The Perfect Weekend!
I was fortunate enough to visit some of the most beautiful places in Norway. Here are some memories turned into words as well as photos :)
I flew in from Copenhagen on a bright Saturday morning to Bergen. Bergen airport is small yet beautiful. It doesn’t fail to impress you! Once you find your way out, you take the bus from the airport to the city center. I had my next train around 12.50 PM. So, the best way to utilize the 3-hour transit was to take the Fløibanen funicular to the top of Mount Fløyen.
It’s a 10-minute walk from the central bus station to Fløibanen where you take the funicular. When I got there around 10.30 AM (by the way, it’s a nice walk from the station), there was a long queue of about 200 people waiting to buy a ticket. Given that my train was at 12.50 PM, it was simply not possible to go through the queue and purchase the ticket. The Jim Neutron in me came up with a work-around – purchase the ticket online and fast forward to the front of the queue! So, I joined the next lot in the funicular to Mount Fløyen.
It’s a quick journey. Within about 6 mins, you reach the mountain top where you are greeted to a wonderful aerial view of the city.
After a few mins on the mountain top, I took the funicular back to Fløibanen and rushed to the central station to take the train to Myrdal.
The carriage I sat in wasn’t crowded at all. I pretty much had the whole carriage for myself for most part of the journey. Initially, the left-hand side gives you the best views and then it changes to the right-hand side.
After a 1.5-hour train journey through several mountains covered in snow, you come to Myrdal – a small station in the middle of several sleepy mountains.
This is where you hop into Flåmsbana, a train journey regarded as one of the most scenic in the world.
Passing several mountains and waterfalls, you descend from 866.8 moh. This is a special train where you can pull down the window to take photos. The train also stops at a couple of places – one such stop is at a waterfall where a lady dressed in all red comes out and sings for you. The scenery throughout the journey is just astonishing.
Flåm
After a journey to remember for life, you reach Flåm, a small town surrounded by mountains. You have the train station on one side of the platform and the port on the other side. You find a few shops, hotels and the Flåm Railway Museum. It gotta be one of the most beautiful towns on earth. You just envy the people who are lucky enough to live there!
Early morning, next day, I strode out to the city area. Walked around, visited the museum and just absorbed all the beauty on offer. Ferry to Gudvangen departs from Flåm at 9.30 AM. And boy isn’t it the most amazing journey ever! The ferry takes you through the narrowest fjord in Norway, The Nærøyfjord and the view is just breathtaking!
Ferry reaches Gudvangen around 12 noon. Another small town surrounded by mountains. Then you take a bus to Voss. This is the only slight jittery part of the journey as there aren’t frequent buses to Voss from Gudvangen. But you can check the bus schedule and plan your journey accordingly. I got the bus that departed Gudvangen at 3.40 PM. It takes you through several hair pin bends giving you a great view of the valley. The scenery throughout the hour-long journey is really nice.
From Voss, you can either take the train to Oslo or Bergen depending on where you started the journey.
You can pre-book most of the things (trains, cruise and hotel) except the bus from Gudvangen to Voss. But you gotta be really unlucky to miss a seat in the bus.
It was indeed a perfect weekend!
I flew in from Copenhagen on a bright Saturday morning to Bergen. Bergen airport is small yet beautiful. It doesn’t fail to impress you! Once you find your way out, you take the bus from the airport to the city center. I had my next train around 12.50 PM. So, the best way to utilize the 3-hour transit was to take the Fløibanen funicular to the top of Mount Fløyen.
It’s a 10-minute walk from the central bus station to Fløibanen where you take the funicular. When I got there around 10.30 AM (by the way, it’s a nice walk from the station), there was a long queue of about 200 people waiting to buy a ticket. Given that my train was at 12.50 PM, it was simply not possible to go through the queue and purchase the ticket. The Jim Neutron in me came up with a work-around – purchase the ticket online and fast forward to the front of the queue! So, I joined the next lot in the funicular to Mount Fløyen.
It’s a quick journey. Within about 6 mins, you reach the mountain top where you are greeted to a wonderful aerial view of the city.
After a few mins on the mountain top, I took the funicular back to Fløibanen and rushed to the central station to take the train to Myrdal.
The carriage I sat in wasn’t crowded at all. I pretty much had the whole carriage for myself for most part of the journey. Initially, the left-hand side gives you the best views and then it changes to the right-hand side.
After a 1.5-hour train journey through several mountains covered in snow, you come to Myrdal – a small station in the middle of several sleepy mountains.
This is where you hop into Flåmsbana, a train journey regarded as one of the most scenic in the world.
Passing several mountains and waterfalls, you descend from 866.8 moh. This is a special train where you can pull down the window to take photos. The train also stops at a couple of places – one such stop is at a waterfall where a lady dressed in all red comes out and sings for you. The scenery throughout the journey is just astonishing.
Flåm
After a journey to remember for life, you reach Flåm, a small town surrounded by mountains. You have the train station on one side of the platform and the port on the other side. You find a few shops, hotels and the Flåm Railway Museum. It gotta be one of the most beautiful towns on earth. You just envy the people who are lucky enough to live there!
Early morning, next day, I strode out to the city area. Walked around, visited the museum and just absorbed all the beauty on offer. Ferry to Gudvangen departs from Flåm at 9.30 AM. And boy isn’t it the most amazing journey ever! The ferry takes you through the narrowest fjord in Norway, The Nærøyfjord and the view is just breathtaking!
Ferry reaches Gudvangen around 12 noon. Another small town surrounded by mountains. Then you take a bus to Voss. This is the only slight jittery part of the journey as there aren’t frequent buses to Voss from Gudvangen. But you can check the bus schedule and plan your journey accordingly. I got the bus that departed Gudvangen at 3.40 PM. It takes you through several hair pin bends giving you a great view of the valley. The scenery throughout the hour-long journey is really nice.
From Voss, you can either take the train to Oslo or Bergen depending on where you started the journey.
You can pre-book most of the things (trains, cruise and hotel) except the bus from Gudvangen to Voss. But you gotta be really unlucky to miss a seat in the bus.
It was indeed a perfect weekend!
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