norwegian fjords this June

[simpleohio]

What are the must do excursions or or what would I regret if I don't do it. Trying to decide.

Is there a Facebook page for the group ?

 

[scottishclover]

I did the Norway cruise in 2016. My advice is to get out in the outdoors (if you are able) rather than sit on a bus. Norwegians call it "Friluftsliv". This was our philosophy and we did it all independently, avoiding Disney's extortionate excursion prices:

In Stavanger we hiked the Pulpit Rock. Nice ferry and bus ride to get there. Gave you a glimpse of Norwegian small town life. This had been on my bucket list for a while and if you hike at all I would suggest making the effort. While the trail was busy, the view from the top was stunning.

In Alesund we caught a local bus out of town and hiked up Sukkertoppen (Alesund's equivalent of Sugar Loaf Mountain). Amazing panorama from the top and just us and locals out for a morning hike. Then we strolled around the town and climbed up the steps to the viewing point at Mount Askla. Sukkertoppen was better and probably my favourite part of the trip. Would have loved to have explored the area surrounding Alesund more.

In Geiranger we did the Storsetter waterfall hike from the ship up past Vesteras Farm. Then we went on a RIB tour on the fjord in the afternoon. Would not have missed that it was great fun ( we were travelling with tweens!)

In Bergen went up on the funicular and did some free canoeing up there until the rain closed in. After that did some shopping and went to the fish market.

I think to fully appreciate the views you need to get high up or in the case of the fjords low down. Scenery was amazing. You will love Norway.

Another of our favourite things to do was going into a supermarket and comparing prices (ouch!)

 

[simpleohio]

Ha you sound more athletic than me. Lots of hiking. Ha

 

[Heard02]

We did the DCL Norway in 2015 and the rib boat in Geiranger and it was the best thing we did the whole trip!
Husband did Pulpit rock and he loved it! Daughter was too young so we did a tour that went up to the bottom of the rock and waterfalls by boat which was really really neat.
Norway is absolutely breathtaking.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What are the must do excursions or or what would I regret if I don't do it. Trying to decide.

Is there a Facebook page for the group ?

Have you checked for a DISboards group? Links to other social media sites are not allowed here.

 

[linetbo]

I am doing disney tours, because didn’t find a private excursions. Only in Geiranger I booked a boat tour with a private company.

 

[MUN]

I am doing disney tours, because didn’t find a private excursions. Only in Geiranger I booked a boat tour with a private company.

Depending on what you are interested in doing there are multiple companies offering excursions in Norwegian ports. There are previous threads in disboards that discuss specific excursion providers.

MUN

 

[russjen1218]

Following ... This is my dream cruise one day!

 

[Hubie]

What are the must do excursions or or what would I regret if I don't do it. Trying to decide.

Is there a Facebook page for the group ?

Check out some of the excellent trip reports for the Norwegian Fjords Cruise. We took this cruise last year and skipped Pulpit Rock because it was raining, but Stavanger is a lovely town to explore. In Alesund we used the hop-on, hop-off bus to go up to the restaurant with the view above the city, and then just explored the city on foot. In Geiranger, the bus to the top of the mountain and the waterfall walk from the village were both spectacular. Bergen is wonderful to just walk around and explore on its own. The problem with some of the longer excursions offered by DCL is you are left with little or no time to explore the Norwegian Ports. It's too bad that cruises don't stop for two days. But all in all, you'll love this cruise. We booked the Baltic for this year and again plan to spend 3 days in Copenhagen, which is fantastic. Also by flying Icelandair, we get to spend 1 - 7 days in Iceland on our way home.

 

[TheAuaisFamily]

Hello! I am looking for some experienced advice. My family is going on the 11-Day cruise to Norway, Iceland and Scotland in June. While at Alesund, there are no excursions available to the Path of the Trolls. Does anyone know of or has anyone used a private car company? The other issue is we will need an excursion shorter than 8 hours because we are in Alesund for only 8 hours.

Any advice is appreciated

 

[linetbo]

Hello! I am looking for some experienced advice. My family is going on the 11-Day cruise to Norway, Iceland and Scotland in June. While at Alesund, there are no excursions available to the Path of the Trolls. Does anyone know of or has anyone used a private car company? The other issue is we will need an excursion shorter than 8 hours because we are in Alesund for only 8 hours.

Any advice is appreciated

People in our group are renting car there.

 

[DahliaRW]

Hello! I am looking for some experienced advice. My family is going on the 11-Day cruise to Norway, Iceland and Scotland in June. While at Alesund, there are no excursions available to the Path of the Trolls. Does anyone know of or has anyone used a private car company? The other issue is we will need an excursion shorter than 8 hours because we are in Alesund for only 8 hours.

Any advice is appreciated

I am assuming it's not available due to the distance from Alesund and limited time in port. If I remember correcly, it's 2 hours travel (with no hiccups) each way. So that's 4 hours of just travel. Assuming you can be off the ship at 9:15 and run on at exactly 4:45, you only have 7 1/2 hours. And it's probably more like be off the ship sometime between 9:30 and 10 and plan to be back by 4 just in case. With ideal traffic, you have 2 hours there.

 

[swimfin]

I did the Norway cruise in 2016. My advice is to get out in the outdoors (if you are able) rather than sit on a bus. Norwegians call it "Friluftsliv". This was our philosophy and we did it all independently, avoiding Disney's extortionate excursion prices:

In Stavanger we hiked the Pulpit Rock. Nice ferry and bus ride to get there. Gave you a glimpse of Norwegian small town life. This had been on my bucket list for a while and if you hike at all I would suggest making the effort. While the trail was busy, the view from the top was stunning.

In Alesund we caught a local bus out of town and hiked up Sukkertoppen (Alesund's equivalent of Sugar Loaf Mountain). Amazing panorama from the top and just us and locals out for a morning hike. Then we strolled around the town and climbed up the steps to the viewing point at Mount Askla. Sukkertoppen was better and probably my favourite part of the trip. Would have loved to have explored the area surrounding Alesund more.

In Geiranger we did the Storsetter waterfall hike from the ship up past Vesteras Farm. Then we went on a RIB tour on the fjord in the afternoon. Would not have missed that it was great fun ( we were travelling with tweens!)

In Bergen went up on the funicular and did some free canoeing up there until the rain closed in. After that did some shopping and went to the fish market.

I think to fully appreciate the views you need to get high up or in the case of the fjords low down. Scenery was amazing. You will love Norway.

Another of our favourite things to do was going into a supermarket and comparing prices (ouch!)

Hi! THANK YOU for this information!!! This has been a HUGE help for my upcoming trip! For your Sukkertoppen hike, do by any chance remember the bus number for the local bus in Alesund ... I am seeing a 618 and 624 OR is it pretty obvious which one to catch? Also, we are trying to do Pulpit on our own as well. For Pulpit, did you catch the 8:00 ferry or 8:40 ferry? How did the timing work for hiking and getting back to the ferry? From what I can tell, the 13:45 bus at Pulpit parking lot is ideal and 14:30 is the latest one you can catch to not miss the boat? Did you use Tide? Any issues with the bus being too full? For your family, was it 2 hours up and 2 hours down? Were you lucky to have a dry weather day or did you hike in the rain? Sorry for so many questions! Pulpit is our biggest concern .... We really want to do this and we are from Colorado, so hiking isn't "new" to us! We have done a few 14ers here in CO so we aren't worried about the actual hiking; it's the timing of the bus and ferry! Thanks again! Cheers!

 

[Avery's mom]

Hi! THANK YOU for this information!!! This has been a HUGE help for my upcoming trip! For your Sukkertoppen hike, do by any chance remember the bus number for the local bus in Alesund ... I am seeing a 618 and 624 OR is it pretty obvious which one to catch? Also, we are trying to do Pulpit on our own as well. For Pulpit, did you catch the 8:00 ferry or 8:40 ferry? How did the timing work for hiking and getting back to the ferry? From what I can tell, the 13:45 bus at Pulpit parking lot is ideal and 14:30 is the latest one you can catch to not miss the boat? Did you use Tide? Any issues with the bus being too full? For your family, was it 2 hours up and 2 hours down? Were you lucky to have a dry weather day or did you hike in the rain? Sorry for so many questions! Pulpit is our biggest concern .... We really want to do this and we are from Colorado, so hiking isn't "new" to us! We have done a few 14ers here in CO so we aren't worried about the actual hiking; it's the timing of the bus and ferry! Thanks again! Cheers!

I can answer some of your questions - as for Pulpit Rock, it did take us 2 hours up and 2 down. We kept to a very close schedule to make sure we made the ship. We were on the 13:45 bus and we did use Tide Reiser for our tickets. The buses were very full on the way out, but not on the way back. We did have a dry weather day, but it was overcast and cool - perfect for hiking. I wouldn't worry so much about the timing of it - as long as you stick to the schedule, you will be just fine. We were out of shape 40-somethings with an 18 month old in a hiking backpack. If we could do it - anyone can!

 

[swimfin]

I can answer some of your questions - as for Pulpit Rock, it did take us 2 hours up and 2 down. We kept to a very close schedule to make sure we made the ship. We were on the 13:45 bus and we did use Tide Reiser for our tickets. The buses were very full on the way out, but not on the way back. We did have a dry weather day, but it was overcast and cool - perfect for hiking. I wouldn't worry so much about the timing of it - as long as you stick to the schedule, you will be just fine. We were out of shape 40-somethings with an 18 month old in a hiking backpack. If we could do it - anyone can!

THANK YOU!! If you were back down for the 13:45 bus, were you able to catch the 08:00 ferry? Thanks again!

 

[Avery's mom]

THANK YOU!! If you were back down for the 13:45 bus, were you able to catch the 08:00 ferry? Thanks again!

Actually, I think that we were on the first ferry of the day, but it couldn't have been the 8am. A group of us met at 7:45 am on the ship, then got off and walked to the ferry terminal. I remember waiting about 10-15 minutes before the ferry arrived. So, perhaps it was at 8:15 or so? What I would recommend is when the ferry starts to arrive in Tau, get up and make your way to the rear of the ferry, so that as you arrive, you are one of the first to get off and make your way to the waiting buses. Being on that first bus will help you keep your schedule. Also, if you don't get tickets in advance, there were agents at the ferry terminal st up outside at at table selling tickets.

Hope that helps

 

[swimfin]

Actually, I think that we were on the first ferry of the day, but it couldn't have been the 8am. A group of us met at 7:45 am on the ship, then got off and walked to the ferry terminal. I remember waiting about 10-15 minutes before the ferry arrived. So, perhaps it was at 8:15 or so? What I would recommend is when the ferry starts to arrive in Tau, get up and make your way to the rear of the ferry, so that as you arrive, you are one of the first to get off and make your way to the waiting buses. Being on that first bus will help you keep your schedule. Also, if you don't get tickets in advance, there were agents at the ferry terminal st up outside at at table selling tickets.

Hope that helps

THANK YOU!!! It does!! Cheers!

 

[cadien]

How interesting are the fjord itineraries for children? Especially ones who aren't big Frozen fans. This is my husband's dream itinerary but I wonder if we'd be better off making it a kid-free getaway. It will be a few years before the grandparents would want him for 10 or 11 straight days though.

 

[terithegreat]

Following as well! My husband and I are debating booking the 10 night Fjords cruise in 2018. I wish there were more reviews on YouTube or online... It's so hard to get a good idea what to expect!

 

[MUN]

How interesting are the fjord itineraries for children? Especially ones who aren't big Frozen fans. This is my husband's dream itinerary but I wonder if we'd be better off making it a kid-free getaway. It will be a few years before the grandparents would want him for 10 or 11 straight days though.

How old are your children?