Seven hours, four hundred kilometres and one of the great train journeys of Europe — the Bergen Line climbs from the Oslo woodlands onto a snow-blasted plateau and down to the rain-bright western coast.
The highlight is Finse, the highest station on the line at 1,222 metres, where the Hardangerjokulen glacier glints beyond the platform and even summer mornings carry a bite.
Most travellers break the trip at Myrdal to ride the Flam Railway, a steep branch line that corkscrews down to a fjord arm past the thundering Kjosfossen waterfall.
Reserve a window seat on the right heading west, bring a thermos, and don't bury yourself in a book — the scenery changes every fifteen minutes.
Good to know
- Reserve seats ahead; the Oslo-Bergen service and the Flam branch both fill in summer.
- Break the journey at Myrdal for the Flam Railway and a night by the fjord.
- Even in summer, pack a warm layer for the Finse plateau.
