Norway train

If you want to go from Oslo to Flåm, you buy a ticket from Oslo to Flåm. You will need to change train in Myrdal, but don't complicate things by buying separate tickets. Buy the tickets from www.vy.no

Thank you for the reply.
This is our first time to Norway.
Can we take a train from Flam to Bergen? Where do we change train?
We are staying one night at Flam and we want to take a cruise at Flam, do we need to bring our luggage’s onto the cruise then when we get off the cruise, we take the train to Bergen? Advise please.

Return to Myrdal to connect to a train to Bergen.
The journey across the plateau and Finse ( the southern most artic place) is astonishing

Is the cruise at Flam one way or round trip? Any cruise line recommendations for a day trip cruise at Flam.

The ferry cruise tickets from Flam to Gudvangen are sold for 1 direction, but you can make it a "round trip" by buying tickets for each direction.

For the Naeroyfjord cruise, we're opting to do just a round-trip ferry ride with Norway's Best from Aurland to Gudvangen (arriving in Gudvangen at 11:30 and taking the 12:00 ferry back to Gudvangen). It seems easier than making our way back from Gudvangen to Aurland by bus, although I suppose that could be done, too. I didn't check into it. We purchased individual ferry tickets for each direction (Aurland to Gudvangen; Gudvangen to Aurland). I couldn't get the website to show a round trip purchase option. $176.93 US total for 2 of us.

The other ferry option for Naeroyfjord cruise from Flam to Gudvangen is Lustrabataane. I didn't choose that since it doesn't appear to stop in Aurland, like Norway's Best ferry does.

We're staying 2 nights in Aurland and then traveling by Norled ferry over to Balestrand for a couple nights, and then taking the Norled Express ferry on to Bergen.

Thank you Travel More for the cruise info.
We’d like to go to Bergen from where the cruise ends at Gudvangen. From what I read, we need to take a bus from Gudvangen to Voss then take a train from Voss to Bergen. Anyone know is that a shuttle bus or a regular city bus? We have luggages, not sure we can bring them on the city bus. Can we travel by train from Gudvangen to Bergen or do we have to go to Voss and then to Bergen?

You have the right idea. When you're ready to leave Flam:

• Take the Naeroyfjord ferry from Flam to Gudvangen.
• Take the bus (luggage is OK; it goes in the hold under the bus) from Gudvangen to Voss.
• Take the train from Voss to Bergen.

There's no need to do a ferry round-trip unless you want to see the scenery twice, and that would send you back to Flam for another expensive (though very scenic) trip on the Flamsbana or a long (and I think not cheap) ride on the express boat to Bergen.

You can buy the ticket for the ferry from NorwaysBest.com. That's a third-party seller; I wasn't able to find a cheaper source in 2022, but there might be one now.

For the bus, you just pay the driver.

You can buy the Voss-Bergen train ticket from the rail company at www.vy.no. I had to use PayPal for my ticket a couple of years ago, because the website choked on my US credit card. As far as I know, there's no urgency about that train ticket, because there are lots of trains running between Voss and Bergen and fares don't change. The Oslo-Myrdal part of the train trip is different; those trains can sell out, and the fare will only get more expensive as the travel date approaches.

Thanks for the info. I’m assuming we can bring our luggages on the Naeroyfjord ferry. It’s good to know we can bring our luggages for the bus ride from Gudvangen to Voss. The train tickets on VY.com for the date we want is not open for sale yet. But the third party Ninja has an advance train ticket order. Third party seller charges a lot for their service. I will buy directly from VY if I can. Anyone has an experience on ordering train tickets in advance from a third party seller?

Is it possible I buy the train tickets from Oslo to Bergen with one stop at Flam for over night, and continue from Voss to Bergen the next day after we finish our ferry at Gudvangen and take a bus to Voss then continue our train ride to Bergen ?
Do train tickets allow us to make a one over night stop? Or do I need to buy two different tickets for two segments of the journey from Oslo to Bergen?

Yes to luggage on ferry. Not a problem.

You'll need two train tickets, one Oslo-Flam and one Voss-Bergen. Wait until the tickets are available from vy.no. RailNinja has an especially bad reputation.

You can find a number of threads on the forum about Rail Ninja. They are border line fraudsters to be avoided at all costs.

None of these 3rd party resellers give you any benefits whatsoever. In spite of any empty promises they can make none can sell tickets until Vy issues them, and even after that timings are not necessarily confirmed until 60 days beforehand.

Rail Ninja charge you extortionate fees, then actually frequently totally fail to deliver on their promises.

Also, if you book through the train company, you will be kept informed of any last minute changes to your journey.

Just wait, like everyone else, until Vy issues the tickets. Trains would be useless as a mode of transport if they sold out just like that. Their primary role is to carry locals on their everyday business, very often at short notice- not to convey tourists booking on unrealistically long timescales.
Tourists are the icing on the cake- not the main reason for any rail line to operate.
That is how scalpers like Rail Ninja make their money- from tourists who refuse to wait until the train company (in any country) issue the tickets. That happens when the rail infrastructure company has determined their maintenance plans for the line.

The trains will run, tourists will still get to their destinations, just maybe at very slightly different times.

Currently, because of the summer timetable change, that 120 days seems to be slightly contracted- but Vy are open until 14 June.

We are traveling by train from Oslo to Flam and then after a stay, continuing the rest of the nutshell to Bergen. We depart Oslo on June 9. I purchased our tickets on the Vy site last Tuesday, so mid June tickets are either on sale now or will be soon. So keep checking the Vy site. I bought tickets from Oslo to Flam and tickets from Voss to Bergen. Like @acraven, I had problems with VY accepting my American credit card, so I used PayPal.

As far as I know, there's no urgency about that train ticket, because
there are lots of trains running between Voss and Bergen and fares
don't change.

Correct, Voss to Bergen is a regional train with fixed price and frequent ddepartures. No need to buy those tickets in advance.

Thank you for all the answers. I appreciate it very much. I have downloaded the VY app on my mobile. Tickets for June 17 are not available yet to purchase. I will check back every day. I won’t buy from Rail Ninja.
I might have more questions later with my travel plan. Thanks again everyone.

@petunia29- Vy have opened 2 more trains for Oslo to Myrdal on 14 June during today, so they are now open until the 1623 Oslo to Myrdal, but not the night train.
So it would seem that they are opening at exactly 90 days and zero minutes before a train departure, so the 1623 Oslo to Myrdal on 14 June was opened at exactly 1623 Norwegian time today.
So half way between the two figures they cite of 120 days and 60 days!! Go figure, as they say.

This is further evidenced by looking at Oslo S to Oslo Lufthavn- it is now 1947 Norway time- the 1934 train is open to book, the 1954 isn't.

EDIT- I can confirm that the 2303 night train on 14 June clicked over to being bookable at exactly 2303 tonight- so the above theory is confirmed (I was sat there watching for it to open up)

We won’t arrive in Oslo till 16 June. I’d like to buy tickets from Oslo to Flam at the 8:25 train on 17 June. That train tickets are still not available yet. I will try to figure out the time to buy the tickets. Thanks for the advise.

@petunia29- your train tickets for the 0825 train on 17 June have just been released by Vy 5 minutes ago, and are on sale.

@isn31c thank you so much for your timing calculation and tracking the train ticket sale. I was checking the app few times a day. I purchased our train tickets during a break at a hockey game tonight. So glad Wi-Fi was working. With the train tickets secured, I can now continue planning the rest of our trip in Norway. Thanks again everyone 🫶

We are planning the same trip for mid-June. I am waiting patiently for the train tickets to go on sale as it is the last part of our trip I haven't booked. We plan to take the train from Oslo to Myrdal, the Flam Railway to Flam, and the cruise from Flam to Gudvangen where we will spend the night. The next day, we will take the bus to Voss and the train to Bergen. We bought train passes from Eurail, but we will still need seat reservations and a small fee to book the trains. Have a great trip!

Petunia,
Have you booked your hotel in Flam? Not too many choices and June is a busy time. They sell out months in advance.
We’ll be doing NIN in September. Please come back and write a trip report.

@Camille. We decided to take the cruise from Flam to Gudvangen after getting off the train and stay 2 nights there to kayak and hiking. Fretheim hotel in Flam was sold out for the date we want. The price at the Heimly was double but price includes breakfast and dinner.
We decided to book hotel in Gudvangen and venture out from there.

@blovigirl. We have the same travel route. I bought our tickets from the VY app on my phone. I heard those train tickets sold out fast. I don’t know how does Eurail ticket system work. Tickets on VY are open for sale 3 days ago, I’d think you should be able to make your seat reservation. Our travel date is 17 June.

Thanks, @petunia29. Right after I read your post, I booked my train tickets. We will be there right around the same time. We leave Oslo on the 16th. We are staying in Gudvengen that night after our Fjord cruise. Then, we go to Bergen. Are you doing other places? We are doing Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Flam, Gudvengen & Bergen in Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

We are planning to take this trip in September and appreciate the information on timing for the train tickets. It appears that we need to be online 120 days prior to travel day at 3:25 Eastern time, if I'm reading this right, to purchase our tickets. Also, when do the tickets for the Fjord cruise segment go on sale? Does that also book up far in advance as well?

@Ricki- No.90 days before at 3.25 Eastern for ticket purchase

Do the Fjord boat cruise also book 90 days in advance?

Thanks for your prior reply!

I don't think anyone has suggested you need to buy those train tickets the day they go on sale. What you need to take care of way in advance (probably well more than 60 days in advance) is lodging in Flam or Aurland. That's what sells out early.

We bought our cruise tickets through Lustrabaatane cruise. I found couple cruise lines from Flam to Gudvangen, there are different cruise departure times. There are few options. I don’t know if you need to buy your cruise tickets far in advance but I did it to help me plan the rest of our trip since we couldn’t get the hotel at Flam on the day we arrive there by the train.

@blovigirl We are staying in Gudvangen for two nights. Basically we don’t arrive in Gudvangen till the early evening of the first night, trying to find a kayak tour in Gudvangen the next day and may be squeeze in a short hike before or after kayak. I booked a hotel in Gudvangen for two nights from booking.com. There are not too many hotel options for the date we are in Gudvangen. June is high travel season. Things get booked up fast.
Norway is our last stop of our trip.

@petunia29 We will be in Gudvangen overnight on the 16th and in the morning on the 17th. Because we are kayaking in the archipelagoes in Sweden, I booked hydro bikes for Gudvangen. They looked like fun and would give us a new experience. If you have extra time, you should check them out at https://gudvangenrent.com/ .

On VY us Visa card didn’t go through but American Express card worked.
As of today we can book for until July 25.

PayPal also works on the vy website--at least it did in 2022. You can direct PayPal to charge the credit card vy itself will not accept. But be careful with PayPal; it will probably default to DCC (dynamic currency conversion) and charge you in dollars at an unattractive conversion rate if you don't change the setting so you're charged in Norwegian currency.