SCENIC TRIP FROM OSLO - BERGEN !

Day 194

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEENA!! Hope you had those drinks for us! We were thinking of you guys there..and yes, we are coming home, eventually!!!
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Oslo to Bergen, Norway

Montana Hostell

We were really looking forward to the trip to Bergen! We'd heard so much about it..and were prepared for our 12 hour journey because it included trains, ferry and bus!

And ohhhh it was SO beautiful.

The mountains and lakes and the wonderful fjords and autumn colours and the scenery was just SPECTACULAR! It was completely breathtaking to say the least....and more beautiful than any scenery i have ever seen. I keep saying that..and i keep thinking, this is it, this is the best..then we see MORE spectacular scenery..

This has to be it.

If you can get to Norway..and want to experience beautiful scenery..this has to take the cake. Especially the train journey from Flam.

It's an incredible train journey! We went from the mountain station at Myrdal on the Bergen Railway, down to Flam station which was nestled in the innermost corner of the Aurlandfjord which is a branch of the world's longest fjord, the Sognefjord.

We saw some of Norway's wildest and most magnificent scenery for sure! It was a 20 km long train ride and we saw rivers that cut through deep ravines and waterfalls cascade down the side of steep, snow-capped mountains and mountain farms clinging precariously on deep slopes!

Apparently the Flam Railway is one of the worlds steepest railway lines on a normal gauge. We saw a sign written on the side of a passing train that said the gradient is on average of 55/1000 on almost 80% of the line!

Meaning it had a gradient of one in eighteen!

There were twisting tunnels that spiralled in and out of the mountains and apparently are manifestations of the most daring and skilful engineering in Norwegian railway history.

This was spectacular....after the train ride we took the ferry from Flam to Gudvangen...and the ferry ride through the fjord to another stop was just as amazing as well...

Then the bus ride from Gudvangen to Voss was another scenic feast! And so steep, once again..we even stopped at a hotel on the way just to view the mountains at the back of it.

Basically we were blown away by the whole trip..landing in Bergen at 8pm after finally catching another bus here...

And booked into our accomodation..which is also beautiful!!!

Honestly Norway is everything you envision it to be..it's truly beautiful.

We're here in Bergen for a few days as it's such a lovely place...then somehow we're venturing back to Germany (Hamburg) which we think will be a 24 hour trip. The plane ride is not as cheap as the one we took from Tromso to Oslo..which was a cheap Norwegian Airline deal..so we will have to rail it..and i think it's going to be one of the most challening of our trip..

But I'll probably be back to see you (so to speak!) before we get to Hamburg....

xoxoxoxox

PS For my information

NORWAY IN A NUTSHELL!

Train from Oslo 08.11
To Myrdal 12.53
Train from Myrdal 13.27
To Flam 14.25 Lunch overlooking harbour before catching ferry
Boat from Flam 15.10 Sat at the bow whole trip
To Gudvangen 17.00
Bus from Gudvangen 17.45
To Voss 19.05 Dinner at cafe in train station
Train from Voss 19.20
To Bergen 20.34

Local bus in Bergen to Montana 21.00 to book in.