Lofoten

[shoreham01]

We will be docking in Gravdal in June and want to do one of the Princess Excursions. The two we are interested in are 'Scenic Drive and Ballstad' which visits beaches of Haukland and Utakleiv. The other one is 'Svolvaer, Henningsvaer, Ice Bar and Gallery'. We are most interested in seeing wonderful scenery. Can anyone help us with our choice?

[TLCOhio]

We will be docking in Gravdal in June and want to do one of the Princess Excursions. The two we are interested in are 'Scenic Drive and Ballstad' which visits beaches of Haukland and Utakleiv. The other one is 'Svolvaer, Henningsvaer, Ice Bar and Gallery'. We are most interested in seeing wonderful scenery. Can anyone help us with our choice?

 

This past July, we did two different stops in the wonderful Lofoten Island. Lots of great things to see and do. If you can work things out with another couple, here's a great suggestion. We had earlier arranged a rental car to head south for our group of two couples to travel south via the area’s one main highway, the E10. Hard to get lost that way with only one roadway.

 

We were able to see the sights and natural surroundings that are regarded to be among the most stunning in Norway. Leknes is juat a couple of miles from Gravdal. These islands have its mountains, peaks, cliffs and white sandy beaches that attract the elite of Norway to be a key vacation spot during their summers. With 2,647 people, Leknes is the trading and shopping centre of this 70-miles long island archipelago. There are 35,000 people living on all of the islands and they are 886 miles northeast of Bergen. In November 2007, National Geographic Traveler rated the Lofoten islands of Northern Norway as the third most appealing islands in the world. In Leknes, the sun (midnight sun) is above the horizon from May 26 to July 17, and in winter the sun does not rise from December 9 to
 January 4. For our visit on July 7, the average high is 57 and a low of 50. The record high is 71 and record low of 46 on this July 7 date. We will have twenty-four hours of daylight. Latitude at Leknes is 68.1° N.

 

Our second stop, when heading south from the North Cape, was Svolvaer. That is very enjoyable. We didn't do the Ice Bar, but our friends did. Have lots lots more pictures and details to share. Check out the below blog/live posting for lots more visuals and details on these great and scenic islands.

 

Questions and reactions? What's your sense of adventure? Happy to share more info and visuals.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 29,180 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

An historic seaport and cod fishing center south of Leknes is Nusfjord. Here is one of its buildings. You can go inside its cod processing building, see birds perched on a large rock, etc.:

 

 

 

Next, we went to the end of the road on this island. It is a village called “A”. In their alphabet, this “A” has a small “o” above the letter. Simple name for a charming fishing town. We had box lunches from the ship and dined on a picnic table on the wooden dock. This was our view with the busy and noisy birds.:

 

 

 

As we drive back on the Lofoten Islands along the Norway Coast, here is another view, among many, we enjoyed.:

 

 

 

These are some of the green cliffs in the Lofotens as the sun came out in a stronger manner to add drama to these sights and sites.:

 

 

 

Here are some of the many wooden racks for fish drying these islands.:

 

 

 

Near the main E10 roadway in the southern part of the Lofoten Island is this historic Flakstad Kirke church that was built in 1780. It has a Russian design/look as certain of its materials were donated by those from that country.:

 

[shoreham01]

Thank you Terry for your advice and lovely photos. We definately would not travel in a hire car, too frightened we would not get back to ship. As we would only consider doing the Princess choices do you think we would be better doing the one to the ice bar or the one to the beach?

Suzanne

[TLCOhio]

Thank you Terry for your advice and lovely photos. We definately would not travel in a hire car, too frightened we would not get back to ship. As we would only consider doing the Princess choices do you think we would be better doing the one to the ice bar or the one to the beach? Suzanne

 

THANKS, Suzanne, for the follow-up and nice comments. I wouldn't rule out the rental car, maybe with another couple. But since Norway is silly in being on the "WRONG SIDE" of the road compared to the UK, I can understand a little where you are coming from. I've done driving in Ireland, Wales and England, doing just fine, including in London.

 

In looking at the details for these four options, here are the summaries and my reactions:

 

Scenic Drive & Ballstad: Two hours, just riding in a bus. Good news is that this one is very short and probably cheaper. BUT, I doubt this one really gives you that good of a feel for these spectacular islands, nor a fishing village with much real history.

 

Svolvaer, Henningsvær, Ice Bar & Gallery: Four hours, more stops and things to see and do, including an ice bar.

 

Flakstad Church, Sund & Nusfjord: Seven hours offering a much, much wider sampling of this area and seeing this really neat and historic fishing village. This church you would see was shown in one of my earlier pictures. .

 

Nusfjord & Lofotr Viking Museum: Four hours giving you this very interesting, historic village, but not taking up the whole day.

 

One of my earlier pictures showed Nusfjord, one of the best-preserved fishing villages in the Lofoten. Nusfjord was once selected for the European Architectural Heritage Year and is now operated as an open-air museum, inviting study of the architecture of the fisherman's dwellings and their lifestyle during that era.

 

What's your personal interest in history, scenic areas? Budget flexibility? Tell me more on your exact interests. It's a personal choice for what you like most to see and do. We had great weather for both days on these islands. Below are a few more shots for this super, scenic area. Added reactions and info???

 

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 29,180 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Here is a sampling for more rocks and dramatic scenery in this southern part of the Lofoten Islands.:

 

 

 

 

 

At Nusfjord, here are some its birds perched on a large rock:

 

 

 

Framed by two building in main Svolvaer, here is a viewing of a major peak overlooking this town.:

 

 

 

As we departed Svolvaer in the Lofoten Islands on a perfect, sunny day, these are two of the green, tree-covered mountains rising up from the sea that we saw with the small out-islands in the foreground.:

 

[shoreham01]

Thanks again Terry. I think we will probably go for the Svolvaer, Henningsvaer and Ice Bar as that seems to be best for us. We have visited Norway before and really love to see the scenery rather than museums. Museums are great, but when you are somewhere for such a short time scenery wins for us. I have looked up the beaches on youtube and they do look lovely but it is a very short excursion. We live by the sea so although these beaches are far more scenic than ours, we do spend a lot of time walking along the beach here. Just thinking aloud really Terry. The only other place we are doing an excusion is at Honningsvag where I have booked us on the trip up to the visitors gallery. The excursions are so expensive which is why we are not doing any others. We have stayed overnight in Bergen and had a look around by ourselves including going up the mountain. We have also been on a tour which took us up the fjords and also inland for a week. Last March we were in Tromso for a week which was fantastic, but so very expensive. So you can see we love Norway and look forward to travelling up to Svalbard.

[cat-tav]

Terry, your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! What kind of camera do you use?

[TLCOhio]

Terry, your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! What kind of camera do you use?

 

Appreciate the nice comments on the pictures!

 

My camera used on past travels has been a Nikon D50 SLR. Good, but not at the super-pro, high-end level. Lots of people have cameras at and near that quality or comparable. These days, the digital technology has improved so much that nearly everyone can take good to great pictures. In early October, I upgraded to a new Nikon D3100. It does high definition, 1080p video, plus its still pictures are done at a much pixel level and the viewing screen is much larger and sharper. Plus, this camera has many other improvements, etc. Below you can check some of my tips, secrets and suggestions for getting better pictures. It's titled: Baltics/Picture Secrets! Key Tips, Ideas, etc. Check this summary out and let me know your feed-back, questions and comments.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=977864

 

Since I have an "SLR" or single lens reflex camera, that bring up the question of lens. I have a 10-20 mm lens that gives a wider angle view than average. That really helped create some picture "drama" without being too wide and distorted as can happen with a fish-eye lens. This wide-angle lens does especially well for the interiors of great churches and historic buildings. There are cases where my longer lens (have a Nikkor 70-300 mm zoom) can really help. In many cases, my basic Nikkor 18-55 mm zoom covers the middle range very well and is used the most. It's nice to have only one lens that covers all needs, but then you lose some in the desired picture quality.

 

On such trips as recently to Norway and the Baltics, I download my pictures most days to the MacBook Pro laptop that I usually bring along for such trip. Today's technology makes it easier to straighten pictures, adjust the cropping, fix color balance, etc. By taking the laptop along, downloading and checking the pictures as I travel, it helps to know what I'm getting and improve my "focus" as I travel in such great, scenic places. Playing with the pictures on the flight back while I listen to the "tunes" on my computer also helps pass the time quicker. Many laptops also have great programs to put these pictures into nice “slide shows” with various great visuals tools to add titles, do dissolves, etc.

 

I found taking cruise and travel pictures is fun, plus much, much cheaper than shopping for souvenirs. It also keeps these memories "fresh" as you can re-live your experiences, share them with friends, etc.

 

THANKS for asking and noticing! Reactions?

 

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 29,800 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923