Norwegian Fjords - Not so sure!

[Cinatown]

I have spent ages looking at different Fjord cruises and finally settled on P&0 Brittania to Stavanger, Olden, Flam and Haugesund. Its our first cruise ever and I booked this specific cruise because out of all ports, Olden and Flam are the two that I would really like to visit and there doesn't seem to be many 7 day cruises that go to both these ports (its either one or the other!)

 

However, now that i've booked and seen the available excursions I am not so sure... I am disappointed with the excursions to Stavanger - the main attraction is Pulpit Rock (so Stavanger was also on the must-do list) but there are no hikes advertised, only boat tours which see Pulpit from below. It says we are docked from  morning to early afternoon so assuming we will not have enough time to book an independent excursion to Pulpit Rock (as these say around 8/9 hours). Then there does not seem to be a lot to do in Haugesund either. 

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has visited Stavanger and Haugesund - what did you get up to in the ports? Do you have any recommendations for independent tours/excursions ? We like walks but are open to suggestions.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Cinatown

[Host Sharon]

Stavanger is a lovely town to explore on foot. The ship berths right in the centre under the Gamla Stan (Old Town). There are two good museums, lovely coffee shops and St Swithin's Cathedral. Just wander the cobbled streets and enjoy.  Sorry, not been to Haugesund but I have seen pictures and it too, looks lovely.

[sleepingcat]

13 hours ago, Cinatown said:

Its our first cruise ever and I booked this specific cruise because out of all ports, Olden and Flam are the two that I would really like to visit and there doesn't seem to be many 7 day cruises that go to both these ports (its either one

hello cinatown, rest assured you will have a great time, and the best way to see Norway is from the water. 

 

since it is your first cruise, I will write the same as I wrote yesterday for someone else.  We are also walkers, and what we love about cruising is that you can just get off the ship and make your own walking tour of wherever (and as I also wrote yesterday, in the unlikely event the place is a dump you just get back on the ship and enjoy it). Do your homework if you like, though we often dont, we just go to tourist info and get their map (which is usually better than the map the ship gives you).

 

you probably already know that the only thing to do at Flam is the little railway which takes you up to the waterfalls, one of my best memories of a day out ever (and I was even on my own as in Norway for work!). 

 

[tring]

21 minutes ago, sleepingcat said:

hello cinatown, rest assured you will have a great time, and the best way to see Norway is from the water. 

 

since it is your first cruise, I will write the same as I wrote yesterday for someone else.  We are also walkers, and what we love about cruising is that you can just get off the ship and make your own walking tour of wherever (and as I also wrote yesterday, in the unlikely event the place is a dump you just get back on the ship and enjoy it). Do your homework if you like, though we often dont, we just go to tourist info and get their map (which is usually better than the map the ship gives you).

 

you probably already know that the only thing to do at Flam is the little railway which takes you up to the waterfalls, one of my best memories of a day out ever (and I was even on my own as in Norway for work!). 

 

 

You could alternatively walk up the valley from Flam, I am pretty sure there is a waterfall up there that a friend walked to, but not been there ourselves.  We just walked a short distance as there did not seem to be stops for drinks (and facilities which I would need).

 

The glacier trip from Olden gives a reasonable walk from the cafe to the viewing location, with a bit of an incline  - I felt I had a good workout that day and it was almost twenty years ago, when we were early 50's.  Not a really long,  really strenuous hike though, perhaps half an hour each way.

 

 

[FangedRose]

Just be aware that you may not actually get to any of the ports

 

Is it at the Captain's (and port authorities) discretion. This can be due to weather (the main reason, and their weather reports are more detailed and accurate than any app on your phone), or mechanical or an issue at the port itself. It happens more often than anyone selling cruises will admit. It is a fact of cruising and experienced cruisers accept it.

 

Not trying to put you off but a lot of people are not aware and let it ruin an otherwise perfectly fine holiday.

[Fionboard]

Flam railway is good. Make sure you sit on the left side for best views - train does not turn round. Probably best to do ships trip as it gets very booked up.

[Fionboard]

6 hours ago, Host Sharon said:

Stavanger is a lovely town to explore on foot. The ship berths right in the centre under the Gamla Stan (Old Town). There are two good museums, lovely coffee shops and St Swithin's Cathedral. Just wander the cobbled streets and enjoy.  Sorry, not been to Haugesund but I have seen pictures and it too, looks lovely.

Sounds daft, but the sardine factory is actually very interesting and good to do if the weather is poor. 

[zap99]

4 hours ago, FangedRose said:

Just be aware that you may not actually get to any of the ports

 

Is it at the Captain's (and port authorities) discretion. This can be due to weather (the main reason, and their weather reports are more detailed and accurate than any app on your phone), or mechanical or an issue at the port itself. It happens more often than anyone selling cruises will admit. It is a fact of cruising and experienced cruisers accept it.

 

Not trying to put you off but a lot of people are not aware and let it ruin an otherwise perfectly fine holiday.

Many  ,many cruises go to all the intended ports. We have been on over 30 cruises and have only, ever missed one port. Guernsey. Cinatown won't be put off, I'm sure.

[jaydee6969]

We enjoyed the Fjords on both our trips on Azura and Iona, and have booked up a return for 2024 on Britannia.  However, we personally did not particularly like Haugesund but loved Bergen, so found one on Britannia that does Stavanger, Olden, Flam and Bergen. 

 

Not for Stavanger or the other ports on your chosen cruise, but up the top of Mount Fløyen in Bergen are a few walking/hiking trails, which can be accessed by either walking up the mountain or catching the Fløibanen funicular.  Get there early though, the funicular gets very busy.

 

https://floyen.no/en

 

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, jaydee6969 said:

We enjoyed the Fjords on both our trips on Azura and Iona, and have booked up a return for 2024 on Britannia.  However, we personally did not particularly like Haugesund but loved Bergen, so found one on Britannia that does Stavanger, Olden, Flam and Bergen. 

 

Not for Stavanger or the other ports on your chosen cruise, but up the top of Mount Fløyen in Bergen are a few walking/hiking trails, which can be accessed by either walking up the mountain or catching the Fløibanen funicular.  Get there early though, the funicular gets very busy.

 

https://floyen.no/en

 

We went to the Fjords with Celebrity in July. Stavanger was our Favourite. We did the local boat trip to the bottom of pulpit Rock last 2 cruises. Flam will have to wait for the next Fjords Cruise. Bergen in nice to just wander. 

 

[SarahHben]

We didn't particularly enjoy our visit to Haugesund this May but we were there on a public holiday and everything was closed, plus we were struggling with a wheelchair and didn't find it at all wheelchair friendly. If we visited again I think we would either stay on ship or book an excursion.

 

The same as Jaydee we have booked on Britannia in 2024 and our itinerary is Stavanger, Olden, Flam & Bergen.

[janny444]

There is also the Stavanger Petroleum Museum which is very informative and interesting and gets very good star ratings .....some give it 5 stars. 

[Britboys]

I think that generally it is fairly unusual to miss ports in Norway. This Summer seems to have been very unusual weather conditions and that has led to more missed ports than usual. It will however be interesting to see how Iona fares there next Summer.

[EM35]

I visited Haugasand in August on Auroua. I did a P and O excursion to Ryvarden Lighthouse Walk. Only about an hour of walking but beautiful scenery and I had a very informative guide. 

[arlowood]

Just be aware that the Flam Railway is a scheduled service from Flam to Myrdal - it is not a dedicated tourist train. When we were there we bought the P&O excursion but noticed that there were several other carriages used by  people travelling normally to Myrdal to connect with the Bergen - Oslo service. 

I think it is entirely feasible to do the trip independently - you just have to purchase your tickets in advance online or at the station near to where the ship docks.

 

I think it will be a fair bit cheaper than the price P&O charges. If you have the time you can extend your stop at Myrdal and come back on a later train. Maybe go for a walk around the Myrdal station area. On our P&O trip we just had to come back on the next return train leaving only about 30mins at Myrdal.

 

I've attached the Timetables for 2022 that might be of help.

 

https://www.norwaysbest.com/globalassets/pdf/rutetider/rutetider-2022/flamsbana_timetable_2022.pdf

[JeanieC,Aston]

I was in Flam 3 weeks ago,you can book a train ticket on line far cheaper then P&O.

There is a little Land Train that goes up the valley and around the other side of the fjord for great photos of the ship.

There is a brew pub but be aware a bottle of beer is £10,,,there are other shops selling Norwegian apparel.

Photo of Flam.

[Cariad21]

I've just come back from the Fjords (not with P&O) and called in Flam, Olden and Haugesund. In Olden the Briksdal Glacier is a good 45-minute hike each way along a steep path (not a 'slight incline' as on the information board!). You can book independently and if doing the morning tour, there is enough time to then get a bus over to the Loen Skylift. The views are incredible and there are a number of walks you can do. Honestly, I could have spent the entire day doing that.

 

If you're feeling adventurous, you can book independently to do the Flam railway, a zipline and then cycle back to the port (walking is also an option as is re-joining the train). I haven't been on a bike in decades, but it is mainly downhill (two steep inclines) and allows you to stop and take in the scenery as much as you like. 

 

Haugesund - having read there wasn't much to do I booked a ship tour to Langfoss Waterfall. Unfortunately, the weather hadn't been great prior to the trip so the waterfall, while lovely, wasn't in full flow. 90-minute bus journey each way so not something I'd recommend doing independently.

[galeforce9]

10 hours ago, tring said:

 

You could alternatively walk up the valley from Flam, I am pretty sure there is a waterfall up there that a friend walked to, but not been there ourselves.  We just walked a short distance as there did not seem to be stops for drinks (and facilities which I would need).

 

The glacier trip from Olden gives a reasonable walk from the cafe to the viewing location, with a bit of an incline  - I felt I had a good workout that day and it was almost twenty years ago, when we were early 50's.  Not a really long,  really strenuous hike though, perhaps half an hour each way.

 

 

Yes we did this walk on a return trip after doing the railway the first time 

[galeforce9]

1 hour ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

I was in Flam 3 weeks ago,you can book a train ticket on line far cheaper then P&O.

There is a little Land Train that goes up the valley and around the other side of the fjord for great photos of the ship.

There is a brew pub but be aware a bottle of beer is £10,,,there are other shops selling Norwegian apparel.

Photo of Flam.

That beer is good though

[Eldot]

On our fjords cruise on Arcadia in 2017, we loved Bergen and would love to go back. (Tip get to the funicular early to avoid the queues). In Flam, we didn't fancy the train to see yet another waterfall so we had an expensive but excellent lunch "The Plank" (5 courses with 5 beers) in the brew-pub. Stavanger was wet and dead. We got warm and dry in the Sardine museum. Sadly our Northern Lights cruise on Arcadia (again) on 6 Oct 2022 calls there again. But a friend was there a few weeks ago and enjoyed the rib ride.

 

[kruzseeka]

We had a very wet day on one occasion in Stavanger and went to the Oil Museum just for something to do.  It was surprisingly interesting - if you've not been before it may be worth a visit. 

[Cinatown]

22 hours ago, sleepingcat said:

hello cinatown, rest assured you will have a great time, and the best way to see Norway is from the water. 

 

since it is your first cruise, I will write the same as I wrote yesterday for someone else.  We are also walkers, and what we love about cruising is that you can just get off the ship and make your own walking tour of wherever (and as I also wrote yesterday, in the unlikely event the place is a dump you just get back on the ship and enjoy it). Do your homework if you like, though we often dont, we just go to tourist info and get their map (which is usually better than the map the ship gives you).

 

you probably already know that the only thing to do at Flam is the little railway which takes you up to the waterfalls, one of my best memories of a day out ever (and I was even on my own as in Norway for work!). 

 

 

Thank you for your reply!

 

Yep I know there is just the railway at Flam but it looks so pretty there. You can take the train up and then you can take a zip wire partway back down! From there you can walk or cycle back into Flam (depending on whether this excursion is booked with P&O or privately) Sounds like a perfect day weather permitting 😄 

[Cinatown]

22 hours ago, tring said:

 

You could alternatively walk up the valley from Flam, I am pretty sure there is a waterfall up there that a friend walked to, but not been there ourselves.  We just walked a short distance as there did not seem to be stops for drinks (and facilities which I would need).

 

The glacier trip from Olden gives a reasonable walk from the cafe to the viewing location, with a bit of an incline  - I felt I had a good workout that day and it was almost twenty years ago, when we were early 50's.  Not a really long,  really strenuous hike though, perhaps half an hour each way.

 

 

Thanks for your reply. Flam and Olden look like they have great days out (you can combine the train in Flam with a zip-line and walk or cycle back to town) and Olden has the glacier walk and you can also book to go on the Loen Skylift. 

 

I am struggling for options at Stavanger and Haugesund. They both only seem to have boat trips but ideally I would have liked to have done the Pulpit hike in Stavanger. I am not sure that we will be there long enough to do this but have seen other cruise lines offer this as an excursion so it was a disappointment. I think it is more that Stavanger and Haugesund both seem very same-y at the moment as the only activities are cruises. I am sure that we will have a great time no matter what but it would have been a perfect line up if we could get to Pulpit Rock!

[Cinatown]

21 hours ago, FangedRose said:

Just be aware that you may not actually get to any of the ports

 

Is it at the Captain's (and port authorities) discretion. This can be due to weather (the main reason, and their weather reports are more detailed and accurate than any app on your phone), or mechanical or an issue at the port itself. It happens more often than anyone selling cruises will admit. It is a fact of cruising and experienced cruisers accept it.

 

Not trying to put you off but a lot of people are not aware and let it ruin an otherwise perfectly fine holiday.

 Hi FangedRose

 

Thank you for your reply. I had seen this on some of the boards here and it is a bit worrying but I suppose it is the nature of taking a cruise in this area. I think we can only hope for the best! 

 

I looked at lots of different types of cruises before deciding on the Fjords and now I am pretty set on them. I do appreciate your honesty though!

[Cinatown]

14 hours ago, EM35 said:

I visited Haugasand in August on Auroua. I did a P and O excursion to Ryvarden Lighthouse Walk. Only about an hour of walking but beautiful scenery and I had a very informative guide. 

 

Thanks! The Ryvarden Lighthouse Walk is offered as an excursion, we'll consider this !