We set off today in anticipation of going on one of the best train journeys in the world which is the ride between Oslo and Bergen. The journey lasts about 7 hours and you will be treated to spectacular scenery. However, as I soon discovered, doing this ride in the winter may not be the best idea after all. In the Norwegian winter you only have about 4 hours of effective daylight so if you want to even see any scenery, you would have to choose a daytime train that sets off in the morning. Secondly, you do get some marvelous snow scenery where everything is blanketed with thick layers of white fluffy snow but they do hide a lot of landscape features which you can otherwise spot in the summer.
Since it was Christmas, no stores are opened when we reached Bergen except a couple of odd convenience stores. Once again we grabbed some food (thank god for such convenience stores!) and proceeded to another Couchsurfer’s place where we spent the night and chatted with a few locals. Early next morning, we were on the road again, or rather on the tracks again as we embark on a journey taking more than 24 hours and taking us as far North as possible on a NSB train. NSB is the Norwegian company responsible for Norway’s rail network. The Northern most rail station in Norway is Narvik, but Narvik is only served by SJ trains from Sweden. Firstly we have to travel to Oslo, then we have transfer to another train which will take us to Trondheim. Just before midnight at Trondheim, we finally transferred to an overnight train arriving at our final destination, Bodø, in the morning. Riding on the overnight train is a different experience in itself as the interior of our particular carriage is furnished in the old fashioned way. We have really spacious seats which can recline comfortably and there is also an inflatable pillow provided. Best of all, each ticket of this particular train journey only cost us 199NOK. That is ridiculously cheap for a rail journey of more than 24 hours considering the fact that Norway is one of the most expensive countries to live in!
Roaming across Norway by Train
25 and 26 Dec 2010
We set off today in anticipation of going on one of the best train journeys in the world which is the ride between Oslo and Bergen. The journey lasts about 7 hours and you will be treated to spectacular scenery. However, as I soon discovered, doing this ride in the winter may not be the best idea after all. In the Norwegian winter you only have about 4 hours of effective daylight so if you want to even see any scenery, you would have to choose a daytime train that sets off in the morning. Secondly, you do get some marvelous snow scenery where everything is blanketed with thick layers of white fluffy snow but they do hide a lot of landscape features which you can otherwise spot in the summer.
Since it was Christmas, no stores are opened when we reached Bergen except a couple of odd convenience stores. Once again we grabbed some food (thank god for such convenience stores!) and proceeded to another Couchsurfer’s place where we spent the night and chatted with a few locals. Early next morning, we were on the road again, or rather on the tracks again as we embark on a journey taking more than 24 hours and taking us as far North as possible on a NSB train. NSB is the Norwegian company responsible for Norway’s rail network. The Northern most rail station in Norway is Narvik, but Narvik is only served by SJ trains from Sweden. Firstly we have to travel to Oslo, then we have transfer to another train which will take us to Trondheim. Just before midnight at Trondheim, we finally transferred to an overnight train arriving at our final destination, Bodø, in the morning. Riding on the overnight train is a different experience in itself as the interior of our particular carriage is furnished in the old fashioned way. We have really spacious seats which can recline comfortably and there is also an inflatable pillow provided. Best of all, each ticket of this particular train journey only cost us 199NOK. That is ridiculously cheap for a rail journey of more than 24 hours considering the fact that Norway is one of the most expensive countries to live in!
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Arriving at Bergen train station
Bergen train station facade
The bus station is linked to the shopping mall.
Bergen’s shopping mall
Transfering at Trondheim.
NSB Overnight train.
This train has a dining carriage which sells hot drinks and snacks.
This carriage has one of the older compartment-like designs which fasincated many fellow passengers.
Very spacious reclining seats. Only 3 seats in a row.
One of the train stations along the journey.
Norway’s snow scenery.
Seems to be easier to ski than walk.
More photos of this journey can be found at our Globe Nomads’ Facebook page.