sounds nice. I've now looked at the railway's own website, booking the tickets on there is nearly £20 cheaper per person that the P&O trip so without the waffles I won't be bothering to go with P&O! I will probably book the 11.00 train and do as you suggest on the way down. There is one other ship in port on the same day, Ocean Princess, so I definitely need to book in advance, it seems you can book online from 3 months before the date you are there.

[Holiday Planner]

Hi Bobbie

I was just browsing through my 'favourites', and noticed that I've got a Flam webcam link. I thought you might like to see it. It's snowy today!
http://www.visitflam.com/corporate/multimedia/webcam/

[rita17]

We did it DIY last year. We got off the ship as soon as it was announced that we could and went to get the train tickets then back on board for breakfast. We bought tickets for the afternoon so we went for a walk in the morning then back for lunch. Once on the train there was plenty of room but we made the mistake of getting off at Myrdal. When we got back on the train it was full and we had to stand all the way back down. If we did this again I think we would get off Dasbotn and walk the rest of the way. Thank you for that tip Angela.

[The Invigilator]

The Flam Railway is a beautiful trip - couple of tips for you firstly try to sit with your back to the engine and as the train is standing on the platform the right side of the train. In our experience the best views were on that side. Also on the way up and down the train will stop at the waterfall, everyone gets out on the way up so it is a bit of a scrum to get your photos, however the driver will give you plenty of time. But on the way down he stops again and on our train only a very few people got off to take a photo.

Wishing you a wonderful cruise, Norway is stunning

[Bobbie]

Thanks for that tip, will make a note!

[Mervyn and Trish]

Just one tip if you're planning to do it DIY, as we did first time, by hopping off early to buy tickets then doing the actual trip later in the day. Check on your cruise info to make sure the ship is berthed rather than anchored and tendering. It is usually berthed, but sometimes there are two or three ships there and only one space on the quay. If you have to tender the chances of getting off in time to secure tickets is slim - it is very very popular.

[Bobbie]

Thanks, but I am planning on buying tickets online, apparently they are available for purchase online from 3 months before the date you want to go so I will make a note in my diary. Easier than hopping off the ship to buy them!

[Mervyn and Trish]

Good thinking. Not sure that option existed first time we went. Have a great time. I'm sure you'll love the trip

[rita17]

When we went last year it was only possible to book on line for a minimum of 10 people. We were only four so had to buy tickets on arrival. This may have changed, of course, but worth checking out.

[rita17]

If I remember rightly, I think you could purchase tickets for Flam at a railway station at a port you were visiting prior to Flam, ie Stavanger.

[Phantom menace]

We are going to flam in a couple of weeks with thomson. The excursions they offer in the railway are not suitable for us. One is train up and a hike back, I don't think our 3 year old will like that. The other is flam railway and tour including meal in hotel in voss (we have done this before and loved it but to much for our son). Also the cost is about £350 for the 3 of us which is bit to much for us.

After reading people's comments I have researched that our ship will be anchored and I think queen vic will be moored at the quay. We are thinking that that we will attempt to buy tickets at flam. In people's experience is it likely that we will get tickets? Or has anyone bought them in advance at Bergen? I can buy them online now through the Norwegian rail companies website but I'm not sure if they are for specific trains or just an open ticket. I'm a bit worried that if we buy tickets before hand we may not be able to board for some reason. Any help would be great, thanks in advance P.M.

[Holiday Planner]

We made sure that we disembarked as soon as possible after docking (about 9am) in order to secure tickets. We caught the 9.45 train. People more than about half an hour after us failed to get seats on trains that would get them back early enough for comfort.
There's very little at the top. We thought we'd go for a walk and get a later train, but that wasn't really an option. In the end we got straight back onto the same train, but got off early on the way back (Dalsbotn) and walked down (about 4 miles), which was a lovely walk. If you wish to do that, make sure you alert the conductor before you leave Myrdal. The train is too long for the platform and he will make sure you're seated in the right place and ensure that the train stops as it is by request only at those middle stations.

What I wrote earlier still stands - I would just add that we were the only ship in Flam on our day and just walked off the ship. If you're tendered, you may struggle to get tickets in time. I suggest you try and book them in advance if you can.

[Boris+]

Silly question - if you are buying tickets in Flam, (if you getting more than say, just two) - does that qualify with the authorities for the tax refund at the end of the cruise?

Em

[Quizzical Bob]

Silly question - if you are buying tickets in Flam, (if you getting more than say, just two) - does that qualify with the authorities for the tax refund at the end of the cruise?

Em

No, almost certainly not. The service was provided in Norway and nothing was exported .

[Phantom menace]

Well we are just back from our cruise and I thought I'd share our experience of the railway. We bought our tickets at stavanger train station the day before. The lady at stavanger train station said we couldn't, so we used the self service ticket machine on the platform, it was all in English and straight forward. We chose our train times, paid and walked off with our tickets. It was a good job we did as as a tunnel near flam had caught fire and the road was not going to be open the day we visited. This meant that all the ships excursions were cancelled. We arrived early and was at the train station in flam at 8:30,( trying to get on an earlier train) all tickets were just about sold for the day despite no other ships in yet. Very few people got tickets for the railway. We managed to board an earlier train than our tickets were for and found ourselves in a carriage with about 6 others. The next few carriages were just as empty, we thought it was sad that there were so many empty sets and so many people who had been turned away. There was plenty of room on the return journey as well. The journey was very enjoyable despite natures best efforts to spoil things with very heavy rain and poor visability at times. Anyway I think it cost us somewhere in the region of £65/70 for our return journey. There was also a little road train in flam that may be of interest to some people who may not fancy the flam railway.

[Deckplan]

Hi Phantom menace

We will be in Bergen the day before Flam and I assume it will be possible to buy tickets at Bergen Station as well. A couple of questions. Did the ticket machine take currency and/or credit cards. When you arrived at Flam station did you just walk onto platform or did you validate your ticket at ticket office?

[Phantom menace]

Hi Phantom menace

We will be in Bergen the day before Flam and I assume it will be possible to buy tickets at Bergen Station as well. A couple of questions. Did the ticket machine take currency and/or credit cards. When you arrived at Flam station did you just walk onto platform or did you validate your ticket at ticket office?

I'm not sure about Bergen rail station, as in whether they have the ticket machines or not. If not the ticket office will not sell them to you. If they have the machines it is very straight forward. Choose your language then choose stations, then choose dates and pay. We paid by credit card and don't know if cash can be used. The machine gave us our tickets and we just walked away. At flam we waited just off from the platform as there was a barrier across. A railway guard/worker approx 30 mins before departure came and stood at the barrier and checked tickets as you went onto the train. We actually got an earlier train up than our tickets were booked for. The tickets you will buy doesn't have any seat reservations which means you are sat in the carriages with normal paying passengers ie Norwegians. We actually had more or less an empty carriage up but much busier coming down.

On a side note if you or I (I will do some research) find out that there isn't a ticket machine at Bergen then you may wish to look into something we are doing this year. We are going to flam in July but none of our other ports of call have access to train stations/ticket machines. We have an app on our iPhones that allows us to buy virtual tickets for the flam railway. I think they are available to buy about 3 months in advance. I think it is NSB, which is the Norwegian rail. You just show the mobile phone ticket to the inspector (so I believe, not used so can't be 100% how it works). The only thing I can think is that you may require your mobile to be connected to data roaming which maybe needed to be done with mobile provider before going. Hope I've helped and not just confused the issue.

Hope you have a great time. by the way if you haven't been to Bergen before make you way to the fish market. When we went about 9 years ago it was a fish market where you buy fish when we went last year it had changed to a market to buy fish but a lot of stalls cooking lobster and crab and Serving it behing the stalls, very good. My son loved looking at the tanks with lobsters and crabs in.

[Phantom menace]

Just looked on NSB website and it says there are 4 ticket vending machines at Bergen. Hope that helps.

[Deckplan]

Hi Phantom menace

Thanks for all the useful info.We will buy tickets at Bergen. Have checked Flam railway site and some trains have availability going up to Mydral but no availability coming back down.May have to take one train up and then wait hour or so for next train down. Is there much at Mydral to do or is just really the train station?