Bergen Line and Finse

The Oslo Bergen Railway (Opened 1909), About 7 Hours Over The Hardangervidda Plateau; Finse, With No Road, Is Its Highest Station · Finse, Vestland

The Bergen Line is the railway between Oslo and Bergen, opened in 1909 after years of building across the Hardangervidda plateau, and it is often called one of the most scenic train journeys in Europe. In roughly seven hours it climbs from the Oslofjord through forests and the Hallingdal valley, crosses bare mountain above the tree line and then drops through tunnels and gorges towards the fjords and Bergen. Its high point is around Finse, a station at about 1,222 m with no road, a historic hotel, a mountain hut, a glacier on the horizon and some of Norway's harshest weather; the ice planet Hoth scenes of The Empire Strikes Back were filmed here in 1979. People ride it for the views, stop at Finse to hike, cycle the Rallarvegen or ski, and change at Myrdal for the Flam Railway. The honest caveat: this is a regular train, not a tourist attraction, with long stretches of forest and tunnels, and winter storms can delay or stop trains for hours.

Finse station, the highest point of the Bergen Line (about 1,222 m), on the Hardangervidda edge, Ulvik municipality, Finse, Vestland, Norway

The line runs all year, with several daytime trains and a night train between Oslo and Bergen each day, operated by Vy - check current times on Vy or Entur, as engineering works sometimes replace trains with buses. Finse can only be reached by train (or on foot, ski or bike), and trains stop there several times a day. Finse 1222 and the mountain hut are open mainly in the winter-spring and summer seasons - confirm. Book ahead for the cheapest fares, a seat and bike places, especially in summer and at Easter.

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