What to do In Flamm

For any of you out there who are doing a Fjords cruise and Flamm is one of the ports of call then the Flamm Railway is a must. I have been on this twice before and I am looking forward to experiencing this again in May when I will be taking a Fjords Cruise on Celebrity Eclipse.

The Flåm Railway offers  beautiful mountain scenery, with snow-capped peaks, even in the summer months having had a snowball fight in June before! On the 20-kilometer train ride you will experience some of the most dramatic and magnificent Norwegian nature. Here you can see rivers that cut through deep ravines, waterfalls that plunge from the steep cliffs of the mountain slopes, as well as mountain farms dotted on the mountain slopes.

The Flamm Railway is one of the world’s steepest railway lines on normal gauge tracks. Nearly 80% of the route is on a 55% gradient, ie: a rise of one metre per 18.  The twisting tunnels that spiral in and out of the mountain are testament to the most daring and skillfull engineering in the history of Norwegian railway. The Train runs for Flamm to Myrdal, which is the end of the line, and takes approximately 50 minutes one way. There is a stop at Kjosfossen, about half way through the journey, where you can  experience the Waterfall which I have to say is quite spectacular. At the bottom of the Flamm Valley, you can enjoy the picturesque landscape and admire the beautiful Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, the world’s longest fjord and this magnificent scenery should not be missed. Flamm also had a museum located  in the centre of town in a bright yellow building , this small museum tells the history of the rail line and rail workers through displays, vintage photos,  and actual train equipment.

There are other activities that you can do in Flamm as well as the Railway. The Fjord Safari RIB  is another  which operates out of Flam and provides an  tour of the Aurlandsfjord and further into the  Nærøyfjord. There are only about 20 people on the boat and since it’s so small you can get really close to the shore and pause here and there to see things of interest. There is also a guide with you so they can point out all the interesting things and the history behind it.

For those that are a  bit more energetic then there is also a hiking tour. You would take the train to Myrdal and then you hike back to Flamm. The route is about 13 miles long and starts just over the tracks from Myrdal station. This is the highest point of the walk, at 866.8 metres, and it goes all the way down to sea level at Flamm .The first part of the walk is a narrow path that drops down past some old wooden houses towards the river. A little further on from there the path starts down the  switchbacks which is a series of 21 hairpin bends. This is for about  about 1.5 miles and then the path levels out a bit and the carries on all the way to Flamm. This obviously is not for the faint hearted.

I will definitely be taking the easy option and doing the trip by Railway again so I can sit back and enjoy the Beautiful scenery.