Nature's Best In Norway

Dhanya Damodaran

Apr 22, 20208 min read

Updated: Jul 23, 2021

Visited In July 2019

Velkommen til Norge!!

Scandinavia was in our top list to visit for several years. Finally, we decided for Sweden and Norway, Norway being the highlight.

Friends, this blog will be a bit longer read for you, because we covered so much in Norway and I don't think I can cut any of our experience short while I narrate. I hope you will find it an interesting read :)

When hubby and I started preparing our wish list of places to visit and things to do in Norway, we were just unable to reach a conclusion with our huge list and days in hand! We thought of hiring a car and do self drive, fly from one city to another...finally decided the Hurtigruten Cruise!!! We chose 'The Classic Voyage South', a superb option for us to cover North to South of this exotic country within 7-8 days as well as experience a cruise for the first time, and it was worth it by all means.

Day 1 - Northern Town of Norway

Kirkenes

We flew from Stockholm to Oslo and took a connection flight to Kirkenes, one of the northern most towns of Norway, from where the Russian border is just a few kilometers away. Our Hurtigruten cruise would start from Kirkenes in the north to Bergen in the south cruising the Barents Sea, Norwegian Sea and Arctic Ocean for 6 days - so exciting!!!

As we drove from the small airport at Kirkenes to our lodge near the Russian border, we were amazed by the superb landscape, it was so different, I felt I was away from this planet.

Kirkenes is very cold even in summer and it is always a dawn like feel, be it 12 midnight or 2 am, due to the long summer days. We walked around the place, totally not sure of what time of the day it was! Unique experience in life to see so much of light so late at night...

Day 2 - The Cruise Begins

After a good sleep, the next day we started off to the port to embark our Hurtigruten Ship - MS Vesteralen docked at Kirkenes for the exciting cruise ahead.

We checked into our cabin, comfortable and cosy and this was our home for next few days. We made ourselves comfortable, the crew were very friendly and ship was very lively.

We explored the vessel, learnt about Hurtigruten and its long history, founder Richard With and lot more...

Vardo

The ship docked at the port near a little town Vardo. We disembarked to walk around and explore the old fortress and the beautiful views around it.

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This day is really special for us - we enjoyed the Arctic Midnight Sun from the middle of the ocean from the deck of MS Vesteralen....wwwoooaaahhhhh!! heavenly experience it was indeed...we soaked ourselves in the golden shining rays of the midnight sun up until late night and it was an absolutely incredible experience. The clouds stealing the sun rays and the golden rays pouring in from the heaven to bless the ocean and its vastness...it was mind blowing. Enjoy the pictures below.

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Hurtigruten has several vessels in its fleet and they daily cruise the Norwegian coastline port to port delivering mails, goods, local passengers and tourists. So, when one ship crosses another, they send out three loud honorary honks to cheer each other and is interesting. The views from the ocean here for you...

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Day 3 - Nord Kapp

Honningsvag

We cruised along the beautiful coasts of Norway, woke up early for a special trip - Breakfast at Nord Kapp! This is a land excursion from the port of Honningsvag. This is an optional trip which we opted for. So, as the ship docked the port, we got into the bus which was waiting and drove along E69 highway which is the northern most public road in Europe, to reach Nord Kapp, which is the northern most point in Europe accessible by road.

North Cape is situated at 71 degrees north and has a 300+ metre high cliff and a plateau overlooking the Barents sea. The view is spectacular and the place hosts a monument where we stand to feel as if we are at the edge of the world! We had a nice breakfast from the restaurant and drove back to the ship. On our way, we caught glimpse of Sami huts and reindeer herding in the wild. Samis are the indigenous inhabitants of northern Norway living a semi nomadic life rearing reindeer etc.

At North Cape and breakfast

We drove back to Hammerfest port where we would embark the ship. On the way we had a pit stop at a beautiful lakeside

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Hammerfest

At Hammerfest we got to see the White Whale Hvladimir.

We also visited the museum at Hammerfest where there was a life sized stuffed Polar Bear

In Scandinavia, we get to see a lot of Trolls - at roadside, shop entrance etc. Trolls are mythological Scandinavian folklore characters. I took a picture with one...

Oksfjord & Skjervoy

We left Hammerfest and then cruised along to our next stop at Oksfjord and then Skjervoy. We cruised along the world famous fjords of Norway. The beautiful views...

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Hurtigruten - Crusing the Ocean in Elegance!

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Tromsø

The experience is not yet over for the day. We reached the town of Tromsø, where the beautiful Arctic Cathedral can be visited in the Midnight Sun! We roamed around the town at midnight, and it was just like 4 pm in the afternoon!

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After roaming around the town in the midnight sun, we boarded the ship for a tight sleep to embark an eventful day next.

Day 4 - Beautiful Vesteralen

Harstad, Vesteralen & Sortland

Friends, most of us would have had dreams of a typical beautiful place - lush green with lots of trees bearing beautiful flowers, lovely lakes with surrounding mountains...all that is true about Vesteralen. We rate the this trip as one of the best excursions we did during our cruise.

Our ship docked at Harstad and we boarded the bus hat took us the countrysides of Vesteralen island. We had no idea how quick the time passed exploring the place, visiting the medieval church and the little farm house and the neighbourhood.

Scenery

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Medieval Church

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Farmsted and Heritage home

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Museum

More of the beautiful Vesteralen

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After a heart warming trip, we drove back to Sortland where our ship had almost reached. This was the view of our approaching ship from the top of an over bridge while we were in the bus

Sortland has unique coloured buildings. The architect chose a set of shades to paint every building in this town.

Then, we strolled around Sortland to see the typical Norwegian houses, bridges and buildings all around, not to forget the friendly trolls :)

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Trollsfjord

Fjord is a Norwegian word that has gone global. Norway has several fjords which are long, narrow and deep inlet of water between cliffs. The cruise continued and the Captain de-toured to take us through the Trollsfjord, one of the narrowest fjords with steep cliffs on either sides, so close as if you can stretch your hands to touch them. Here, we can spot the white necked eagles flying all around.

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Lofoten

The cruise continued and we visited Lofoten as part of our over the land the excursion. Lofoten is a beautiful island known for its natural beauty, steep mountains, wild nature and picturesque fishing villages. It was a lovely stroll around the village exploring its amazing beauty in the warmth of the sun.

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Day 5 - Crossing the Arctic Cirle

We were ready for a very exciting experience early morning - To cross the Arctic Circle, the imaginary line 66.5 degree above Equator. On board the ship, we had very special ceremony to celebrate the crossing of Arctic circle, where the Captain served us Cod Liver Oil! Everyone gathered on the deck and it was party time with wine and champagne, dance and music and lots of fun...

The Arctic Circle landmark

The Cod Liver Oil Ceremony

The group photo and our exclusive moments with the Captain

Another highlight is sailing past the Seven Sisters mountain range. The legend says that seven beautiful troll sisters were caught out at sunrise and turned to stone, thus creating the seven beautiful mountaintops.

Sailing along the Helgeland coast, we see the mountain with a hole, Torghatten. The hole is 160 m long, 35 m high and 20 m wide, and was formed during the ice age.

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The next port was Sandnessjoen, where we visited the local church and strolled around the beautiful town.

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Day 6 - Trondheim and Atlantic Ocean Road

Trondheim

Trondheim is a beautiful wooden city. We visited the Nidaros Cathedral which has a marvelous architecture.

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Nidaros Cathedral

Kristiansund & Molde

We cruised along further to reach Kristiansund, where we disembarked for an excursion to visit a Medieval Stave church. Stave churches are wooden churches and this one was in an exotic location with a beautiful lake nearby.

Views from the ship

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The beautiful Stave Church

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The Atlantic Ocean Road

This was a much awaited trip - The Atlantic Ocean Road is considered as one of the most scenic routes in the world. It consists of several bridges connecting islands islands and is indeed wonderful. This road has several causeways and bridges.The route gives amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean and is a superb experience.

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We had dinner at a local restaurant with good view of the Ocean. The friendly waitress showed us a preserved Cod fish, various dishes of which are most loved local delicacy. We returned to the ship and the next day was the final day of this beautiful and memorable voyage along the Norwegian coastline.

Day 7 - Bergen and Train to Oslo

Bergen

We cruised along to reach the final port of our voyage - Bergen. We bid goodbye to Hurtigruten and its lovely crew for treating us so well for these many days and giving us lifelong memories of our Norway trip.

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We boarded a train to Oslo, one of the most scenic train trips I have experienced.

We reached Oslo which took us 7 plus hours by train. We checked in to our hotel and slept well.

Day 8 - Oslo, The Capital City

Oslo

It was drizzling in the morning, and we walked around the city of Oslo to explore as much as we could in a day and by evening - The Royal Palace, Akershus Fortress etc and left to the airport for our return trip to Dubai.

Scandinavian Flowers

We enjoyed the exotic flowers all over Norway and was a feast for our eyes...a few here for you

Vikings

Norwegians are known for their excellent history of sea-farers known as Vikings.We get to hear a lot about their skills, tales of their sails during a trip to Norway

Vegetarian Gourmet Onboard Hurtigruten MS Vesteralen

We had our vegetarian dietary requirement and were given excellent food on-board, loved it!

Whales!!

The crew spotted whales and we got a glimpse of a few at a distance

Life in Norway

Norway is one of those countries in the world which has high values for the rights of its citizens. The cost of living is comparatively high in this Scandinavian country. The taxi fares, road tolls, food and beverage and accommodation costs are quite at a higher scale. Norway shows a high cause to protection of environment and reduction of carbon foot print. The Norwegians love for Electric cars is itself a reflection of this. The citizens are given many concessions for using electric cars. The number of Tesla cars on the roads were surprisingly high to prove this fact.

Lovely Souvenir

Our Son loved his gift - the building brick block miniature of Hurtigruten, which we bought on-board.