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North or south voyage?


malawijay
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My mom and I are planning a Norwegian coast sailing on Hurtigruten in December in search of the Northern Lights, and I'd like some feedback on the northbound or southbound voyage.

We already know about the Hurtigruten experience and that it isn't a standard "cruise." I'm mainly looking for feedback based on ports of call.

As I understand it, the same ports are called on both directions, but daytime calls in one direction are nighttime calls in the other, so excursions are different.

Thanks for any feedback from your Hurtigruten experiences!

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If you Google Hurtigruten Schedule, you should be able to find the NB and SB order of ports, and also the actual times, so you'll know day/night.

 

A similar search for Excursions should get you the NB and SB list, but note that these vary by time of year, sometimes considerably.

 

If you browse these, then you'll have an idea of which appeal to you, and which direction/season might best fit your interests.

 

We are heading out next week for one of their Astronomy Packages, but that was an afterthought once we noticed it. We hope to maximize the chance of seeing Northern Lights, so we are doing the RT. But the thought of that beautiful coastal scenery, and a relaxing 12 days... "priceless" as they say. :)

 

GC

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I’m doing North bound January next year. As GeezerCouple is saying it might depend if you want specific excursions or see specific venues.

Please note that excursions are different north and south bound.

Check sailing schedule and possible excursions.

Just post your questions.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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We did the round trip this February and there are way more exciting excursions on the North Bound than when we went South.

 

By the way, most of the sightings of the Northern Lights were once we got above the Arctic Circle and usually about 11:00 PM. If you begin your journey up north you might see the lights before you even board - if you are away from the lights of the cities.

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We are just back from completing the round trip voyage. The longer stops at the bigger towns (eg Trondheim, Alesund, Tromso) were on the northbound run during the daytime and there were more excursions on the northbound leg, but it's all down to what you are looking to experience.

 

It's an amazing trip whichever route you decide! We got to see the northern lights on five nights out of six above the arctic circle and they would sometimes start soon after dark...5.30pm was the earliest and it caused the dining room to empty when they were announced!

 

We would highly recommend you invest in some under-shoe removable crampons. In many ports, the conditions underfoot were treacherous and they were a life saver in terms of making getting around easier.

 

Hope this helps.

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We are just back from completing the round trip voyage. The longer stops at the bigger towns (eg Trondheim, Alesund, Tromso) were on the northbound run during the daytime and there were more excursions on the northbound leg, but it's all down to what you are looking to experience.

 

It's an amazing trip whichever route you decide! We got to see the northern lights on five nights out of six above the arctic circle and they would sometimes start soon after dark...5.30pm was the earliest and it caused the dining room to empty when they were announced!

 

We would highly recommend you invest in some under-shoe removable crampons. In many ports, the conditions underfoot were treacherous and they were a life saver in terms of making getting around easier.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks!

 

Our local REI suggested that we bring the crampons and just keep them in the box, so IF we were fortunate and didn't need them, we could return them.

Can't beat that for service!

 

GC

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Having done the trip in both directions, we would choose northbound if we were to go again. The long stays in ports northbound are in the ports that you might want to spend more time in.

 

Whichever direction you choose, you will miss something!

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Thanks for your input everyone! After reviewing the choices with my mom, I let her choose and, well, we're doing the roundtrip after all!

 

(I think it came down to her not wanted to spend the night in the Snow Hotel.)

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