Spring in Norway is a beautiful adventure, a quiet explosion of life, smells, colours and light.

Contrasts
There are strong contrasts between the northern and southern parts of Norway.

Waterfalls
Norwegian waterfalls are majestic, tall, powerful, and abundant. During Spring, the melting snow makes the waterfalls an even more impressive sight.

Bird life
Birdlife is unique at this time of year.

The National Day
The celebration of National day takes place on 17 May (20 Round Trip departures from 7-27 May include this).
This is an important occasion for Norwegians.

Geirangerfjord/Trollfjord
From April/May Hurtigruten sails into Geirangerfjord and Trollfjord.

Bergen is a center of commerce and culture, yet it has retained a great deal of its local character and rich history. As you walk the wharf you will notice buildings with seaward-facing gables dating back to the fourteenth century! Be sure to talk to the locals and get a real taste of this unique culture.

From Bergen you will sail north to Kirkenes, an arctic outpost near the Russian border. During this Norwegian cruise you will stop at 34 uniquely picturesque ports all with their own charming characteristics. The ship then turns around, and your Norway travel adventure continues as you sail south, back to Bergen. She’ll call on the same ports, but those visited during the day on the northbound voyage will now be visited during the night on the southbound voyage, and vice versa. For passengers who seek to immerse themselves in the landscape and culture of Norway, this roundtrip voyage is a compelling choice.

Passengers with less time may choose to experience the cruise itinerary of a one-way voyage: the 7-day northbound journey embarking in Bergen and ending in Kirkenes, or the 6-day southbound return from Kirkenes to Bergen.

Day 1 Bergen

Bergen is the bustling capital of Norway’s fjord district. If you arrive a few hours before your Norwegian cruise’s departure, stroll around the old wooden buildings in the Bryggen Wharf, remnants of its Hanseatic past. In travel’s early days, it was easier to get from Bergen to the continent by sea than it was to get to Oslo-a fact apparent in this city’s architecture and culture. You begin your Norway travel expedition this evening as you embark on your Norwegian cruise.

This is also the embarkation port for the 7-day Northbound voyage.

Day 2 Maloy-Torvik-Alesund-Molde-Kristiansund

Wake up to the breathtaking beauty of Norway as your ship crosses the open Stadthavet and heads for Torvik. Along the way your Norway travel will be enhanced with a stop in the beautiful Art Nouveau town of Alesund. (Between April 15 and September 14, all ships call at Geiranger in the Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to see the beautiful Brudesloret, Friaren, and the Seven Sisters waterfalls.)

After a call at Molde with its magnificent view of the Romsdal Alps, your ship will carefully navigate the Hustadvika, a belt of islets and skerries, before docking at Kristiansund. Many shore excursions are available.

Day 3 Trondheim-Rorvik

The ship arrives early this morning in ancient Trondheim, where you’ll have time to explore this jewel of a city, Norway’s first capital. Did you know that the first Viking sale of goods from “the new found land” took place here about 1000 AD? Or that timber from Liev Eriksson’s Vinland estate was sold to a Bremen merchant?

You’ll have plenty of time to discover Trondheim’s secrets as you walk its charming streets, sit by the peaceful harbor, or cross the old city bridge to see the restored wooden buildings in Bakklandet.

Don’t miss the great gothic cathedral of Nidaros, where the new kings of old Norway once received their official blessing. Once you sail again it’s on to Rorvik, where the southbound and northbound coastal ships meet. A number of enriching optional shore excursions are available.

Day 4 Ornes-Bodo-Stamsund-Svolvaer

Torghatten ved Brønnøysund

Today you’ll cross the Arctic Circle. Of course you can’t actually see the line, but on your portside, the globe on the island of Vikingen serves as a marker.

Prepare yourself for spectacular sites ahead including islands and skerries filled with majestic rock formations, whose origins are the stuff of legend. After Bodo, the ship heads out to open sea for the Lofoten Islands with their picturesque cabins on stilts and weathered wooden racks with drying cod.

In the evening, your Norwegian cruise takes you through the narrow Raftsund Strait, passing the looming crags of the Trollfjord. Optional shore excursions are available.

Day 5 Harstad-Finnsnes-Tromso-Skjervoy

This morning you’ll pass the medieval Trondenes church before calling at Harstad for breakfast. Afterward, you’ll sail across the Vagsfjord past the great island of Senja with its diverse countryside of farmland, pine trees, and plunging peaks.

Later you’ll stop at Tromso, the “Paris of the North.” In the 19th century, Russian, British, Dutch, and German ships stopped here before heading off on Arctic expeditions for hunting whales, walruses and seals. Optional shore excursions are available.

Days 6-7 Hammerfest-Havoysund- Honningsvag-Kjollefjord-Mehamn- Berlevag-Kirkenes

Finnmark’s landscape is austere in its beauty, teeming with wildlife. Watch for rookeries of puffins and gannets along the cliffs and pods of orca hunting for herring.

After calling at Honningsvag, the capital of the North Cape, the ship heads east toward the pretty fishing villages of Kjollefjord, Mehamn, and Berlevag. On the seventh day, you’ll arrive at Kirkenes, the journey’s northern terminus and turning point.

Optional shore excursions are available for both days.

This is the end of the trip and the disembarkation point for the 7-day Northbound voyage.

Day 7 Kirkenes-Vardo-Batsfjord-Berlevag

This is where the 6-day Southbound voyage begins.

After a few hours docked at Kirkenes, the ship will depart upon the southbound half of her voyage, calling during the day at ports passed at night on the trip northward.

Crossing Varangerfjord, Norway’s only east-facing fjord and a fabled bird-watching site, you’ll arrive in Vardo, the easternmost point of the country. Next the ship will round the Varanger peninsula, where archaeologists excavated a community believed to date from 9000 BC.

In the evening, the ship calls at Batsfjord, which also boasts the remains of a Stone Age settlement, and Berlevag. Look out for the Tanahorn mountain, which long ago was a Sami sacrifice site.

Day 8 Honningsvag-Havoysund- Hammerfest-Oksfjord-Skjervoy-Tromso

The ship arrives at Honningsvag in the early morning. After calling at Havoysund, she will stop for 1 1/2 hours in Hammerfest, the world’s most northerly town. Despite its remote location, it was the first Norwegian town to have electric street lighting and its own power station.

Your Norwegian cruise continues south to Oksfjord, whose glacier calves directly into the sea. After crossing open water, you will stop at the old trading post of Skjervoy. You’ll dock in Tromso just in time to savor its nightlife.

Optional shore excursions are available.

Day 9 Harstad-Risoyhamn-Sortland- Stokmarknes-Svolvaer-Stamsund

The island groups of Lofoten and Vesteralen have some of the most stunning scenery you will see during this Norway travel adventure.

Before your arrival, you’ll see the captain skillfully maneuver the ship through the shallow waters of the Risoyrenna Channel, where sand banks are visible through the green water on both sides of the channel. The ship will negotiate the narrow Raftsund Strait leading into the breathtaking Trollfjord, before arriving in Svolvaer and Stamsund. Later, the ship heads east across Vestfjord toward Bodo.

Optional shore excursions are available.

Day 10 Ornes-Nesna-Sandnessjoen- Bronnoysund-Rorvik

From Ornes, you’ll travel through crystalline waters, filled with spawning cod from January to April, and go by lush agricultural fields.

Nearly every towering peak you’ll see is associated with a local legend. Crossing the Arctic Circle once again, you’ll pass the idyllic island of Sandnessjoen. On the approach to Bronnoysund, which you reach this afternoon, you’ll spy the mythical Seven Sisters Mountains.

Make sure you’re on deck when the ship departs Bronnoysund-you’ll be impressed by the captain’s steady hand! Today’s last port of call will be Rorvik.

Day 11 Trondheim-Kristiansund-Molde-Alesund

Arrive in Trondheim early, with time to visit Norway’s largest medieval church, Nidaros Cathedral, and the restored Archbishop’s Residence.

You’ll then sail out through the beautiful Trondheimsfjord, past Hitra, island of deer, and lonely Grip. At day’s end, you’ll call at Molde, before arriving in Alesund late in the evening in time for a stroll on shore.

Optional shore excursions are available.

Day 12 Torvik-Maloy-Floro-Bergen

During the night, the ship will call at Torvik, Maloy, and Floro. The World’s Most Beautiful Voyage is drawing to a close. Yet still ahead lies mile after mile of spectacular west Norway scenery: holly trees on Svanoy, the mouth of Sognefjord, and the beautiful archipelago on the approach to Bergen. You will disembark your Norwegian Coastal Voyage in Bergen.