Weekender CROSSING NORWAY BY EURAIL PASS
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from August 1984.
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That great invention entitles its holder to unlimited rail travel anywhere in western Europe for a definite period of time. It comes in various time segements, offering unlimited mileage within periods of 15, 21, 30 or 60 and 90 days. There are two types available, a youth pass for those under 26 years of age and the adult pass.
The adult pass offers first class train accommodations, the youth pass second class, and of course the youth pass is therefore about one-third less costly. Both passes offers not only rail travel, but are good for other journeys as well. They cover steamships on the Danube between Vienna and Passau, the best part of the Rhine river past fairytail castles from Frankfort to Dusseldrof, and all the way past vine clad hillsides and medival timbered houses in villages where the world's finest white wines are made. The passes also entitles one to free passage across the lakes of Switzerland, several scenic bus journeys across France and Germany, and even ferry trips from Denmark to Sweden, Italy to Greece, and France to the Irish republic.
Both passes must be purchased beforehand in either the U.S. or Canada, and since rail fares are costly in Europe, it doesn't take very much travel to come out ahead in their purchase. The adult pass costs $260/15 days, $330/21 days, $410/one month, $560/two months, and $650/three months.
We purchased two one-month passes, and although we shall be not using them for a full twelve days while travelling aboard the Norweigian coastal steamer, the distance to Norway is so great from Hamburg that we still come out ahead on our investment.
But money isn't the only saving. The pass saves time. The queues to purchase tickets in the huge busy rail stations of Europe are long and slow moving. With the pass, you merely hop aboard the first class coach, and that's it. Flash the pass to the conductor when he goes by, and you're in.
The rail system in Europe is fantastic. To be sure of a seat on the train of your choice, it is smart to make reservations in advance.
And in Europe it is easy. Each large station has a reservation section equipped with computers and teletype connections to the entire system.
Give the clerk your itinerary and in two minutes you have been handed reservation receipts for weeks ahead in a dozen different countries. The charge is minimal.
Each rail station also offers a room placement section. Arrive in a strange city with no place to sleep and the room section will find a lodging for you to fit your need. Better yet, just pop into a reputable travel agency and ask them to reserve hotel rooms for you in the cities of your choice.
Often that service is free, the agency being paid a commission by the hotel in which they book you.
In beginning our overland journey, we carefully packed our essentials into the smaller of two suitcases, put the unessentials in the larger, and checked it in the hotel in Hamburg, agreeing to pick it up a month later.
Then, cashing our pass, off we sped on the fine electrified rail system of Western Europe.
It was five hours to Copenhagen, ten hours from there to Oslo by train and ferry via Goteborg, Sweden, and from Oslo to Bergen seven hours.
The line from Oslo to Bergen is one of the finest rail journeys in Europe.
The track twists thru gorges between tall mountains of rock heavily forested with birch, aspen, fir pine and spruce.
Grassy areas are bright with purple and yellow flowers and the outcropping of red granite. Beside the track the river foams and leaps thru treacherous rapids, while high over head thread-like white water falls tumble from the dizzying cliff tops into the gorge below.
As the trail moves into the highlands it doubles back on itself until it reaches the tree line of barren lichen covered rock, too high in this northern latitude to grow even stunted birch trees.
Two-thirds of the way to Bergen from Oslo passengers can leave the train in the village of Myrdal to catch a tiny train that descends thru a deep cleft in the mountains to the fjord far below and the little port of Flam.
This side trip is one of the most exciting in Europe.
Mountain goats can sometimes be seen beside the tracks, and the grade is the steepest in Norway.
It is so steep, it takes the train longer to go down than to come up, and it is protected by five separate breaking systems, only one of which is needed to stop the train.
The mountain side is so steep the track must go thru reverse tunnels, and at one time there are three different levels of track to be seen as the train bravely zig zags back and forth in its run to the sea level fjord.
There are twenty tunnels to go thru, and the train stops at exciting visits for the camera enthusiast
