Flåm Railway guide - and how to book it yourself

The full ride

Which direction, which side

Going up (Flåm to Myrdal): Sit on the right side. You look straight down at the Flåmselva river and get the best angle on the waterfalls, including the Rjoandefossen.

Coming down (Myrdal to Flåm): Sit on the left side. The left windows open up to wide valley views and the fjord appearing below you as you descend.

Right going up, left coming down. At Myrdal, the train empties and reloads. Be quick to re-board and grab the opposite side. In peak summer the train carries up to 500 passengers, and seating is unassigned.

Station by station

Flåm (2 masl) The starting point, at the head of the Aurlandsfjord. Self-service luggage lockers here can hold bags for up to three days. If you're doing a round trip, leave your big bags and travel light.

Lunden (16 masl) The 1670 Flåm Church, then farmland giving way to narrowing valley walls.

Håreina (48 masl) The Rjoandefossen drops into the valley on the right side of the train, close enough that you'll feel mist if the window is cracked. The valley is still wide here, so you can take in the full height of the drop. This is where the seat strategy pays off.

Berekvam (345 masl) Passing loop. The railway is single-track, and this is where ascending and descending trains meet. A brief pause while the other train clears the section, then you're climbing again.

Blomheller (458 masl) Exposed, alpine. High-altitude hiking trails branch off from here for anyone who wants to get off and walk.

Kjosfossen (670 masl) 5-minute stop. The train stops directly in front of one of Norway's most powerful waterfalls. The doors open, and everyone steps out onto a viewing platform. The volume of water is enormous. You hear it before you see it properly.

During summer, a performer in red appears by the falls playing the Huldra, a forest creature from Norwegian folklore. Music over the train's external speakers. The performance is a nice touch, but the waterfall is the point.

The Kjosfossen Power Station sits beside the falls and generates the electricity that runs the train. The Flåm Railway has been fully electrified since completion.

A note on tunnels: 20 of them, totalling about six kilometres of the journey. The Nåli Tunnel (1,320 metres) is the most impressive, spiralling inside the mountain to gain altitude.

Vatnahalsen (811 masl) If you're planning to zipline or bike down instead of riding the train back, get off here. Vatnahalsen is the starting point for the Flåm Zipline and home to the Vatnahalsen Hotel.

Myrdal (867 masl) The top. A railway junction with no road access and no permanent village. Tracks, a platform, a café, and open mountain in every direction.

If you're connecting to Bergen or Oslo, the transfer is usually under 20 minutes. The timetable aligns the Flåm Railway arrival with Bergen Line departures.

Café Rallaren inside the station building has been open since 1909. Waffles with brunost (brown cheese), rømmegrøt (sour cream porridge), and lunch packs for people heading down the Rallarvegen.

The engineering summary: 20.2 km, 863 metres of elevation change, a 5.5% gradient on 80% of the track, and five independent braking systems. Any one of them can stop the train on its own.

Getting to Flåm

The Flåm Railway runs between Myrdal and Flåm. Myrdal sits on the Bergen Line, which connects Oslo and Bergen. You take a train to Myrdal from either Oslo or Bergen, then transfer to the Flåm Railway and descend into the valley. 

Train via the Bergen Line is how most people arrive. From Bergen, the full journey to Flåm takes 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 45 minutes. From Oslo, 5 to 6 hours. The Bergen Line crosses the Hardangervidda plateau at over 1,200 metres, so even the approach has serious mountain scenery.

Nor-Way Bussekspress runs direct buses from Bergen to Flåm in under 3 hours. Cheaper than the train, no mountain views. 

By water: Norled operates a seasonal express boat from Bergen through the Sognefjord. About 5 hours 25 minutes, more expensive than the train, and the only way to arrive at Flåm by fjord. Whether the extra time and cost are worth it depends entirely on how much you care about being on the water.

By car: the E16 from Bergen takes 2.5 to 3 hours. Useful if you want to detour to Stegastein viewpoint, Aurland, or Lærdal without depending on bus schedules.

How to book it yourself

Go to vy.no or download the Vy app. Enter your departure city (Oslo or Bergen) and type "Flåm" as the destination. The system generates an itinerary that includes the Bergen Line to Myrdal and the Flåm Railway transfer. You don't need to book the two legs separately. Select your departure, pay, done.

For a round trip on the Flåm Railway only (Flåm to Myrdal and back), book at norwaysbest.com instead. That's the official channel for Flåm Railway return tickets.

Tickets go on sale 120 days before departure. For June, July, or August, book early. Cruise ship companies block-book seats, and popular departures sell out.

Eurail and Interrail passholders get 30% off the one-way Flåm Railway ticket. You can't book this online. Buy the ticket at a staffed station (Oslo S, Bergen, or Flåm) or call Vy Customer Service by phone. If the departure is sold out, the discount won't help.

When to go: Avoid mid-day on cruise ship days

Flåm is a deep-water port. Ships carrying over 6,000 passengers dock here regularly throughout summer. On heavy days, every mid-day departure is full and the Kjosfossen viewing platform is shoulder-to-shoulder.

Check the cruise schedule at flamport.no before picking your date. 

The 07:30 and 09:00 departures from Flåm leave before most cruise passengers have disembarked. If you're descending from Myrdal, the earliest Bergen Line connections work the same way. Weekdays outside the school holiday window (roughly mid-June to mid-August) are quieter across the board.

Active descent: zipline and biking

Instead of riding the train back down, get off at Vatnahalsen or Myrdal and descend through the valley yourself. Package tours don't leave room for this. It's the strongest argument for booking independently.

Flåm Zipline

Scandinavia's longest: 1,381 metres, 305-metre vertical drop, speeds up to 100 km/h. Starts near Vatnahalsen station, ends at the Kårdal summer farm in the upper Flåm Valley.

How to reach it: Take the Flåm Railway to Vatnahalsen (one stop before Myrdal). Two-minute walk to the starting point, follow the signs. From Myrdal, it's a 1.5 km walk (about 15 minutes) toward Vatnahalsen, or one stop on the Flåm Railway.

Bikes and luggage: Sent down on a separate cargo lift, no extra charge.

Booking: Reserve at flamzipline.no. Book the train first, then pick a zipline slot after your train arrives at Vatnahalsen. Summer sells out. Season runs early May through mid-October.

Clothes: Bring warmer clothes than you think you need. At 800 metres with wind chill from the line, even July days can be cold.

Biking the Rallarvegen

From Kårdal (where the zipline drops you) or from Myrdal, the historic Rallarvegen descends 17 to 18 kilometres to Flåm. The 21 hairpin bends at Myrdalsberget are the dramatic part, then the road levels out along the Flåmselva river for the run into the village.

Bike rental: The closest rental is Kårdal farm, bookable through the zipline/bike package at norwaysbest.com. You can also rent from Flåm Bike Rental in the village and take the bike up on the train, but you'll need a separate bike ticket from vy.no or entur.no, and spaces are limited. Rallarvegen.com handles the full 82 km route from Haugastøl or Finse with drop-off in Flåm, but that's a multi-day ride, not a half-day add-on.

Good to know: Gravel surface, uneven in places, loose on the upper hairpins. You need confidence with brakes on steep descents. The lower section has car traffic. Allow about two hours from Kårdal to Flåm.

Season: Typically late June or early July through late September. Check rallarvegen.com for snow conditions before you go.

The combination: Train up to Vatnahalsen, zipline to Kårdal, bike 18 km back to Flåm. 

Kårdal Farm (Rallarrosa Stølsysteri)

A working summer farm at the top of the Flåm Valley, producing goat cheese from the animals you'll see wandering the property. Order the cheese platter and sit outside. Whether you're here from the zipline or on foot from Myrdal, this is where you stop before the bike ride down.

Sample itineraries

The full active day (Flåm-based)

Works best with a night in Flåm so you can take the early train.

• 08:30 Flåm Railway up to Vatnahalsen
• 09:45 Zipline to Kårdal (Rallarrosa)
• 10:30 Cheese platter at Rallarrosa, pick up rental bike
• 11:00 Bike the Rallarvegen to Flåm (roughly 2 hours)
• 13:00 Return bike, lunch at Flåm Bakery or Ægir
• 15:00 Fjord cruise to Gudvangen, or bus to Stegastein
• Evening Viking Plank dinner at Ægir BryggeriPub

The transit route (one way)

If Flåm is a stop, not your base.

• Morning Bergen Line from Oslo or Bergen to Myrdal
• Myrdal Transfer to Flåm Railway (under 20 minutes)
• Descend to Flåm Left side
• Continue the Norway in a Nutshell route, or stay overnight in Flåm

Eating and drinking in Flåm

Ægir BryggeriPub

The building looks like a stave church. Inside, a nine-metre fireplace anchors a room of driftwood and carved dragon heads. Downstairs is a pub; upstairs, a full restaurant. The "Viking Plank" is a five-course meal paired with five Ægir beers, with the beers brewed on-site and worked into the marinades and sauces. Dishes include smoked reindeer, shellfish soup, and pork shank. The brewery was founded in 2007 by an American homebrewer from Upstate New York and his Norwegian wife.

Reserve ahead in summer.

Flåm Bakery

On the pier. Sourdough, skillingsboller (cinnamon buns), sandwiches. No reservation needed.

Restaurant Arven at Fretheim Hotel

The formal option, right on the fjord. Arven's menu follows whatever is coming out of the Sognefjord and surrounding farms that week, and the wine list is well put together for rural Western Norway. The dining room has fjord views.

Overnight in Flåm? Check our hotel recommendations in the Norway in a Nutshell article.

Beyond the railway

Fjord cruises

The fjord cruise between Flåm and Gudvangen through the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord is the other major experience most visitors want. It's included in some "Nutshell" variants, but you can book the same route independently through norled.no or thefjords.no. The Fjords operates a modern electric catamaran that's noticeably quieter than the older ferries.

Stegastein viewpoint: Bus shuttle from Flåm

A cantilevered platform 650 metres above the Aurlandsfjord, jutting 30 metres out from the mountainside with a glass panel at the end. About 20 minutes from Flåm by car or bus shuttle. Late afternoon is the best time, after the tour buses have cleared. Allow 30 to 45 minutes at the top.

Practical information

Accessibility: Flåm, Vatnahalsen, and Myrdal have wheelchair-accessible platforms. 

Weather: Valley floor 15-20°C in summer, Myrdal in low single digits with wind. Bring a windproof jacket for the zipline or bike ride even on clear days.

Tunnels: Twenty, totalling about six kilometres. Loud screeching from wheels on tight curves. 

Bike tickets: Separate ticket required through vy.no or entur.no if bringing your own bike on the train. Limited spaces, book early.