Norway 2022 pt1

24/07/2022 – 05/08/2022

Ship P&O Aurora

We chose a cruise as this was the first time there was the option for international travel after the Covid pandemic. This particular cruise as it was from Southampton, and there was a variety of destinations. Most cruises were 5 ports of call in 7 days, this was supposed to be 8 in 12. It went down three long fjords, the longest of which was 210kms. It was on Aurora – one of the smallest cruise ships with only about 1900 passengers.

There were issues at the start of the cruise and the stop at Stavanger was cancelled (for which we got around £500 from the cruise insurance). The itinerary was changed so we spent 2 days to reach the most northerly stop and then made our way southwards.

Ports of Call

Trondheim

Ålesund

Åndalsnes

Olden

Skjolden

Eidfjord

Haugesund

Stavanger(Cancelled)

Three of the four sea days were travelling to and from Norway. The fourth was basically heading out to sea then tuning round and heading back.

27/07/2022 Trondheim

Northern Norway’s historic capital featuring the Nidaros Cathedral.

After two days at sea we wanted to stretch our legs. We took a service bus to a park at the edge of town and hiked back. Then walked back to town.

The walk down was really nice through parks and woodlands, along the side of lakes, streams and the side of waterfalls.

It was only after a couple of hours when we got to the edge of Trondheim, and we could see the ship, that the distance we were walking became apparent.

The centre of Trondheim was lovely

There were various statues around which linked back to Norway`s history

The centre piece of the city was the cathedral

Unfortunately there was an event that blocked the front of the cathedral – it still looked impressive

We did not expect to see a cathedral so dramatic in such a small place so far north,

There was also a very large globe.

The river in the middle of the town was really nice,

The weather was variable over the day, so a street of umbrellas was not out of place!

28/07/2022 Ålesund

Known for its striking Art Nouveau architecture and the jumping-off point for the bird cliffs of Runde.

Ålesund is at the head of one of the Fjords we sailed down on our previous trip to Norway, and like our first visit it did look good on a morning.

We walked to the edge of town and then along the shore to the to the open air aquarium.

The location was glorious. It was at the head of a headland and reached out into the fjord.

There were the most active otters I have ever seen

Then we wandered back to a very pretty town.

29/07/2022 Åndalsnes

Åndalsnes: A stunning village nestled in the Romsdal Alps, offering dramatic views of the Romsdalsfjorden.

This is quite possibly my favourite place in Norway and the place I most want to go back to. This was the first time on this cruise where we felt we were in the fjords, when you could see both walls clearly.

Romsdalsfjord is not the longest fjord but it is glorious in the early morning sun.

Then we arrived at Åndalsnes

Our original plan was to take the scenic Rumba Railway, but it wasn’t running. So we went on a bus tour so that we could see the Troll Wall, the tallest rock face in mainland Europe. After we left the visit this was the first view up the valley.

The Troll Wall is quite something to see – its 1700m at its highest point

As we progressed along the river there were probably dozens of huge waterfalls dropping hundreds of metres down the side of the valley. I could have spent days just trying to get a better look at them all.