ballfamily Posted December 16, 2017 #1 Share Posted December 16, 2017 My wife and I are booked on the MS Spitzbergen in early October 2018 for the northbound voyage. We have seen Hurtigruten's shore excursions offerings, and find them to be a bit on the expensive side and to some degree not all that interesting. My question for the group is -- Does anyone know of reputable private companies that offer outings similar to what Hirtigruten offers - particularly in Alesund, Trondheim, Bodo & Tromso? I recognize there are advantages of going thru Hurtigruten for shore ex, but at this point we're looking for other options. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallasm Posted December 17, 2017 #2 Share Posted December 17, 2017 There are no real alternatives to Hurtigruten excursions. Reason is the limited size of the ships and limited time for the stops in ports - no more than 3 hours in the ports you are mentioning. I did look for alternatives myself and didn’t find any. I did Lofoten Highlights and Bird Safari. The Lofoten Highlights was to expensive however a nice tour. The Bird Safari was more ‘value for the money’. If possible you can plan some tours pre or post cruise. Here is a link to my review https://midtnightsuncruise.blogspot.com/ M/S Spitsbergen does have a capacity of 243 passengers in cabins. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetcbl Posted December 17, 2017 #3 Share Posted December 17, 2017 In addition, the ships leave on time and will delay departure only for a their own excursions. All four cities are walkable. Do some research and choose sites you want to see...TripAdvisor is a good source. We have done a few excursions that we enjoyed: Breakfast at the North Cape ( Southbound), the Atlantic Road, and A Taste of Vesterlanen. The Sea Eagle Safari is popular. It has been a few years since we did the Coastal Route and there are many new excursions. And it seems the excursions become more expensive each year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballfamily Posted December 17, 2017 Author #4 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Hallasm & Janetcbl - Thank You both for your responses; I appreciate the info and feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splinter Posted December 18, 2017 #5 Share Posted December 18, 2017 The Sea Eagle Safari is only offered on the southbound route (Kirkenes to Bergen) so would not be an option for you. It was the best tour I took. I agree that you can do much on your own in Trondheim (you can walk to the Cathedral or Rock Museum from the pier easily), and Ålesund (I just walked around town to see the beautiful architecture, and if you are ambitious, you can walk up the 418 steps, or take a bus or cab up to to the Aksla Viewpoint. In Tromso, you can easily walk to the Polar Exploration museum, or Polaris (aquarium), and either walk or take a city bus to the Arctic Cathedral. The old town area near the pier is interesting for a stroll. In Bodø I did take a bus tour to the Saltstraumen (not the rib boat trip) and saw some beautiful countryside as well as a drive past the major sites in Bodø including the Cathedral and Aviation Museum (which would be a short cab ride if you are interested in that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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