kruzseeka

Stavanger has quite a lot to offer if you've not been before and hopefully without having to negotiate a wheelchair, very easy to explore on your own. There's the old town (uphill and cobbles) of clapbosrd houses with roses round the doors, a lake to walk round behind the cathedral and lots of cafes from converted warehouses on the opposite side of the harbour from the old town. There's a colourful street rising up from this cafe area where there are more cafes and shops painted rainbow colours so very photogenic. If it's wet then the Oil Museum is surprisingly interesting too. All very walkable. This year they don't seem to be offering the excursion to the Flor & Fjaere Gardens - our friends wanted to go there again after being blown away by their splendour on a previous visit but sadly haven't been able to book it on their Iona cruise next month. But if it pops up again on other itineraries, I can recommend it. I don't know if the trip to the glacier (viewed from a distance) with the boat trip to Lovatnet Lake is on offer (not the Briksdal Glacier trip) but that's really worth doing from Olden. We've booked to do that again on our next cruise. Flam is as good as Geiranger for getting into the far reaches of the fjords. In fact it's more closed in so that you feel as though you are in a bowl surrounded by mountains. Disregarding the Seven Sisters (which depending on the conditions/time of year might be more like 3/4 - it's probably good at the moment with snow melt contributing to the volume of water in the falls but isn't always so impressive) Flam gives you an excellent fjord experience. They have developed Flam a lot over the years creating a microbrewery where it's expensive but a great experience to go for a drink. You can walk up the valley to the Stave Church and of course there's the scenic railway ride. So again, plenty of variety. Bergen has a different feel but adds to the variety. A must-do is to go up the funicular for the views at the top of Mt Floyen. (Get off early to beat the rush but easy access and much cheaper to DiY than a ship's trip). Lovely walks in the parkland up there too. Then the Wharf buildings - the Bryggen is full of character and history and the market on the harbour is colourful and tempting with various take away options. That seems to me to be a very interesting itinerary and would give you some different experiences from your recent cruise. I'd go for it! 😉