tips for trips (norway)

[dizzymare]

Hi we are going on cruise to norwegian fjords in august, Ports of call are alesund, bergen, flam and olden. Can anyone give me anytips on what is not to be missed; what I will need an organised excursion for and what I can do under own steam. many thanks

[HW tenpin]

Hi Dizzy,

All can be done on your own, although you will get a good insight by ships tours about the Country. Norway is expensive overall so just choose tours carefully, as you can pay almost as much trying to do them privately.

Flam is easy on your own as is Bergen, (free shuttle on the last) to town centre.

In Flam get of ship as soon as you can go to tourist office right on Quayside to your right and buy train tickets, lovely ride to top, either stay on train for return pr take a walk at top. or get on mini-tram dockside to left for a ride round lower port and surrounding town. both excellent value.

[bountycat]

Hello Dizzymare

I have not been to Olden but have been to the other three ports on more than one occasion with Thomson cruises.

All are easy to do on your own, (and even though Norway is an expensive country, considerably cheaper than the organised tours).

In Bergen, I have docked in two separate locations both on the edge of the city centre. Whilst I walked in, there are shuttle buses if you are less mobile or not keen to walk. The city centre is attractive and interesting and weather permitting a trip up the funicular offers good views of the city.

Flam likewise is easy. The ship docks 5 minutes walk from the station. The train ride is a must even though it is expensive.

In Alesund, the ship docks in the town centre - and a short walk away from an attractive art nouveau town which is a delight to walk around. There is a walk up many steps to an overlooking hill from where there are beautiful views.

Tourist information staff usually greet the ship's arrival with streetplans, leaflets, advice etc. I also find the Lonely Planet guides useful.

[dizzymare]

thank you for your help. I will let you know how we get on, but i'm sure we will love it

[rakhistore]

Hi,
where was starting point at this?

[dizzymare]

The cruise sails from Harwich in the UK

[dizzymare]

ok so now have worked out what I am doing:
(getting excited now)

In Flam, we are doing the train to myrdal and walking back down to berekvam (same as ships trip but loads cheaper). Should then have time to look around town too. In Alesund we are going to sunmore museum and look around town. In Olden we will do ships trip to glacier. In Bergen, fish market, funicular and hanseatic houses.

Anything else that I really should not miss, or will this cover main attractions?

thanks for helps

[dizzymare]

well, been back from this cruise about a month. (to busy to post) but had a fab time. The spirit is a small ship but we like it that way. Food was great. Weather was atrocious. We were meant to arrive at allesund Sunday a.m but weather was so bad that we missed out this destination altogether, and arrived at flam sunday evening instead. By this time we were dying to get off the ship, especially as we had been confined to indoors by the weather, and the kids couldnt use the pool or the sports court. The upside was that we got to the railway station at flam the day before and bought tickets so that saved time the next day. It was still raining the next day, but we did the flam railway to myrdal, and then walked back to berekvam - absolutely gorgeous even with the rain. The following day we did an organised trip from olden to the glacier - worth every penny (still wet though) and on the last day we went to Bergen - also in the rain. we caught the funicular up the mountain only for the mist to clear as we got off to reveal breathtaking views. The sea was very rough again coming home. All in all we had a fantastic holiday despite the weather. Norway is so beautiful (and I can only imagine how much more so it would have been in the sunshine) I would definitely go back.