Into the Midnight Sun cruise on Viking. Would love opinions on ports of call.

[bguppies]

Looking at doing the "Into the Mignight Sun" cruise on Viking the last week of June (in Norway) and the first week of July (Scotland/London) 2025.

 

Bergen - 6/23 and 24.

Geiranger - 6/ 25

Sea Day - 6/26

Lofoten (Leknes)- 6/27

Tromso 6/28

Honningsvag (Nordkapp) - 6/29

 

Sea Days - 6/30 & 7/1

 

Shetland Islands (Lerwick) - 7/2

Orkney Islands (Kirkwell) - 7/4

Edinburgh - 7/4

Sea Day - 7/5

London (Grenwich?) - 7/6 & 7/7

 

If anybody has any input about things to do in any of these port stops or the quality of these stops, we would be greatly appreciative of anyone's experiences with these ports.

Gonna take us a couple of years to save up for this trip, so we really want to ensure the best itinerary we can for a once in a lifetime cruise.(at least for us)

 

If anybody has any other tips about weather, daylight times, etc. those days at those ports would be appreciated also. (ANY input would be appreciated)

Edited January 27, 2023 by bguppies

[hallasm]

I can only comment on the Norway section. Excellent itinerary.

Bergen nice coastal DIY city with many sights.

Geiranger the best deep fjord sailing and fine view points. Be at upper deck from 4:30 am

Lofoten - beautiful islands.
Tromsø - again a nice coastal city 

Honningsvåg - excursion to North Cape.

From Lofoten midnight sun. Bergen and Geiranger sunrise 3:45 am and sunset 11:30

[hallasm]

Regarding clothing- topic discussed several time at this board

 

 

[bguppies]

Thank you so much

[Capt_BJ]

we did this very trip in June '18 and had a wonderful time

 

remember that VIKING provides on excursion in each port which generally is 2 or 3 hours of bus tour similar to a basic city tour - altho the day trip to north cape was longer as I recall. There are additional excursion available at cost but it is not necessary to have something in every port as a basic tour willl be available. Tere's room for everyne on the included but you do need to make reservations as there were usually an AM and PM departure

 

In 18 most of this part of the world experienced a heat wave and temps were unusually high. So high that when we sent extra days after traveling from Bergen to Oslo via FLAM with an overnight we found the lack of a/c in hotels a problem as it was HOT ..... uncomfortably hot and sleeping was disturbed.  

 

Here's a picture from our trip to North Cape

 

 

light jackets were plenty but as others have mentioned layers is the plan ... we did have light rain in a couple of ports so . . . but hats and gloves were most un-necessary

 

a couple of other shots to show our dress during ports . . . 

 

 

enjoyed it so much we're returning for this trip in the summer

[janetcbl]

2 hours ago, bguppies said:

Looking at doing the "Into the Mignight Sun" cruise on Viking the last week of June (in Norway) and the first week of July (Scotland/London) 2025.

 

Bergen - 6/23 and 24.

Geiranger - 6/ 25

Sea Day - 6/26

Lofoten (Leknes)- 6/27

Tromso 6/28

Honningsvag (Nordkapp) - 6/29

 

Sea Days - 6/30 & 7/1

 

Shetland Islands (Lerwick) - 7/2

Orkney Islands (Kirkwell) - 7/4

Edinburgh - 7/4

Sea Day - 7/5

London (Grenwich?) - 7/6 & 7/7

 

If anybody has any input about things to do in any of these port stops or the quality of these stops, we would be greatly appreciative of anyone's experiences with these ports.

Gonna take us a couple of years to save up for this trip, so we really want to ensure the best itinerary we can for a once in a lifetime cruise.(at least for us)

 

If anybody has any other tips about weather, daylight times, etc. those days at those ports would be appreciated also. (ANY input would be appreciated)

We did this exact tour at the same time last year and it was amazing!  You will have almost 24 hr. daylight up north. My (and only my) suggestions: The Flam railroad is a must; the ancient tours on Orkney; Vasa Museum in Stockholm;  Berlin if you have never been(it is a long day);  Vigeland Park and the museums in Oslo ( if you like art); Pulpit  Rock in Stavanger,….and just sitting on your balcony enjoying the magnificent scenery. It is a trip of a lifetime (and Viking’s most popular Ocean Tour (I think). Enjoy!

 

[hallasm]

40 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

The Flam railroad is a must;

Likely another tour. Itinerary doesn’t include Flåm. Nor  Berlin, Oslo, Stockholm or Stavanger.

[Capt_BJ]

since you are over a year out in your planning and this will be 'once in a lifetime' .... consider adding to the trip

 

- if you are to begin the cruise in Bergen it is always a good idea to arrive a day or two early to adjust for time changes etc.  Consider arriving 3 days early and fly to Oslo which is a lil easier to get to.  There are many great museums in Oslo and it is worth spending a day or two.

 

- then book the train to Bergen. The train ride is a full day and very scenic. Wait .. there's more.

 

- others mentioned the train ride in scenic FLAM and I recommend this as well. You can COMBINE the Oslo to Bergen train ride with a side trip on the FLAM railway and there get a ferry which reconnects with the OSLO/BERGEN train. We spent a night in FLAM breaking up the trip and it was well worth the time and $. Additional information at https://www.norwaysbest.com/information/webcam/.

 

- VIKING cruises that visit 'London' ACTUALLY park in the river in Greenwich - very close to the Cutty Sark .... this shot is from deck of Cutty Sark

 

Flam railway

 

 

 

[janetcbl]

4 hours ago, hallasm said:

Likely another tour. Itinerary doesn’t include Flåm. Nor  Berlin, Oslo, Stockholm or 

Edited January 27, 2023 by janetcbl

[janetcbl]

1 minute ago, janetcbl said:

 

You are correct. Our cruise was a 29 day combination “Into the Midnight Sun” (this one he mentioned), and “Homelands”. My comments were for the “Homelands” part….it had been a looooong day!🥴

[hallasm]

Just now, janetcbl said:

You are correct. Our cruise was a 29 day combination “Into the Midnight Sun” (this one he mentioned), and “Homelands”. My comments were for the “Homelands” part….it had been a looooong day

I know the feeling - anyway, the cruise in 2025, so plenty of time for planning. As Capt_BJ is suggesting a combination with Oslo and Train from Oslo to Bergen with a detour to Flåm will be a nice pre-cruise option combined with some more days in Bergen. 

[fruitmachine]

I'm one of the local volunteers that helps passengers arriving in Edinburgh with maps, directions, ideas etc at the tender arrival point.

 

Viking provide both their free tour (which usually finishes with a bit of time to wander on your own in the city), and a free shuttle bus to and from the city centre.  If you can get tour earlier in the day, then it's perfectly possible to leave it at the 'on your own' point (just tell the guide you won't be back on the bus) and extend your time in the city, catching a later shuttle-bus back to the tender harbour.  Just make sure that you know on the day were the shuttle-bus will run from.  Edinburgh can keep you busy for several days, and there's no point wasting time returning to the harbour, only to head out again independently.

[Capt_BJ]

we booked our Bergen - Voss - Flam - Oslo trip thru https://www.norwaynutshell.com/original-tour/

[bguppies]

Thanks so much for all the great info.

 

Luckily in January 2020 did another bucketlist trip where we spent a week in London (at the Tower hotel right next to the Tower of London with Tower bridge just outside our window)and a week driving around the Cotswolds. (and a super nice tour of Highclere Castle to feed DW's Downton Abbey fandom)

 

Sadly we skipped a daytrip by train to Edinborough and another to Paris as we were having such a great time in London with severely uncrowded tours of Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Parliment, etc.

 

We are excited to get to see Greenwich and maybe we can carve some time to get to the British Museum, Portrait Gallery, etc. (the tours at the other sites were so in depth and behind the scenes, we stayed much longer at each instead of hitting multiple spots each and every day)

[Poule blanche]

We are doing the "Baltic Sea and the Midnight Sun" July 4 - August 1. We will be in Leknes, Lofoten Islands on July 22.

Looking for 2 persons to do the following day tour:

Tour #747179, title: The Amazing Lofoten - VIP Private Tour from Leknes - small group (1-4 pax) $1093 USD for a group of 4 persons. The company is: Tours by Locals.

Please communicate by message if this interest you.

Thanks

[hallasm]

2 hours ago, Poule blanche said:

Looking for 2 persons to do the following day tour:

 This is not the forum tour sharing - you must make your post in the roll call for your cruise - find cruise line, ship and sail date in the roll call forum.

If Viking Ocean link to the Roll Call Forum 

Edited May 25, 2023 by hallasm