August cruise versus train -

The Bergen-Oslo trains take about 7 hours and this is one the most spectacluar mainline railways in Europe - but not so spectacular when the cloud is low. The trains from Flåm only run as far as Myrdal, which takes about one hour and is now marketed as a tourist experience when originally it was part of the normal rail network, it has some staggering scenery - but only for a shortish ride. At Myrdal you would connect into a Bergen-Oslo train about 2 hours into it's journey after which you would have the same ride whichever option you chose. If you went straight from Bergen you would need one reservation, from Flåm you need to get two connecting reservations PLUS the ferry from Bergen to Flåm. Is it possible that tourist fatigue may be setting in by that stage?

The Flam to Myrdal train still is part of the normal network, hence the remaining local stations on the line, used by the locals. It is merely that it has premium fares and is predominantly used by tourists.

I have not taken the train directly from Bergen to Oslo.

We did do the Nutshell route from Bergen to Oslo. So we were on the train from Bergen to Voss and from Myrdal to Oslo. While the scenery from Myrdal to just outside of Oslo is nice, I didn't find it spectacular. IMO, the bus from Voss to Gudvangen, ferry from Gudvangen to Flåm and the Flåmsbana from Flåm to Myrdal far outshine the other rail segments. I have no idea of the scenery by rail from Voss to Myrdal since we weren't on the train for that segment.

Is the train worth it? That would depend on how would you spend the time in the Bergen area if you don't take the train.

I see your tour does the Flam to Gudvangen cruise, and then the Gudvangen to Voss road journey (having arrived in Flam by road) so there is really no need to repeat those.

The Bergen to Flam express boat only repeats about an hour of the Gudvangen to Flam cruise, so compared to what else you see on the Bergen to Flam express boat that isn't an obvious problem.

I saw a You Tube video this week from a Texan blogger (and whose work is always excellent) who had done the NiN route but with two self booked deviations- one from Aurland (having stayed there in preference to Flam) to Laerdal (Norway's Best offer that, but for some reason it is rarely taken on this forum) and the other Flam to Balestrand return with a night in Balestrand. It was the two deviations which they liked the best about the whole trip- especially Balestrand which was a big hit (again, yay, thanks for confirming that).

If you have an extra day I actually suggest Bergen to Balestrand, connection into the Glacier cruise, night in Balestrand, then next day the boat from Balestrand to Flam.

For some reason there are a few people on here who routinely pan the Bergen to Flam express boat - having not taken it, and in spite of Rick being a fan of it.

I was very interested to see the video, as I sometimes doubt my sanity reading the Forum. It vindicated my opinions completely, and I have used the express boat as well as done most parts of the route on cruises. Very refreshing to see such a vlog.

So yes, I think the express boat from Bergen to Flam is worth it, then the Flam to Myrdal and Myrdal to Oslo train. The other interesting thing about the video above was that of the traditional NiN elements the bit she liked the least was the Myrdal to Flam train. Not so much due to the scenery but due to how busy the train was.
The trick is to find one of the Flam to Myrdal trains which does NOT connect with a NiN cruise- so will be a lot quieter, more room to spread out and enjoy the ride,

But if you just want to take the train straight across that's fine too- Voss to Myrdal is a very scenic section which everyone who does the Norway in a Nutshell misses out.

It is interesting this summer that Vy Trains are adding more regional trains (as opposed to the long distance trains) from Bergen to Myrdal (some of the Bergen to Voss trains are being extended to Myrdal).

We loved our Royal Caribbean cruise in 2019 from Copenhagen up the coast of Norway to the North Cape. Visited 6 great ports with AMAZING fjords.

All the ports were wonderful (we did excursions for each), including the Nutshell one (forgotten which port). Geiranger Fjord was the best ever. Our ship did a 360 in front of a waterfall that was special.
We had done Bergen on another cruise, it was nice, but not as great as Geiranger Fjord. Flam and Alesund were great. Sorry, can't remember the other ports, but the one near the North Cape was interesting, we visited some settlements of the Sami People.

One thing to remember, all the trips we did from the ports on the highways were slow moving, with roads up and down the mountains.