Skip to content
NOEN
Seen from behind: a cyclist in a helmet leans over the handlebars of the rail bike at full speed. A railing and a green slope down to the water on the left, a steep rock face on the right.

Flekkefjord · Sira

The Flekkefjord Line– an adventure by rail bike

Full speed along the rock ledge, with the lake far below.Photo: Åse Hestnes, Magma Geopark

A trip you will never forget!

The Flekkefjord Line by rail bike runs through beautiful scenery, along fjords, through deep valleys, over mountains and through no fewer than 17 tunnels! You ride your own rail bike the 17 kilometres between the small town of Flekkefjord and Sira.

The Flekkefjord Line is one of Norway’s best-preserved heritage railways, and you cycle on the original rails.

The route

17kilometres

17tunnels

  1. Flekkefjord

    Departure from the small town.

  2. Trolldalstunnelen

    The first tunnel. This is where the atmosphere takes hold.

  3. Loga

    The houses and the old E18 disappear.

  4. Lundevannet

    Narrow rock ledges along the lake.

  5. Sira

    End of the line, 17 kilometres later.

Two girls in high-visibility vests pedal a red rail bike towards a tunnel mouth in the mountain. To the right, the fjord and the village lie in sunshine.
Straight into the next tunnel.Photo: Sandra Surdal, Smaabyen Flekkefjord
Three people in high-visibility vests on a rail bike high up on the line. Below them a glittering lake, white houses and a steep mountainside.
The village lies far below.Photo: Sandra Surdal, Smaabyen Flekkefjord

«The Flekkefjord Line, originally the stretch from Egersund to Flekkefjord, was built as a narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 1,067 mm. The tunnels, cuttings and all other infrastructure on the stretch from Sirnes down to Flekkefjord are unchanged, apart from the gauge. The line winds through spectacular scenery, along narrow rock ledges by Lundevannet and beneath Lafjell, resting on stone blocks cut by hand from the local rock. The line is rightly described as ‹a masterpiece in stone›.»

John Hansen
General manager, Flekkefjordbanen
Two yellow rail bikes on the track along a tall, vertical rock face. On the left the ground drops steeply to a still lake.
Rail bikes on the rock ledge.Photo: Magma Geopark
An adult pedals a red rail bike with three helmeted children on board. Behind them a white water tower with green trim and a tunnel mouth in the forest.
A family outing by the water tower.Photo: Hanne Feyling, Visit Sørlandet

Rail bikes are tandem bikes: two people pedal, and one adult or two children can ride along.

Inside a tunnel with a stone-vaulted ceiling. Two people on a rail bike in silhouette against the opening, where green forest glows in daylight.
Out of the tunnel.Photo: Magma Geopark

It is a good idea to bring a jacket for the ride through the cool tunnels.

John Hansen smiling in a workshop with lathes. He has glasses pushed up on his head, a high-visibility jacket and a T-shirt with the Flekkefjordbanen logo.
John Hansen in the workshop.Photo: private

«The moment you leave Flekkefjord and enter Trolldalstunnelen, the atmosphere takes hold, along with the feeling of being ‹in charge of your own train›. Already at Loga you lose touch with the houses and the old E18, and become completely absorbed in the line, its alignment, the beautiful scenery and the unique craftsmanship that went into all the stonework along the line.»

John Hansen
General manager, Flekkefjordbanen
A white water tower with a pointed roof beside rusty rails, photographed from below against a blue sky and bright sun.
The water tower by the track.Photo: Johnny Svindland

Want to read more or book a trip?

Flekkefjordbanen

Opens on flekkefjordbanen.com

Sources