As we’ve had ample opportunity to observe, Norway is the land of the fjord! During our west-coast extravaganza to Bergen, we took the train from Myrdal to Flåm (the ‘most scenic train ride in the world’), then spent some time in Flåm before riding the four-hour ferry from Flåm to Bergen. This ferry takes you through the Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in the country. It’s part of the ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ tour that you see advertised everywhere, and the whole experience was a remarkably easy way to see some spectacular natural beauty.
Our first impression of Flåm was that it was a tourist trap. Not least because of the giant cruise ship parked in the harbour and the tourists everywhere. But we did a bit of exploring and actually, it won us over. We spent some time sitting outside at the Flåm Bakery enjoying the sun and a better-than-passable pizza and then wandered around oohing and aahing at the cliffs. Eventually we found our way to the marina (separate from the harbour). It was much quieter there, with lots of places to sit and enjoy the scenery. We had a late seafood lunch before catching our ferry (pro tip: order the lobster: it isn’t much more expensive than anything else in this country!).
The ferry was packed, not only with tourists but also with regular people getting from one place to another; several of the towns we stopped at were not accessible by land. It was cold, but lovely, and we spent much of the trip outside.
The Sognefjord is 205 km (127 miles) long and as wide as 6 km (3.5) at its widest. As you’ll see from the photos, the cliffs are sheer and mostly wild. Speaking of wild, we saw cables across some narrow parts of the fjord, but remarkably few bridges. The whole journey was very much worth it, and we remembered how much we love being near the water. Very highly recommended!
