Has anyone done the Hellesylt to Geiranger 8 hour excursion

[sammiedawg]

Hello Janet and others,

We just did a similar Artic circle cruise with Holland America and really enjoyed Norway. I did not hear of a single private tour in any port. Norway is shockingly expensive but many things can be done on your own for a reasonable price.

We did no ship tours or transfers. The ship excursions were so ridiculously expensive many passengers toured on their own, prebooking rental cars, train rides, bus and fiord cruises. Many went to tourist information offices to book tours for the day or found hop on hop off buses at the port.

I am traveling and using a tablet so it is difficult to post links.

In Geiranger we per booked the bus to Mt Dalsnibba. It was terrific. I think we paid about $40 per person and the ship charged $119.00 with an added stop for a snack or something. All ships tender, there is no dock.

At Honnisvag we rented a minivan for 7 and drove to Nordkapp. Very easy drive. We stopped at a bird safari on the way and we had a reservation for the bird watching boat. It was $100 to go on the safari. From memory the web site was bird safari.com. Nordkapp charges $40 per person to park and get into the visitor center. This was our most expensive day.

Tromso has two docks, we were at the dock away from the central city. Free shuttle buses ran and from there we walked across a bridge to the Artic cathedral. The cable car is also there. There was a free Artic botanical garden across from our dock, very lovely terraced garden.

I need to look back to see the other ports you asked about.

[5326jan]

Hello Janet and others,

We just did a similar Artic circle cruise with Holland America and really enjoyed Norway. I did not hear of a single private tour in any port. Norway is shockingly expensive but many things can be done on your own for a reasonable price.

We did no ship tours or transfers. The ship excursions were so ridiculously expensive many passengers toured on their own, prebooking rental cars, train rides, bus and fiord cruises. Many went to tourist information offices to book tours for the day or found hop on hop off buses at the port.

I am traveling and using a tablet so it is difficult to post links.

In Geiranger we per booked the bus to Mt Dalsnibba. It was terrific. I think we paid about $40 per person and the ship charged $119.00 with an added stop for a snack or something. All ships tender, there is no dock.

At Honnisvag we rented a minivan for 7 and drove to Nordkapp. Very easy drive. We stopped at a bird safari on the way and we had a reservation for the bird watching boat. It was $100 to go on the safari. From memory the web site was bird safari.com. Nordkapp charges $40 per person to park and get into the visitor center. This was our most expensive day.

Tromso has two docks, we were at the dock away from the central city. Free shuttle buses ran and from there we walked across a bridge to the Artic cathedral. The cable car is also there. There was a free Artic botanical garden across from our dock, very lovely terraced garden.

I need to look back to see the other ports you asked about.

 

 

Thanks Pat! It's great to have this info! I respect your advice. Please give our regards to Lou. Hope you have a great trip! janet

[united4ever]

Can't wait to see the photos!!! Did you write a review?

 

Suggestions for private tours? Bergen, Tromoso, Ny Alesund (Spitsbergen), Honningsvag (North Cape), Alta, Gravdal (for Lofoten Islands), Stavanger.

 

Just returned from a similar cruise. In Bergen we walked around the fish market and along the Bryggen waterfront. In the afternoon when the queues had subsided we took the funicular up the mountain. Great views. All easy to do.

North Cape was the only place we took a ships tour up to the hall. Was very foggy so saw nothing.

Tromso we went to the Polaria museum which Showed two brilliant films on Svalbard and another on the northern lights. After this we walked across the bridge to the Arctic cathedral. In the afternoon we rode the cable car up the mountain for spectacular views around Tromso.

In Gravdal we hired cars and drove around the islands. Spectacular scenery and we had the advantage of stopping where we wanted. Very easy driving as there is really only one main road. See far more and save money compared to the ships tour.

Stavanger we booked a boat trip down the Lysefjord to pulpit rock. Was a wonderful trip booked in advance with rodne boat tours. In the afternoon we walked around the lovely town and its quaint houses. The Petroleum museum looked very interesting but we had left it too late to visit.

Happy to help if you need to know anything else.

[sammiedawg]

Bergen was the only crowded port. Our dock was within easy walking distance to the Bryggen area and other attractions. Go to the funicular first as line get very long, great views. Many people walk down. It was a drizzly day so we bought round trip tickets. There are a couple museum sponsored tours in the Bryggen area. We did the tour of the Hanseatic museum which was 50 minutes long and we learned about life in the old trading days. There is also a walking tour from the Bruggen museum lasting a little over an hour. The information overlaps the Hanseatic tour and we were told to do one or the other. The fish market is next door and very interesting. There are great fjord cruises from here which we did not do but would look into if we go again. I believe the best trip is to the Hardanger fjord.

In Stavanger we pre booked the Rodne fjord trip to Pulpit Rock for about $60 dollars. Some adventuresome people did a ferry bus trip on their own to climb the rock. Our port time was tight but they climbed the rock and raced back in time for sail away.

Most of the ports have an old city they call the Gamla area. Stavanger had one near the Rodne boat dock which is also next to the cruise dock.

I forgot many things in the previous post. Just outside of Geiranger is the 7 Sisters waterfall with the Suitor across the fjord. Everyone is on deck to see them.

[sammiedawg]

There is a public bus in Honnisvag to Nordkapp but no advance booking is allowed. Go immediately to tourist information and buy round trip tickets. We talked to several people who did this for about $90 a person, including admission charges.

[msmoger]

Can anyone who has taken this excursion tell me if sitting on one side of the bus or the other is better for picture taking? We have signed up for this excursion in September and can hardly wait!

 

Come and join our roll call!! BTW, we're taking the tour also. It's going to be great!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1675188&page=25

[shellbeachjim]

We've also done the tour and as Pam noted, it's fantastic. Here's a shot from Dalsneba. Sorry, but it's been resized down quite a bit. It was quite cold up there and we were bundled up. We were on the Ocean Princess (the "Beautiful White Lady") in 2010.

[Pam in CA]

I uploaded my Norwegian fjords photos but haven't identified a lot of them. The cruise was back in 2007 and I don't have the itinerary handy. I have my cruise docs stored away and will look it up. We didn't go to the same places as the Princess itinerary. Being a HAL cruise, we sailed from and back to Amsterdam. Our first port was Oslo, then I know we sailed up Lysefjorden, under the bridge to see Pulpit Rock. Only small ships can sail under the bridge; then on to Bergen. Our next ports were Brønnøysund, Hellesylt/Geiranger, and then on to the North Cape, Longyearben, cruised Svalbard to Magdalena fjord, then up to the polar ice pack, down to the Shetland Islands and then Edinburgh. I THINK that's what our itinerary was. :) I think we went to Alesund but I'd have to check that.

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/101474003611782249767/PrinsendamNorwayJuly2007?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[trbarton]

I did the same tour years ago on a small ship "Hurtigruten", and the tour is a must see. I would do it again in an heart beat. Our tour had a lunch stop and dinner before boarding the ship plus many stops for pictures. Many waterfalls to see. If you want photos I would get a window seat on the right hand side, the side opposite the driver to photograph the waterfalls.

 

Tom:)

[5326jan]

Thanks so much for the pictures! They really whet the appetite! I can't wait to go!

 

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread and especially, thanks to the OP for starting it! :)