Standout Summertime Norway Shore Excursions

[CalTrojan]

I was on the Saturn last July for the Bergen to Reykjavik cruise, exactly the same as your last leg.  It was a fantastic trip, and I heartily agree with Sailor Sam, pricing is very much on the high side for the Viking excursions, so I would recommend using TripAdvisor / Viator to do it on your own where possible.

 

An advantage of booking independently is that you'll likely get a significantly smaller group.  Whereas I saw Viking groups usually in the 20 person range, my groups were usually 8 or smaller.

 

Here's my long diatribe with my personal favorites:

 

• Geiranger:  Unfortunately there are not a lot of tour operators in Geiranger, and Viking will book up the best quality ones, so I ended up doing two Viking tours.  The included one, the requisite bus tour up the fjord for panoramic photos, is just nice to get to the photo spots, although you'll be jostling for pictures with many others.  The other was an electric bike ride up the winding hillside to the old highway "knot".  I enjoyed this tremendously, but despite the electric bikes, it still is a fairly rigorous ride.
• Narvik:  I love wildlife, so I ended up renting my own car to drive to the Polar Park Wildlife Reserve.  Viking offers the same, but the cost for two people was equivalent to renting the car fot the day, and you could go at your own pace.  It was a great journey, and being independent allowed for seeing the various animals at my own pace.  I also got to explore a bit more and get a local feel.  On the way back I stopped at Narvikfjellet, an aerial tram that takes you up to the highest peak.  It offers great views and a nice are to hike around.
• Lofoten / Leknes:  I took the Viking shuttle into Leknes town, and from there took the local bus to see the Lofotr Viking Museum, a recreation of a Viking long house.  I thought it was excellent, and it is situated in a beautiful location.  You can also hike down to a replica Viking ship, so definitely good outdoor time.  Viking also offers their own tour of the museum, but it will literally cost 5x as much than doing it yourself for the benefit of having a guide take 20 or so Viking guests around.  The included bus tour was pretty worthless, three photo stops to take scenic pictures, and that's about it.
• Tromso:  I booked a Husky Hike independently, met with a group in front of the Radisson which is a block from the dock.  Very similar to what others experienced, dog tied to your waist literally dragging your through the tundra.  I love dogs, huskies in particular, so I really enjoyed it.  Also got back in time to take the included scenic bus tour.  Again, one of those on / off tours with a good overview and some interesting areas, but otherwise not memorable.
• Honningsvag:  There were not many independent operators in the area, so I just took the included bus tour to NordKapp.  Interesting site, unfortunately it was a hot day (in the low 80s) and the bus did not have good air conditioning, as one would expect when north of the arctic circle.
• Svalbaard:  Lots to see and do depending on you interests and time.  I booked a couple of independent tours, one for a "Walrus Safari" to see the Walrus colony on the far side of the bay (1 hour boat ride to and from), as well as get up close to the glaciers.  I thought it was totally worth it, especially seeing a large iceberg flip over in the water (a gentleman who had been on 3 Antarctica journeys had never seen that before and recorded the whole event).  Then in the afternoon I took husky sled ride on wheels, the nice thing being getting the opportunity to travel further into the interior of Svalbaard.

 

Hope this helps.  Happy to share my tour operators, I think all of them did a fine job.

[FoggyEthan]

4 hours ago, CalTrojan said:

I was on the Saturn last July for the Bergen to Reykjavik cruise, exactly the same as your last leg.  It was a fantastic trip, and I heartily agree with Sailor Sam, pricing is very much on the high side for the Viking excursions, so I would recommend using TripAdvisor / Viator to do it on your own where possible.

 

An advantage of booking independently is that you'll likely get a significantly smaller group.  Whereas I saw Viking groups usually in the 20 person range, my groups were usually 8 or smaller.

 

Here's my long diatribe with my personal favorites:

 

• Geiranger:  Unfortunately there are not a lot of tour operators in Geiranger, and Viking will book up the best quality ones, so I ended up doing two Viking tours.  The included one, the requisite bus tour up the fjord for panoramic photos, is just nice to get to the photo spots, although you'll be jostling for pictures with many others.  The other was an electric bike ride up the winding hillside to the old highway "knot".  I enjoyed this tremendously, but despite the electric bikes, it still is a fairly rigorous ride.
• Narvik:  I love wildlife, so I ended up renting my own car to drive to the Polar Park Wildlife Reserve.  Viking offers the same, but the cost for two people was equivalent to renting the car fot the day, and you could go at your own pace.  It was a great journey, and being independent allowed for seeing the various animals at my own pace.  I also got to explore a bit more and get a local feel.  On the way back I stopped at Narvikfjellet, an aerial tram that takes you up to the highest peak.  It offers great views and a nice are to hike around.
• Lofoten / Leknes:  I took the Viking shuttle into Leknes town, and from there took the local bus to see the Lofotr Viking Museum, a recreation of a Viking long house.  I thought it was excellent, and it is situated in a beautiful location.  You can also hike down to a replica Viking ship, so definitely good outdoor time.  Viking also offers their own tour of the museum, but it will literally cost 5x as much than doing it yourself for the benefit of having a guide take 20 or so Viking guests around.  The included bus tour was pretty worthless, three photo stops to take scenic pictures, and that's about it.
• Tromso:  I booked a Husky Hike independently, met with a group in front of the Radisson which is a block from the dock.  Very similar to what others experienced, dog tied to your waist literally dragging your through the tundra.  I love dogs, huskies in particular, so I really enjoyed it.  Also got back in time to take the included scenic bus tour.  Again, one of those on / off tours with a good overview and some interesting areas, but otherwise not memorable.
• Honningsvag:  There were not many independent operators in the area, so I just took the included bus tour to NordKapp.  Interesting site, unfortunately it was a hot day (in the low 80s) and the bus did not have good air conditioning, as one would expect when north of the arctic circle.
• Svalbaard:  Lots to see and do depending on you interests and time.  I booked a couple of independent tours, one for a "Walrus Safari" to see the Walrus colony on the far side of the bay (1 hour boat ride to and from), as well as get up close to the glaciers.  I thought it was totally worth it, especially seeing a large iceberg flip over in the water (a gentleman who had been on 3 Antarctica journeys had never seen that before and recorded the whole event).  Then in the afternoon I took husky sled ride on wheels, the nice thing being getting the opportunity to travel further into the interior of Svalbaard.

 

Hope this helps.  Happy to share my tour operators, I think all of them did a fine job.

Wow, lots in there! Who did you use for Tromso for the independent husky hike? I was going to book it through the ship, but I'm happy to save money instead. Was it a real hike, or more like a stroll?

 

So much in Svalbard is already booked, presumably exclusively by Viking. I saw the Walrus trips, but I'm worried that I'll get sick on those ships. I do OK on catamarans, because they don't rock side-to-side very much. 

 

Thanks again!

-- Ethan

 

[CalTrojan]

2 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

Wow, lots in there! Who did you use for Tromso for the independent husky hike? I was going to book it through the ship, but I'm happy to save money instead. Was it a real hike, or more like a stroll?

 

So much in Svalbard is already booked, presumably exclusively by Viking. I saw the Walrus trips, but I'm worried that I'll get sick on those ships. I do OK on catamarans, because they don't rock side-to-side very much. 

 

Thanks again!

-- Ethan

 

No problem at all, Ethan.

 

You can find the tour operator I used in Tromso for the husky hike at this link: https://www.villmarkssenter.no/.  They’re well reviewed on TripAdvisor, and they include transport to and from their dog yard about 30 minutes outside of Tromso.  Although the terrain is fairly flat, it is mushy tundra basically off trail (they’ll provide boots and gear), and it can get moderately strenuous depending on the strength of your dog.  Unlike the Viking tour, everyone had their own dog, and there were eight of us.

 

As for the Walrus Safari, the craft was basically an enclosed speed boat. There’s not a lot of lateral movement, but lots of vertical cutting quickly through the waves on the way when to the walrus colony.  I used Hurtigurten, and both guide and captain were excellent. Again also a smaller tour complement than the Viking excursion norm, nine total if I recall.

 

- Joe

[FoggyEthan]

9 hours ago, CalTrojan said:

No problem at all, Ethan.

 

You can find the tour operator I used in Tromso for the husky hike at this link: https://www.villmarkssenter.no/.  They’re well reviewed on TripAdvisor, and they include transport to and from their dog yard about 30 minutes outside of Tromso.  Although the terrain is fairly flat, it is mushy tundra basically off trail (they’ll provide boots and gear), and it can get moderately strenuous depending on the strength of your dog.  Unlike the Viking tour, everyone had their own dog, and there were eight of us.

 

As for the Walrus Safari, the craft was basically an enclosed speed boat. There’s not a lot of lateral movement, but lots of vertical cutting quickly through the waves on the way when to the walrus colony.  I used Hurtigurten, and both guide and captain were excellent. Again also a smaller tour complement than the Viking excursion norm, nine total if I recall.

 

- Joe

Sigh. Villmarkssenter has no availability for our date -- nor most dates -- in August. And Hurtigruten is entirely unavailable for every activity on our dates, no doubt because Viking bought them out.

[CalTrojan]

10 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

Sigh. Villmarkssenter has no availability for our date -- nor most dates -- in August. And Hurtigruten is entirely unavailable for every activity on our dates, no doubt because Viking bought them out.

Yikes, sorry to hear that. You might check cruisemapper.com to see if another ship is in port in Tromso and Svalbard. Another ship could be taking up some of the tour capacity. Good luck with you continued excursion hunt.

[FoggyEthan]

In Svalbard it's just us. I suspect that Viking just hired SvalbardHurtigruten because Hurti is a big operator and is a one stop shop to handle everything Viking needs. In Tromso it's also just us in port. <shrug>

 

Also the Henningsen cruise in Svalbard, mentioned a couple messages ago, is only operating a single tour that is to the other town a little west of Longyearbyen, rather than a nature tour, so that's not a big draw for me.

 

But we will be using private operators in Geiranger (Calm Giant Tours) and Leknes (Heart of Lofoten / XXLofoten). In Bergen we'll probably hire someone local as a city tour.

 

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, CalTrojan said:

You might check cruisemapper.com to see if another ship is in port in Tromso and Svalbard.

 

Cruisemapper is a third-party source of information and isn't always accurate. Better to go to the harbormaster's website for the ports your are interested in..

[CalTrojan]

13 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Cruisemapper is a third-party source of information and isn't always accurate. Better to go to the harbormaster's website for the ports your are interested in..

Good to know. Thanks for the tip.