Time to say good bye to Bodø and take the second main part of the trip. The train ride from Bodø to Trondheim. Or to be more precise: Stjørdal. I have to take the plane tomorrow, so a ride all the way to Trondheim and back to the airport the other day would have been to much stress.
The Train ride was a birthday gift from my parents and was not that expensive. Ehen you book well in advance (I think 3 month is the maximum) you get the business class ticket (including warm drinks, lots of legroom) for about 45 Euro. Not bad at all.
The “Nordland Line” is 726 long and the longest main trainline in Norway. The train crosses a lot of different landscapes and the arctic circle – from coastal areas to mountains. You can find more information on Wikipedia: Nordlandsbanen. If you are looking for tickets, check the homepage of VY.
After checkout from my great hotel it was only a 5 minute walk to the train station. There are not many trains going to Bodø. Just the one I take and a night train – both to Trondheim. They have some local traffic on weekdays, but nothing major.
After the train is at the platform i had to go all to the front of the train. And it seems like most people like to travel comfy, since most go there. Thanks to COVID you get the seat beside you in addition. So you sit alone, which is great. What was not that great was the fact that I had to travel backwards. For 9,5 hours. What a treat.
The seat has an outlet for electricity and a foldable table and it didn’t take long for me to make it look like a high tech area. I wanted to film the whole ride with my DJI OSMO Action… And I did. 🙂
To make a long train-ride short – you can get to much landscape. It is impossible to look out the window for 9,5 hours. In the end you watch a movie or read or listen to an audiobook. But you cross some interesting areas. The arctic circle is just a spot with a small installation that you pass.
I got a small bottle of water and a piece of chocolate on the ride – and all the coffee and other warm drinks that would fit.
After the longest train-ride I arrived in Stjørdal and had to navigate to the hotel. Due to maintainance and upgrades the entrance was a little bit hidden. The Quality Airpot Hotel Værnes was very disappointing. Old hotel, not the most accommodating personnel – same chain like the super duper hotel in Bodø. So I was able to compare. Bad for them.
Got some food at the gas station (the only thong I found) and went to sleep. The beds were OK. Tomorrow I will start my trip back to Molde.