Earlier this week I shared an overview of our entire trip to Norway, including the full itinerary and cost for the trip. Today I’m doing a deep dive on our favorite part of our trip to Norway, THE FJORDS! We spent 2 days in the most incredible Fjords and honestly I wish we had done 3 or 4 days, there was so much more we could have done here and would have loved to just be in this place for longer. If you are planning a trip to Norway, I would recommend giving yourself at least 3 days minimum in this area.
Let’s start with how we got there. As I mentioned in my full trip itinerary post earlier this week, we traveled Norway entirely by train, which was awesome (highly recommend). To get to the Fjords, and fjord towns, we boarded the Bergen line at Oslo Central station and rode all the way to Myrdal, where we disembarked, walked literally 30 feet across the platform and boarded the Flåm Railway which took us over the mountains and down into one of the most incredible places we’ve ever been.
The Flåm Railway
The Flåm railway is one of the most scenic and beautiful train journeys in the world. Seriously, there is a reason it is famous, it was incredible. The train runs from the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, up to the high mountains at Myrdal station. The shear number of waterfalls we saw on the one hour trip was mind-boggling. (It must have been somewhere close to 100). You board the The Flåm railway in Myrdal, and it was so exciting to watch the lovely dark green vintage rail cars pull into the tiny mountain station. The inside is classically furnished, with dark stained woods and deep red and orange cushions. After the modern, high speed train on the Bergen line, it was a fun change to board an old fashioned train.
The 20 km journey takes roughly an hour with one five-minute photo stop at the Kjosfossen waterfall where you can disembark and go out onto the platform. This part of the the journey was really cool as there’s a whole legend surrounding a siren and the waterfall, and I don’t want to spoil what happens when you get off the train, but it was pretty magical. You can peek in the background for a clue…
There are all kinds of activities you can do from the Flåm line: biking, ziplining, etc. that we would have loved to do if we hadn’t been traveling with a baby. It’s definitely worth looking into. And I will say the zipline looked thrilling (scary)!
Tickets for the Flåm railway cost about $67 for adults and $25 for children. We were able to get a 30% discount by purchasing ours through our Eurail pass.
The end of the Flåm railway drops you in, you guessed it… Flåm.
Flåm
Flåm is a lovely little town right on the edge of Aurlandsfjord, and is a great place to stop for an afternoon or stay for a few days. There are lots of great little shops to check out right off the train station and grab a souvenir, there’s also a COOP market, bakery, hotel, and a few restaurants. We ate some of the best pizza we’ve ever had in the Flamsbrygga Café right on the waters edge with the most beautiful view of Aurlandsfjord. There’s a great little park right in the middle of town, and lots of grass to spread out on and enjoy the views. And let me tell you, the views cannot be topped.
Europe knows how to do parks…
From Flåm you can catch a bus or Fjord ferry, which is exactly what we did, right to the town of Aurlandsvangen just 10 minutes down the road, or Fjord respectively.
Aurlandsvangen
For our time in the Fjords we stayed in the little town of Aurlandsvangen. Initially I was a bit disappointed that we weren’t able to find an airbnb big enough to accommodate our large family in Flåm for the dates we wanted, but it turned out to be total serendipity because we all fell in LOVE with Aurland. If you love quiet, charming little European villages, this is where you want to stay when visiting the Fjords. It’s easy to get to, there’s a bus, fjord ferry, and taxis. I’m amazed at all the transportation options, since when you’re there you feel like you are tucked away in the quietest most beautiful spot in the world.
The airbnb we found in Aurland is one of my favorites we’ve ever stayed in, very family friendly, and literally right in the middle of the charming village, and about a 1 minute walk from where the ferry drops you off.
Just like Flåm, Aurland is right on the edge of Aurlandsfjord, so the views are pretty spectacular from anywhere in the town, and there’s even a little swimming hole where you can take a dip in the cold fjord water. Craig and all the kids jumped in and swam in the Fjord (in their clothes since we didn’t think to bring swimsuits- take note, bring a swimsuit!), and I dipped my toes in with Finny on the beach.
Aurland has a little COOP Market where we picked up things for dinner the two days we were there, and a little bakery just a few doors down from our Airbnb, where we grabbed delicious pastries as big as my head for breakfast every morning. There are also two small restaurants in Aurland, but we didn’t eat at either, so I can’t give you a review on those.
From Aurland you can grab a shuttle bus to the Stegastein Viewpoint, something I wish we had had time to do. You can also board the Fjord ferry right from the dock, which we did the second day and travelled through the Fjords to Gudvangen.
The Fjord Ferry
Before we get to the Viking Village in Gudvangen, we need to take a minute for the Fjord Ferry experience. If there’s one thing you do when you come to Norway, it should be this… experience the Fjords by boat. The ferry takes you from Flåm or Aurland up Aurlandsfjord and continues through the narrow Nærøyfjord to Gudvangen. These fjords are famous for a reason, they are breathtaking. Just incredible.
The fjord has no road connections which means the only way to properly explore it is by boat, and during the ride you get a front row view of the most spectacular landscape dotted with old farms and colorful idyllic fjord villages, most of which have stayed untouched for centuries.
For our family of 7 the Fjord Ferry from Aurland to Gudvangen and back cost us about $450, and it was worth every penny. It was probably my favorite part of the trip. The vessels are modern and comfortable, and since they are electric they are quiet so the whole journey is just so incredibly peaceful. There’s lots of space on top to view the fjords outside (bring a raincoat!), and abundant comfortable seating inside. There’s a snack bar on board that serves light snacks.
As I said, the Fjord ferry took us from Aurland all the way over to Gudvangen.
Gudvangen & The Viking Village Njardarheim.
At the end of the Fjord cruise is the beautiful village of Gudvangen. This is seriously one of the most incredible places I have ever seen, just so breathtaking. We split our time in Gudvangen at the Viking Village Njardarheimr (don’t ask me to pronounce that), and doing the hike to Bakka right along the side of the Fjord. You can also sign up for a kayaking excursion right from Gudvangen, and it looked amazing, but we wanted to stick together, and again… baby. Next time we would definitely do it!
Viking Village of Njardarheimr.
Our visit to Njardarheimr was so fun, and it’s a great way to sped a couple hours while you are in Gudvangen. You couldn’t ask for a prettier setting for a charming little viking village, and I loved how hands on it was. It didn’t feel roped off and untouchable the way a lot of places like that are in the U.S. You can actually learn the ancient chess like viking game “Hnefatafl”, try on viking armor, throw an axe at a target, play with old viking toys, and shoot a bow and arrow.
There are tours ever 30 minutes or so, in English and in other languages; they are included in the cost of admission and I highly recommend taking one. We learned SO MUCH about Vikings that we never knew before. There’s a cafe at the viking village and a restaurant close by, where we got lunch after the visit. It cost our family of 7 about $110 to buy tickets to the Viking Village.
Hike to Bakka.
After lunch we set out on a hike from Gudvangen to Bakka via the old Bakka road. This is a very family friendly hike with the MOST incredible views the entire time. The old gravel road literally runs right along the side of the fjord and was easy for everyone. With the exception of one waterfall/shallow river crossing, we were able to push our Uppababy stroller through the whole thing. And it was fairly easy to carry it across that.
The hike is 2.5 miles (4 km) and we passed waterfalls, pastures, forests and even met some goats! The views left us all speechless.
After our hike we made our way back to center of Gudvangen village, and got back on the Ferry back to Aurland. It was an awesome day! As I said, this was our favorite part of the trip, mostly because experiencing the Fjords was so incredible. If I did it again I would have probably scheduled 2 more days in the area before moving on to Bergen… which I will be sharing with you tomorrow!
Make sure to check out the post I wrote with a complete overview of our trip and cost here.
See what I packed for Norway here.
