Norwegian Fjords

[wrldtrvllr]

2 hours ago, hallasm said:

As janetcbl writes - you have to go further north to see the Northern Lights - within the Arctic Circle - places like the Lofoten Islands, Tromsø, Alta and Honningsvåg are popular Northern Lights destinations. Besides, it must be from September to March - maybe early April - from April to August it is far too bright during night to see the light.

I shouldn’t have mentioned the lights—really asking about seeing the fjords in September/October rather than earlier in the summer

[hallasm]

3 hours ago, wrldtrvllr said:

really asking about seeing the fjords in September/October rather than earlier in the summer

Personally, I do not have experience with sailing the deep fjords in September/October - it will depend on the time of passage of The fjords and arrival - highlights are sailing through the deep fjords - and it is best experienced in daylight - in September / October the days are short in contrast to summer where the fjords can be experienced early in the morning and late in the evening. 
Hellesylt is only partially through the fjords towards Geiranger - here it will be possible to sail through the spectacular Geirangerfjord on an excursion from Hellesylt.
There may be snowy days so it is not possible to visit the viewpoints in Geiranger.
One of the highlights in Flåm is the railway - the experience here is the same regardless of the time of day.

[fc123]

We will be in Flam in July on Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas. We were notified that our time in port has been extended until 7 pm.  We had already planned a morning tour to the Borgund Stave Church and Stegastein Viewpoint.  Since we now have extra time in port, we were looking at also doing the following:

 

Nærøyfjord round trip - bus and boat from Flåm | Norways best

 

We were planning to take the 3 pm boat from Flam which arrives in Gudvangen at 5 pm.  The shuttle bus leaves at 5:30 pm and arrives back in Flam at 5:50 pm.  Does anyone have any experience with how on-time the boat and shuttle are?  Does the shuttle wait if the boat is late?  We are just wanting to see as much as possible while in port, but certainly don't want to miss getting back to the ship.  

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

 

 

[Phoenix42]

I'm looking at two different cruise options in 2025 and would love some recommendations/ suggestions on which is better. 

Both are Norwegian Fjord/Arctic Circle cruises, Both go to Flaam, Tromso, Honningsvag, Geiranger and cruise the Arctic circle. 

The first one is a 12 day at the beginning of June and also goes to Bruges, Belgium; Alesund, and Haugesund.

The second is a 14 day at the beginning of  August and instead goes to Stavanger, Olden, Molde, Trondheim, and Rotterdam.

Any recommendations on which ports are better/ which itinerary I should choose?  I am fairly certain this is a once in a life time thing so why to get the most out of it. 

[hallasm]

4 hours ago, Phoenix42 said:

Any recommendations on which ports are better/ which itinerary I should choose?  I am fairly certain this is a once in a life time thing so why to get the most out of it. 

These are two good itineraries - Flåm and Geiranger are two iconic deep fjords. Immediately, second option with Stavanger and Trondheim and another deep fjord to Olden is the best itinerary, but in August there is no midnight sun - there is in June - Cruising Arctic circle in August doesn’t make sense. If you want to experience the midnight sun, itinerary one is the way to go. In option one Ålesund is also a nice coastal city.
Both Haugesund and Molde are less interesting ports.

[kaisatsu]

On 4/28/2024 at 7:14 PM, wrldtrvllr said:

I shouldn’t have mentioned the lights—really asking about seeing the fjords in September/October rather than earlier in the summer

What is your reason for considering Sep/Oct? With shorter days and colder weather that’s less conducive to being out on deck, I am missing the appeal.

 

If you pack plenty of warm waterproof layers and don’t mind the cooler temperatures, then it could be an option, but be aware that a lot of tour operators and other services in the western fjords are seasonal. Especially in smaller ports, they typically end their season in August. Traveling out of season, you may be more limited to ship excursions and self exploring.

[kaisatsu]

On 4/29/2024 at 4:10 AM, fc123 said:

Does anyone have any experience with how on-time the boat and shuttle are?  Does the shuttle wait if the boat is late? 

The sightseeing boat is rarely late. It travels a largely untrafficked route that it follows multiples times every day. I wouldn’t worry about missing the bus unless you plan to wander around Gudvangen and end up getting distracted. I’ve done the roundtrip route from Bergen, where the bus ride is from Voss to Gudvangen, and it’s much more common for the train to be late. The bus typically waits for the train, and if it’s too late or there are more people than fit on the bus, they run extra buses. It’s all a very well-oiled operation after many years of shuttling independent visitors around the area.

[kaisatsu]

On 4/30/2024 at 4:43 AM, Phoenix42 said:

Both are Norwegian Fjord/Arctic Circle cruises, Both go to Flaam, Tromso, Honningsvag, Geiranger and cruise the Arctic circle. 

The first one is a 12 day at the beginning of June and also goes to Bruges, Belgium; Alesund, and Haugesund.

The second is a 14 day at the beginning of  August and instead goes to Stavanger, Olden, Molde, Trondheim, and Rotterdam.

I agree with hallasm. If you want to experience the midnight sun, choose the 12-day. If you’re more interested in the ports, choose the 14-day. But they are both excellent itineraries and I’d be very happy with either one.

 

If it was me, I’d probably choose the 12-day. Olden and Trondheim are great, but Brugge is lovely, Ålesund is cute, and if you’re lucky with clear skies, watching the midnight sun at sea, dipping to the horizon and then rising again without disappearing, is a pretty special experience.

[Peteymil]

Does anyone know how I can find out if Trollstigen has opened?  My tour operator says as of today it is not open, and our excursion is in one week.  They have offered an alternative excursion, but I would not take the one they offered so I would have to cancel in the next 5 days to get my money back.

Is there any site I can check?

[JohnAlleb77]

30 minutes ago, Peteymil said:

Does anyone know how I can find out if Trollstigen has opened?  My tour operator says as of today it is not open, and our excursion is in one week.  They have offered an alternative excursion, but I would not take the one they offered so I would have to cancel in the next 5 days to get my money back.

Is there any site I can check?

 

Local media said on 27th of april... "opening date not possible to say, probably in the end of May..." 

[hallasm]

33 minutes ago, Peteymil said:

Does anyone know how I can find out if Trollstigen has opened?

There is a map here showing which sections are closed due to snow - the southern part is expected to open May 20 and the northern part 30 May. Many mountain roads in Norway are closed until the end of May.

[Peteymil]

46 minutes ago, JohnAlleb77 said:

 

Local media said on 27th of april... "opening date not possible to say, probably in the end of May..." 

so helpful, thank you

[Peteymil]

45 minutes ago, hallasm said:

There is a map here showing which sections are closed due to snow - the southern part is expected to open May 20 and the northern part 30 May. Many mountain roads in Norway are closed until the end of May.

Thank you so much

[fc123]

On 5/1/2024 at 2:09 AM, kaisatsu said:

The sightseeing boat is rarely late. It travels a largely untrafficked route that it follows multiples times every day. I wouldn’t worry about missing the bus unless you plan to wander around Gudvangen and end up getting distracted. I’ve done the roundtrip route from Bergen, where the bus ride is from Voss to Gudvangen, and it’s much more common for the train to be late. The bus typically waits for the train, and if it’s too late or there are more people than fit on the bus, they run extra buses. It’s all a very well-oiled operation after many years of shuttling independent visitors around the area.

Thank you!

[PATRLR]

I'd written previously about my error in not booking the Rodne Lysefjord cruise.  I've been looking at a few other options and stumbled upon the NORLED Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock cruise (https://www.norled.no/en/fjordcruise/lysefjord-pulpit-rock-cruise/). 2.5 hours so not as long as the Rodne cruise but seems to do the same basic route.

As I don't see as much online about this operator, I'm wondering if anyone has any experience?  It looks like ferries might be their core business, but this cruise does seem to be on a sight seeing boat.  

[PATRLR]

On 5/7/2024 at 6:21 PM, PATRLR said:

I'd written previously about my error in not booking the Rodne Lysefjord cruise.  I've been looking at a few other options and stumbled upon the NORLED Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock cruise (https://www.norled.no/en/fjordcruise/lysefjord-pulpit-rock-cruise/). 2.5 hours so not as long as the Rodne cruise but seems to do the same basic route.

As I don't see as much online about this operator, I'm wondering if anyone has any experience?  It looks like ferries might be their core business, but this cruise does seem to be on a sight seeing boat.  

I have read a few things about NORLED, one of which is their boats claim to be faster and therefore don't need as much time to do the same itinerary as the Rodne boats do.  Hmmm...

I think its going to come down to a choice between these two cruises in two different ports:
 

In Bergen, the Rodne Fjordcruise Bergen-Mostraumen which goes up to Modalen, or,

In Stavanger, the NORLED Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock cruise.  (We don't want to do too many boat excursions, so, we just want to do one of the two above.)

[GottaKnowWhen]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

I have read a few things about NORLED, one of which is their boats claim to be faster and therefore don't need as much time to do the same itinerary as the Rodne boats do.  Hmmm...

I think its going to come down to a choice between these two cruises in two different ports:
 

In Bergen, the Rodne Fjordcruise Bergen-Mostraumen which goes up to Modalen, or,

In Stavanger, the NORLED Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock cruise.  (We don't want to do too many boat excursions, so, we just want to do one of the two above.)

FWIW… in March 2023 we did a Hurtigruten Expedition cruise in Norway, mostly stopping further north along the coast. We did spend time in Lysefjord. Dropped off 15-20 intrepid fit hikers to walk up to the Pulpit Rock, then proceeded down the fjord. Loaded off into the ship’s RIBs, proceeded along the fjord past The Rock. Nice, but not spectacular. In my Signature below you’ll see a link to my photos from that cruise, the first handful are from Hamburg, but the Lysefjord shots come next.

When back in the region this July, we will skip any excursions on/around Lysefjord, and in Bergen we will do the Mostraumen boat ride. If I were more fit, a 5-hour round trip hike up to the Pulpit Rock could be an interesting challenge, but I am not in that condition anymore.

Stan