The very best rail route in northern Europe

At Myrdal Station (867m), a practice waited on a department line that is among the steepest railway traces on Earth. From Myrdal to Flåm, down by the banks of Aurlandsfjord, an inside arm of Sognefjord, the monitor twists and dives down by 20 tunnels, shedding 866m in altitude in simply 20km, falling at a gradient of 1:18. There was, it appeared, nowhere {that a} Norwegian practice could not journey.

If the climb to Hardangervidda had appeared gradual, the descent to the city of Voss occurred far too rapidly. The snow thinned. The earth turned inexperienced. And rivers, lakes after which fjords had been clear and blue. Right here was yet one more Norway, one the place the monitor hugged one fjord after one other. Because it had since we had left Oslo hours earlier, the monitor each conquered the difficult topography and surrendered to it. There was no extra pleasurable hour available in the complete journey than this last fjord-side meander.

After which, Bergen. The practice wove between the seven hills and 7 fjords of this swish metropolis. Whitewashed wood buildings climbed the hillsides above the town centre and autumn leaves gave the town a golden forged all the best way into the stately, muralled practice station. It was a becoming finish to a outstanding journey, and, within the pleasure of arrival, I felt as if I had simply seen Norway for the very first time.

Rail Journeys is a BBC Journey sequence that celebrates the world’s most fascinating practice rides and conjures up readers to journey overland.

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