Passengers cruising the Norwegian coast during summer have just one problem. With shipboard activities, shore excursions and 24-hour-a-day sightseeing (Norway truly is The Land of the Midnight Sun), it’s hard to find time to sleep.
Stretching from below 58 degrees latitude to well inside the Arctic Circle, the fjords give Norway a shoreline of 12,000 miles – a distance equal to halfway around the earth. Some fjords measure less than a mile; others, many times that length.
Despite the effect on your slumber schedule, the best way to discover the coastline’s tucked-away treasures is by taking the Norwegian Coastal Voyage, which goes between Stavanger in the south to beyond the North Cape, providing a passing panorama of towering peaks, rolling green hillsides, waterfalls, and glaciers. Boats leave every day and the round-trip takes ten days. Shorter trips are also available (there are direct flights and frequent land transportation overland to Oslo from the larger ports of call. These are not cruise ships; meals and accommodations are relatively simple. The boats also carry freight, which they offload at towns along the route.
A Variety of Viewpoints
No two views of the shoreline are quite the same. For example, on its way to Tromso, the ship travels between the mainland and the jagged peaks of the Lofoten Wall that soar out of the water for 60 spectacular miles. North of Tromso, however, the landscape gentles into rolling hills, fairy-tale villages and garden plots, green with summer produce.
At ports of call, a variety of excursions await (prices vary). One is to Sogneforden, mightiest of them all, which pushes 112 miles in from the sea. Granite walls thrust skyward from water’s edge. And wherever there’s a vaguely horizontal piece of land, there’s sure to be an orchard, a village or a picture-postcard farmhouse with starched ruffles and pots of red geraniums in the windows. Another is to Gieranger, Norway’s most spectacular fjord, a fantasy of plunging waterfalls and cliffs that only mountain goats care to climb.
Just to say they’ve been there, most passengers take the bumpy drive from Honnigsvag through dreary terrain to the North Cape, one of the windiest, bleakest spots on earth. You’ll enjoy the shore excursions in Tromso, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger more – and be a whole lot cozier, since summertime temperatures usually hover between 65 to 70 degrees F.
Exploring on Your Own
If you decide to explore on your own, don’t miss Bergen’s city center (Centrum), with its Hanseatic League warehouses and harborside market (torget). Trondheim’s highlights include the 12th century Nidaros Cathedral, the Ringve Music Museum and Kunstindustrimuseum, with its Hannah Ryggen tapestries depicting the World War II occupation. Prosperous Stavanger’s Old Town oozes charm and Tromso’s Arctic Cathedral provides a spectacular photo opportunity.
Shopping
Shoppers will find the latest kitchen gadgets as well as traditional krumkage irons and sandbakkel tins in homeware stores. Stationery shops are the place to buy note paper and gift wrap in traditional Nordic designs. Matsenters (supermarkets) brim with tinned sardines, Jarlsberg cheese, tyttebaer jam (somewhat like cranberry) and other tastes of Norway. Enamelware earrings, intricately patterned ski sweaters, pewter letter openers, and hand-carved trolls are enticing, too.
Back on ship, although there aren’t a host of activities, there might be a card game in the lounge and there are always chances to meet people from other counties. In fact, on some sailings, you might find that you’re the only passengers from North America on board.
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