Alesund excursions

[chickenwings1]

Have any of you been to Alesund and done any excursions? I am trying to decide between Hjørundfjord cruise (in a private chartered boat) and the islands of Giske and Godøy. Or would it be better to forget the excursions and just wander around Alesund? (I know about the Aksla viewpoint already and will be checking that out anyway 😉 Let me know if you know anything, thanks!

[John Bull]

Because our cruise spent a lot of time sailing the fjords we chose to explore the scenic winding roads of the Troll Peaks & waterfalls in Reinheimen National Park, including the Trollstigen and the Troll Wall.

Good choice 🙂

We booked with https://www.norwayexcursions.com/en/tour/alesund-from-fjords-to-trolls/

Timing is geared to ship's time in port, 7 1/2 tour, choose by van or by bus - we chose by bus (coach), significantly cheaper.

Pick up right at the port gate, most of the route is very scenic, plenty of interesting stops, comfortable coach, good guide, back about an hour before sailaway. A surprise, strawberries if in season, one village is known for its production of quality strawbs - yes, this far north 😮. At the end the tour includes the town & a town viewpoint  - I guess this is wiggle-time, shortened or deleted if the tour is behind the clock.

One of our best days in Norway.

Full refund if the ship fails to port.

Tickets sold on the day if available - but best to book, our coach was fully-booked.

(for best views choose seats on the same side of the coach as you board)

 

JB 🙂

[edinburgher]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:46 PM, chickenwings1 said:

Or would it be better to forget the excursions and just wander around Alesund? (I know about the Aksla viewpoint already and will be checking that out anyway 😉 Let me know if you know anything, thanks!

Alesund is a popular port of call as there are a number of highlights to visit without much effort or expense and it is an attractive town with ships docking right in the centre. 

 

Many previous threads you could read for ideas to help you decide.  This is only one of them

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2826391-alesund-norway/#comment-62526938

 

And here are others, some of which will mention your other ideas.  Previous threads can be found     using the SEARCH tool under your username.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=alesund&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116

 

[Fergus]

Do the Troll Road/Aksla excursion - both are amazing.  We made several other stops as well - unless my memory is failing on which day we did this, we stopped at a restaurant in the strawberry growing region and were served an amazing strawberry cake.  At the bottom of the Troll Road, we were provided lunch at a restaurant - very authentic Norwegian food. 

[Zukini]

On 9/14/2023 at 5:46 PM, chickenwings1 said:

Have any of you been to Alesund and done any excursions? I am trying to decide between Hjørundfjord cruise (in a private chartered boat) and the islands of Giske and Godøy. Or would it be better to forget the excursions and just wander around Alesund? (I know about the Aksla viewpoint already and will be checking that out anyway 😉 Let me know if you know anything, thanks!

Keep in mind what day of the week you'll be there. If it's a Sunday, most everything will be closed so you'll definitely want to book an excursion of some sort.

[MkeCruzn]

We walked around the town in the morning and had a walking tour of the town in the afternoon. It was booked through the ship, but we only had 6 people for the tour. It was nice to hear the stories, but we also wound up back at some of the spots we'd seen earlier in the day. We did not do the walk up to Aksla, but others probably did.

[ontheweb]

26 minutes ago, MkeCruzn said:

We walked around the town in the morning and had a walking tour of the town in the afternoon. It was booked through the ship, but we only had 6 people for the tour. It was nice to hear the stories, but we also wound up back at some of the spots we'd seen earlier in the day. We did not do the walk up to Aksla, but others probably did.

We had a walking tour of the town with an emphasis on the art deco architecture. It was in the morning, and if I remember correctly, there were 12 of us on the tour.

[Senga]

We did the ÅLESUND CITY TRAIN SIGHTSEEING – close to pier – 290kr – 70 minutes and it was perfect for us.  We came across people who were walking to the lookout but there is absolutely no way we would be capable or interested.  It was a national holiday the day we were there with only one souvenir shop open.

[edinburgher]

18 minutes ago, Senga said:

We came across people who were walking to the lookout but there is absolutely no way we would be capable or interested

The little tourist train chugs up there so need to walk.  It is described in the first link on post #3 above.

[SAB017]

On 9/18/2023 at 4:50 AM, Fergus said:

Do the Troll Road/Aksla excursion - both are amazing.  We made several other stops as well - unless my memory is failing on which day we did this, we stopped at a restaurant in the strawberry growing region and were served an amazing strawberry cake.  At the bottom of the Troll Road, we were provided lunch at a restaurant - very authentic Norwegian food. 

amazing yes if the weather is good and that is not always the case.......21 days in Norway and 19 rain days with 0 meter visibility

[karatemom2]

On 9/14/2023 at 2:46 PM, chickenwings1 said:

Have any of you been to Alesund and done any excursions? I am trying to decide between Hjørundfjord cruise (in a private chartered boat) and the islands of Giske and Godøy. Or would it be better to forget the excursions and just wander around Alesund? (I know about the Aksla viewpoint already and will be checking that out anyway 😉 Let me know if you know anything, thanks!

We are planning for our day in Alesund for our cruise this coming summer and initially I was going to do the excursion that goes to Giske and Godoy with visits to the lighthouse, church and Sunmore museum. But ultimately we opted to book the Troll Road tour with Norway Excursions. The reviews are amazing and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to travel that road when we are so close. Really excited about our cruise in Norway this summer.