The famous route from Oslo to the southwestern coast is known as ‘Norway in a Nutshell’. We started our own version of this today by taking the train from Oslo SentralStajion.
The 4 hour journey winds through fjord valleys dotted with small towns. There’s also the occasional ski jump facility – very strange looking in June with no snow on it but a small reminder of Norway’s many (many) gold medals in that sport.
The scenery was amazing and even in mid June we still had a lot of snow to enhance our view.
We had a transfer at the Myrdal station along with about 150 other travelers going the same place. Toaster_ham decided not to bring any pants on the trip since ‘it’s Summer’ so he was happy to get on the train and find it had heat.
We were boarding the famous Flam Railway. It continues the fantastic scenery as you wind your way down from the plateau down to the town of Flam at the edge of the fjord. It’s also one of the world’s steepest standard gauge railroads and has 20 tunnels, 18 of which were dug out by hand. Along the way we had a 5 minute stop to check out Kjosfossen (a gorgeous waterfall). Despite the cold, Toaster_ham braved the elements to check it out.
The end of our train journey deposited us in the town of Flam at about 2:30pm in a light but steady drizzle. It’s a tiny town of less than 500 people that sees over 1 million visitors a year. It sits at the edge of the Nærøyfjord or what is known as the narrow fjord. It is roughly 11 miles long but gets down to just under 275 yards wide at a certain point. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and offers some of the most dramatic landscapes in Norway.
We boarded a unique ferry boat to carry us through the fjord. This passenger vessel was designed to meet several operating and environmental requirements. The fjords and the water are pristine, so the ferry is powered primarily through an electric motor. It re-charges in 25 minutes to facilitate rapid turnaround.
The hull is primarily carbon fiber which is expensive but has a much better strength-to-weight ratio than steel. It also holds 400 people who can marvel at the sites of the fjord from large interior windows and angular railways which affords rail space for all of the photo-taking tourists.
Our ferry carried us through the fjord in near silence past its near vertical mountain walls. It was all stunning despite the cloud cover that dimmed some of the colors and contrast.
One of the points of interest was the Lægdafossen waterfall. The captain pivoted the boat in the fjord so that everyone could see it. It reminded the 5 Adventurers of the one at Vernal Falls in Yosemite.
We arrived in Gudvangen at the inner end of the fjord and checked into our hotel about 100 feet away from the dock. We were assigned an end unit in the shadow of some spectacular waterfalls. What a great way to spend a drizzly evening.
5 Adventures Together 