Norway · Window guide
Which side of the Bergen Line should you sit on?
A window guide to the Bergen Line (about 490 km, 34 narrated stories), built from the same route data the Rail Journeys app uses to trigger its narration.
Operated by Vy. Rail Journeys of a Lifetime is an independent audio guide and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any railway operator.
The short answer
- Toward Bergen: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
- Toward Oslo: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
The app narrates each sight automatically as you reach it and says which side to look — this page is the same route, in order, for planning. "Left" and "right" are relative to the direction of travel.
Distances in the tables are measured along the route geometry from Oslo S and are approximate; the headline distance is the operator's published figure.
Toward Bergen
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Oslo S | — | Station stop |
| 2 km (1 mi) | Oslo: The Capital on the Fjord | Either side | We set out from Oslo, a capital with a thousand years behind it. |
| 15 km (9 mi) | 🚉 Sandvika | — | Station stop |
| 15 km (9 mi) | Leaving Oslo, Along the Salmon River | Either side | As the train pulls out of Oslo and the city thins into forest, watch the river running alongside us. |
| 35 km (22 mi) | The Lier Valley: Norway's Orchard | Either side | The hillsides sloping toward the fjord here are striped with something you might not expect this far north — row after row of fruit trees, a |
| 41 km (26 mi) | Drammen: The River Port | Either side | The handsome city on the river here is Drammen, set where the Drammenselva pours into a long fjord arm. |
| 95 km (59 mi) | The Tyrifjord & Ringerike | Either side | The broad, island-studded water opening beside us is the Tyrifjord — despite the name, a freshwater lake, and one of Norway's largest. |
| 112 km (70 mi) | 🚉 Hønefoss | — | Station stop |
| 112 km (70 mi) | Hønefoss: The Waterfall Town | Either side | The town of Hønefoss takes its name, and its life, from the waterfall at its heart — a broad cascade on the river Begna that once drove sawm |
| 164 km (102 mi) | The Lower Hallingdal | Either side | We're working up the lower Hallingdal now, one of Norway's warmest, most sheltered inland valleys — so mild in summer that nearby villages h |
| 174 km (108 mi) | 🚉 Flå | — | Station stop |
| 192 km (119 mi) | The Hallingdal Stave Churches | Either side | As we climb the long Hallingdal valley, watch the villages for an extraordinary survivor: the stave church. |
| 207 km (129 mi) | 🚉 Nesbyen | — | Station stop |
| 207 km (129 mi) | Nesbyen: The Hottest Cold Place | Either side | The pleasant valley town we're passing, Nesbyen, holds a record that seems impossible for a place on the road to the frozen roof of Norway: |
| 220 km (137 mi) | Gol: The Church That Moved to the City | Either side | The valley town of Gol guards a small mystery: its greatest treasure isn't here anymore. |
| 224 km (139 mi) | 🚉 Gol | — | Station stop |
| 224 km (139 mi) | The Hallingdal: Up the Long Valley | Either side | After Hønefoss, watch the land change — the first real mountains rise on the horizon, and the train turns up a long, deepening valley. |
| 238 km (148 mi) | The Halling: Norway's Wildest Dance | Either side | This long green valley, the Hallingdal, gave its name to one of the most spectacular folk dances in Europe: the halling. |
| 250 km (155 mi) | 🚉 Ål | — | Station stop |
| 250 km (155 mi) | Ål & the Upper Hallingdal | Either side | The valley has narrowed and steepened, the farms have climbed higher up the slopes, and the air has turned thinner and cooler. |
| 270 km (168 mi) | Geilo: The Train that Taught a Nation to Ski | Either side | Above the approaching town of Geilo, the bare slopes are stitched with ski lifts and pistes — one of Norway's great winter resorts, and it o |
| 274 km (170 mi) | 🚉 Geilo | — | Station stop |
| 274 km (170 mi) | Geilo: Crossing the Tree Line | Either side | Notice the forest thinning around us — the tall trees getting shorter, scrubbier, then giving up altogether. |
| 286 km (178 mi) | 🚉 Ustaoset | — | Station stop |
| 286 km (178 mi) | The Hardangervidda: The Empty Roof | Either side | Look how far you can see. |
| 302 km (188 mi) | The Wild Reindeer of the Vidda | Either side | For ten thousand years, people have climbed onto this plateau for one reason: the reindeer. |
| 319 km (198 mi) | Hallingskarvet & the Philosopher's Hut | Either side | That long, flat-topped wall of rock dominating the skyline is Hallingskarvet, a great mountain standing above the line like a stranded ship. |
| 323 km (201 mi) | 🚉 Finse | — | Station stop |
| 323 km (201 mi) | Finse: The Highest Station, and the Ice Planet | Either side | Look outside — the trees are gone, the world has turned white and bare, and we've stopped at a little huddle of buildings in the middle of i |
| 324 km (202 mi) | Hardangerjøkulen: The Glacier on the Roof | Left side | That great dome of ice spreading across the skyline near Finse is no ordinary snowfield. |
| 339 km (211 mi) | 🚉 Hallingskeid | — | Station stop |
| 339 km (211 mi) | The Navvies: A Railway Carved by Hand | Either side | Look at the bare, broken country around us — rock, bog, snow, almost no shelter. |
| 351 km (218 mi) | The Flåm Branch: The Drop to the Fjord | Right side | At Myrdal, look down — really down — into the valley falling away below us. |
| 352 km (219 mi) | 🚉 Myrdal | — | Station stop |
| 352 km (219 mi) | Myrdal: The Junction in the Sky | Either side | This bleak little station clinging to the mountainside is Myrdal — and it's busier than it looks. |
| 357 km (222 mi) | The Snow War: Keeping the Roof Open | Either side | Notice the long wooden tunnels we keep passing through up here on the plateau — open at the sides, roofed over the top. |
| 366 km (228 mi) | Down the Raundalen to Voss | Either side | Over the high plateau and starting down the western side, the train drops into the Raundalen — a wild, steep valley of tumbling rivers and w |
| 401 km (249 mi) | Voss: The Viking Town that Plays Hard | Left side | Down on the western side of the mountains, the first real town is Voss, cupped between steep slopes beside a lake. |
| 401 km (249 mi) | 🚉 Voss | — | Station stop |
| 401 km (249 mi) | Voss: Back Among the Living | Either side | Trees again — real ones — a lake, farms, a proper town. |
| 438 km (272 mi) | 🚉 Dale | — | Station stop |
| 438 km (272 mi) | Down Through the Waterfalls to the Sea | Either side | On this last leg into Bergen, watch the slopes around us — they're streaked with falling water. |
| 441 km (274 mi) | Dale: The Olympic Sweaters | Either side | The little factory village of Dale, tucked in the valley here, has quietly dressed Norway for the world stage. |
| 446 km (277 mi) | The Salmon of the Fjords | Either side | As the valleys widen toward the coast and the first arms of the fjords appear, watch the water for rings of floating netting — fish farms. |
| 468 km (291 mi) | The Last Tunnel into Bergen | Either side | Almost there. |
| 472 km (293 mi) | Troldhaugen: Grieg's Home | Context | On the wooded shores just south of Bergen stood the home of the man who gave Norway its sound: Edvard Grieg. |
| 476 km (296 mi) | Bergen & the Black Death | Either side | Bergen, the city of seven mountains opening ahead, was for centuries the largest and most important place in Norway — its medieval capital a |
| 482 km (300 mi) | 🚉 Bergen | — | Station stop |
| 482 km (300 mi) | Bryggen: The Wharf Built on Dried Cod | Right side | We've come down to the sea, to Bergen — and to a row of narrow, pointed wooden houses leaning along the old harbour. |
Toward Oslo
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | Bryggen: The Wharf Built on Dried Cod | Left side | We've come down to the sea, to Bergen — and to a row of narrow, pointed wooden houses leaning along the old harbour. |
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Bergen | — | Station stop |
| 6 km (4 mi) | Bergen & the Black Death | Either side | Bergen, the city of seven mountains opening ahead, was for centuries the largest and most important place in Norway — its medieval capital a |
| 10 km (6 mi) | Troldhaugen: Grieg's Home | Context | On the wooded shores just south of Bergen stood the home of the man who gave Norway its sound: Edvard Grieg. |
| 14 km (9 mi) | The Last Tunnel into Bergen | Either side | Almost there. |
| 36 km (22 mi) | The Salmon of the Fjords | Either side | As the valleys widen toward the coast and the first arms of the fjords appear, watch the water for rings of floating netting — fish farms. |
| 41 km (26 mi) | Dale: The Olympic Sweaters | Either side | The little factory village of Dale, tucked in the valley here, has quietly dressed Norway for the world stage. |
| 44 km (27 mi) | Down Through the Waterfalls to the Sea | Either side | On this last leg into Bergen, watch the slopes around us — they're streaked with falling water. |
| 44 km (27 mi) | 🚉 Dale | — | Station stop |
| 81 km (50 mi) | Voss: Back Among the Living | Either side | Trees again — real ones — a lake, farms, a proper town. |
| 81 km (50 mi) | 🚉 Voss | — | Station stop |
| 81 km (50 mi) | Voss: The Viking Town that Plays Hard | Right side | Down on the western side of the mountains, the first real town is Voss, cupped between steep slopes beside a lake. |
| 116 km (72 mi) | Down the Raundalen to Voss | Either side | Over the high plateau and starting down the western side, the train drops into the Raundalen — a wild, steep valley of tumbling rivers and w |
| 125 km (78 mi) | The Snow War: Keeping the Roof Open | Either side | Notice the long wooden tunnels we keep passing through up here on the plateau — open at the sides, roofed over the top. |
| 130 km (81 mi) | Myrdal: The Junction in the Sky | Either side | This bleak little station clinging to the mountainside is Myrdal — and it's busier than it looks. |
| 130 km (81 mi) | 🚉 Myrdal | — | Station stop |
| 131 km (81 mi) | The Flåm Branch: The Drop to the Fjord | Left side | At Myrdal, look down — really down — into the valley falling away below us. |
| 143 km (89 mi) | The Navvies: A Railway Carved by Hand | Either side | Look at the bare, broken country around us — rock, bog, snow, almost no shelter. |
| 143 km (89 mi) | 🚉 Hallingskeid | — | Station stop |
| 158 km (98 mi) | Hardangerjøkulen: The Glacier on the Roof | Right side | That great dome of ice spreading across the skyline near Finse is no ordinary snowfield. |
| 159 km (99 mi) | Finse: The Highest Station, and the Ice Planet | Either side | Look outside — the trees are gone, the world has turned white and bare, and we've stopped at a little huddle of buildings in the middle of i |
| 159 km (99 mi) | 🚉 Finse | — | Station stop |
| 163 km (101 mi) | Hallingskarvet & the Philosopher's Hut | Either side | That long, flat-topped wall of rock dominating the skyline is Hallingskarvet, a great mountain standing above the line like a stranded ship. |
| 180 km (112 mi) | The Wild Reindeer of the Vidda | Either side | For ten thousand years, people have climbed onto this plateau for one reason: the reindeer. |
| 196 km (122 mi) | The Hardangervidda: The Empty Roof | Either side | Look how far you can see. |
| 196 km (122 mi) | 🚉 Ustaoset | — | Station stop |
| 208 km (129 mi) | Geilo: Crossing the Tree Line | Either side | Notice the forest thinning around us — the tall trees getting shorter, scrubbier, then giving up altogether. |
| 208 km (129 mi) | 🚉 Geilo | — | Station stop |
| 212 km (132 mi) | Geilo: The Train that Taught a Nation to Ski | Either side | Above the approaching town of Geilo, the bare slopes are stitched with ski lifts and pistes — one of Norway's great winter resorts, and it o |
| 232 km (144 mi) | Ål & the Upper Hallingdal | Either side | The valley has narrowed and steepened, the farms have climbed higher up the slopes, and the air has turned thinner and cooler. |
| 232 km (144 mi) | 🚉 Ål | — | Station stop |
| 244 km (152 mi) | The Halling: Norway's Wildest Dance | Either side | This long green valley, the Hallingdal, gave its name to one of the most spectacular folk dances in Europe: the halling. |
| 258 km (160 mi) | The Hallingdal: Up the Long Valley | Either side | After Hønefoss, watch the land change — the first real mountains rise on the horizon, and the train turns up a long, deepening valley. |
| 258 km (160 mi) | 🚉 Gol | — | Station stop |
| 262 km (163 mi) | Gol: The Church That Moved to the City | Either side | The valley town of Gol guards a small mystery: its greatest treasure isn't here anymore. |
| 275 km (171 mi) | Nesbyen: The Hottest Cold Place | Either side | The pleasant valley town we're passing, Nesbyen, holds a record that seems impossible for a place on the road to the frozen roof of Norway: |
| 275 km (171 mi) | 🚉 Nesbyen | — | Station stop |
| 291 km (181 mi) | The Hallingdal Stave Churches | Either side | As we climb the long Hallingdal valley, watch the villages for an extraordinary survivor: the stave church. |
| 308 km (191 mi) | 🚉 Flå | — | Station stop |
| 318 km (198 mi) | The Lower Hallingdal | Either side | We're working up the lower Hallingdal now, one of Norway's warmest, most sheltered inland valleys — so mild in summer that nearby villages h |
| 370 km (230 mi) | Hønefoss: The Waterfall Town | Either side | The town of Hønefoss takes its name, and its life, from the waterfall at its heart — a broad cascade on the river Begna that once drove sawm |
| 370 km (230 mi) | 🚉 Hønefoss | — | Station stop |
| 387 km (241 mi) | The Tyrifjord & Ringerike | Either side | The broad, island-studded water opening beside us is the Tyrifjord — despite the name, a freshwater lake, and one of Norway's largest. |
| 441 km (274 mi) | Drammen: The River Port | Either side | The handsome city on the river here is Drammen, set where the Drammenselva pours into a long fjord arm. |
| 447 km (278 mi) | The Lier Valley: Norway's Orchard | Either side | The hillsides sloping toward the fjord here are striped with something you might not expect this far north — row after row of fruit trees, a |
| 468 km (291 mi) | Leaving Oslo, Along the Salmon River | Either side | As the train pulls out of Oslo and the city thins into forest, watch the river running alongside us. |
| 468 km (291 mi) | 🚉 Sandvika | — | Station stop |
| 480 km (298 mi) | Oslo: The Capital on the Fjord | Either side | We set out from Oslo, a capital with a thousand years behind it. |
| 482 km (300 mi) | 🚉 Oslo S | — | Station stop |
Hear it as you pass
Every sight above has a fully narrated, source-checked story in the Rail Journeys app, triggered by GPS at the right moment — and it works with no signal. Get the Bergen Line guide