A plan & some questions about Norway/GB

We are on a Viking itinerary (Into the Midnight Sun) and I'm trying to nail down a plan in advance of excursions actually being available. The private things I want to book need to be booked sooner than the ship excursions, so I'm doing my homework. Here's my plan, with a few questions. I'll take any pieces of info anyone has!

June 23: Oslo. Spend next day and half exploring Oslo.

June 25: Depart Oslo for Bergen.

• Should we just take the train directly from Oslo to Bergen, or should we do the full Norway in a Nutshell? How difficult will this be with lots of luggage?
  
• If we do the NIN, should we book it all through the Norway Nutshell website or put the pieces together ourselves at less cost?
  

Arrive Bergen, board ship.

June 26: Bergen. Take ship's included Bergen walking tour. Explore art museum on own, funicular if there's time.

June 27: Geiranger. Take ship's included excursion to Eagle's Bend & Norwegian Fjord Center. Plan to take the Geiranger Fjord Service "Mountain highlights bus trip to Mt. Dalsnibba, etc" to get the viewpoints that the included ship tour doesn't cover.

June 28: Kristiansund. Included excursion isn't that appealing.

• Considering Bergtatt Marble Caves, which includes a stretch of Atlantic Ocean Road. Is this a decent option?
  

June 30: Tromso. Probably will take the included excursion (Architecture & Gardens, including the Arctic Cathedral).

July 1: Honnigsvag. Will do the included tour.

July 2: Svolvaer. Need help on this one.

• Have rented a car to drive through the Lofoten Islands. Am unsure if this is the better plan
  
• OR
  
• Trollfjord Cruise either through ship or on own, either via RIB boat or conventional boat.
  

Very interested in feedback on which way to go: islands by car or fjord by boat.

July 4: Lerwick/Shetland. Will probably just do included tour and then explore Lerwick on foot on our own.

July 5: Kirkwall/Orkney. Thinking of taking bus into town and then taxi to Scapa Distillery tour. Wander town on own after lunch.

July 6: Edinburgh (Rosyth).

We will do this on our own. Plan is to go to Scottish National Gallery and then either take Sandemann's walking tour (or other walking tour) or visit Edinburgh Castle on own, plus wandering.

July 8: Greenwich. We will skip the included excursion and instead see the Greenwich sights on our own: Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory.

July 9: Disembark. On to London

July 11: Depart London.

Thanks for help with those questions or other insights.

Hi

I can't help with the Norway part but do have some suggestions for Orkney.

Have you been before? If not, I would definitely consider trying to get to the amazing Neolithic remains at Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar and Maeshowe. You would need to go on an organised tour, hire a car or hire a taxi. I did this by taxi in an afternoon - the driver proved an excellent guide and the price was very reasonable.

Kirkwall is a lovely town to walk around. There's St Magnus Cathedral which has an interesting visitor centre around the back, the Bishops and Earl's Palace ruins and the Orkney Museum on Broad Street is a hidden gem.

I've seen cruise ships berthed right in the centre of the town and also a little further out. In the latter case there was a shuttle bus taking passengers the 5-10 minute trip between the town centre and the ship.

There is lots to do in Edinburgh and quite easy to sort out a walking tour by yourself using guides and maps online. The problem will be choosing what to cover in the time available depending on your interests. The Castle is an obvious choice and wandering around the old town - don't miss all the little wynds and alleyways running off the Royal Mile - is an interesting way to see the city. The National Gallery is certainly an option and if you are interested in history, there are many other museums and interesting buildings such as Gladstones Land, Mary Kings Close, the Georgian House and Holyrood Palace. I live in Edinburgh and would be happy to help with more detailed suggestions if you wish.

Hope that helps.

We are on a Viking itinerary (Into the Midnight Sun) and I'm trying to nail down a plan in advance of excursions actually being available. The private things I want to book need to be booked sooner than the ship excursions, so I'm doing my homework. June 23: Oslo. Spend next day and half exploring Oslo.

June 25: Depart Oslo for Bergen.

Should we just take the train directly from Oslo to Bergen, or should we do the full Norway in a Nutshell?

Arrive Bergen, board ship. June 26: Bergen. Take ship's included Bergen walking tour. Explore art museum on own, funicular if there's time.

June 27: Geiranger. Take ship's included excursion to Eagle's Bend & Norwegian Fjord Center. Plan to take the Geiranger Fjord Service "Mountain highlights bus trip to Mt. Dalsnibba, etc" to get the viewpoints that the included ship tour doesn't cover.

June 30: Tromso. Probably will take the included excursion (Architecture & Gardens, including the Arctic Cathedral).

July 1: Honnigsvag. Will do the included tour.

July 2: Svolvaer. Need help on this one.

Have rented a car to drive through the Lofoten Islands. Am unsure if this is the better plan OR Trollfjord Cruise either through ship or on own, either via RIB boat or conventional boat.

Very interested in feedback on which way to go: islands by car or fjord by boat.

July 9: Disembark. On to London July 11: Depart London.

Thanks for help with those questions or other insights.

Appreciate your good questions. There are a few areas where maybe I can offer a little help and ideas. Or, some options/potentials to consider. If I understand correctly, you Viking cruise has included an excursion in every port of call. BUT, for your personal interests and travel loves, will what they are offering "free" be the best? Fit your desires and real loves?

1. Weather will be a key factor in each Norway port. If nice and sunny, you want to have your "Plan A". But, if the weather is marginal, rainy, very overcast, etc., you need to be ready to shift to "Plan B".

2. Lots of good options in Oslo, especially if seeing more contemporary art is of strong interest to you. Hard to beat Munch and Vigeland!! The collections for those two in Oslo is totally world-class.

3. For Bergen, doing the ship's "walking around tour" will be OK, but I would hate to have you miss the funicular and the great views from up there, especially if the weather is good. Lots to do and enjoy in Bergen. It's one of our top, best favorites!!

4. For Geiranger, there are some good, closer-by options to see and do, but at some point in Norway, you want to get more "UPCOUNTRY" to see some of the added and wonderful sights that take a little more to travel inland.

5. For Tromso, the Arctic Cathedral is nice and worth it, but I would also want to get to the top, assuming good weather of Mt. Storsteinen. See a picture sample below.

6. We were able to do both the wide range of the Lofoten Island options AND to sail up the Trollfjord. Both are very good. Excellent, in fact!! Not sure how long and the details for the time and logistics required to reach the Trollfjord. If worth it, versus the amazing Lofoten Islands Clearly the Lofotens are super wonderful from our experiences. See more below as to why.

Check out my live/blog below with lots of visuals and other details for many of these Norway areas. Below are a few of my visual highlights as "proof/evidence" for the merits of visiting many of these key locations.

Sorry, I cannot help on the Norway in a Nutshell. But, the Flam rail experience is very good if that is possible.

Added questions and info needs?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 204,187 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Vigeland Park has a wide variety of outdoor sculptures in a super, wonderful setting that is a highlight for Oslo. There is a wide variety of art, water features, spectacular settings, etc. Its admission is free and the views and art are "priceless". It is open 24/7, so hours are not an issue.:

This picture shows the Bergen Floibanen funicular railway coming up the steep hill with the harbor, fish market, etc. in the background of this charming Norway coastal town with so much great history and architecture. On the top, somewhat right, the Silver Cloud and Costa ships can be seen in the harbor.

Right near the Hanseatic merchant warehouse area is the Bergen Fish Market with lots of options to buy food to eat on site or just watch, enjoying the “show” as people ask questions and buy the various fresh fish items.:

Taking the cable car up to the top of Mt. Storsteinen at 1,260 feet provides great views of the town of Tromso, nearby islands, mountains and water. With our mid-day weather so sunny, it really helped enjoy this city in such a great setting. The Arctic Cathedral is shown bottom right in this picture.:

We went to the end of the road as our “adventure” in the dramatic Lofoten Islands with our rental car. We stopped in a village called “A”. In their alphabet, this “A” has a small “o” above the letter. This is a simple name for a charming fishing town with spectacular scenery. We brought along box lunches from the ship and dined on a picnic table on the wooden dock with water and sights all around us. This was our dining view with the busy and noisy birds providing entertainment!!:

As we departed Svolvaer in the Lofoten Islands of Norway on a perfect, sunny day, these are two of the green, tree-covered mountains rising up from the sea that we saw with the small out-islands in the foreground.:

Geiranger we had pre booked the Mount Dalsnibba privately booked bus tour end of May which was sold out to buy on the day

however snow the previous week meant road was closed so they substituted trip to mountain lake and village which was enjoyable

in June you should be OK

Oslo to Bergen by train takes 7 hours. I don't know how long Norway in a Nutshell takes, but it's going to be a long day.

 

July 8: Greenwich. We will skip the included excursion and instead see the Greenwich sights on our own: Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory.

 

July 9: Disembark. On to London

July 11: Depart London.

 

Thanks for help with those questions or other insights.

I can only answer for Greenwich, since I live just outside it. You're right to do it on its own - it's very easy and you'll see much more.

Is there anything you particularly want to see in London? There are some good walking tours available if you want to see bits that most tourists miss.

We are doing the same cruise earlier in June and I'm totally impressed that you have done this much planning!! Just a couple of comments... The Norway in a Nutshell route takes about 12-14 hours to do in 1 day. It is quite easy to book yourself but as you are probably aware you can't book train reservations for several months yet. We decided to do the NiN over 2 days and spend the night in Flam. We settled for 1less day in Oslo to do it (we are more impressed by natural beauty and love being outdoors, not so big on cities.... But you might rather have the extra time in Oslo and the full route certainly can be done in 1day).

Also if you don't want to slog your luggage all over Norway, google Porter Service Norway. They will transport your luggage from Oslo to Bergen for a very reasonable price. They get good reviews and have been very responsive to a couple of inquiries I had.

For the Shetlands, the Orkneys, Edinburgh and London, you might find more help on the British Isles/Western Europe forum.

All this wonderful, helpful feedback! Thank you. I will start processing and sorting it all out over the weekend.

For the Oslo-Bergen trip, I have also heard a lot of good things about the porter service, so if you have a lot of luggage that would probably be the best option if you do decide to do the Nutshell trip.

It is a long day, and since you will be visiting Geirangerfjord, it's not as much of a must-do as it would be if you weren't visiting another iconic fjord during your trip. I would still recommend it, though. Most people really enjoy the Flåmsbana rail trip, and the fjord cruise between Flåm and Gudvangen is quite pretty. It's also a bit of a different perspective than you get from the bigger cruise ships.

You can book the pieces on your own, but they've adjusted the NiN pricing, so it's not as much of a cost-savings as it used to be. There have also been a lot of reports lately of difficulties pre-booking the ferry. Perhaps someone who has booked it individually more recently can weigh in, but the next time I have visitors I'll likely just recommend booking through Nutshell.

And I would vote for renting a car in the Lofoten Islands. The scenery is stunning, and the little fishing villages are charming.

Just a hint for Oslo. If you are 67 or older, you can purchase an Oslo Pass for approx. 26 USD in the shops just after you exit the ship (and before you get off the pier). This pass gives you free access to the museums, castle interior and all public transportation, including the ferry. Although we are above 67, the seller never asked to see any identification, so I am guessing they are somewhat flexible concerning age.

All this wonderful, helpful feedback! Thank you. I will start processing and sorting it all out over the weekend.

kaisatsu: And I would vote for renting a car in the Lofoten Islands. The scenery is stunning' date=' and the little fishing villages are charming. [/quote']

 

Glad the experienced and savvy kaisatsu followed-up and correctly urged the wisdom of renting a car and exploring the Lofoten Island. Below are few more of my visuals as proof and encouragement for that smart judgement.

 

Let us know after you have digested this weekend all of the great tips and ideas offered on this thread. Then don't be shy in asking any of your questions and needs for added information.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 158,321 views for this posting.

 

 

Here is one of our first Lofoten Islands views from a stop early in the trip as we drove south towards “Å" along the A-10 highway from Leknes.

 

 

 

A historic seaport and cod fishing center is Nusfjord a few miles east of the main south-bound road in the Lofoten Islands. It is one of Norway’s oldest and best preserved fishing villages (fiskevaer). Here is one of its buildings and its harbor. There is also a cod processing building with various visuals to see for that historic era. The old Fish Oil Mill is used for exhibiting items from the Fish Buying Station or fiskemottak. They show a film called “The people and the fish”. The mill was built around 1910. Here fish oil was produced from fish liver. The fish was retrieved from the Buying Station then, transported by rowboat to the mill. Cod liver oil was a very attractive export product, used in industrial production and for medicinal purpose. We also got some great pictures of its birds perched on a large rock, etc. You can see more details from this website:

http://www.nusfjord.no/EN/nusfjord/index_new_eng.html:

 

 

 

Here is an example of the soaring rocks/mountains and dramatic scenery in the Lofoten Islands when we did our DIY drive south and then back on the Lofoten Islands. Nice? This includes one of the curved beaches about a mile and a half east of Ramberg.:

 

 

 

Here are some of the many wooden racks for fish drying on these islands that we checked out during our drive south in the Lofoten Islands.:

 

 

 

Near the main E10 roadway in the southern part of the Lofoten Island is this historic Flakstad Kirke church that was built in 1780. It has a Russian design/look as certain of its materials were donated by those from that country.:

 

Just a hint for Oslo. If you are 67 or older, you can purchase an Oslo Pass for approx. 26 USD in the shops just after you exit the ship (and before you get off the pier). This pass gives you free access to the museums, castle interior and all public transportation, including the ferry. Although we are above 67, the seller never asked to see any identification, so I am guessing they are somewhat flexible concerning age.

I don't think they're flexible at all. 66 means no discount, 67 means discount. Either you looked well over 67, or they just trusted you.

I didn't do the full Norway in a Nutshell. I took the train from Bergen back to Oslo after my Hurtigruten cruise, and just bought my own tickets on-line, including a round-trip ticket from Myrdal to Flam. The day ended up being about 10 hours on the train; about 11 hours total from Bergen to Oslo. So I didn't have the boat or bus part of the NIAN, but I did the most spectacular leg, which is the train trip into Flam.

I can only answer for Greenwich, since I live just outside it. You're right to do it on its own - it's very easy and you'll see much more.

 

Is there anything you particularly want to see in London? There are some good walking tours available if you want to see bits that most tourists miss.

I haven't really begun to focus on London because I don't think there's much we need to book ahead of time (other than our hotel, which I did). We've been in London many times so it's comfortable and familiar to me. At some point, I'll have to decide which sights we want to re-visit or if there's something we've missed on previous trips. (It's one of the reasons we'll stay in Greenwich on our day there because we haven't previously visited the sights there so that's definitely worth it to us.)

If you've got suggestions for unusual walking tours, I'm all ears. Our interests run to art, history, and theater.

6. We were able to do both the wide range of the Lofoten Island options AND to sail up the Trollfjord. Both are very good. Excellent, in fact!! Not sure how long and the details for the time and logistics required to reach the Trollfjord. If worth it, versus the amazing Lofoten Islands Clearly the Lofotens are super wonderful from our experiences. See more below as to why.

Were you able to do the Trollfjord and drive through Lofoten Islands on the same day? It seems like that would be tight, time-wise. Did you do Trollfjord on your own or did your ship sail it? (I knew someone on an AZ cruise who rented a car to do Lofoten because her ship was cruising Trollfjord the next day. So far as I know, ours is not.)

Still trying to sort out fjord vs. other scenery balance. My problem is: I want it all!

 

If you've got suggestions for unusual walking tours, I'm all ears. Our interests run to art, history, and theater.

Yes, mostly London is turn up and see, rather than book in advance. This company does some really good, and different, tours. http://www.walks.com/ Plenty of different themes to choose from. I've even done some that take place in the area where I work and managed to see it in a whole new light.

Were you able to do the Trollfjord and drive through Lofoten Islands on the same day? It seems like that would be tight, time-wise. Did you do Trollfjord on your own or did your ship sail it? (I knew someone on an AZ cruise who rented a car to do Lofoten because her ship was cruising Trollfjord the next day. So far as I know, ours is not.) Still trying to sort out fjord vs. other scenery balance. My problem is: I want it all!

Our ship sailed up the Troilfjord when coming back south from the North Cape on the way to our second stop in the Lofoten Islands. Worked super well. Below are a few items as "photo evidence" for this location from my files.

It was a big thrill, helped by good weather, for our Captain to vary the sailing course and attempt to go up the Trollfjorden. This narrow passage is only 100 meters wide, about a mile long and with a depth of only 60 meters. The sights? Thrilling! Super, super great! The pictures below say it ALL! We were helped by the skies opening up with nice blue skies and bright sunshine. Few smaller cruise ships attempt to enter this location and none of the medium or larger ship can even consider such an option. Most passengers and many crew were on the top deck to see this unusual sight and experience. The staff served hot chocolate to warm us while outside in the brisk mid-morning air. At the end of this fjord, there was not room to make a normal turn. The Captain used the forward thrusters to rotate the ship 360 degrees in order to be able to exit this fjord.

Yes, you desire to do it "ALL!". But, you cannot!! Sorry. That is why you research and plan ahead to consider your many and potential options. Not easy to narrow your choices.

Keep posting your good questions and info needs.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 204,319 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

This was the view from our ship as we turned to get ready to enter this narrow opening to get up the fjord.:

From the portside control area, here is the view as our ship sailed up this narrow 300’ wide passage in the Trollfjord as a part of the Lofoton Islands along the Norway coast.:

This is a closer shot of the large waterfall within this fjord.:

This is the view from the back of our ship for the narrowness of the fjord that we had just sailed up and through which we must return.:

This is a wider view within the fjord of the larger waterfall and the more massive sheer rock face that lined the side of this area.:

Just a hint for Oslo. If you are 67 or older, you can purchase an Oslo Pass for approx. 26 USD in the shops just after you exit the ship (and before you get off the pier). This pass gives you free access to the museums, castle interior and all public transportation, including the ferry. Although we are above 67, the seller never asked to see any identification, so I am guessing they are somewhat flexible concerning age.

I'm delighted to say that we won't pass for 67 or older. :D Not yet, anyway!

I don't think they're flexible at all. 66 means no discount, 67 means discount. Either you looked well over 67, or they just trusted you.

Well, maybe my husband looked over 67 but I must have just looked trustworthy.

Well, maybe my husband looked over 67 but I must have just looked trustworthy.

Husbands always look older than their wives. (If they've any sense.) ;)