Recommended Port Excursions for Norway

[sjedelen67]

We just booked the 2016 Norway Disney Magic cruise for June. Yayyy! We cannot wait. We are Platinum members and have been on many Caribbean cruises with Disney. This will be first time to Europe. I was wondering what Port Excursions people would recommend to us. We are a family of 4. Two adults and two kids (ages15 and 13). We want to do as much as possible in port. The only excursions we have ruled out are the Aselund excursion with Anna and Elsa as well as the Helicopter tours. Any suggestions? Thanks, Steve

 

[jenpink]

We had two ports in Norway on our recent cruise, Oslo and Stavanger. We got the Oslo pass and were able to see whatever we wanted for lower cost than any excursion. It includes transportation on bus, tram, train and ferry and entry to most of the sights. We found it well worth it.

In Stavanger we did the Lysefjord by land and sea. It was very nice as well. I was travelling with my 13 year old.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We just got back from Norway a few weeks ago. It is an amazing cruise. I agree with Jen. You want to do the Lysefjord cruise in Stavanger. There is also plenty of time to walk around the town. We did the Alesund Highlight tour and loved it. We did a private tour in Geiranger but my DD did the rib boat tour and loved it. You can book it on your own. You almost don't need a tour in Bergen. The town is very walkable. It just depends if you want to get out of town to see sights.

 

[DahliaRW]

We were very surprised by the Ovre Eide farm excursion in Bergen. Wasn't expecting much, but it ended up being our favorite. You felt like you were visiting family on a their farm. It was really great and we learned a lot about the culture.

 

[Saamh]

We visited Stavanger on the EBTA and booked the Lysefjord cruise through Rodne Fjord Tours. It was 1/3 the cost of booking through DCL and you can see their boat when you get off the Magic.

 

[Avery's mom]

I'll let you know what we did - and if we'd recommend it.

Stavanger - We hiked Pulpit Rock. Definitely a must do for our family. We would do it again!

Alesund - We did the Anna and Elsa excursion - and we LOVED it. I know you're not doing it - but the Sunnmore Museum was definitely worthwhile even without the DCL event.

Geiranger - We had a private 14 person tour - we went to Mt. Dalsnibba (it snowed on us, in June!) and to many lookouts around town, Westeras Cafe and the highlight of the day was the hike to Storseterfossen. Such a gorgeous hike and destination! This was our favorite port.

Molde -I know this isn't on your itinerary - but we drove the Atlantic Ocean Road + other sights. A bit more sedate than we normally would recommend, but we needed a down day.

Olden - We went on another private tour to Brisksdal Glacier and Lake Loen. I appreciated the history of the glacier and seeing how it has changed over time - the whole area is so gorgeous!

Bergen - We were on our own, as Bergen was quite walkable. We took the funicular to the top of Mt. Floyen and explored the area at the top. Then went to the fish market, shopped, etc...

I will say that we might not have done so many "non-DCL" tours, had the DCL Port Adventures we wanted not sold out for Silver members. So, this will not be an issue for you. Have fun planning - We would go again in a heartbeat!

 

[sjedelen67]

Thanks for all the replies. I was wondering if anyone did the Iconic Norway by Train and Bus in Bergen? I think it would be an incredible excursion to take a train in Norway.

 

[Flossbolna]

We did our own thing in Stavanger, Geiranger and Bergen. The only DCL excursion we did was the Path of the Trolls

Stavanger: walked around town, visited the Canning Museum (Hermetik Museum), the watchtower and the Oil Museum.

Alesund: Path of the Trolls is spectacular views, but a long day. Our guide was not very good, but the scenery was beautiful nevertheless. If you don't mind a full day, I would recommend it. Sit on the right hand side of the bus for better views. And bring your own lunch if you do the tour "with leisure time".

Geiranger: We went on our own hike from the port to the Fjordcenter, then to Westeras Farm, from there to Westeras Fjellet view point and then up to Storsetterfossen waterfall. Beautiful hike despite the slight rain. But one ought to have proper hiking shoes as there is a lot of steep up and then down hill.

Bergen: We had ordered the Bergen Card in advance and had it mailed to us. So, from the ship we took the public bus to "Gamle Bergen", a museum of old wooden houses from all around Bergen. It was really nice as the insides of the building were accessible as well. They even have some houses were there are people "living" in them. Back into town with the bus we walked around, visited the leprosy museum, the train station, the city center and in the afternoon took the funicular up to Mount Floyen where we went for a short walk to a lake.

Make sure to visit a bakery at some point to buy some sweet buns. Norwegian baked goods are delicious!

 

[cedricandsophie]

Thanks for all the replies. I was wondering if anyone did the Iconic Norway by Train and Bus in Bergen? I think it would be an incredible excursion to take a train in Norway.

We did the train on the June 20 cruise. It was a great day and what we saw was fantastic. But a word of caution. It's a very long day, the train is very crowded, you aren't guaranteed a window seat and 2 of our group stood because there weren't seats together. The train tracks had lots of tunnels so you really only get scenery for about 60% of the trip but what you see is great. Because you are on the trains schedule you do feel a little rushed. So just know what you are getting into. We had no time to walk around Bergen because we got back a few mins afte boarding time. We had been there before but our daughter was disappointed.

 

[DahliaRW]

We did the train on the June 20 cruise. It was a great day and what we saw was fantastic. But a word of caution. It's a very long day, the train is very crowded, you aren't guaranteed a window seat and 2 of our group stood because there weren't seats together. The train tracks had lots of tunnels so you really only get scenery for about 60% of the trip but what you see is great. Because you are on the trains schedule you do feel a little rushed. So just know what you are getting into. We had no time to walk around Bergen because we got back a few mins afte boarding time. We had been there before but our daughter was disappointed.

We did a similar excursion on our own, not while on the cruise, though fjord tours (we spent 3 days in Bergen earlier in the month before the cruise). I personally would not recommend it. It is a LOOOOONG day. And transportation is crowded, making it hard to get good views as it is. If the weather is bad (as it was for us), it's even worse. Up in Flam it was hailing with fierce wind, and the train station is so tiny we couldn't even get inside, it was packed (most of the train stations are very, very small). If you want to experience Bergen, don't do this as your only excursion. I'd recommend maybe going to Norway pre/post cruise and spending a few days if you want to see the scenery more inland there, take your time, and enjoy it.

In Bergen, I mentioned the DCL excursion above, but forgot to mention our favorite things outside of that from our previous stay. My boys (7 and 10), absolutely loved Rosencranz Tower and Hakkan's Hall. They're a short walk from where the boat docks. There is a tour in English a couple of times a day that is free with cost of admission. The tour told us about the history of the buildings, but she also talked a lot about how they were defended and the military aspects which my boys found fascinating. A little further down Bryggen from there is the Bryggens Museum, which is about the origins of Bergen and old Bergen. It was fantastic. We also loved the funicular, but it can get crowded in the afternoon. You could do all of those things in one day on your own for a relatively low price. Way cheaper than with DCL.