Can help with Ålesund & Norwegian Fjords:-)

Lars

We were on the Celebrity Eclipse last week and were in Alesund on Tuesday (May 12). We visited the Giske Church and Alnes Lighthouse, followed by a lovely walk through Alesund afterward. Other than a brief shower mid afternoon, we had beautiful weather - thanks for arranging for the sun to shine :)

 

We were also in Geiranger on May 13. We did take the Sky to Fjord bike trip, although it was on Eagle Bend road rather than the road to Mt. Dalsnibba, which as you advised was still closed due to snow.

 

Thank you so much for all you do on the forum. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Norway.

 

Anne

Anne - I am so happy you had such a wonderful time in Ålesund and Geiranger.

I try to do my best in regards to the weather:D It safe to say that the for the rest of this months I failed miserably.:D

Thank you for you kind words. I really appreciate them.

Thank you for this thread Lars.

 

I have read the whole thing, and I think I have my plan for all of our ports next month. I wanted to rent a car in Alesund, but since we are there on a Sunday, and the rental by the pier is closed(and the one at the airport doesn't open until noon) I have booked the ships tour to the Troll Road and Wall.

 

Alesund LAND OF THE TROLLS Tour

Geiranger local bus to Dalsnibba Mountain, waterfall walk

Trondheim walk to Stiftsgarden, Nidarosdomen, Bakklandet, Solsiden

Leknes FULL DAY TOUR TO A

Tromso local buses to cable car, Tromso Museum, Polar museum, Ølhallen, Botanical Garden

Hammerfest FINNMARK PANORAMIC Tour

Honningsvag local bus to North Cape, Ice bar

Molde local bus to Atlantic road

Bergen Hop on bus to funicular, Bryggen, Hanseatic museum

I hope that this will give us a good overview of your country. I wanted some information on the Sami, so I've booked the tour in Hammerfest and planned to visit the Tromso Museum. The only thing that I really want to see, that I'm afraid that I won't, is wildlife. We do spend time out on deck looking for aquatic life, so hopefully will see some from the ship, but I would like to see wild Puffins too. I know that there are bird islands outside of Alesund and Honningsvag, but since we want to do the Troll Road and the North Cape, I don't see a way to add those in. Do you have any suggestions for me?

It looks to me you have arranged some really interesting tours for your cruise.

I am sure you will have a fantastic experience.

Since you have other tours booked in Ålesund I am afraid you will miss the departures with the RIB to the island of Runde.

I am not sure about Honningsvåg but would it be possible to add a Puffin tour before or after the North cape? My guess is not as they would depart on strict schedules.

Unfortunately this would be a matter of choosing. On the bright side you have a reason to come back:)

I am sorry I could not be of more help.

Does anyone know if we can get WIFI in the following ports off the ship either right near the ship if they have a terminal or in any local coffee shops:

Olden

Alesund

Geiranger

Bergen

Tromso

Hammerfest

Honningsvag

Thanks

Marion

Happy Memorial Day To All!

Lars

 

Thank you so much for all you do on the forum.

Anne

I second this. Our cruise is in 3 weeks now and your help has been invaluable in planning our ports. Thanks so much.

Ann

Does anyone know if we can get WIFI in the following ports off the ship either right near the ship if they have a terminal or in any local coffee shops:

 

Olden

Alesund

Geiranger

Bergen

Tromso

Hammerfest

Honningsvag

 

Thanks

Marion

 

Happy Memorial Day To All!

I know the coffee bar "Invit" in Ålesund has free wifi. Not sure about the to other ports. Free wifi is standard now so I never pay attention to who offers it or not.

I hope others will chime in...

I second this. Our cruise is in 3 weeks now and your help has been invaluable in planning our ports. Thanks so much.

 

Ann

Ann - thank you so much. Very sweet of you to say so.

I wish you the best of cruises and a fantastic experiance.

If you have time please come back and share the adventures with us :)

The road to Mt. Dalsnibba and the Djupvasshytta lodge has been closed because of avalanches.

No news as to when they will open the road again. Assessments are taken every morning.

I suspect the road will not be closed for long.

So far May has been a miserable weather month. It feels like autumn and not spring.

Fingers crossed for June:)

The road to Mt. Dalsnibba and the Djupvasshytta lodge has been closed because of avalanches.

No news as to when they will open the road again. Assessments are taken every morning.

I suspect the road will not be closed for long.

 

So far May has been a miserable weather month. It feels like autumn and not spring.

Fingers crossed for June:)

Please keep us posted. We've got an excursion to Mt. Dalsnibba on June 8th so my fingers are crossed for it to be open. I'm also hoping you guys get a heat wave that week of June7th-10th while we're there.

It's been autumn here in Colorado too. We had 8 inches of snow on Mother's Day and it's rained pretty much every day since. This is the first May in a hundred years where we haven't hit 80deg (though May's not over so that record may not hold!).

Thanks much for all your info. I've been following along!

I will indeed keep you posted:) he road to Mt. Dalsnibba and the Djupvasshytta lodge opened again this morning at 1030 am.

Lets hope this is the last closing and we can get on with the summer season.

Lars

we've just returned from Norway cruise and thanks for all your advice icruiser.

Our trip to Mount Dalsnibba was curtailed on 23rd May as road was closed by snow however the alternative to Eagle road and mountain lake at Eidsvatnet still gave us some fantastic scenery

we've just returned from Norway cruise and thanks for all your advice icruiser.

Our trip to Mount Dalsnibba was curtailed on 23rd May as road was closed by snow however the alternative to Eagle road and mountain lake at Eidsvatnet still gave us some fantastic scenery

We are leaving for our cruise in a few weeks, would love to hear about yours? Any words of wisdom?

Your insights and information have helped out tremendously. The only port we have left is Tromso. How easy is Tromso to navigate on your own? Do you have any must sees for Tromso?

Thanks

we've just returned from Norway cruise and thanks for all your advice icruiser.

Our trip to Mount Dalsnibba was curtailed on 23rd May as road was closed by snow however the alternative to Eagle road and mountain lake at Eidsvatnet still gave us some fantastic scenery

Thank you for your kind words. I am glad you had a fantastic cruise.

Eidsvantnet is one of my favourite places. We always stay in a log cabin there a few times a year.

Your insights and information have helped out tremendously. The only port we have left is Tromso. How easy is Tromso to navigate on your own? Do you have any must sees for Tromso?

 

Thanks

Its been a while since I´ve been to Tromsø but from what I remember its easy to navigate. Its not such a large city.

Must sees are The Arctic Cathedral. Skansen (the oldest house in Tomsø). The cable car to Mt. Storsteinen/Fløya for stunning views of Tromsø. The Arctic Botanical Garden (The worlds northernmost botanical garden). Polaria (an arctic experiance center).

I include a link to Tromsø:

http://www.visittromso.no/en/Attractions/

The Cable car:

http://www.fjellheisen.no/en/

Polaria:http://www.polaria.no/home.155300.en.html

***

Tromsø has become the "it" city to go to now. Not only in the summer but in the winter too as everyone wants to see the Aurora Boralis.

If you are feeling adventurious you might want to try Mack beer and boiled seagull eggs.

Have fun:)

Lars

Hello,

We arrive in Alesund next Sunday. I'm really hoping to make it to Godoy to hike the mountain. As you know, options for getting there on a Sunday is sadly limited:( I'm confident we'll find a taxi to get us there, but am more than a little nervous about getting a taxi to get us back:S Are taxis willing to return to our drop off point at a specified time ... say 3 hours later? Are they reliable? My concern is we might not have cell service on the island and if a taxi isn't there waiting to pick us up ...argh! Wanna give us a ride;) Kidding aside, how risky of a plan is this? I really want to hike on Godoy:( Thank you so much for any advice you can provide me!

We are leaving for our cruise in a few weeks, would love to hear about yours? Any words of wisdom?

if you head over to the Norwegian cruise lines main board I've started a day by day review titled Pining for the fiords with walking difficulties

if you head over to the Norwegian cruise lines main board I've started a day by day review titled Pining for the fiords with walking difficulties

Thanks..will do just that.

Hello,

 

We arrive in Alesund next Sunday. I'm really hoping to make it to Godoy to hike the mountain. As you know, options for getting there on a Sunday is sadly limited:( I'm confident we'll find a taxi to get us there, but am more than a little nervous about getting a taxi to get us back:S Are taxis willing to return to our drop off point at a specified time ... say 3 hours later? Are they reliable? My concern is we might not have cell service on the island and if a taxi isn't there waiting to pick us up ...argh! Wanna give us a ride;) Kidding aside, how risky of a plan is this? I really want to hike on Godoy:( Thank you so much for any advice you can provide me!

To get a taxi will not be a problem. It would not be a problem to get the same taxi to pick you up again when you are ready to return.

Enclosed links to a few taxi companies:

You might want to pre-book the taxi by using the online booking system in the link.

You might want to send them an email booking.

For sure you should save the link and the telephone number to the taxi company;)..Take the number to the switchboard (70 10 30 00) the number to the local taxi (Valderøy-Giske-Godøy

982 83 111)

Remember 00 47 before dialling the numbers

http://www.alesund-taxi.no/default.aspx?lang=en-GB

or this company:

http://www.ringtaxi.no/kontakt.html

Have fun:)

The last stretch of road up to the plateau at Mt. Dalsnibba are in the process of being cleared and all the facilities at the mountain will open Monday June 1.

***

Its been lots of snow this year with snow banks up to 6 meter high!!!

Hello I-Cruiser and everyone else on this board -

We are sailing to the Fjords this summer (for the second time!) and are looking forward to plenty of hiking and nature. We would like to hike to Preikestolen / Pulpit Rock while in Stavanger, but are concerned that we might not have enough time.

We will be in port on July 1, from 9 AM to 5 PM. If we can make it on the 9:20 ferry departure with Tide Reiser, that puts us at the start of the Pulpit Rock hike at 10:25. We would need to make it up and back in 4 hours, and then would need to catch the 2:45 PM bus, putting us back in Stavanger at 4:10 PM, which is cutting it very close.

I am worried that we may be at risk of missing the boat...so my questions:

Are there guided options or other transport to/from Stavanger that would provide greater assurance that we would make it back in time from the hike?

Or are there other hiking excursions that we should consider in the region?

Any thoughts / advice on getting out into nature but not risking being left behind are most welcome!

Thank you very kindly for your quick reply!!

A couple questions about Geiranger.

Is there only one bus service that runs to Dalsnibba? Unfortunately, the website for Geiranger Fjord Service is showing my date as sold out. I didn't know if there were any alternatives.

Has anyone seen or had any experience with the little green electric cars for rent in Geiranger?

A couple questions about Geiranger.

 

Is there only one bus service that runs to Dalsnibba? Unfortunately, the website for Geiranger Fjord Service is showing my date as sold out. I didn't know if there were any alternatives.

 

Has anyone seen or had any experience with the little green electric cars for rent in Geiranger?

Unfortunately there is only this one bus going to Mt. Dalsnibba.

The electric cars or emobility cars are a brand new offering for this summer. Actually, they arrived in Geiranger May 10.

You have to drive the car yourself.

There are guided routes installed in the cars and you get by with the help of GPS audio guides.

One type of cars also offers VIP guide. Which means you get a private guide....

The cars comes as a 2 seater and a 3 seater.

Their website is under construction and so far only contains pictures and some text in Norwegian.

All press and test drives gives the offering rave reviews.

I cant wait to test this myself.

Hello I-Cruiser and everyone else on this board -

 

We are sailing to the Fjords this summer (for the second time!) and are looking forward to plenty of hiking and nature. We would like to hike to Preikestolen / Pulpit Rock while in Stavanger, but are concerned that we might not have enough time.

 

We will be in port on July 1, from 9 AM to 5 PM. If we can make it on the 9:20 ferry departure with Tide Reiser, that puts us at the start of the Pulpit Rock hike at 10:25. We would need to make it up and back in 4 hours, and then would need to catch the 2:45 PM bus, putting us back in Stavanger at 4:10 PM, which is cutting it very close.

 

I am worried that we may be at risk of missing the boat...so my questions:

 

Are there guided options or other transport to/from Stavanger that would provide greater assurance that we would make it back in time from the hike?

 

Or are there other hiking excursions that we should consider in the region?

 

Any thoughts / advice on getting out into nature but not risking being left behind are most welcome!

There are a few other options for hiking but unfortunately they do tend to operate on the same schedule as you already found with Tide Reiser.

I have checked other hiking options but they all seem to be in the 6 hrs region.

There are "walks" which takes approx 2 hrs to a few lakes. These are ideel for families with children.

You will have to get there by public bus

I enclose a link. Its in Norwegian only with Google translation offered.

http://artikkel.ut.no/fine-dagsturer-i-stavanger-1.7183673

Our daughter and son-in-law are looking at Kayaking in Geiranger whilst there in June. They have asked me to see if anyone knows how to get from the docks, (we are using the Sea Walk).

I see on TripAdvisor that a place called Grande is mentioned but can't find how far it is to get there?

Needless to say they are not taking the ships version of this event.

Thanks in advance.