The wonderful rail journey across the mountains from Oslo in the east to Bergen in the west.

Not until the first decade of the 20th century when Bergen and Oslo became linked by rail, could the two cities be reached from each other except by making an arduous trek over the Hardangervidda, Europe’s largest mountain plateau.  This one-hundred square kilometre stretch of land became one of the main crossing points for traders, herders and dignitaries who followed the many trails alongside rivers and lakes overlooked by mountains and, at the highest point near Finse, the Hardangerjøkulen glacier.  These trails are now popular with serious hikers and cross-country skiers who revel in the magnificent scenery and solitude they find here.

The Bergen Line rail link, known as the journey ‘Across the Roof of Norway’, was officially opened by King Håkon in 1909 when he enthusiastically called the line ‘our generation’s masterpiece’.  Certainly planning a railway across the Hardangervidda mountain range was no small task. At one point, Taugevatn, the line is 1,301 metres above sea level, making it the highest and most challenging line in northern Europe. Time and again, the railway workers faced the power of nature and at one time, in order to keep the train running, the line had 27 kilometres of snow sheds to protect it from snowdrifts, 60 kilometres of snow screens and 184 tunnels in addition to 55 stations.

Today the trains operating the journey are among NSB’s (Norwegian State Railways’) most modern.  Tourists, commuters and modern day traders can now relax in comfortable carriages, admire spectacular views, and visit, within a relatively short space of time, two of Norway’s most fascinating and contrasting cities.