Bergen - Oslo, Norway: Scenic Railway

Once again, I seem to have ignored my blog here for months, almost a year now even. Not sure if anyone is reading my blog anyway, but let me just continue to capture my memories and travels here ^.^

Did not travel much last year due to a change of jobs, and settling in to the new routines took a while but finally managed to enjoy some travelling again this year. Anyway, today I want to document a short trip I took on the scenic railway in Norway.

If you google or search for attractions in Bergen or Oslo, Norway, one of the items that will come up from reviews will be on the train line between the two cities, as summed by the following:

"When travelling between Oslo and Bergen, go by train: the Bergen Railway is one of the most scenic train lines in the world." (http://www.visitnorway.com)

With that kind of statement as well as wonderful reviews by other tourists, I decided to take the train from Bergen to Oslo while I was in Norway, and see if it did live up to all the praise showered on it. I have to say, though I wouldn't be able to properly compare this with other railways around the world (seeing as I haven't been to many yet), the scenery throughout the journey is definitely amazing.

One of my favourite pictures from the journey...absolutely no edit required.

The entire journey from Bergen to Oslo, or vice versa, takes approximately 6 and a half to hours. The rail line winds through the mountains, along the rivers, providing awesome views all the way. Enough of talk for now, let the pictures show the beauty of nature ^^

Had to crop out a portion of the picture due to the light reflection on the windows of the train

I travelled during the month of June, in summer, and was really lucky to have the bright sun and clear skies during the whole journey.

Never imagined I'd see so much snow in the middle of summer =p

Tickets can be bought directly from the Norwegian State Railways website, and you can just use a PDF ticket when boarding the train. Booking is easy, just select the stations of departure and arrival as well as dates of travel and the system will show available times within a certain range. 

Also, for those on a tight budget, try to purchase tickets earlier online as they normally have 'minipris' tickets which can be considerably cheaper than the normal ticket prices. I got my ticket for a one-way journey from Bergen to Oslo for just about NOK 499 (approximately RM250).