Can help with Ålesund & Norwegian Fjords:-)

[poncho1973]

Lars - thanks for this wonderful thread. I'm about 2% complete reading it!!! It is going to take weeks.

 

We'll being going next May and hitting the following:

 

TUE Molde, Norway - 1430-2100

WED Geiranger, Norway - 700-1800

THU Alesund, Norway - 700-1600

FRI Flam, Norway - 800-1600

SAT Stavanger, Norway - 700-1700

 

I will be researching this thread heavily, but if you have any quick pointers on what to search for on those or any tips at wading through this GIANT thread, any help at all would be appreciated.

 

Party of 2. We're both very active, love adventure, and are go-getters with no limitations, but not athletes either. Basically, we do anything normal people do, but we won't be cave-diving or mountain climbing.

 

At first blush, the things that caught our eye in each port were:

 

Molde - the Varden and maybe some city walking? There isn't a lot listed (even on visitnorway)

Geiranger - Briksdal???

Alesund - looks like an easy place to do a lot of things... maybe some waterfalls?

Flam - the train is the big thing that sticks out, but it might be too boring

Stavanger - Pulpit Rock if the weather is reasonable

[swedie]

Good morning Lars (or good day, depending on when you see this)!

First off, thank you Lars - you are awesome with this undertaking and so generous of your time!

I have read about half of the posts here, very enlightening and educational.

We will be arriving on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas on Monday, June 11th at 10:30am and due to set sail at 18:30 with all aboard at 17:30, so we have about 7 hours total.

Would you know if it is possible to reach either the Flam railway for the 11:05 train or the Naeroyfjord pier for the 11:00 cruise from Royal Caribbeans arrival of 10:30? Would you know of the ship's time performance? Would we first need to get tickets validated or can we go directly to either the train or cruise?

Is it even possible to do both the Flamsbana and Naeroyfjord/Bus during the time we have there?

From my research:

Flamsbana

It seems that the purchase of a Flamsbana ticket does not guarantee time nor seat until it is validated at the tourist office.

I have also seen that if we book a minimum of 10 seats we are considered a group and seats will be guaranteed for a set time on the train?

If both of the above are correct: Being we are traveling on a cruise ship and our group already has 6 people and I plan to join the roll call on cruise critic, I am sure I can find 4 additional people to join us in making the minimum 10. What would the details on that be? Cost per person? Would you need the names of everyone when purchased?

I apologize for all of these questions, but I really want this trip to be perfect. We had a fjords cruise booked in 2015 (and I do remember the difficulty I had in getting the train tickets - we eventually had to get a cruise ship excursion), but we then had to cancel due to medical reasons and we are finally going!!

Thank you again Lars for all you do and thank you to all the cruise critic members that make planning a fabulous vacation great!!

[swedie]

Lars and members:

First, I apologize for all the spacing that I used on the previous post.

 

At this time, we are just doing the Flamsbana.

 

I appreciate any consideration anyone has given to my above post.

 

We are so looking forward to our visit to this beautiful country (a dream of mine for about 50 years) that is finally happening!

 

I will check in here again to continue reading all of the previous postings and any new info I might find for some of our other ports of call.

[stpie]

Hi Lars,

I wanted to thank you belatedly, almost 2 years late! Your advice greatly helped our family when we visited Alesund. We asked about walking up to Aksla. We had a beautiful day. Sailing in, I was up early, and it was beautiful to sail into Alesund.

 

We walked easily up to Aksla and back down, and went to the 62 degree RIB boat office nearby for your RIB tour to Runde. It was a sunny, fun, bumpy ride!

 

After we returned to our ship, the kids went straight to the ship's pool, but my husband left the ship and went for a run. He asked the locals where to go, and had a lovely, long run in the hills with gorgeous views! He got lost a couple times and was quite late back to the ship.

 

My parents went to the Trollstigen using the ship's excursion and also had an amazing tour!

 

Thank you again, so much!!

[I-Cruiser]

Thank you so much for the wonderful words.

I am glad you all had such a fantastic day.

 

 

 

 

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[I-Cruiser]

To everyone reading this thread.

 

I feel all answers to what to do in the Ålesund area has been answered within these pages.

 

I will no longer update this thread.

 

Its been a fun trip.

 

Lars

 

 

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[IndiTravler]

I want to thank you for all of your help. We recently finished our Norwegian cruise and your info was super helpful.

[honey8572]

I-Cruiser

 

I will be doing the October 2019 to Norway and to see the Northern Lights.

 

I want to know what would be good to wear in Norway and preferably what walking shoes are good.

[pghflyer]

Didn't know where else to throw this, but since this thread is so helpful thought I would share. Went to Leknes on Norwegian Jade a few weeks ago. The Port is 4KM from town!! They will transport you on a bus for 80KR, or you can book a 1.5 hour guided tour at the port for 340KR. You can walk, they have a nicely marked trail (we walked into town, took about 45 minutes). Alternatively, find the nearest local bus stop (about a 10 minute walk) and get into town (or to nearby cute little Ballstad) for 43KR one way.