Travelling from Oslo to Bergen by Train

After a few days in Oslo, we boarded a train to Bergen to see Norway’s countryside by rail. The journey was 6.5 hours but it’s been voted one of the most scenic rail routes in the world. A bit of research informed us to pay about £15 extra to sit in Komfort class which was well worth the money. We had a ton of leg room, less people in our carriage and free tea and coffee for the duration. I booked our tickets online as paying in advance was cheaper, and chose our seats based on the wise words of TripAdvisor: forward facing and on the left hand side.

The first hour was your average train journey through the outskirts of a city but then we hit the water. Vast lakes with picturesque villages and the promise of mountains up ahead. Everything was on the right so we scrambled to a spare window between carriages, cursing our seats on the left.

But a few stops in, luck was literally on our side. Fjords mirrored in the crystal clear waters and tiny red wooden houses poked out behind Norwegian firs, cut off from society with no roads in sight. For hours we gawped, never getting tired of the incredible scenery.

And then out of nowhere, we were in a tunnel. My ears started popping and I was desperately trying to make out where we were through the wooden slats on either side of us. The whole carriage exclaimed as suddenly light flooded in, taking us all by surprise and we all realised we were in the mountains. In the middle of July we were surrounded by ice and snow, crisp and fresh and untouched. I got goosebumps and could feel tears pricking my eyes, it was awesome in the truest sense of the word.

A lot of passengers disembarked at Myrdal to visit Fläm, a small town in the pit of the mountains and completely stunning (even just judging by what we could see from above). I’d love to go back to explore, but jumping out onto the platform to experience the cool mountain air and grab a photo in front of the train was just fine for the time being.

Gradually we descended down towards Bergen, skipping past some of the fjords we would explore further the next day. Shattered but genuinely happy, we were glad to leave the train, but didn’t regret a second of the journey. I’ve flown long haul, I’ve done overnight trains, but this was truly the best travel experience I’ve ever had.