2 Best Sights in The Western Fjords, Norway

Although this trip covers only 20 km (12 miles), the one-way journey takes nearly an hour to travel through 20 tunnels and 2,850 feet up the steep mountain gorge. The masterpiece of Norwegian engineering took 20 years to complete, and today it's one of Norway's prime tourist attractions, drawing more than 1 million travelers each year. The train runs year-round, with 8- to 10 round-trips from mid-April through mid-October and four round-trips the rest of the year. Most tourists take the train round-trip, returning on the same train a few minutes after arriving in Myrdal.

If you have a little extra time in Flåm, make sure you visit the Flåm Railway Museum. Building the railway was a remarkable feat of engineering, and this museum details the challenges the builders faced. You'll find it in the old station building, 300 feet from the one now in use.