Can help with Ålesund & Norwegian Fjords:-)

[I-Cruiser]

Lars, Thanks. I figured it was a long shot. I have asked the question to the general 'Baltic' board and have no responses. I did speak with the owner of Seilper and he was very accommodating. My worry is that there seems to be no one else who has used him. I have to get at least 4 other people from my ship to join us to get the trip and I am a little wary of suggesting that we all book with an unknown provider. Thank you again for your help.

 

Scott

 

It wasn't much I did but really glad you managed to get hold of him.

Seems like you have to be the pioneer on this provider and be among the first to review the company.

I can not speak for this provider but when I have booked "unknown" companies in the past they all have worked out really well.

 

Best of luck and I would love to hear how you got on.

 

Lars

[I-Cruiser]

Lars,

 

Let me begin by thanking you for your great insight on Alesund.

 

We'll be in Alesund on June 26 on the Queen Victoria. Although our plan is to walk around the town to look at the Art Nouveau architecture and at the older wooden buildings you described (near the Scandic Hotel), I wondered if we would also have time to visit Giske. I know you say that there is not much there and that the cruise ship description make it more interesting that it really is, but we have not missed an episode of the History Channel's "Vikings" series. Giske was Rollo's hometown. I know that some Danish people say that the Rollo who conquered Normandy (and is an ancestor of William the Conqueror) was not from Norway, and that Rollo was not Ragnar Lothbrok's brother like in the show. But when I told my friends that our cruise stopped near Rollo's hometown, they said "you must go, Lagertha!" Thus my question is whether there's public transport between Alesund and Giske. It does not look too far.

 

Second question. Our cruise stops in Olden on June 25. I have not found a lot of advice on what to do there. One of the options (cruise tour by bus or bus/troll car, or public bus) is to visit the Briksdal glacier, but since you have stated that this winter was very mild, how impressive would it be compared to the other options: Oldevanet Lake (on bus/boat); Kjenndalen Glacier and Lovatnet Lake (on bus/boat), or Stryn River and Lake (bus). Which would you recommend? I'm not too keen on Briksdal because our mom would not be able to join us.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Thank you so much for your kind words. It is really fun to help out others visiting the area. Maybe I should make a business out of it:)

 

You are right, the distance from Ålesund to Giske is only 15 minutes but the bus service is very in frequent.

The bus terminal in Ålesund is very easy to find as it is right next to the pier.

There are plenty of information screens about departure times and "gates".

 

The bus to Giske is no 664.

The route is called: Ålesund-Valderøya-Giske-Godøya

 

The bus departure from Ålesund at 0725 am or 1155 am stopping at Giske School at 0745 am or 1215 pm.

Return buses are at 0958 am - 1156 am - 338 pm.

 

As you can see the islands are not well connected with public transport at all which makes the choice of taxi tour or renting a car so much greater.

 

If you take a taxi or a rental you can do Giske and the lighthouse at Alnes which is a fascinating place. The nature there is very bare and rugged. It reminds me much of the nature and settlements in Greeland/Iceland...It well worth a visit.

 

In Olden I would either choose Oldevanet Lake (on bus/boat); Kjenndalen Glacier and Lovatnet Lake (on bus/boat).

Both options are stunning and its really hard to decide. Its a case of tossing a coin as both places are jaw dropping beautiful and you will have a fantastic experience either way you choose as you cant go wrong.

But, if you twist my arm I might make the coin fall on the Oldevanet Lake tour:)

 

Lars.

[Dididi]

We very much look forward to our visits to Alesund and Olden, and feel reassured by your advice.:D

[I-Cruiser]

We very much look forward to our visits to Alesund and Olden, and feel reassured by your advice.:D

 

Please report back on what you ended up doing.

Happy cruising:)

[LaserSB3Family]

Hello Lars, thanks for all of the information. We will be in your city in June 2015. Can you recommend fun places to visit with children (ages 3 and 9)? We are excited to try good Norwegian food and explore the beauty of the town.

[I-Cruiser]

Hello Lars, thanks for all of the information. We will be in your city in June 2015. Can you recommend fun places to visit with children (ages 3 and 9)? We are excited to try good Norwegian food and explore the beauty of the town.

 

The children might like to visit the Aquarium.

Lots of fish etc living in the Atlantic region. They also have penguins and you can watch them feeding them. They also do a when they feed the fish.

A schedule is enclosed in the link.

 

http://www.atlanterhavsparken.no/english

 

The "Choo choo train" might be a fun thing to do while you take in the sights of Åesund. The "train" will also take you to Mt. Aksla viewpoint.

http://www.bytoget.no/home.html

 

Not sure how fun this is - more educational I would imagine - but trip to teh Open air museum might be worth a trip.

You will see how people lived 100-200 years ago and how they conducted their lives. The museum also have old boats and Viking type ships on display.

 

I hope this will be of interest - at least for a little while - for the children.

[I-Cruiser]

The latest reports says the Path of the Trolls will open at the end of next week (May 9)if the weather holds up.

"worst case" the weeks after (May 16)

 

The road to Mt.Dalsniba has been ready plowed for a while already but remained closed due to small avalanches.

Its ll up to the weather if they can open the road in a weeks time.

 

 

I will of course update when a date is set 100%.

[nelderwoman]

Hi Lars

our first trip to Norway and we are so excited. thank you so much for all your information

 

can I just ask a silly question I see the last stop on the hop on/off bus in Alesund is the Aquarium. Does it end here or does the bus go back to the cruise terminal. how often does this bus run

 

thanks for your help

[I-Cruiser]

Hi Lars

our first trip to Norway and we are so excited. thank you so much for all your information

 

can I just ask a silly question I see the last stop on the hop on/off bus in Alesund is the Aquarium. Does it end here or does the bus go back to the cruise terminal. how often does this bus run

 

thanks for your help

 

No silly questions here but lots of silly answers:D

 

The bus does a full circle so it ends up back in town.

The bus runs every hour and the tour takes 90 minutes.

 

I noticed on their website that the company put up a note on the booking window saying pre booking is not advisable as the bus only runs when there are cruise ships in town.

 

https://static.city-sightseeing.com/documents/tours/665.pdf

http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/norway/alesund.htm

[I-Cruiser]

The latest reports says the Path of the Trolls will open at the end of next week (May 9)if the weather holds up.

"worst case" the weeks after (May 16)

 

The road to Mt.Dalsniba has been ready plowed for a while already but remained closed due to small avalanches.

Its ll up to the weather if they can open the road in a weeks time.

 

 

I will of course update when a date is set 100%.

 

The road from Geiranger to Mt. Dalsnibba is now open from noon to 8 pm.

Assessments of the road conditions is taken every day as we have had a great deal of snow in the mountains the last few days.

The road can be closed or remain closed without prior notice.

 

Due to the heavy snow fall the opening dates for the tourist roads now only reads: opening in May.

I would not hope for or arrange a tour to Mt. Dalsnibba until the road is announced 100% open.

Edited May 4, 2014 by I-Cruiser

[nelderwoman]

Many thanks

[PoppyandNana]

No silly questions here but lots of silly answers:D

 

The bus does a full circle so it ends up back in town.

The bus runs every hour and the tour takes 90 minutes.

 

I noticed on their website that the company put up a note on the booking window saying pre booking is not advisable as the bus only runs when there are cruise ships in town.

 

https://static.city-sightseeing.com/documents/tours/665.pdf

http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/norway/alesund.htm

 

Finally, seems I may have someome who can help us. We are on the June 14 sailing of the Constellation to Norway and the Arctic Circle. One of our ports is Molde. We want to take the Reuma railway but can't determine if it is feasible as cruise passenger. One website we say said the train stops in Molde in the summer. Other sites only reference Ålesund but don't say how to get there from Molde. Any advise would be most welcome

[I-Cruiser]

Finally, seems I may have someome who can help us. We are on the June 14 sailing of the Constellation to Norway and the Arctic Circle. One of our ports is Molde. We want to take the Reuma railway but can't determine if it is feasible as cruise passenger. One website we say said the train stops in Molde in the summer. Other sites only reference Ålesund but don't say how to get there from Molde. Any advise would be most welcome

 

Neither, Reuma railway runs from Åndalsnes to Dombås.

You would have to get from Molde to Åndalsnes which will take you with the ferry approx 1,45 hours or 1.5 hrs if you drive the fjords.

Since you are there on a Saturday it looks like the only departure is at 5 pm. (at least that's the time the official site gives me)

 

Lars

[Pekpot]

I-Cruiser - I would be interested in that PDF file. Can you please forward to my email address? claes.edpal@telenet.be

 

Thanks in advance..:)

[I-Cruiser]

Lars--is this the pdf you are sending folks? http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visitalesund-geiranger.com%2FImageVault%2FImages%2Fid_5084%2Fscope_512%2FImageVaultHandler.aspx&ei=VGE9U_HcNof4yAH1zYC4Aw&usg=AFQjCNGhEghfIFK1VjhX_QoDEKGmjACqKA&sig2=yz3m6t78YuPMfz6rRc_RsA&bvm=bv.63934634,d.aWc

 

I-Cruiser - I would be interested in that PDF file. Can you please forward to my email address? claes.edpal@telenet.be

 

Thanks in advance..:)

 

Here goes - the link is in the post above:)

Enjoy.

[I-Cruiser]

The latest news is that the Path of the Trolls/Trollstigen will open for the season at 8 am Thursday May 8.

 

This is a record early opening date due to the very mild winter even though 2 inches of snow fell on the path the last few days.

[PoppyandNana]

The latest news is that the Path of the Trolls/Trollstigen will open for the season at 8 am Thursday May 8.

 

This is a record early opening date due to the very mild winter even though 2 inches of snow fell on the path the last few days.

 

We have tours booked in every port except Alesund. I'm curious, is there anything there that would require an actual tour? Saw a couple of fjord boat trips but suspect we will see plenty of fjords on our way into and out of the various ports.

[I-Cruiser]

We have tours booked in every port except Alesund. I'm curious, is there anything there that would require an actual tour? Saw a couple of fjord boat trips but suspect we will see plenty of fjords on our way into and out of the various ports.

 

There are lots of tours but they would all include some beautiful fjord.

I would suggest a tour to the Path of the Trolls as the scenery and nature is out of this world.

If not then you could explore Ålesund itself and maybe Giske and the lighthouse at Alnes.

[I-Cruiser]

The road to Langvatnet and Mt. Dalsnibba is now also open so another summer season can start:)

[I-Cruiser]

I have gone cruising until May 21.

I will answer all questions upon my return.

 

:):):):)

Edited May 7, 2014 by I-Cruiser

[alle]

I-Cruiser/Lars,

 

Thanks so much for all of your advice. We have recently returned from our Norwegian Fjords cruise and were very thankful for all of your advice.

 

We did try the trip up to Mt. Dalsnibba on 6 May, but it was blocked at the Lake. The lake was covered with a blanket of snow, so you wouldn't know it was a lake if they didn't tell you. But it was a beautiful drive up and we had a wonderful time.

 

In Bergen we did the Hop On, Hop Off and the Funicular. It rained most of the day, but that just means we got to see it in it's normal state, right?

 

We walked around Alesund as you suggested. What a beautiful town. We also helped bolster the economy buying expensive gifts. :)

 

In Eidfjord, we got all the way up to the hotel and the waterfall was amazing! Even after all the waterfalls we'd seen up until then.

 

But I think my favorite part was cruising through the fjords. You have a beautiful country. Thanks for sharing advice about how best to enjoy it!

[papcx]

The bus company says it will run every day there are ships in port.

The hop on/off bus is a easy and convenient way to get to Mt. Aksla.

 

If you are up for it you can walk the 418 steps up to the viewpoint:)

 

Could you point me in the direction of the entrance to the steps in Ålesund?

Edited May 19, 2014 by papcx

[Al54]

The steps to mount Aksla seem to be closed from march to november for maintenance. But I heard differents things about it and, even if newspapers and web informations said they were closed, the tourist office told me by mail that stairs were still open (?????!). If you are coming back from Alesund, could you tell me if the stairs to mount Aksla are still open or closed? I'm leaving home on thursday for my Fjord cruise!

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad à l'aide de Forums

[papcx]

The steps to mount Aksla seem to be closed from march to november for maintenance. But I heard differents things about it and, even if newspapers and web informations said they were closed, the tourist office told me by mail that stairs were still open (?????!). If you are coming back from Alesund, could you tell me if the stairs to mount Aksla are still open or closed? I'm leaving home on thursday for my Fjord cruise!

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad à l'aide de Forums

 

 

Hmmm! I haven't read anything about that. Your there before I am, could you let us know if the steps are open or not?

[cruisinsusin]

I-cruiser Lars had mentioned the closure in an earlier thread. I found this site which also mentions the same

http://cruiseportwiki.com/Alesund