Riding the rails through Norway’s most scenic vistas

Unlike air travel, which lifts you above the world, or car journeys, which demand your attention on the road, travelling by train lets you truly see and feel the landscape. Now of course, one could be snoring away but that would be grave injustice to the rolling hills, dense forests, quaint villages, and sprawling cities, which keep unfolding like new chapters of a book. There’s no rush, no frantic security checks, just an almost steady pace and a comforting predictability – thanks to the timetables and the announcements – allowing one to doze off, or get lost in the pages of a book, strike up a conversation with a fellow traveller, or simply gaze out the window and let your thoughts wander.

Norway is scenic across it’s length and breadth and most famous amongst travellers as a destination for viewing the Aurora Borealis, but if you’re willing to put in more time and money, this train journey from Oslo to Bergen should not be missed.

If you wish to read about my Aurora Borealis experience or see more posts on Norway, go to the Norway category page.

The Train

Norwegian railway system is well-developed and easy to navigate for travellers and majority of trains in Norway are run by two operators SJ and Vy. For this particular journey from Oslo to Bergen we chose Vy and tickets can be booked on their website.

The Departure from Oslo – Urban to Wild

Our journey began at Oslo Central Station, at around 8 am. Clear, dimly lit skies, as can be expected of a winter morning in December. As the train pulled out of the station, the urban landscape of Oslo quickly gave way to a beautiful countryside. The scenery was already stunning, but from what I had read, I knew the best was yet to come. The Oslo to Bergen railway, often called the Bergensbanen, has been called as one of the most scenic train routes in the world. Spanning ~496 kilometers, it crosses mountain ranges, passes through deep valleys, and offers glimpses of Norway’s wild, untamed beauty.

The Earth and the Winter Sky

The first few hours of the journey were calm and uneventful, but the scenery, quite dramatic. The snow deepened further, the sparse trees gave way to thick conifers posing a stark contrast to the white, thick snow covered scape. Every now and then, there’d be a frozen lake glistening under the pale sunlight. And every once in a while we’d pass by charming towns like Hønefoss and Gol, with houses built in the typical hyette style with steeply pitched rooftops, designed to handle heavy snowfall.

And as if in competition to earth’s glory, the winter skies treated us to a rare and mesmerizing sight of the polar stratospheric clouds (also known as nacreous clouds). These clouds form in the stratosphere, at altitudes of 15,000 to 25,000 meters, and are only visible in polar regions during winter. They appear as shimmering, iridescent waves of colour – pastel pinks, blues, greens and yellows – streaking across the sky like random brushstrokes from an experimenting painter.
What a truly surreal experience it was! As if the skies had come alive with the ethereal hues while the rest of the landscape was blanketed in white.

The Detour and the Wait

Just about halfway through the journey, an announcement about a detour seemed to stir a frenzy amongst the co-passengers. And me – I was just done devouring a super yummy cheese sandwich and was ready to doze off, but the announcement woke me better than a couple of espresso shots would have.
“A power failure had occurred somewhere on the route, which meant that the train would be halted. Passengers would deboard and then be taken by buses to another train to continue with the rest of the journey.”

And so, we bid goodbye to the train. And made our way to the bus which would transport us to the next station. As luck would have it, the last bus was packed to the brim, and about 9 remaining passengers who had to stay back outside the train station waiting for an alternative. And oh! The luggage were already packed and sent in that last bus. It was snowing heavily and there was no shelter. What would come across as an appalling situation was met with glee and laughter by yours truly, for this was my “once in a lifetime – I’m stranded but happy” moment.

Well, the happiness lasted only about 45 minutes and then we were seated in the much required warmth of the bus headed to the next station where another train awaited our arrival to take us to the destination.

Through this so-called adventure, we met a Norwegian co-passenger. We got talking and learned that these kind of detours were quite common, given the extreme weather conditions but the detour process is always carefully managed to ensure passenger safety and minimize disruption, and that we had experienced first hand already. I think I was happiest to see our luggage awaiting us under the strict supervision of personnels responsible for the safety and timely relocation of all passengers!

The remaining Journey – onwards to Bergen

After all the excitement of being stranded in a remote area of snowy Norway, we were back in the train chugging away to the destination. The remainder of the journey was quite uneventful, but the views were a good enough compensation. Hills on either side with a thick cover of coniferous trees, briefly interrupted by gushing fjords. Add to it, that it was almost dark, and still snowing heavily, contributing to a spooky “beyond the wall” kinda feel.

The Experience

Citing this as an unforgettable experience is an understatement. It’s beyond imagination, specially unless one has witnessed it. The snow-covered valleys, towering mountains, and charming little towns create a landscape that is both tranquil and exhilarating. The vastness of the frozen lakes is beautiful but feels overwhelming. Stretching out to the horizon, an endless, flat, featureless plain of ice and snow. That which would otherwise be lapping water with ripples is replaced by an almost unnatural stillness.

The Alternative – Norway in a Nutshell Tour

An alternative to this single train journey is the Norway in a Nutshell tour. This very popular trip from Oslo to Bergen includes train, bus and ferry travel :

Train ride from Oslo to Myrdal
Train ride on the famous Flåm railway (from Myrdal to Flåm)
Fjord cruise from Flåm to Gudvangen
Bus ride from Gudvangen to Voss
Train ride from Voss to Bergen

It’s not a guided tour and can be done as a full day trip or with overnight stops. All the tickets are booked already when you book the Norway in a Nutshell tour, with all timings and scheduling figured out based on your selections, like if you’d prefer to stay a night at some place. And the bookings can be done on the official website.
There is also the option of handing over your luggage in advance to a prepaid porter service so you wouldn’t have to worry about carrying it around with so many changes during the commute.

Now this sounds pretty exciting but we chose to not go ahead with it is because there are no reservations (as in seats are not booked) and that was a big no for us given the multiple modes of commute.

Also, when the detour did happen due to the disruption in the electrical line, there were quite some passengers in the next train whose tour got affected and was cancelled. So, in hindsight, our plan worked out quite well for us.

And so that’s it on this very memorable train journey.