Winter Norway Round Trip - Any "Mustn't Miss" Excursions or good advice?

[BORDER REIVER]

Well, we've finally got our Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen cruise booked for end of February / beginning of March 2014 and are looking forward to it immensely.

Among those of you who have travelled this route at that time of year, are there any excursions or sights that you would say should not be missed - we would like to book excursions early.

We've already identified a midnight concert at the Arctic Cathedral and a Husky sled ride as things we would like to do. Any other suggestions?

Also, any tips that would make the journey more enjoyable? After reading some reports, we've asked for a cabin on the Starboard side to avoid noise from loading/unloading at night.

[SarniaLo]

I have done the round trip (or almost) three times in the winter (you can look at my trip reports in my blog, the latest one - February 2013 - is still ongoing). The only excursion I have done is the North Cape. I went a bit reluctantly to that excursion the first time and it turned out really nice, the landscape in winter is stunning and you have the site almost to yourself (Hurtigruten passengers are about the only tourists at that time of year). And Honningsvag (the North Cape port) is nice but not that exciting to visit so I think it's worth it.

 

I have heard really good feedbacks from fellow passengers for the Husky sled ride in Tromso (and the one in Kirkenes seems nice as well) and from the Vesteraalen bus excursion on the way back, which allows to have a glimpse of the "inside" landscape of those islands, you might want to look into it. In my opinion, all the towns can be visited on your own.

 

My best tip would be "be outside as much as you can" to enjoy fully the landscape, the lights, the colors, the crisp air... Which ship will you be on? Find a spot sheltered from the wind and enjoy. The colors in sunset and sunrise particularly are incredible in the winter.

 

Clothing-wise, bring layers, a good windproof/waterproof (and breathable) winter jacket, be sure to have your extremities (feet, hands, head) warm. It probably won't get *that* cold for most of the trip (around 0°C probably) except in the North (and also Trondheim can get quite cold, we had -15°C at Christmas and -10°C in February). The wind although can be a killer (the speed of the boat itself will create a feeling of wind and cold). This time we brought spikes for our shoes (a spiked sole to attach under your shoes) and they turned out to be helpful in some places. If you feel like it, you can also bring a collapsible hiking pole (I didn't need it).

 

If you have any questions I'll be happy to help! I'm becoming quite addicted to that trip. :D

[BORDER REIVER]

I have done the round trip (or almost) three times in the winter (you can look at my trip reports in my blog, the latest one - February 2013 - is still ongoing). The only excursion I have done is the North Cape. I went a bit reluctantly to that excursion the first time and it turned out really nice, the landscape in winter is stunning and you have the site almost to yourself (Hurtigruten passengers are about the only tourists at that time of year). And Honningsvag (the North Cape port) is nice but not that exciting to visit so I think it's worth it.

 

I have heard really good feedbacks from fellow passengers for the Husky sled ride in Tromso (and the one in Kirkenes seems nice as well) and from the Vesteraalen bus excursion on the way back, which allows to have a glimpse of the "inside" landscape of those islands, you might want to look into it. In my opinion, all the towns can be visited on your own.

 

My best tip would be "be outside as much as you can" to enjoy fully the landscape, the lights, the colors, the crisp air... Which ship will you be on? Find a spot sheltered from the wind and enjoy. The colors in sunset and sunrise particularly are incredible in the winter.

 

Clothing-wise, bring layers, a good windproof/waterproof (and breathable) winter jacket, be sure to have your extremities (feet, hands, head) warm. It probably won't get *that* cold for most of the trip (around 0°C probably) except in the North (and also Trondheim can get quite cold, we had -15°C at Christmas and -10°C in February). The wind although can be a killer (the speed of the boat itself will create a feeling of wind and cold). This time we brought spikes for our shoes (a spiked sole to attach under your shoes) and they turned out to be helpful in some places. If you feel like it, you can also bring a collapsible hiking pole (I didn't need it).

 

If you have any questions I'll be happy to help! I'm becoming quite addicted to that trip. :D

Thanks for your reply SarniaLo.

We are sailing on Nordnorge, the ship that featured in the televised journey. I managed to get a free copy of the highlights of Minute by Minute, 4 DVD's - 12 hours, amazing scenery.

We visited Honningsvag on our recent cruise and chose not to visit the North Cape because of the expense and crowds, but we did a 3 hour excursion visiting some lovely fishing villages and could see the North Cape, both from our coach and from the late evening cruise just below the Cape.

 

We both do mountain climbing in winter as well as summer, so we've got all the necessary warm and waterproof clothing. We both also have mini spikes for our boots that we use if we don't need our crampons. They are light and small so we'll take them along too.

Thanks again.

[SarniaLo]

We visited Honningsvag on our recent cruise and chose not to visit the North Cape because of the expense and crowds, but we did a 3 hour excursion visiting some lovely fishing villages and could see the North Cape, both from our coach and from the late evening cruise just below the Cape.

Beautiful picture! Quite an experience.

Keep in mind though that in winter there are no other options in Honningsvag than : North Cape excursion, a walk around town on your own, or a nap in your cabin! ;)

At this season the only tourists at the North Cape will be the Hurtigruten passsengers (and maybe a couple of private cars) so probably around 100 people and that's it (on my very first trip, we were 25!). And you can get a different view of the island's landscape than what you have experienced. I'm not pushing you for this excursion, just saying that I think that the North Cape/Mageroya in winter is a completely different experience than summer.

 

As for the Hurtigruten "minute by minute" television experience, do you know that you can still see the whole thing online?

http://nrk.no/hurtigruten/?lang=en

You can click on any position on the map.

Of course if you have the DVD then you probably don't need to watch this as much, but for others considering a trip with Hurtigruten I think it's a very good ressource to know. And on the website you have the beautiful music pieces, which were not included in the DVD for copyright reasons (the arrival in Molde, with the sax player, and in Stamsund and Svolvaer for instance are breathtaking).

[digitl]

We have previously done the dog sledding in Tromso and it was wonderful. 12 huskies pulling, in the snow, in the dark, with the way ahead lit only by a head torch and with the lights of Tromso in the distance...

 

As for other activities: spend your days outside watching the landscape change, ask to be notified by phone in your cabin if the Northern Lights appear and take a walk into town whenever the stopover is long enough.

 

As SarniaLo has said, layers are essential if you are to stay comfortable and we found that waterproofing was vital as there can be heavy downpours when you least expect it.

[RSF Cruiser]

We had signed up for dog sledding in Tromso and Kirkenes. The Tromso trip was cancelled since it was too warm! Here's a link to my review: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=113782

 

We got off the boat at just about every stop and explored. If you like to tour on your own, here are some of the things we did in the ports:

 

In Alesund we "hiked" to the top of Aksla Mountain. We walked from the pier, through town and a little park, and then up the "mountain" on a well paved path to the top where there was a restaurant and magnificent view of Alesund and the port. It's also interesting to walk along the fjord/waterway on the edge of town.

 

In Trondheim friends picked us up and drove us to the cathedral, but I think you can walk there from the pier or take a Hurtigruten tour. The cathedral is similar to Notre Dam, although a bit smaller. And of course there's the bridge to the wharf area and Old Trondheim.

 

I thought the Viking Feast in the Lofoten Islands (Hurtigruten excursion) was OK, but I probably wouldn't do that again. The food was good and the Viking re-enactment was cute, but you spend a lot of time on the bus. I prefer the water to a bus to get between places.

 

In Honningsvag we walked over to the church on the edge of town, and then we took a trail up the hillside overlooking Honningsvag. The view was once again beautiful.

 

Hammerfest was another interesting town to walk around. There is a church that looks similar in design to the Arctic Cathedral in Tromso. Hammerfest also has some interesting sculptures and monuments.

 

In Svolvaer we walked over to the Magic Ice display - would highly recommend seeing all of the ice sculptures there.

 

We had no problem finding these places, and the locals were very friendly and helpful. We went in Dec/Jan, so the streets were covered with snow and ice. I wore shoe chains and had a hiking stick. The shoe chains were necessary, not sure if the stick was.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and would be happy to answer any of your questions. I hope to do it again in March some day...

[BORDER REIVER]

We had signed up for dog sledding in Tromso and Kirkenes. The Tromso trip was cancelled since it was too warm! Here's a link to my review: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=113782

 

We got off the boat at just about every stop and explored. If you like to tour on your own, here are some of the things we did in the ports:

 

In Alesund we "hiked" to the top of Aksla Mountain. We walked from the pier, through town and a little park, and then up the "mountain" on a well paved path to the top where there was a restaurant and magnificent view of Alesund and the port. It's also interesting to walk along the fjord/waterway on the edge of town.

 

In Trondheim friends picked us up and drove us to the cathedral, but I think you can walk there from the pier or take a Hurtigruten tour. The cathedral is similar to Notre Dam, although a bit smaller. And of course there's the bridge to the wharf area and Old Trondheim.

 

I thought the Viking Feast in the Lofoten Islands (Hurtigruten excursion) was OK, but I probably wouldn't do that again. The food was good and the Viking re-enactment was cute, but you spend a lot of time on the bus. I prefer the water to a bus to get between places.

 

In Honningsvag we walked over to the church on the edge of town, and then we took a trail up the hillside overlooking Honningsvag. The view was once again beautiful.

 

Hammerfest was another interesting town to walk around. There is a church that looks similar in design to the Arctic Cathedral in Tromso. Hammerfest also has some interesting sculptures and monuments.

 

In Svolvaer we walked over to the Magic Ice display - would highly recommend seeing all of the ice sculptures there.

 

We had no problem finding these places, and the locals were very friendly and helpful. We went in Dec/Jan, so the streets were covered with snow and ice. I wore shoe chains and had a hiking stick. The shoe chains were necessary, not sure if the stick was.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and would be happy to answer any of your questions. I hope to do it again in March some day...

Thanks for the reply. This and replies from digitl & sarniaLo are a great help. I've read your report & the bit about the Tromso dogsledding being cancelled was useful. We weren't sure about whether to do that activity there or at Kirkenes & we had almost decided on Kirkenes - so that helped us a lot. We visited the sled dog place from Tromso last month & it was interesting. We also climbed Mt.Aksla from the ship, not realising that our short tour coach would take us there again in the afternoon. Glad we walked up though, the morning light was perfect for photos.

 

 

We're not sure about how much snow there'll be in early March, but the locals in Honningsvag told us that this year they had lots of it until April.

We'll be getting our timetable soon. I believe our flight arrives in Bergen in late morning, so we'll have time to explore a bit more than our previous 2 visits.

[RSF Cruiser]

What a great photo - thanks for sharing.

 

We had fun wandering the streets in Bergen - went up into the hills between the Hurtigruten and historic harbors - there was a little park, some pretty steep streets, and great houses to see.

 

Hope you have a terrific trip.

[Lexicruiser]

My husband and I had a wonderful sailing from Bergen/Geiranger/Kikenes/Bergen in Sept. 06. The scenery was fascinating and I always wanted to experience the Northern Lights. Now I a m taking a 7 day cruise with my daughter end of November in search of those lights on the same ship the Midnatsol. All your great comments will help us enjoy the great fjords of Norway.