Nestled at the end of the Aurlandsfjord is Flåm, a tiny place that is known predominantly for one thing and one thing only— the train to Myrdal. Does anyone come to Flåm for anything other than the railway journey? I very much doubt it. I certainly didn’t.
Too Much Information
When we were planning our trip to Norway, my one requirement was that it had to include a trip on the Flåm railway, which I had heard went through some stunning scenery. So we found a tour that included the trip and booked.
Sometimes I think that the internet has given us access to too much information, and researching “One of the world’s most beautiful train journeys” (spoiler: I agree) gave us far too many parameters to work with in terms of where to sit, when to go, etc. we were a bit concerned about it all. Workers on the platfrom advised us to be there 30 minutes before the train was due to leave but then a queue forming up about an hour before and so we joined that. We weren’t queueing all that time because as soon as the train arrived we could get on and we found ourselves with a nice group of four seats together on the right hand side.
Can you Spot the Lady in the Red Dress?
The journey to Myrdal was an hour, and the views were spectacular, albeit slightly constrained by the size of the windows. There was just a single stop at Kjosfossen to see the waterfall, which was probably the best bit of the trip.
There was a rather bizarre moment where, up on the hills to the right of the waterfall, a woman appeared in a red dress dancing. I would say that it was a nut job and a one-off, except that there was piped music, and the same thing happened on the way down. You can play spot the lady in the red dress in the video below.
At Myrdal we stayed on the train but moved to the left hand side and swapped the arrangement around so that we all got a go at a window seat.
It was a great trip and worth the money we paid for it. I’m glad that we did it independently from the cruise as it was definitely not worth an extra £60 for someone to walk you the very short distance from the boat to the train.
