Svolvaer (Lofoten) Question

[roothy123]

I'm starting to plan what to do on our Midnight Sun cruise. I was hoping Peregrina or someone else could give me an idea of where the tenders dropped passengers this summer on the Midnight Sun cruises. If you can give me a hint (east side of town, by ferry, or whatever) I'd appreciate it. It will help me see if there's a car rental place nearby.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I was there on Azamara this August, but it should be similar for Viking because it's a very small port. Hertz was right near the tender stop; I think some other brand was not as conveniently located, but I don't remember who they were. [The procedure was very laid-back for Hertz: the fellow pointed out a few dents and said “there’s only two of us here, and we know all the cars.”] It took two hours to drive all the way down to A, and we enjoyed the scenery very much although it is what I call terrible beauty. We detoured to visit the small village of Nusfjord on the way back, and therefore didn't have time to visit the Viking Museum -- others on our cruise said it wasn't really that great, so you might want to stop on the way down for a quick look and then have a better idea of your time the rest of the day. There's also a Thon hotel right there, with free wifi in the lobby. [More details in my blog -- "Azamara Quest Norwegian Fjords 8-2016" in my signature]

Edited November 23, 2016 by Host Jazzbeau

[Peregrina651]

I'm starting to plan what to do on our Midnight Sun cruise. I was hoping Peregrina or someone else could give me an idea of where the tenders dropped passengers this summer on the Midnight Sun cruises. If you can give me a hint (east side of town, by ferry, or whatever) I'd appreciate it. It will help me see if there's a car rental place nearby.

 

Good question, Roothy, but 2017 will be Viking's first call at this port. Have you checked the Ports of Call forum or tried e-mailing Viking to ask?

[roothy123]

Thank you, Jazz and Peregrina.

 

Jazz: Your info is very helpful. I checked a little bit into car rental last night and found cars ranging from the NOK equivalent of $112 to $240 for a compact-sized car with unlimited mileage and manual transmission. For the $112 car, though, only part of their website (Rentacar Lofoten) was in English, so I need to do more digging to see if that rate is a "pay now" rate which can't be canceled or something else. I do know that the cars are older, but that doesn't bother me.

 

Peregrina: Sorry, I thought you went to Svolvaer, but I guess I'm thinking of a poster on the Port of Call section from Ohio who posted lots of pictures and info from his Norway cruise. I did post in the Ports section a day or two ago with no response (yet, anyway) but I can probably figure out what I need to figure out, with Jazz's help and more research.

 

Oh, Jazz, couple questions based on your wonderful blog: In Geiranger, about how long of a walk/hike was it back from the Fjordcenter down to the quay? When I was there before, I walked up to the church and back (easy walk) but this time I may go farther.

 

Also, I was reading something last night about how to get to the Fantoft stave church outside Bergen. It mentions buses and light rail, which I assume is the tram. Based on what they have on the http://www.bergen-guide.com/47.htm site, I'm trying to figure out which option and stop are best. Could you give me a guess as to how long it took to climb up to the church from where you got off, and did you get off at Fantoft stop or somewhere else?

 

Thanks.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thank you, Jazz and Peregrina.

 

Oh, Jazz, couple questions based on your wonderful blog: In Geiranger, about how long of a walk/hike was it back from the Fjordcenter down to the quay? When I was there before, I walked up to the church and back (easy walk) but this time I may go farther.

 

Also, I was reading something last night about how to get to the Fantoft stave church outside Bergen. It mentions buses and light rail, which I assume is the tram. Based on what they have on the http://www.bergen-guide.com/47.htm site, I'm trying to figure out which option and stop are best. Could you give me a guess as to how long it took to climb up to the church from where you got off, and did you get off at Fantoft stop or somewhere else?

 

Thanks.

 

The walk from the FjordCenter is about 15-20 minutes -- all downhill, all paved, but many steps. It could take longer if you stop for pictures [very scenic].

 

Fantoft -- we took the light rail to the second stop because somebody had advised that -- but there were no directions how to get to the church from there and even with help we almost got lost -- going back, we walked the "regular" way to the first stop and it was easier - the only tricky part with that was when you exit the park and go down the hill there is a garden center where you need to turn right to get to the station. Also be sure to have NOK at the church as they don't take plastic and only took Euros under duress (and didn't have change).

Edited November 24, 2016 by Host Jazzbeau

[Fpacifico]

We saw a copy of the Fantoft stave church in rapid city , South Dakota. Can't wait to see the original

[Peregrina651]

We saw a copy of the Fantoft stave church in rapid city , South Dakota. Can't wait to see the original

 

:-( There was a fire in the original and I can't remember if it entirely burned down or what but what we see today is mostly a rebuild of the original church. The church website has more info.

[Fpacifico]

:-( There was a fire in the original and I can't remember if it entirely burned down or what but what we see today is mostly a rebuild of the original church. The church website has more info.

 

Thanks