The Society of International Railway Travellers have voted the Bergen Line and the Flaamsbana Railway as two of the top 25 Railway journeys in the world, with snow capped mountains, sparkling lakes and thundering waterfalls.

The complete Oslo-Bergen line was opened in 1909 as the only year-round land transport between Norway’s two largest cities. The 300-mile length of track passes through 200 tunnels and 18 miles of snowsheds in addition to crossing more than 300 bridges.

The scenery on the 7-hour Bergen Railway trip across the Hardanger plateau, the largest wilderness area in Europe, is breathtaking, with snow capped mountains, sparkling lakes and thundering waterfalls. After Ustaoset, at 4,000 feet the highest point on the line, we continue across barren and windswept mountain plateaus with everlasting snow that provide a stunning backdrop, the Society's reporter writes.

With the Flaam Railway, it’s what you see outside that counts, the reporter writes: In about an hour, the line climbs some 2,833 feet from Flaam station, nestled in the innermost corner of the Aurlandfjord, to the mountain station at Myrdal on the Bergen Railway. On the 12.4-mile-long ride, you’ll see rivers that cut through deep ravines, waterfalls cascading down the sides of steep, snowcapped mountains and farms clinging dizzily to sheer slopes.

The Flaam Railway is one of the world’s steepest standard-gauge railways, with a gradient of 5.5%. The railway recently underwent a facelift; its new fleet of trains, in forest green livery, comprises five engines and 12 cars. It also boasts new interiors and a unique guide and loudspeaker service, the Society of International Railway Travellers tells us.

(Press release)

Rolleiv Solholm

Written by Rolleiv Solholm