Norway! It’s been on my must-see list for quite a while. But, it’s a long list and I do keep adding to it.

Despite not being a “cruise person”, I knew the best way, really, the only way, to see all the coast of Norway was a cruise. Hurtigruten gets mentioned frequently but after checking their prices, and especially the single supplement, I decided to look for other cruises.

I found several comparisons of cruise lines and checked the prices and reviews.

21 April

I left for Bergen via Amsterdam. I took the airport bus downtown, I spent the first night in Thon Hotel Orion. I was close to Bryggen and visited those great old wooden houses, the Bergenhus Festning (fortress), the ruins of St. Catherine’s hospital from 1250, saw Mariakirken outside, before enjoying a very expensive beer at Egon down the street. I later learned that Norway thinks alcohol is bad for you and it is heavily taxed so 70% of the cost is taxes!

22 April

I had the day free until our late evening sail. It was cloudy and overcast in the morning but I walked through the fortress on the way to Skuteviksbryggen wharf north of my hotel. Beautiful area.

It had cleared off and I had sunny skies by mid-morning, so I decided to take the Fløibanen funicular to the top station. Incredible views. I had a video call with my daughter and grandchildren from here to show them how beautiful Bergen is.

I took the noon guided tour at the Hanseatic Museum in Bryggen. This is a very interesting visit, learning about the Hanseatic merchants from Germany, the rules for their various guilds, not being able to marry local women, about their homes and the shared kitchens they used because of fire risks. 

After the museum I had lunch at Bryggeloftet & Stuene, trying the recommended Norwegian Fish Soup. 

I walked around the wharf to get better views of the beautiful Bryggen houses (featured image).

I’ve not done many cruises because it’s not my style for travel. The last was 2014, a 36 passenger sail boat in Croatia. That was wonderful because of the small size. Before that, I took a cruise to Antarctica in 2013; the ship held about 220 to 230. I don’t remember the boarding procedure. The Havila Polaris had room for 600 I believe with 340 or so passengers for this cruise. If I remember correctly, 450 overnight passengers + 150 port to port is full capacity.

We weren’t sailing until 2030 but you could check in and drop bags starting at 1500. It wasn’t that long of a walk, around 30 minutes, but my backpack was heavy with winter clothing, so I took an taxi; there was a stand in front of my hotel.

I thought I would quickly drop off bags and get keys and go back out. But everyone had the same idea to check in early, perhaps that is standard for cruises. I should have waited several more hours instead of standing in line for hours. I eventually did get to check in and leave my bags then went back out and found a small market for soft drinks and snacks before boarding around 1900. I missed the information meetings and scheduling meal times because I didn’t read the welcome packet until later.

23 April

Ports: Florø → Måløy → Torvik → Ålesund → Geirangerfjord / Hjørundfjord* → Ålesund → Molde

We had several stops during the night and early morning. The first places I saw the next morning were Torvik, for a 10 minute stop, and the beautiful art nouveau buldings in Ålesund, for a 15 minute stop.

I booked the Geiranger Fjord Ranger Adventure. Geiranger Fjord has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005.

We left the Polaris via a tender ship to get to shore. There was a bus waiting to take us up to the museum, the Norsk Fjordsenter. We were served coffee or tea and the thin Norwegian waffles at Grindløa, while our local guide told us a little about the area, including local building techniques.

Then we were given time to visit the exhibits in the Fjordsenter, starting with a video about the area. There was info about the fjords and geological processes that created the Norwegian coastline. There were exhibits on the local animals and plants and some beautiful clothing.

Most of us chose to walk down the Fossevandringa, 327 steps along the waterfall or storfossen. We met the bus at the parking lot to go back to Ålesund to meet the ship. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive with a few stops. We followed the steep switchbacks up the mountain before our first stop with awesome views over the fjord. The entire drive back to Ålesund was beautiful.

We had time in town before the ship was leaving at 2000 so I thought I’d try the local pizza place, Nonna Lina, and picked up a spicy diavola pizza to go, with a Frydenlund Bokkol while I waited.

24 April

Ports: Kristiansund → Trondheim → Rørvik

We arrived in Trondheim. It is the oldest city in Norway, founded over a thousand years ago.

I scheduled the Historical City Walk. We walked about five kilometers over three hours. We were met at the port by our guide. We heard about the island of Munkholmen. It was used for Viking executions, then a Benedictine monastery, a fortress, state prison, and it was occupied by the Germans during WWII. Now it’s a summer retreat with good restaurants and a nice beach. We saw Stiftsgården, a large wooden building that serves as the royal residence when the royal family visits Trondheim. We saw a statue of Leif Erikson.

We saw the statue of the city’s founder, Olaf Tryggvason, on the large square Torvet i Trondheim. He converted, “forcibly”, Norway from the “pagan” Viking gods to Christianity. He’s holding a sword and Thor’s head is at his feet.

We stopped to see the Britannia Hotel, only €2000 an night. Then we went to Nidarosdomen, or Nidaros Cathedral. It’s one of the largest cathedrals in northern Europe. The facade is covered with dozens of statues. We had time to visit the inside before meeting our guide and continuing our walking tour. The cathedral contains the grave of King Olaf II and beautiful stained glass.

We walked to Gamle Bybro, the “Gate of Happiness”, and bridge over the Nidelva River. Bakklandet is a lovely neighborhood with colourful wooden houses. We walked along the river on the way back to the ship. Very glad for a chance to see Trondheim up close, and walking is the best way to experience a new city.

25 April

Ports: Brønnøysund → Sandnessjøen → Nesna → Ørnes → Bodø → Stamsund → Svolvær

We crossed the Arctic Circle today. The past few days we had the opportunity to enter a contest to guess the exact time we’d cross. They had slips of paper at reception with a big map and our port to port schedule, it was somewhere between Nesna and Ørnes. Havila had a ceremony on the back of deck 8 where we had champagne. I foolishly thought the champagne was for all of us, on the house, then got my statement at the end of the cruise and realized I paid 179 kroner. Wow. Definitely not worth it. We also met “Nord”, and they announced the winner of the contest.

I had booked two excursions today, one in Bodø and another late evening in Stamsund.

The first was a RIB (“rigid inflatable boat” or zodiac) tour to Saltstraumen. We left from the wharf after getting in gear, including insulated overalls, life jacket, and goggles. I had already put on three layers and glad I did! It was a cold and uncomfortable tour. We sat over seats like saddles and the boat went about 32 knots, very fast over the waves.

“Saltstraumen is one of the strongest tidal currents in the world, and at its most powerful the current can reach speeds of over 20 knots. The distinctive whirlpools are created in the narrow strait and can be up to eight metres wide. The area has a rich variety of wildlife and birdlife, and is a very popular destination for sport fishers from around the world. Let yourself be captivated by some of the world’s most beautiful nature, and learn more about how this dramatic landscape was formed. See the Caledonian mountain folding up close, and discover our fascinating Northern Norwegian history from the Stone Age to the present day.”

I enjoyed seeing the interesting rock features and hearing about the geology that formed this beautiful area. But I was very glad to be off this boat and back on the Polaris to thaw, too.

We docked at Stamsund around 1900. The Meet and Greet Lofoten was a 90 minute bus tour that drove us through 8 of the Lofoten islands back to Svolvær and our ship. I thought Lofoten was pronounced lof-oh-ten but we heard it is low-foe-ten.

We made several stops for beautiful views across the islands, including Torvdalshalsen then stopped at the Lofotmuseet in Kabelvåg. Kabelvåg is the oldest fishing village in the Lofoten Islands; commercial fishing began here more than 1000 years ago.

Lofotmuseet is an open air museum, opened in 1815, with about 7-8 buildings displaying boats, fisherman’s cabins, fishing equipment, drying racks, and much more. There is also a small art gallery, Galleri Espolin, with some great art by Kaare Espolin Johnson. He had an interesting technique, using lots of layers of paint then scraping away different layers for light and shadow.

On the way to Svolvær, we passed the Lofoten Cathedral, also known as Vågan Church. The church was closed but really beautiful so I was glad for the chance for a photo. The church is the largest church in Northern Norway and one of the largest wooden buildings in the country.

26 April

Ports: Stokmarknes → Sortland → Risøyhamn → Harstad → Finnsnes → Tromsø → Skjervøy

Like most mornings, I would have breakfast around 0700-0730. Breakfast was open seating, no specific times. After breakfast I would go up to deck 9 and enjoy the great views of the fjords. This deck was almost always empty for several hours so quite enjoyable, private and very quiet until late morning.

I booked the Tromsø City Walk today; we arrived mid-afternoon. We had about two hours and maybe walked 3 kilometers or so. Tromsø is called the “Gateway to the Arctic”. We had quite variable weather. It was snowing as we docked, cleared off as we went ashore and started the walk, then cloudy, clear, snow, clear. Still a great afternoon and we saw a lot.

We started at the port and saw the historic city center, Roald Amundsen’s Square with his statue, and the wooden cathedral dating back to 1861. Next to the cathedral is a monument to the Norwegian resistance fighters killed by the Nazis or who died in the local concentration camps. We stopped at the Rathaus or town hall. We visited the main street, Storgata, the town square, and the modern library.

We visited the Skansen and Veret neighborhoods. This area has historic wooden buildings from the late 1700s plus modern waterfront architecture. We went down to the wharf seeing the Polar Gate, it nicely frames the Arctic Cathedral (not officially a “cathedral”) on the other side of the river. Both sides of the gate have some beautiful murals showing the Northern Lights. Also close to the gate is Roald Amundsen’s home, now housing the Polar Museum. Our guide stopped here and served us a warm drink and some local chocolate.

I had heard from someone onboard about trying the Raketten Bar & Pølse for a reindeer dog. I stopped there for a great hot dog and had a local Tromsø beer, Mack Bayer lager. The ship offered a good selection of food and it was well prepared but it was nice to try other food when I had a chance.

27 April

Ports: Hammerfest → Havøysund → Honningsvåg → Kjøllefjord → Mehamn → Berlevåg

As far north as you can get in mainland Norway (all of Europe, I think?). I had scheduled the dog sledding but that was cancelled before I sailed, unfortunately. The season came to an early end because of unusually warm weather and lack of snow. I booked the North Cape/Nordkapp tour on board a few days prior.

The tour started in Honningsvåg. According to the locals, this is the northernmost city in mainland Europe. The most northern city in the world is Longyearbyen in Svalbard. I heard different information a few days later when I had a walking tour of Hammerfest.

The tour is scheduled to be 3 1/2 hours. It’s about a half hour drive from the port up to North Cape, but the weather delayed us. We arrived at the turnoff then waited for the plow and “convoy” for over an hour. We were given about 35 minutes at the cape, and for some reason our guide told us to be back on the bus at 1320 “sharp” and as soon as we all climbed in, they pulled over behind the plow and said we’d be leaving at 1345. So they wasted another 25 minutes we could have used in the hall reading the exhibits or seeing the video. Their excursion info states “Weather conditions along the Norwegian coast can change rapidly. To ensure a safe and enjoyable experience, it may therefore in some cases be necessary to make changes to the program or to cancel the excursion.”

Since they knew in advance about the delay the tour operator should have cancelled but they obviously didn’t want to refund money. Disappointing as we really needed more than 30 or so minutes; I am glad for the visit regardless, but it was quite expensive and not worth the cost for the time.

North Cape Hall is partly built into the cliff. Out back is the globe monument that 100 or so people on the 3 buses crowded around for photos. I went over to the other side away from the crowds and had some amazing views. Later everyone cleared out and I also took a few good photos of the globe without tourists. Out front of the building is the Children of the World Sculpture.

I booked one of the special dinners in the Hildring dining room. These dinners were not included in the board of the ship, but I wanted to try the “meat dinner”. They also had a king crab night and several fish tasting dinners. I had Norwegian beef tenderloin, rack of lamb, farm duck, reindeer, then chocolate terrin. All delicious and sized to be able to enjoy them all without feeling uncomfortable. I also enjoyed a couple glasses of wine, both glasses were more expensive then an entire bottle in Portugal. Good thing I am frugal except when traveling!

28 April

Ports: Båtsfjord → Vardø → Vadsø → Kirkenes → Vardø → Båtsfjord → Berlevåg

Kirkenes, which I thought pronounced kir-keens, but is kir-ken-EZ. Kirkenes is as far east as we could go in Norway. We were only a few kilometers from Russia. Even the road signs in Kirkenes are in both Norwegian and Russian.

I took the Russian Border tour this morning.

We had a bus waiting for us on the wharf. We had a great guide Jan Henry, a member of the Sami nation.

I’ve read enough WWII history books to know Norway was occupied by the Germans. I didn’t know they were this far north but Kirkenes was a base for the Luftwaffe and also a supply base for fighting the Russians in Murmansk. According to Jan, Kirkenes had over 300 bombing raids, more than any other country in WWII except Malta. Most of the air raids were by the Red Army trying to displace the Nazis. There are only about 3500 people living here but 100,000 Germans were occupying the town. After the Red Army finally liberated the town in 1944, only 13 or 14 homes remained.

Andersgrotta is the bunker where most of the Norwegians sheltered during the raids. We stopped here first and learned how they survived, we saw maps of the Allied convoy ships that sailed the Arctic route to supply the Russians, and learned why Kirkenes was so strategically important to both the Germans and Allies. We saw a 10 minute documentary in the shelter that combined archival and current photos.

We also visited a monument to the Red Army that liberated the town. There was a van painted in the Ukraine flag, “Stop War, Stop Putin” parked by the monument.

We returned to the bus and drove on to the Russian border. Crossing the border is prohibited, of course. At this point, we were only a few minutes from Murmansk if we could cross the border. We made several stops for photos on the way back to the dock.

We had about an hour at Vardø. I misread the information sign about our stop and thought we had until 1730 but the ship was leaving at 1700. Fortunately, they called and I was only a minute or two away and ran back and was last to board about 1659! Yikes.

I saw the Vardøhus festning, the fortress, a beautiful little church and the cemetery, a great playground with large walrus playhouse that looked like a lot of fun to climb on, a “Make the North Great Again” sign, and what looked like an alien spaceship. A very colorful town, glad we had time to visit.

29 April

Ports: Mehamn → Kjøllefjord → Honningsvåg → Havøysund → Hammerfest → Øksfjord → Skjervøy → Tromsø

I booked the Guided City Walk Hammerfest. A few days earlier I had heard Honningsvåg was the northernmost city in mainland Europe and Longyearbyen the northernmost city in the world. Our guide said both were wrong. Hammerfest is the northernmost city in Europe AND the world, since Honningsvåg does not have the population to qualify as a “city”, they illegally counted rural areas. Longyearbyen was not even a town, let alone a “city”, just a small “settlement”. So. Now you know.

We learned about Norway and Napoleon. Napoleon? Really? During the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway was aligned with France and so was attacked by the British. Interesting. We saw a stumblestone or stolpersteine to Isak Meyer Goldman deported to Auschwitz in 1942. We saw the statue for Ole Olsen, composer and conductor, and Henrik Lindstrom, a polar explorer who traveled with Amundsen, and the Hammerfest Kirke with some beautiful stained glass.

I didn’t make time to visit inside Saint Michael’s, the northernmost Catholic church in the world, because I was still reading exhibits in our last stop, the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society. Anyone can join IF you visit Hammerfest and pay 550 kroner. Despite not being “royal” and established in 1963, it had interesting exhibits and historical artifacts. 

30 April

Ports: Finnsnes – Harstad – Risøyhamn – Sortland – Stokmarknes – Svolvær – Stamsund

I had a very busy day. I had booked three excursions.

I had an early tour, A Taste of Vesteralen. We left the ship at Harstad at 0800 and had a bus tour. We stopped first to see the Trondenes Church built between 1180-1440. It has an altar screen from the 14th c and a 1000 year old baptismal font. We had a blessing and prayer from the priest. It is “the northernmost medieval stone church in the world”. There were many “northernmost” in Norway!

We walked from the church over to the Trondenes Historic Center. Part of the historic center and on the grounds, there is a replica stave church from the 12th c and the local guide welcomed us with some beautiful singing. Then we visited the reconstructed farm house before visiting the museum. There are some great exhibits here and I wish I had time to spend reading more of the signs.

Back on the bus we drove through the mountains and fjords of Vesterålen, with some beautiful photo stops, seeing a herd of wild reindeer, and a short ferry crossing before arriving in Sortland. The bus driver pulled over several times and was driving ridiculously slowly (many cars passing him) and I was wondering why. But as we cross the Sortland Bridge, we saw the Polaris passing underneath; later I learned that was part of the tour for some reason. We watched them dock.

That afternoon I had booked the two hour Trollfjord Sea Eagle Safari. The boat was fortunately not a RIB/zodiac and “docked” to the Polaris. I am not sure that is correct terminology but we left the Polaris via a ramp to their boat, the MS Orca. Havila states they are environmentally friendly, etc, so I was disappointed to see them feeding the gulls and attracting eagles via fish. This area is home to the largest population of sea eagles in Norway.

The captain was speaking but it was so loud and windy outside it was impossible to hear him. They supposedly were telling us about Viking heritage and traditional fishing communities. We visited Trollfjord, one of the narrowest in Norway, steep mountains on both sides of the two kilometer fjord with many waterfalls. Beautiful.

We were supposed to meet the Polaris at Svolvær but because of increasing winds and rough seas, we met the ship after about an hour, cutting our tour in half. It was almost impossible to stand on the boat and the wind was knocking people over when they tried to wedge themselves at the rails to get photos.

When we docked in Svolvær, I got off with a local guide and we walked over to the local brewery, Lofotpils Brewery for our tour. Founded by an Icelander, Thorvalde, in 2006 and producing their beer since 2014. His son gave us the tour. The brewery is in an old fishing center from 1937. We had a short tour of the brewery, the different hops they use, learned about their mountain water, voted best tasting water three times in competition with 120 countries. We also heard why alcohol is so very, very expensive in Norway. We had tastings of 7 of their beers.

1 May

Ports: Bodø → Ørnes → Sandnessjøen → Brønnøysund → Rørvik

We crossed the Arctic Circle heading south. There were several excursions today but I didn’t book any. I just enjoyed a relaxing day on the ship, doing laps outside on deck 9 and loving the views. I did get off for a short walk around Bronnoy.

2 May

Ports: Trondheim → Kristiansund → Molde → Ålesund

I booked The Atlantic Road tour today. The Atlantic Road or Atlanterhavsvegen is considered one of the world’s most beautiful drives. It is a total of 35 kilometers, from Kristiansund to Molde. It was voted Norway’s “construction of the century” in 2005. So it’s quite a popular excursion and there were two bus loads of people, one with English speaking guide, the second for Norwegian and German speakers.

We disembarked at Kristiansund. We went through the long Atlantic Ocean Tunnel, a 5 km long undersea tunnel, to Averøy Island. Our first stop was the Kvernes Stave Church from the 16th c. This is the only stave church, or a church built with timber frames, built after the reformation. It has some amazing decorations inside and we had a guide explaining some of the art. It has beautiful foliage painted on the walls and ceiling and a Baroque alter.

We stopped for a dinner of cod or bacalao.

The most famous section of the Atlantic Road is from Kårvåg to Bud, about 8 kilometers, with the most famous of the bridges, Storseisundet bridge. This is the longest of the eight bridges on the route, measuring 260 meters. Because of the way it’s built it looks like it ends abruptly when driving over it.

We stopped before the bridge at the Eldhusøya rest area. It has a boardwalk around the small island, a 700-meter path with incredible views of the Storseisundet Bridge and the ocean. We were given time to walk this route before continuing our trip.

We went through more tunnels and over more bridges before arriving in Molde, where we waited for the ship to dock. One of my favorite tours, definitely worth the money, gorgeous.

3 May

Ports: Torvik → Måløy → Florø → Bergen

We had sunny skies as we sailed from Ålesund to Bergen. There were many lighthouses, small islands, narrow straits, huge bridges. We didn’t see this on our first day since we were sailing in the evening. We all appreciated the great weather since we had to exit our rooms at 1000, so the decks and observation lounges were crowded.

We disembarked around 1430, deck by deck. I took a Bolt to my hotel, dropping off my bags. Unfortunately, being Sunday, the museums and many sites I wanted to see closed early. I mostly just walked around town to enjoy the good weather, but had time to visit the inside of Saint Mary’s and the Lille Lundgegardsvannet park. I met Jean and Tony, my neighbors from the ship, later at Daily Pot for dinner.

4 May

I had a morning walking tour scheduled. We started at the Sailor’s Monument, walked over to the Music Pavilion and saw the statue of Edvard Hagerup Grieg, a famous Norwegian composer. I thought he looked just like Mark Twain! We continued to Lille Lundgegarsvannet, talked about the Kode Art Museums on the pond. I really wanted to see this but it closed Sunday at 1500 and was closed all day Monday unfortunately. We walked to the Old Town Hall, discussed the traditional clothing, saw the statue of Ludwig Holberg, writer and playwright, on Vågsallmenningen square. Our guide took us down Skostredet street and pointed out some good places to eat, a chocolate store she recommended before we made a stop at the Fish Market then headed to Bryggen. We ended the tour at the Berganhus Fortress. Busy, good morning. And despite calling for rain, we had clear skies. Unfortunately, I did get some later that afternoon.

I had a quick lunch of a hot dog at Trekroneren.

That afternoon I visited the Gestapomuseet Bergen. It’s on the third floor of a building, there is a sign out front but then you have to use the door bell and get buzzed in. These cells were used to hold political prisoners and suspected resistance fighters. Later, after the liberation of Norway in 1944, the prison held SS troops. You need a good translate app, since all the information is only in Norwegian, unfortunately. I used DeepL to take photos of the signs. There is an additional room of stories and memories from children who saw their parents killed or captured by the Nazis, that is both depressing and very interesting.

I also went to the Bergen Maritime Museum or Sjofartsmuseum. They show a great video on Viking funerals. Pieces of a viking funeral ship found in a bog are on display, great maps of their exploration routes, and much more about Norwegian shipping and fishing industry. I didn’t spend as much time here as I should have since I also wanted to get to the Bryggens Museum.

This is a excellent museum with archeological ruins and great artifacts on the lower floor. Signs in English! The upstairs is a special exhibit by artist Ragna Breivik, “Åsmund Frægdagjeva”. The story is interesting and the tapestries are beautiful. Glad I made time for this, I spent about 90 minutes here.

I had a list of recommended restaurants to try, was planning on going back to Bryggeloftet & Stuene for a steak, but just picked up another hot dog from Trekroneren and then had a couple local beers at Folk & Røvere.

Norway is expen$ive! And I didn’t feel like paying the equivalent of €40 for a plate of pasta or a pizza, let alone the steak.

I left the next morning for Portugal. Norway may be expensive but it is incredibly beautiful. So glad for an opportunity to visit.

Restaurants

• Bryggeloftet & Stuene
• Nonna Lina
• Raketten Bar & Pølse
• Daily Pot
• Trekroneren
• Folk & Røvere

** All photos property of Lisa – except where indicated – and not to be copied or reproduced **