How crowded is Flåm in September? Alternatives?

Two of the three days we'll be in Flåm, there will be cruise ships in
port with 4,000+ passengers each.

In that case, the crowds will probably be horrible.

The crowds will be horrible and the views from land will be blocked. I would base elsewhere.

My husband and I stayed there for two nights in May. There was a cruise ship with 6,000 people and another smaller ship. Yes there were a lot of people but it didn’t stop us from hiking or other activities. They eat on the ship so restaurants aren’t crowded and remember they leave around 5 so the nights are wonderfully peaceful. We took the rib boat tour which I highly recommend and make sure you do the hike to the waterfall. It was amazing and the view from the top is like no
Other. The little train ride around the town is touristy and you can walk where it goes. Plus all of the cruise ship people take this. Make sure you buy the Flambana tickets in advance. Cruise people do this too. Jump in the fjord. You’ll never forget it! Rick’s book is so helpful for this area. Enjoy your trip! It is such a gorgeous place!

There's not a lot to the village of Flam. There's a small museum about the building of the Flamsbana and that's about it. It's really all about the view of the fjord (yes, the view from the middle of town will be severely marred by large ships in port; where is your cabin, and will you be spending much time there?) and the out-of-town activities like the ones you are planning. I was in Flam for a couple of nights in June 2022. There was a large ship in port one day, but I didn't encounter very many of its passengers. They were off on their own Flamsbana and ferry trips, or perhaps taking a bus tour to the Stegastein (?) viewpoint. They most definitely weren't at the Borgund stave church when I got there around 1 PM, nor were they walking along the beginning of the path to Aurland, where I encountered no one.

Also on the Flamsbana most cruise pax go up in the morning and then back down in the early afternoon.

So if you go up in early to mid afternoon, then ride down mid to late afternoon, then you will escape the crowds. Likewise the Cruise pax largely vanish out of town on their excursions in the morning so that is the time to be in town.

The cruise passengers are not "locusts and out of hand"- they have as much right to be there as you. It is a different way of travel. Remember they bring a lot of $ into the town, through their docking fees, their use of local coach providers, local guides and of the railway. Their $ (on the most expensive railway in Norway per mile) help to support both that railway and other railways in the country, for the use of those who choose to travel by other means to and within Norway, including travel for the local people.
While cycling down take a look at the several village stations, which are used more or less exclusively by the local people. Not everyone uses the line end to end.

There is a lot of intemperate language used on this forum about cruises.

@isn31c,

Thank you for calling my attention to the content of my post. I didn't mean to use hurtful language, but I can see how it was. I've since changed my original post to feature more appropriate wording.

And thank you for your advice about timing for things like the Flåmsbsana railway and when to spend time in town. Much appreciated.

The town was too crowded for my liking when we were there this past September.

mnannie,

Thanks for your post. This is the kind of intel I'm looking for.

Can you please elaborate? If you had to do it all again, what would you do differently? Where would you stay instead?

acraven,

We're looking at staying at one of the fjordside locations like the Flåm Marina & Apartments or the Fretheim Fjordhytter.

And you're right, most of what we're planning to do is outside of Flåm itself, but we're wondering if certain days when large cruise ships are in port coupled with the NIN folks, will we be able to ride the Flåmsbana or get on one of the cruises to Gudvagen/Nærøyfjord?

Thoughts?

You can buy tickets on the Naeroyfjord ferry on the website NorwaysBest.com. I'm not sure about the Flamsbana, but you can see whether tickets are available from the rail website vy.no. I know in 2022 it was possible to buy a ticket to Flam from Oslo (or vice versa), and I assume also from (or to) Bergen. That got you a main-line ticket to Myrdal and then a Flamsbana ticket down to Flam. I don't think you could buy just the Flamsbana ticket from vy.no at that time, but it could have changed. If no luck on vy.no, check the NorwaysBest website to see whether they sell the tickets.

I'd be a bit nervous myself if I had to depend on buying tickets on the day of travel, though I don't know whether that's risky.

I wrote a trip report about our September trip. Day 9 is about our time around Flam.

In my opinion, the view of the fjord was better at Aurland. The little town of Aurland wasn't busy and had everything we needed. I thought the large cruise ship in Flam obstructed the view.

I do think the place you are thinking of booking looks very nice, but I would be concerned about the view when a ship is docked there.

We spent one night of our 2+ week trip to Norway last June in Flam. We stayed at Flam Marina. The hotel room was fine with lovely fjord views. Flam was my least favorite town we visited. Not the least bit charming. It was incredibly busy during the day, and there were no cruise ships docked that day. Masses of tourists doing NIN. We tried to get lunch at a bakery, and nearly everything was sold out by noon. I would not want to stay there for 3 nights.

Digbydog,

Really appreciate your perspective. When you say Flåm was your "least favorite" town, I'm curious what you did enjoy.

Based on your experience, what towns/experiences did you like better?

Thanks!

Really appreciate your perspective. When you say Flåm was your "least favorite" town, I'm curious what you did enjoy.

I asked my husband what his least favorite place we stopped at, and without hesitation, he said Flam.

Since you will have a car, why not move around a bit? I think the real draw of Flam is to give cruisers and others without cars a way to see some beautiful scenery by taking the train. You can see so much more by taking some of the old roads that go over a mountain instead of using the tunnel.

While still busy, I thought Geiranger was more scenic than Flam. I really liked stopping at the Trollstigen overlook. Stavanger had a lot of opportunities for hiking and being on the water. We decided not to hike Pulpit Rock, but we should have. While the Atlantic Ocean Road was short, I enjoyed my time in that area.

I found our visit to Borgund Stave Church and the center a little underwhelming, but I had previously seen other stave churches. I personally wouldn't stay more than two nights in that area, and I would never choose to stay right in Flam after seeing it.

Steve,
After Flam, we were supposed to stay at Hotel Nes Gard, a couple hours from Flam, but they double booked and took a wedding party instead. The hotel gets very good reviews. There is hiking near there, and you can take a ferry to Urnes Stave Church and bike to the church. In addition to those activities, we had planned to do exactly what you mention--spend time looking out at the fjord.

Because we lost our reservation at Nes Gard, we stayed at Hotel Hjelle, which we really enjoyed. It was quiet with scenic views. There is nice hiking in the area, some of which you can walk to from the hotel. You can take the hotel's kayaks out on the lake from the hotel. On the way to Hjelle, we stopped at Loen and did the Skylift. There were fairly easy hikes at the top with spectacular views. Also near Hjelle is the scenic road Gamle Strynefjellsvegen. We didn't get a chance to drive it since it opened the day after we left. Not sure whether it will be open in September, but it is supposed to be beautiful. Briksdalbreen Glacier is also nearby. It is a pretty, but busy walk.

We did some hiking in the Geiranger area, so we saw some of that fjord. I agree with mnannie that Geirangerfjord is more scenic than Naeroyford, but our one fjord cruise on the Naeroyfjord was gorgeous. The town of Geiranger was very busy with LOTS of cruise ships and not a place I would want to stay. We did the Storterfossen hike at Geirangerfjord, where you can walk behind a waterfall, which was fun. We also liked the Trollstigen a lot, but stayed in Valldal the night before so that we could be on the road first thing in the morning before the tour buses.

Our favorite part of Norway was the Lofoten Islands.

Enjoy your trip! It is a spectacular country.

I don't believe anyone has mentioned Balestrand. I haven't been there, but the guidebooks say it's an attractive village. The thing is, it's on the north side of the Sognefjord, and the scenic public-transportation legs are on the south side. If you want to use the latter for part of your sightseeing, you'll need to take a car ferry across the Sognefjord, probably twice. I think at least two of our posters have stayed in Balestrand and explored the area via rental car. You can probably find their posts by using the Search function at the top of the page with the key word "Balestrand".

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations, everybody.

Much appreciated!

Takk skal du ha,

Steve

The town of Geiranger was very busy with LOTS of cruise ships and not a place I would want to stay.

The day we arrived there was a cruise ship, but unlike Flam, the village is set on a hill. We stayed in a cabin close to the top. Our view from the bench in front of our cabin was incredible and we couldn't see the busyiness of the village below. There was hiking right from our cabin. Day 2 there were no ships at Geiranger. But, I wouldn't stay at the bottom of the hill right downtown, either.

There is a website to check to see how many ships are in each port daily.

We were in Flam in July, peak time. It was fine. The best thing about Flam is taking the Flamsbana train from the bottom to Myrdal train station. Rent bikes there and bike downhill all the way back to Flam through the most gorgeous scenery ever!
My trip report and photobook;
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/10-nights-norway-for-family-of-4

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RhHm7QfVd5vZ5Vn6A

It seems some on here are steering you away from Flam but we thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Flam at the end of May of this year. We rented a cabin right near the hotels you mentioned and loved it. Yes, the large cruise ships entered port and didn't leave until the late afternoon or early evening hours, however, the cruisers spread out pretty quickly. I agree Aurland has better views compared to Flam but the little town seemed a tad sleepy. We liked having multiple dining options and Flam was peaceful in the evening. Plenty of hiking options from Flam or nearby Aurland.