Two Norwegian fjord itineraries to choose from

Hello again. For more than 2 months now, I've been trying to save up for a Norwegian fjords cruise that will take place at the end of May 2018, departing from Southampton in the UK. In fact, I've actually been learning Norwegian, starting off with Bokmål on Duolingo, for a month so far.

However, my college schedule is a concern I have. I was done with finals and out for the semester before May 15 this year, but who knows how many snow days and stuff can happen, or what I can do with whatever classes I take in the spring? I live in Pennsylvania - a little north of Philly, but close to New Jersey.

An alternative would be to go on a mostly similar itinerary that takes place from July 28 to August 5, 2018. On the other hand, my birthday falls on August 10, so I can't really say that would be an early gift. That just isn't fun. It's also a bit more expensive.

Both itineraries go to Geiranger, Ålesund and Stavanger. The difference is while the former (May) goes to Molde and Flåm, the latter (July 2018) goes to Bergen and Skjolden.

Molde - don't know much about (the sailing that goes here stops from 2pm-9pm that day)

Geiranger - considered among the most beautiful fjords in Norway

Ålesund - port town with Art Nouveau architecture. Some of the popular sights are the Aksla viewpoint, and Trollstigen depending on when that's open (I know it's not open year-round)

Flåm and Skjolden are both villages inside Sognefjorden, Norway's longest fjord.

Stavanger - I'd think of things like the Old Town, and a ferry around Pulpit Rock.

Bergen - The sailing that goes here only stops from noon to 7pm that day, but it's the second-largest city in Norway, and I bet someone who probably really recommends it is gonna tell me, "Go on that sailing! Go on that sailing!" or something

Weather-wise, my biggest impression is that both Norway and the UK in these months are us during the unpredictable spring months, fighting between somewhat chilly and quite warm.

In terms of airlines, that's hard to choose from. We normally don't fly out of Philly unless anyone wants to save money, and when we do, American Airlines sucks most of the time. Delays are likely, especially if that's brought on by weather conditions they wind up in, and I feel they're quite stuck in the 80s and 90s.

I know Philly does British Airways, but we mostly fly out of Newark. Of course, there's British Airways, United, even Virgin Atlantic.

Before anyone else tells me, yes, I know about Norwegian Air Shuttle. While they seem incredible for a low-cost airline, I hear delays can be a bit of a problem. They just started serving flights out of Newark, but so far, that's to Barcelona. In turn, that would mean having to connect there on the way to the UK, and connecting flights can be a pain depending on whether the layover is long enough.

Though this is a long-term goal, I'm open to recommendations and tips. Thank you and have a great day!

One other factor that you might like to consider is the daylight. On a cruise that leaves in late May, you'll only be 3 weeks short of mid summer and it will be daylight until very late indeed. On a late July/early August sailing it will still be a lot lighter than you're accustomed to but there won't be the same novelty factor.

I've been to some of the ports on both your itineraries and I don't think you'll be disappointed whichever you choose. I loved Alesund by the way.

we did a Norway cruise end of May a couple of years ago

there was still a lot of snow around-in fact our Geiranger coach tour wasn't able to do the original route as the road was closed by snow!

July will be a better bet

One other factor that you might like to consider is the daylight. On a cruise that leaves in late May, you'll only be 3 weeks short of mid summer and it will be daylight until very late indeed. On a late July/early August sailing it will still be a lot lighter than you're accustomed to but there won't be the same novelty factor.

 

I've been to some of the ports on both your itineraries and I don't think you'll be disappointed whichever you choose. I loved Alesund by the way.

Yup. For all I know, the sun doesn't set up there.

Flam is really nice, but we were in Geiranger on May 23rd this year and couldn't get where we wanted to go because the roads were closed (the snow had been cleared, but they need to also wait until they have a big avalanche to ensure that you will be safe).

The Flam train is pretty cool! I'd vote Flam!

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Flam is really nice, but we were in Geiranger on May 23rd this year and couldn't get where we wanted to go because the roads were closed (the snow had been cleared, but they need to also wait until they have a big avalanche to ensure that you will be safe).

Where were you trying to go?

We were trying to go here: http://www.dalsnibba.no/en/

The road to access it is route 63, which opens in late may or early june after all the snow is cleared and there is a big avalanche.

This year there was a ton of snow, and you can see how challenging it was to clear it all:

So we missed it on May 23rd this year. It opened 3 days later, on our last port day of the cruise which was in Bergen.

However, Flam is lovely and we took the amazing flam railway and got to go to a charming goat farm and try local cheeses.

We were trying to go here: http://www.dalsnibba.no/en/

 

The road to access it is route 63, which opens in late may or early june after all the snow is cleared and there is a big avalanche.

 

This year there was a ton of snow, and you can see how challenging it was to clear it all:

.

 

So we missed it on May 23rd this year. It opened 3 days later, on our last port day of the cruise which was in Bergen.

 

However, Flam is lovely and we took the amazing flam railway and got to go to a charming goat farm and try local cheeses.

I hear that Norway has this brown cheese (brunost in Norwegian), but I don't know where that's from or where they have it.

I hear that Norway has this brown cheese (brunost in Norwegian), but I don't know where that's from or where they have it.

We tried it in Flam! This tour was wonderful: http://www.fjordsafari.com/half-day-excursions-summer/#ba . We only visited the town and the goat farm because we had a 6 year old and 2 year old, and had tickets on the flam railway in the middle of the day so we had a limited amount of time for Undredal. This tour is normally only offered in the summer, since the goat farms move to different locations in the summer, but they were able to arrange it as a private excursion for our family in May. The food (including the brown cheese) was wonderful and it was lovely exploring the beautiful village.