Apps: VY- the train app. Google Maps. Google Translate.
Let me start by telling you Flam is by no means off the beaten track, or non-touristy. There are cruise ships coming in daily. This is part of the reason I decided to actually stay in Flam, so we could get a real feel for Flam. We loved it. Read more about our stay here.
Getting to Flam is relatively easy-If you’re cruising, there are plenty of cruise ships that will dock right in Flam and you’ll have the whole day to explore before hopping back on your ship for the next destination. You could also drive there, which would give you more freedom. We opted for the train. It was about a six hour train ride from Oslo.
I was nervous how my six year old would do on a train for that long. He did great! Norwegians have it figured out. They have children’s areas on their trains with actual little play areas. It was a little young for my son, but we still explored it and it was nice to know it was there. Getting on the train was easy, we just walked to Oslo Central station, found our route, and walked to the correct platform. DOUBLE CHECK THE PLATFORM. In Antwerpen, Belgium we got on the wrong train, but that’s a story for another day.
When you buy tickets you can pick your seats, I obviously picked seats in the family area. You can also pay more to have a private area. I probably would next time. Buying tickets is easy to do, but I would highly recommend doing it in advance. That route is a popular route, and while our car wasn’t full, I know we were still in shoulder season and can get busy. You can only buy tickets 90 days in advance so I would set calendar reminders in my phone to make sure I bought them right when they opened. Some third party apps will sell you tickets further in advance, I would not recommend this. Prices were three times as much as they actually ended up being. The third party apps also don’t get special access or anything, they just take your money and then buy the tickets when the tickets open up. I thought it was ridiculous when I started researching more, so I just set a reminder and called it good. Also notice what you are booking. There are bus options, and if that’s your thing-go for it. I just prefer trains because its easier to walk around and you don’t have to worry about traffic.
Oslo to Myrdal
You also can’t take the train directly from Oslo to Flam. You take it to Myrdal and then switch trains there. Myrdal is tiny, like only the train station is tiny. So pay attention to your transfer times so you’re not stuck at the train station with nothing to do. They do have a restaurant with bathrooms and a little shop. But nothing that could easily entertain you or your kids for more than an hour. You can’t even walk anywhere if I remember correctly. Plus-luggage no one wants to carry luggage around just to explore. I think our transfer time was about 45 minutes which was just enough time to use the restroom and get a snack.
The train ride itself was beautiful. The scenery changed from city, to green, to actual snow area. It was very much a passenger train, with large tour groups in different cars. All my research (that I did after I purchased tickets) said to sit on the left. Luckily the train wasn’t crowded and I was able to move around a bit. Just make sure when the ticket person comes through you are in your actual seats and you have your tickets up and loaded on your phone for them to scan. My tween always liked to sit behind us which would sometimes lead to her getting asked for a ticket before me so I’d try to always be aware of when they were coming through.
At one point in the ride we even stopped at one location for an extended period of time to get out and take photos. It was the filming location of a star wars battle. I am not a star wars fan and have never seen the movies, but if you’re into that…
Myrdal to Flam
The train from Myrdal to Flam is a tourist attraction. It’s not a comfortable ride and there’s no assigned seats. We got on, put our luggage on the racks and had to rush to find a seat for the three of us to be together. We ended up being on the wrong side(sit on the left side for the best views going down!), but I still enjoyed the views. It’s only about an hour long, but you stop at a viewing to listen to Huldra sing and dance. Norwegian folklore says she seduces men into the forest. It’s actually students from the Norwegian Ballet School, but I am here for this legend! Plus the waterfall was breathless!
Everyone gets off here for photos and to listen to Huldra lure the men. Once the act is over we all get back onboard and continue our journey onward. Everyone was pretty great about returning to their original seats even though they were not assigned.
Things to note: This train is not the typical electric trains the rest of Norway uses. It is old and loud and the windows are open. When it stops it makes the typical old train sound. I covered my six year old’s ears for that part. They also had information about the train track playing on repeat on the tv screens inside of the train cars. It had the information in English and Norwegian (and probably other languages) so you could read along when you weren’t looking out the window. My tween did the reading since reading about things is more her style, while six and I peaked out the windows.
