Norway by rail and walking trail

High Across Hardangervidda to Finse and Myrdal

Linking Oslo and Bergen over 496 kilometres, the Bergen Line climbs for a hundred kilometres above the treeline across the northern edge of Hardangervidda National Park. Alight at Finse (1,222 m)—which has no road access whatsoever—and you can walk within an hour to the snout of the Hardangerjøkulen glacier, rent a bicycle to coast the 19th-century gravel construction track of Rallarvegen down to Flåm, or hike three days south from DNT cabin to cabin across the plateau.

Rather than taking the crowded midday Flåm Railway return trip, catch the last afternoon train up to Myrdal or walk down the upper switchbacks of Kjosfossen before boarding a quiet local stop down to the fjord.

Into Rondane, Dovrefjell and the Romsdalen Valley

North of Lillehammer, the Dovre Line climbs out of Gudbrandsdalen to Otta (connecting by local bus to Spranget at the heart of Rondane National Park) and Dombås. At Dombås, two remarkable options branch off: stay on the main line twenty minutes further to Hjerkinn and Kongsvold stations inside Dovrefjell–Sunndalsfjella National Park—where the architectural timber box of Viewpoint Snøhetta overlooks wild muskox habitat and prehistoric reindeer trapping pits—or transfer onto the two-car Rauma Railway.

The 114-kilometre Raumabanen crosses the high stone arches of Kylling Bridge at Verma before tracing the emerald Rauma River right beneath the 1,000-metre vertical rock face of Trollveggen, terminating beside the fjord at Åndalsnes beneath the Romsdalseggen ridge trail.

The Arctic Circle Express and Fjell Etiquette

Stretching 729 kilometres from Trondheim through Mosjøen and Mo i Rana across the barren Saltfjellet plateau to Bodø, the Nordland Line connects directly with the Lofoten ferry at Bodø quay. Further north, the steep Ofoten Line from Narvik up to Riksgränsen clings to a rocky shelf high above the turquoise Rombaksbotn fjord.