Norway – Flåm Fjord Cruise

Hanna Ashcraft

5 years ago

If there is one thing you must do while in the Fjordlands of Norway, it’s taking a Fjord Cruise. And the type of cruise I am talking about is a 2-4 hour day cruise on the dark fjord waters, surrounded by steep mountains and waterfalls. Sound dreamy? That’s because it is. There are many Fjords to choose from, but two stand out as absolute beauties – Nærøyfjord and Griengerfjord. Since we were driving from Oslo, we opted to explore the Fjords that were a bit further south and finally settle on a one-way Flåm Fjord Cruise to get to Gudvagen with Lustrabaatane. It was by far and away my favorite way to explore the fjords. With moving clouds and calm water, the Flåm Fjord Cruise was dramatic and beautiful.

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Picking a Company to Cruise with

As part of the “Norway in a Nutshell” route, this specific fjord is particularly busy. The Flåm Fjord Cruise goes from Flåm to Gudvagen, with two options to return: taking a 2-hour cruise back or taking a 20-minute bus ride back. Due to our limited time, we opted for a one-way cruise with a bus back to make a loop. There are two companies that I could find that run this cruise – Visit Flåm and Lustrabaatne. Visit Flåm offers two price points – the lower price point (about 400 NOK) was on a classic shuttle-like boat, whereas the high price point (about 600 NOK) is on their premium, window-covered electric boat that has railings zig-zagging up the sides and a lot of space to be outdoors. Lustrabaatne only has one price point (295 NOK) on a shuttle boat. At this much lower price point, we opted to check it out.

I found it frustrating to navigate the Visit Flåm website. One thing I noticed was that the Visit Flåm website was charging 90 NOK for the return bus, but when I on the VY website (Norway’s public transportation website), they were listing on 70 NOK for the bus. Perhaps Visit Flåm has a special bus for their guests that lined up with the arrival of their vessel…? We opted to wait to purchase on the bus. Also, the price point changes for cruises based on the season. So if would like to go during the summer, you are going to pay for it!

However frustrating the website was to use, I would like to try out their premium cruise. With so many windows and outdoor space for people to be, I feel like I would be able to experience the Fjord with fewer people interrupting the experience.

At a Glance:

Rating: 4 (out of 4) stars – would do it again in a heartbeat!
Intensity: Cute, warm layers
Location: Flåm, Norway
Cost: 295 NOK per person with Lustrabaatane
Restrooms: At the Flåm visitor center, one on board the vessel
Timing: 3 hours with a bus back to Flåm

Highlights:

The Fjord is absolutely stunning and particularly narrow as it gets closer to Gudvagen
Waterfalls everywhere
Calm waters

Lowlights:

Some guests smoked, making it uncomfortable to be outside
Moveable chairs made it difficult to move around

The Cruise Itself

We were driving from Oslo the day we were to do the cruise and arrived at the dock just in time. We boarded what felt like a packed ship and made our way out to the top deck. There were moveable chairs that people had already self-arranged. We were able to snag to chairs and only waited about 10 minutes before take-off. The boat was full of what felt like a few large tour groups. They somehow all suddenly had a cup-of-noodles, which the crew sells before take-off.

We took off and the fjord views are immediately stunning. It is one thing to drive along the fjords, but it is another thing to be slicing through the dark waters with a view of the steep mountains and trickling waterfalls in every direction. Back at our seats, a group photo adding more and more people slowly edged us out of the way and out of a view. I decided to see if it was possible to go to the front of the ship. I grabbed my mom to come down to the chillier but relatively uncrowded bow of the ship. The front was spectacular. The moving clouds provided exactly enough drama to light up certain sides of the fjord.

During the cruise, you make your way up the Aurlandsfjord toward the Sognefjord, then turn and come down the Nærøyfjord. Along the way, you’ll see small towns that are only accessible by boat. You’ll see more waterfalls than you can count, and you’ll see snow-covered mountains that reach much lower temperatures to keep everlasting snow. Although it is all spectacular, once you turn the corner into Nærøyfjord toward Gudvagen, it becomes particularly narrow with calm glass-like water, making each picture dream-worthy. The green vegetation, blue skies, and white waterfalls reflect in the water like a mirror. My only wish is that I had warmer layers on, so I could stay at the front of the boat for the entire cruise.

Best Photos

I took my favorite photos of the Flåm Fjord Cruise at the front of the boat, where you could a gorgeous photo of the upcoming landscape or catch specific beauties in every direction. When we turned down the Nærøyfjord initially, we were facing the sun. I thought this would blow out the shot, but these were actually lovely, despite myself being a bit windblown.

You should take an opportunity to take photos all around the boat if you can manage it. By that, I mean up front on the bow, at the back with the Norwegian Flag flying, off the sides with waterfalls, and etc. As the scenery passes, the lighting and clouds change, making each area of the fjords a little different.

Once you disembark in Gudvangen, I recommend grabbing a cider from the bar and taking a few pictures with the Viking ship replica and the fjord behind you. Holding onto your cider during the pictures isn’t necessary, but I kind of love the Viking effect.

Boat Logistics

I hinted towards it earlier but wanted to mention that the boat felt very packed on the upper deck. It is not that the boat was full because inside there were many open seats, but that there is limited outdoor space. There were at least two or three large tour groups on board. We may be been there only single ticket holders, which was a bit strange. Some of the men from the tour groups decided to smoke a cigarette on the upper deck, making it uncomfortable for us to stay there. Then the front of the boat was very cold, so we would need to warm back up inside or on the upper deck. So around and around we went. But hey, we got great photos and exercise! I tried not to let this bother me because the fjords were a highlight of our entire Norway trip.

In Gudvangen, where everyone disembarked, there was a gift shop just inside. Once I was in the store, the same people from the boat were talking around me and bumping into me. After spending two hours doing the same thing, I’ve had enough and walked over to get a cider from the empty bar. It’s not that they were unkind, I just needed some space to actually enjoy this beautiful country. Perhaps it wouldn’t feel this way if I signed up for the tour group and this was part of the tour. If a crowd doesn’t bother you, then this is a great fjord cruise.

What to Pack for a Norway Fjord Cruise

The weather in Norway is variable, especially so in autumn. I ended up bringing many light layers so I could adjust to the various weather conditions and wind while on the fjord cruise. Here are a few items that came in handy:

Rain Jacket and/or windbreaker, especially for the fjord cruises where it’s extremely windy at the front of the boat.
Puffy mid-layer that packs up small like the Patagonia nano-puff jacket. Or for something a little more casual looking, I’m trying out the Patagonia pack-in jacket. the maroon jacket you see in the photos is a casual jacket I picked up from Marshalls but I was freezing, so I wouldn’t recommend it! It might have worked with a rain jacket or windbreaker on top.
Wool layering long sleeve, like this one from Smartwool. Or consider a tank top to wear UNDER your cute sweaters for extra warmth.
Leggings – athletic ones are always great to have, but also consider bringing a base layer with wool to wear under your pants.
Lightweight fleece gloves were handy (pun intended)! I ended up wearing them on the fjord cruises and in Bergen where it was cooler. These ones from REI are supposed to allow you to touch the screen through the gloves – that would have been amazing because I kept having to take one glove off to take photos.
Cute fleece-lined beanie.
Extra large scarf or scarves! H&M typically has some cute chunky scarves each fall.
Boots that you can comfortably walk in, but also keep your feet warm. The ones you see in the photos look good, but are often not warm enough! Consider some cute but functional boots from Clarks or Sorel.
A handy dandy refillable water bottle is ALWAYS a good thing to bring with you.

Full Transparency

My mother and I received complimentary tickets for this fjord cruise and I wanted to discuss how that could have impacted my experience. I knew that we would absolutely take a fjord cruise while we were in Norway, regardless if the opportunity happened. Receiving the tickets for this cruise was an absolute bonus. The cruise happens at designated times, so if you were to buy tickets for the Lustrabaatane Flåm fjord cruise, you would get a similar (if not the same) experience. I think you should expect it to be crowded due to its popularity on the “Norway in a Nutshell” route. Perhaps going in winter would make for a quieter experience.

I absolutely love that there is an alternative option to overpriced Visit Flam, which as I mentioned was difficult to navigate their website. At a lower price point, Lustrabaatane allows more people from all over the world to see the fjords in their full glory.

I don’t normally feel seasick and I specifically did not feel anything while onboard the Lustrabaatne cruise. The fjords were extremely calm with little movement for the boat to cut through. The boats are also moving at a very slow pace, making any movement very subtle.

Overall Thoughts: Flåm Fjord Cruise

This fjord cruise was a highlight of my trip to Norway. It was spectacular to see the fjords not just from the car, but from the middle of them. It is hard to know which way to look with views 360 degrees around you and constantly changing as you move through the water. If there is one thing worth doing, it is to take a fjord cruise and see this unique environment. I tried not to let the fact that the boat was full bother me as I think most fjord cruises along the “Norway in a Nutshell” route will be packed, but the crowds definitely got to me by the time we reached the Gudvangen gift shop.

Other things to do in the Flam Area:

Where have you taken a scenic cruise? This was such a fun and different way to experience the fjords that I cannot wait to take more scenic cruises in the future. Let me know in the comments below where you recommend cruising!

Happy Travels,

Hanna