Recall: What we did (to try to take it a bit easier than a rapid sprint across the country):
- Day 1: Oslo (walked around in the sun, had tasty falafel, bought supplies for the trip) (sleep)
- Day 2: Train Oslo to Geilo, which is a ski resort that also supports hiking in the summer. 4ish hrs from Oslo by a really pretty train ride.
- Day 3: Train, Train, Ferry. This is the core of the trip.
- Train Geilo to Myrdal.
- Flåmsbana from Myrdal to Flåm.
- Fjord Cruise-Ferry from Flåm to Gudvangen (sleep)
- Day 4: Gudvangen Viking Village, then bus to Voss. Voss cable car up the rainy mountain.
- Day 5: Train Voss to Bergen. Bergen, the rainiest city in Europe.
Day 3: all the trains and a ferry.
Geilo to Myrdal and Myrdal to Flåm by train. 
A nice report on this stretch from a "Train blogger". Including a sunset picture that makes Finse look warm and idealized instead of like somewhere you might find polar bears.
The original plan was to take things slowly and hike and cycle down the hill from Myrdal to Flåm. Unfortunately, it was raining the whole trip. I did write to the booking agency (more than half these things had to be booked over "Norway's best", which has kind of annoying cancellation policies) and ask about rain plus cycling, would that be safe. I got a very Norwegian answer: ( For those not in the know, Germany and the Nordics all claim ownership of the belief that there is no bad weather, just inadequate clothing)
"It is still safe to do with rain, though can be little uncomfortable if you do not have water proof clothing.If the weather forecast shows possibility of rain, we recommend bringing sunglasses so the rain would not hit your eyes. And thin gloves are recommended as well."
First leg: Train Geilo to Myrdal. About 1.5 hrs, delayed about 15 -30 minutes.
Honestly, this trip was wild. Anyone who skips it to just do the Flåmsbana is missing out. The scenery was surreal, like a moonscape. We went from a hot summer day in Oslo to an area so cold the water was partially frozen and snow on the ground (the stop was 'Finse'). They train had a few stops where it would pause a bit longer, which seem like a great way to lose some tourists. The train itself felt like an "S-Bahn" in Germany. Very minimal toilets and modest seating, like something you ride 30-60 minutes, not a half day.
A group of what I think were Ukrainian teenagers got on the train with us at Geilo and got off at Finse, which I thought was an interesting choice. Plus one Asian couple with a giant suitcase that seemed really out of place.
Second leg: Flåmsbana from Myrdal to Flåm.
While planning this trip, I was thinking that in an ideal world, you could stop at Myrdal but literally no one lives there. It is a train station, nothing else. Flåm would also be a good place to stop to deal with the overload of amazingly beautiful scenery, but we planned a bit too late and only 400USD hotels were available, so we just chose to keep going by Ferry and sleep in Gudvangen (which let us beat the crowds to the Viking Village, so there is that).
Getting on the train in Myrdal, I was very glad we had just sucked up losing our money on the bikes and bought the train stretch. It is a very touristy train -- sit on the lefthand side if you can, coming from Myrdal, for the best views. There are some informational things put up on the screen at the front of each wagon. The windows can be opened so you do not have as much glare (but then you have rain...). We sat across from two other Americans who amusingly also studied in Illinois.
There was a stop at a nice waterfall where a woman who is more tough than i am pretended to be a fae creature and danced to rather cheesy music (more here). I would have preferred silence, but there is clearly a whole souvenir section dedicated to these local underground-dwelling night-active cow-tailed fae folk, so maybe it pays off. Link to my short 9 second video.
Brief stop in Flåm. Lunch, hike, Bergenbahn museum, until the evening Ferry.
Due to taking the train instead of hiking and cycling, we had a lot more time free and went for a nice little hike in Flåm. It was great to stretch our legs after all the train-riding.
This is the route we took to Brekkefossen waterfall and back, although we did not swing through old Flåm. Unfortunately, there is VERY VERY VERY little left luggage space in Flåm, and what there was cost 20 USD and closed at 4pm. We did not think we would make it back soon enough (and we were right) so the hike was done with full luggage, making it a lot sportier than expected.
Flåm Railway Museum
Getting back from the hike, we checkout out the cute, tiny free museum on the construction of the Bergenbahn. Why Flåm, etc. I though the cool little rail "cars" and motorcycle and other conveyances for getting around before the trains rain were really cool.
Third Leg: Ferry/Cruise in the Naeroyfjord from Flåm to Gudvangen
This leg was super important to me, in planning this trip. To get out onto the fjords on an electric boat. There is just something about it.
The boat takes the U along the Fjords from Flåm to Gudvangen. The point where the 3 Fjords meet was especially beautiful. There is an audio guide you can download and listen along with live on your phone, about various towns, how people have lived there since the viking era, and how a rich guy decided to make a little museum in his wife's tiny village and brought them some tourism and as a result got a medal from the Norwegian king.
If you notice Undredal on the map, that is a stop of some of the boats (this boat did not stop) and the source of some delicious and odd award-winning brown cheese i got later in Bergen. Brown cheese is a dessert cheese, i guess, because it is brown due to the sugars in the milk being forced to caramelize. Norwegians invented a special cheese scraper/knife/doodad for this cheese.
I was getting a little burnt out on beauty -- and getting wet while also being cold -- at this point, so chose the points I went out on deck strategically. Unfortunately, your view inside the ferry is limited and does not look forward.
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