Norway Cruise – Explore the best parts of Arctic Fjords & Coastal Highlights

When you arrive at Oslo‘s Gardermoen Airport, make your way into Oslo‘s city centre. Many travellers opt to take the express train to Oslo Central Station, but we can arrange a private transfer for you (at additional cost). For those arriving early, we recommend exploring Oslo by foot, spending the afternoon at sights including the Munch Museum, Akershus fortress, Oslo Opera, and the Aker Brygge area.

Spend the night in Oslo.

This morning, get an early start to explore the Norwegian capital. We recommend booking a guided bus tour that will take you along the famous landmarks of the city. Highlights include the beautiful Vigeland Sculpture Park, the Royal Palace, and Oslo City Hall.

Another option is to tour Oslo on your own visiting some of the above attractions, or others like the Viking Ship Museum, Fram Polar Ship Museum and Karl Johans street. You will then have the rest of the day to explore at your own leisure.

Spend another night in Oslo.

Get an early start and head to Oslo Central Station, where you’ll begin the Norway in a Nutshell® railway journey towards Bergen, with an overnight stop in Flåm. This train ride takes you over Norway’s “mountainous rooftops”, through charming villages like Gol and Geilo.

In Myrdal, you’ll switch trains to the famous Flåm Railway (Flåmsbana) for an incredible ride to the beautiful village of Flåm. Enjoy a relaxing day in Flåm, where you can follow one of the many hiking trails in the mountains around the village, or participate in an optional activity, such as kayaking, fjord sightseeing or visiting the Stegastein platform.

Spend the night in Flåm.

Spend the morning at leisure, either relaxing at the hotel or taking a walk along the fjord.

Around noon, you’ll board a boat to sail through Aurlandsfjord into the World Heritage-listed Nærøyfjord, the narrowest fjord in all of Europe. This is perhaps the most beautiful arm of Sognefjord, with its mighty waterfalls and small farms clinging to the steep mountainsides. The boat docks in Gudvangen, from where you’ll be transported by bus up Stalheimskleiva, Northern Europe’s steepest stretch of road. After a thrilling ride around 13 hairpin bends and a brief pause to enjoy the view from Stalheim Hotel, you will continue to Voss to board the train for the last stretch of the journey to Bergen.

Spend the night in Bergen.

Despite being an international city, Bergen, “The Capital of the Fjords”, has all the charms of a small town. Here you’ll find Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage site, along with remarkably preserved old houses, a lively fish and flower market, cable cars offering stunning views, great museums and more. We recommend riding the Fløibanen Funicular to Mount Fløyen to enjoy the panoramic view of the city or a cable car up Mt. Ulriken. Bergen is also known for its museums dedicated to history within trade and fisheries, architecture, musical art and contemporary art.

Spend another night in Bergen.

Enjoy the early part of the day exploring Bergen. In the evening, you’ll enter the next stage of your journey as you embark on the Norwegian Coastal Voyage with Hurtigruten. Norway’s dramatic 2,000-kilometre west coast is one of Europe’s great attractions, and for more than 100 years, this popular journey has been offering travellers a unique combination of history, culture and incredible views.

After your fjord cruise sets sail, you will enjoy a tasty Norwegian dinner buffet consisting of the best ingredients from the coast and you can spend the rest of your evening at leisure. Onboard you’ll stay in a comfortable outside cabin with private facilities.

Spend the night on board Hurtigruten.

You will continue your scenic coastal voyage today from Florø to Molde. This morning, you can enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the Nordfjord, followed by a delicious breakfast. As the ship sails past the West Cape, you will enter the open ocean before reaching Ålesund, which is known for its beautiful Art Nouveau architecture.

From the 2 June – 1 September, the ship sails to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Geiranger fjord, where you will see 800-meter high mountains and wondrous waterfalls like the Seven Sisters and the Bridal Veil. In this season travellers can choose to stay in Ålesund for a few hours or join the cruise to Geiranger, which we highly recommend.

Spend the night on board the ship.

Early in the morning, the ship pulls in to the historic city of Trondheim. Here you will have about 3.5 hours to explore the city on your own or take an optional sightseeing tour. Trondheim is the original capital of Norway, and until the 16th century, the city was known as Nidaros. Here you will find Nidaros Cathedral, which is one of Scandinavia’s largest buildings from the Middle Ages, along with tiny, picturesque old wooden houses. From Trondheim, the ship sails on to Rorvik, where the southbound and northbound coastal ships meet.

Spend another night on board the ship.

Today you will cross the Arctic Circle while enjoying spectacular sights, including islands and skerries with interesting rock formations jutting out of the deep waters. The ship will dock in Bodo for 2.5 hours, which is a lovely place to wander, catching glimpses of sea birds and rolling nature.

In the evening, the ship will make a 1-hour stop in Svolvær, Lofoten, a small, picturesque fishing village with a charming Scandinavian atmosphere. You can take a stroll between stockfish racks and traditional fishermen huts called ‘rorbuer’, and for people that wish to spend more time in Lofoten, optional shore excursions are available.

Spend another night on board the ship.

In the morning, you’ll pass Risøyhamn, Harstad, and Finnsnes before sailing across the Vagsfjord to a magnificent archipelago in the north. Later today, the ship stops in Tromsø, the main event of the day, where you will explore the lively town in northern Norway. Nicknamed “the Paris of the North”, this city was a major port of call for Arctic expedition and hunting ships in the 19th century–a part of history that is still evident here. Throughout the year, you can join guided hikes and discover more of Tromsø and its surroundings. After an exhilarating day in Tromsø, you will board the ship and continue your northbound journey.

Spend another night on board the ship.

Finnmark’s landscape and wildlife is not to be missed. Scores of puffins and gannets along the cliffs and pods of Orca hunting for herring make for a unique experience. The ship stops at Honningsvåg today, and we recommend that you board a bus for a short optional excursion to the famous North Cape. In the summer, you may see herds of grazing reindeer and small camps belonging to the indigenous Sámi people. After this shore stop, the ship navigates east toward the pretty fishing villages.

Spend another night on board the ship.

Enjoy one last breakfast at sea before the ship docks in Kirkenes around 9:00 this morning. This Arctic town lies on the borders of Russia and Finland and is home to some 3,300 inhabitants, including the Sámi, the native people of Lapland. For such a small town, Kirkenes offers an impressive range of things to see and do, and the rest of the day is free for you to try out an optional excursion or just relax in the town. It is here that your cruise up north comes to an end.

Spend the night in Kirkenes.

After an incredible time in Norway, it’s time to head home today. Your tour ends at Kirkenes Airport, where you will fly to Oslo-Gardermoen Airport at noon, connecting to your flight back home.