We are taking a Holland America cruise and will stop in Flam for the day May 5. After reading RS' Cruise Port book, it appears that both the Flambana Railway and/or the 4 leg "Nutshell" circuit are doable (for a lot less money) on our own. I went to the various links (I have the book on kindle) and found them very confusing. It appears that there are NO Flambana Railway tickets available during the hours our ship will be in port. Is this possible?
Also, when we went to the link for the Nutshell circuit, the only train offered leaves Flam at 11:00 am and is scheduled to return at 6:00 pm, the exact time our ship will be leaving!
Again- is this possible? 4 months in advance? Or am I doing something wrong?
Any help is much appreciated!
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
Here is the current VY schedule for the Flam-Myrdal route:
https://www.vy.no/globalassets/vy.no/filer-no/rutetabeller-tog/rutetabeller-tog-r20/42-vy-pdf-flam-myrdal-15-12-19_12-12-2020.pdf
01 May though 30 September 2020 shows 10 departures from 07:30 to 18:40
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for your reply. On the website where one purchases these tickets, all trains between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm appear to be sold out. I should have been more specific.
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
If you are trying to buy 05 May tickets, "Not Available" means that the tickets are not offered until about 3 months prior to departure.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
That's what we thought and I'm hoping that's the case. But very early morning and late afternoon appear to be available.
And I think that at this point, we'd prefer the entire Nutshell tour (of which the Flambana Railway is the last leg).
Of course we'll try 90 days prior to May 5.
Thanks for your suggestions, Edgar!
Posted by
1 posts
The nutshell tour looks good. Does Ricksteves no longer run this tour? If true, then it looks like I shall have to build my own. Are there any hints you can give me? Thanks. -- Russ
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
Does Ricksteves no longer run this tour?
Rick Steves has featured segments of the Norway In A Nutshell tour in his travel programs but does not market a "Norway in a Nutshell" tour. The NiN is a travel mode combination tour of a cross section of Norway between Oslo and Bergen via the Hardangervidda and Nærøyfjord using train, boat, and bus. The "official" NiN marketing agency is Fjordtours: https://www.norwaynutshell.com/
Fjordtours packages the various modes of transportation one trip, coordinating times and adding overnight accommodations. The do it yourself approach is to plan and buy your own transportation segments and overnight accommodations.
Note that Norway is currently in a Coronavirus lockdown and nonresidents are not allowed entry into Norway.