Loen Skylift

[krillsister]

Will be visiting this area first week of June while on a cruise. Is it necessary to book this ahead of time

[hallasm]

Not necessary to book. The Skylift is operating from 9 am to 7 pm or 10 pm in May to August - time depending on week days -  Loen Skylift run minimum every half hour, but continously when number of guests increases. 

[kitkat343]

The Skylift was incredible.  Please note that we also had enough time to visit the Briksdal glacier, which has been hit hard by global warming, but has a lovely drive there and hike through the park to reach the glacier.  As long as you know not to be disappointed by the actual glacier it was a pleasant excursion (the Skylift was the highlight though)

[Oceansfd]

Hi, do you mind telling me what excursion you did first and what time did you start. UI would like to see if we can do both.  Also if you had to pick one which one would you do.  Thanks 

[Oceansfd]

19 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

The Skylift was incredible.  Please note that we also had enough time to visit the Briksdal glacier, which has been hit hard by global warming, but has a lovely drive there and hike through the park to reach the glacier.  As long as you know not to be disappointed by the actual glacier it was a pleasant excursion (the Skylift was the highlight though)

Hi can you read my question up above. Thanks

[kitkat343]

"Hi, do you mind telling me what excursion you did first and what time did you start. UI would like to see if we can do both.  Also if you had to pick one which one would you do.  Thanks "

 

We absolutely had plenty of time to do both excursions, and we had a two year old and six year old with us so most travelers will be able to do both quite easily.  The Loen skylift was my first choice, so we switched our original schedule since the weather was predicted to be better in the afternoon.  On the day of the tour we switched to visiting the Briksdal Glacier in the morning and the skylift in the afternoon since the weather was scheduled to be better in the afternoon.  The only complication with this is if you require a troll car to travel most of the way to the Briskdal Glacier.  The troll car company was able to move our troll car reservation immediately - I emailed them at 9 am when we got on the bus towards the glacier, and by the time we'd arrived our new reservation had been processed without a problem, but we traveled in late may, which is the shoulder season.  I'm not sure if during June, July or August they would have enough availability to switch your reservation time based upon the weather.  However, many people prefer to not use a troll car, since they want to hike all the way to the glacier through the beautiful national park (with a two year old we were very grateful for the troll car option).  

 

Olden adventures isn't necessarily the cheapest option, but it is extremely convenient and in 2017 ran shuttle buses right near the port to both the Loen Skylift and Briskdal Glacier.  If you are interested in all the transportation options, you can view the trip review in my signature line or ask more questions here.  You might want to contact Olden adventures about the logistics of doing both without the troll car - I'm not sure exactly how much extra time it would add, but I know we weren't rushed at all.  We had plenty of time to explore the top of the skylift and eat a nice leisurely meal there.   Have a great trip!     

[Oceansfd]

Thank you so much for your reply.  I think I'm going to do the Briskdal glacier at 7:30 through cruise line since I have shipboard credit and then buy a ticked through Olen adventure for the loen skylift in afternoon. We are going at the end of May too. What are the temperature around that time.  Thanks

[kitkat343]

The temperatures are really unpredictable in Norway.  You might want to price out the loen skylift through both the cruise line and olden adventures - I dont know if this happened, but I was at the loen skylift 3 days after it opened for the first time and spoke to the manager about his long term plans.  He wanted to require the cruise lines to charge the same amount for their excursions as the independent operators.  I honestly have no clue if that actually happened (the cruise lines didn’t run excursions to the loen skylift the first year it was opened because they needed more lead time).  If the prices are the same, that might be the excursion to do through the cruise line so you don’t lose any money (but I don’t have any clue if this actually happened it was just what I was told they wanted to do).  You can do the briskdal glacier through olden adventures if that is cheaper than the cruise line and the loen skylift is the same price through both. But do check since I don’t know for certain if the price is the same. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by kitkat343

[northernrose]

I will have to do some research on Loen Skylift . 

[dronnygirl]

We did the Loen Skylift in July. We didn't  book in advance as we wanted to ensure we had a clear day. Got off the ship and there were people selling tickets but we went into the tourist info for tickets, the price was the same.  If you go for tickets early you can choose what time you want to go. The price includes the bus to Loen which takes 10 minutes.  We saw people from the ship tour at the top but they only had 45 minutes which included a drink in the cafe.  We actually spent 2 hours at the top as there are several walks you can do.   We returned to the ship for lunch and then had a walk to the village which was really pleasant, there were a couple of shops and cafes.  We really loved  Olden.