Flåm and the Aurland Fjords: A Mountain Railway, Tall Waterfalls and the Nærøyfjord

Flåm is a village where a railway drops from a mountain plateau to a fjord, and a boat ride leads to another village at the end of a narrow fjord. It sits in Sogn og Fjordane county at the innermost point of the Aurlandsfjord, an arm of the Sognefjord, and is among Norway’s busiest cruise ports. This overview, adapted from Wikivoyage, also covers Aurlandsvangen, Gudvangen and Undredal, each roughly 10 km (6 mi) away, and Myrdal station, where the Flåm railway meets the Bergen line.

Approaching Gudvangen along the Nærøyfjord. Photo: mcxurxo, CC BY 2.0.

The setting

The area is known for iconic fjords, tall waterfalls, canyon-like valleys and impressive railway engineering. The railway and the sightseeing boat to Gudvangen, together with a large number of cruise ships, have made Flåm one of the most visited places in the Western Fjords; the fjords are deep enough for the biggest cruise ships. Flåm is Norway’s fourth largest cruise port, with about 175 calls a year, and has room for one ship at its pier while others tender in.

The Flåm Railway

The railway climbs from sea level to 866 m (2841 ft) in 20 km (12 mi), making it, the guide says, the third steepest ordinary railway in the world, with a 5.5 percent gradient. Several switchbacks carry it up the valley, one of them inside a tunnel, and at one point the track stacks three or four levels. One tunnel, known as the Shelf, has a “window” that lets passengers look out from inside. It opened in 1940 after 17 years of construction; the tunnels were largely dug by hand, and 1000 meters took 10 years of labor. A power station at a waterfall supplies its electricity. A museum beside the station shows an authentic El 9 locomotive, an old electric shunting engine and rail inspection trolleys.

The Flåm railway up the steep valley. Photo: Björn Söderqvist, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Fjords and falls

The Nærøyfjord is a narrow branch of the Sognefjord, 18 km (11 mi) long and only 500 m (1,600 ft) wide in places, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. One way to see it is a 20-minute bus through the Gudvanga Tunnel to Gudvangen, then a 2-hour boat back through the Nærøyfjord and Aurlandsfjord. The railway plus this cruise, with a bus and the Bergen train, makes up the “Norway in a nutshell” day trip.

The Nærøyfjord. Photo: lm-berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Kjelfossen, seen from the quay at Gudvangen or from the E16, is one of the tallest waterfalls in Norway and among the tallest in the world; the guide notes sources disagree on its total height. Stalheim, 10 km south of Gudvangen, has a famous view down the gorge-like Nærøydalen valley. Below it Stalheimskleiva, one of the steepest roads in Northern Europe, was built in 1842 to 1846 with 13 hairpin bends, passing the Stalheim Waterfall (126 m) and the Sivle Waterfall (142 m). It is one-way downhill and, as of May 2021, closed to motor vehicles because the ground beneath it is unstable; it stays open to bicycles and pedestrians.

Kjelfossen waterfall. Photo: mcxurxo, CC BY 2.0.

Churches

The Undredal stave church seats only 40 and is described as Norway’s smallest; it is medieval, from the 12th century, though its exact age is unclear. Vangen church in Aurland, built around 1200, is the largest of the few masonry churches in the Sognefjord area and is called “Sogn Cathedral.” Flåm church, from 1670, has a richly decorated interior.

Getting there and around

• Road. Flåm is on European route E16, 2 hours 45 minutes from Bergen and 5 hours 30 minutes from Oslo. Route 50 from Geilo is the quickest summer link from Oslo but can close in winter.
• Rail. The Flåm Railway runs from Myrdal on the Oslo-Bergen line.
• Boat. A catamaran links Flåm with Bergen and other Sognefjord villages in season, and a car ferry runs to Gudvangen.
• Air. Sogndal has a small airport; Bergen is the nearest international one.
• On foot or bike. Flåm near the fjord is compact and walkable; Undredal is reached by a long tunnel, so hiking or cycling there from Flåm or Gudvangen is not possible. The Rallarvegen, the road built for the railway’s construction, can be cycled; one option is the train to Finse and a ride back to Flåm, about 55 km (34 mi) and five to eight hours.

Other things to do

Hiking in the Aurlandsdalen valley passes preserved, abandoned old farms; kayak tours run on the fjord; and the mountain road from Aurland to Lærdal, which reaches 1306 m (4285 ft), is called the Snow Road for the high snow banks left beside it in summer. Camping in the wilderness beyond Myrdal is allowed for up to two nights in one spot if you leave no trace. The guide’s listings of hotels, restaurants, phone numbers and prices are left out here.

Sources

• Wikivoyage, Flåm, by its contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changed here: shortened; listings, phone numbers, hours and prices left out; rewritten in hubnx's own words.
• Pictures from the same page: Gudvangen and Kjelfossen, mcxurxo (CC BY 2.0); Flåm railway, Björn Söderqvist (CC BY-SA 2.0); Nærøyfjord, lm-berlin (CC BY-SA 3.0).