Walking around Geiranger

We visited Geiranger before on a cruise and did the bus trip up to the viewing points which were lovely. This time we wondered about just getting off the ship/tender and wandering around the town. I wondered if anyone who had been there could advise if it's a good area to wander around in. We're interested in local shops (not tourist traps), a nice restaurant for lunch and just soaking up the local atmosphere. Is this a good idea?

The village permananent population, I believe, is 300. There aren't any non-tourist-trap local shops. I don't know about places to eat, because by definition any eating place must be within 10 minutes or so of the ship, and I don't tend to pay Norwegian prices for food when I can get it for free! Sorry.

Even so, wandering round the town is perfectly do-able. We do it every time. You could stroll past the tourist-trap shops, walk up to the octagonal church, follow the road round to the right to the newish fjord centre and museum, walk down (or up, if you prefer) the 300-step path beside the river and waterfall, go further inland on roads or paths. But it's a rural area, not an urban one, and you'll probably find the majority of the people you see have a main occupation of servicing the cruise ship passengers.

At the end of our tour, we decided to stop for lunch in Geiranger. We were a little scared to stop at Braserie Posten, since it is in a tourist trap location right near thecruise ship terminal, but the yelp reviews were positive and the food was excellent. There is seating with a beautiful view of the harbor in the back of the restaurant. We went through two bowls of fish soup, since my two and six year old kids were so happy eating all of it. It is a very short walk from this restaurantto the dock, so this is a nice way to conclude your day in Geiranger.

You've been there before, so you know if you'd like to repeat the sights or just enjoy wandering around. One thing I'd note is that the Geiranger Skywalk opened fairly recently, so that might be something new for a repeat visitor. But I'm not sure how enjoyable that would be on a really foggy day so you might want to wait until the day you arrive to decide.

Someone else started a thread on visiting the Briksdal Glacier from Geiranger, which I'm not 100% sure about, since it is a lot of travel and the glacier has receded a lot and the drive and hike to the glacier are as nice as the actual glacier itself. But near the Briksdal Glacier is the Loen Skylift, which was a very impressive ride with a really nice restaurant and hiking trails at the top of the mountain. But again, on a foggy day this wouldn't be as impressive and I'm not sure if it's worth the travel from Geiranger (it's amazing from Olden which is only 5 minutes away) and you'd probably need to arrange the transportation in advance if you are traveling from Geiranger.

Sorry - I should have been clearer in my last post. I'm not sure it's worth traveling all the way to Olden, but maybe somewhere near Geiranger someone can suggest something for you to do. Our favorite excursion was a visit to a goat farm in Flam, where you get to visit the goats and then sample local cheeses and meat. It was really lovely, and there might be something like that available closer to Geiranger that someone more familiar with Norway can help you find, since you can do an excursion like that in the afternoon and wander around Geiranger in the morning.

Here is a short video from my visit to Geiranger.

We vent to two of Geiranger's famous viewpoints (Flydalsjuvet and Ørnesvingen - *Eagle bend*) on a short round trip by bus. Many departures from the town center to Flydalsjuvet and Ørnesvingen. Tickets at the Tourist information office on the pier or online.

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Lots of tours offered by the tourist office in Geiranger. Including hiking with a guide. Check: http://www.geirangerfjord.no/english

Very nice. Thanks.