Azura,fjords and new Loen skylift

[Cappers]

ahoy shipmates. I've just got back from the fjords on the beautiful Azura this morning. Just thought I'd offer a few thoughts.

 

Azura,,,beautiful and elegant as always.

Food in MDR ( meridian freedom) very nice,,much improved from Ventura at new year,

 

Norway,,fantastic:cool: weather was changeable and we saw rain,fog,snow on the mountains and warmish sunshine. The sea was kind to us every night!

The highlight of the week for me was definitely the new skylift which I did on our day in Olden. I know we've been talking about it recently and many thanks to Galaxy for his help with information on it. Here's what I did,,we arrived nice and early in Olden and all 8 of us were off the ship before 9am. My husband, son and friends all did the briksdall glacier hike but I went straight to the little tourist info right by the quayside and got my ticket. It cost me 650kroner and included the shuttle bus which you get across the road 100 yards down from the petrol station car park. The man that drives the shuttle bus is great,,very friendly and talkative,,told me loads of stuff about the whole area. He goes back and forth all day to and from the port/skylift. The skylift itself is totally awesome,,it's practically vertical at some points and you are face to face with the mountain. I cannot recommend it enough. I absolutely loved it! Because it's so new there were very few people around,,only about 10 going up with me and coming down I had the whole thing to myself,,apart from the handsome Norwegian operator! There is a fabulous cafe at the top which is brand new and very modern,,food looked excellent. I had hot choc and cake after I spent a good hour walking around the paths at the top and taking photos. It was very cold up there with some snow still around and the air was quite thin as it's very high and I was gasping a bit after my walk,,could have been the cold though? Obviously the views are breathtaking! It's so new they are still building parts of it. If you're going to Olden I'd definitely do it,,I think you could do the glacier and the skylift in one day,,it was only 8 mins on shuttle bus just around the shores of the fjord.

[davecttr]

That skylift looks interesting. I must get some extra kroner for my cruise in July. No need for a ships excursion either

[Goosebear Mum]

Thanks for this, as I was thinking we may see if we have time to do this after Briksdal (or instead of Briksdal) in a couple of weeks time

[Galaxy]

Cappers : i hope you enjoy your stay in Olden,and i hope you will visit our village agein another time,never forget everyone is always welcome to Olden :)

[Cappers]

It was so fantastic and the fact that it's not yet crowded made it even more fantastic because I really felt like I was the only person up there. I spent all morning up there,,got the 12.30pm cable car back down, was back on the quayside by 1pm waiting for the others to get back. When they did return they were all tired and hungry after their hike so they all went back onboard Azura for lunch and I went on the mini train on a lovely little trip around the village,past a lake and up and down some lovely leafy lanes. That was a nice little train ride that didn't cost much,,sorry can't remember exactly how much. I liked Olden very much, not a lot in the place itself but very very pretty.

[Cappers]

Cappers : i hope you enjoy your stay in Olden,and i hope you will visit our village agein another time,never forget everyone is always welcome to Olden :)

 

Hellooo Galaxy :cool: I did indeed enjoy my visit to your beautiful village,,I loved it. You are very lucky to live somewhere so nice. I know it must be hard in winter but I imagine your summers make up for it. I'm so glad you told us all about the Loen skylift!

[Cappers]

Thanks for this, as I was thinking we may see if we have time to do this after Briksdal (or instead of Briksdal) in a couple of weeks time

 

My family went on the 9am glacier hike and they were back for 1.30pm. We didn't sail until 5pm so back on board time was 4.30pm,,I reckon you could fit both in if you didn't hang around,,you could get an hour up the top before going back down. The shuttle bus driver said that he waits for 5 minutes after the cars get back down before leaving for the port again.

[kruzseeka]

Thanks Cappers for a great and very informative report on the Sky Lift. When you bought your ticket do you know if it's possible to use a card?

[happytravelleruk]

Is the port shuttle bus wheelchair accessible?

[Goosebear Mum]

My family went on the 9am glacier hike and they were back for 1.30pm. We didn't sail until 5pm so back on board time was 4.30pm,,I reckon you could fit both in if you didn't hang around,,you could get an hour up the top before going back down. The shuttle bus driver said that he waits for 5 minutes after the cars get back down before leaving for the port again.

 

Thanks for this info :)

[Cappers]

Thanks Cappers for a great and very informative report on the Sky Lift. When you bought your ticket do you know if it's possible to use a card?

 

Yes it was,,I paid cash but the man that served me assumed I would be paying by card.

[Cappers]

Is the port shuttle bus wheelchair accessible?

 

It didn't look like it was to me. It was a fairly normal looking coach I'm afraid,,it did have an extra step so you didn't have such a big first step up. If you ( or whoever) could mange that then the lovely driver would definitely store a wheelchair for you. The buildings at both ends have good lifts and would be fully accessible but I didn't notice a suitable way out. The door I went out had a fairly big step out and down onto the paths. The cafe has an outside area that is the same level as inside and also a very large roof viewing area that someone in a wheelchair could get out onto via the lifts. The railings around it are sloping glass type things,,like very thick Perspex type stuff so when you stand at them you really are looking straight down:D I'll see if one of my kids can get a photo up for you,,I have no idea how to do that I'm afraid!

[kruzseeka]

Yes it was,,I paid cash but the man that served me assumed I would be paying by card.

 

Thanks for that - good to know especially as for two it would be a fair amount so I'd have to reassess how much currency to get. If possible I try to use my Clarity Card which gives a good exchange rate and conserves my cash so I'd definitely use it for that.

[allentownahoy]

It was so fantastic and the fact that it's not yet crowded made it even more fantastic because I really felt like I was the only person up there. I spent all morning up there,,got the 12.30pm cable car back down, was back on the quayside by 1pm waiting for the others to get back. When they did return they were all tired and hungry after their hike so they all went back onboard Azura for lunch and I went on the mini train on a lovely little trip around the village,past a lake and up and down some lovely leafy lanes. That was a nice little train ride that didn't cost much,,sorry can't remember exactly how much. I liked Olden very much, not a lot in the place itself but very very pretty.

Did you need kroner or did the sky lift and train accept credit cards?

[Cappers]

Did you need kroner or did the sky lift and train accept credit cards?

 

Don't know about the train,,I just paid the man standing by it in cash.

 

I got my ticket from the tourist info office by the ship for the skylift ,,paid cash but you can pay by card there. At the actual skylift terminal office there is a ticket booth with staff and do it yourself ticket machines,,it's uber modern so I would say card payments are the norm. It's just my preference for cash on the hip;) I don't like the risk of cards not working!

[Johnno3c]

It looks like the bus isn't wheelchair friendly judging your reply to happytraveleruk, which was going to be my question, so could you walk to the Sky Lift? Are there pavements/sidewalks or no protection from the traffic? I got told about this attraction the other day so would really like to try it out.

 

According to P&O and their accessibility info on the port of Olden, the availability of accessible busses/taxis is non existent (shame).

 

 

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[Galaxy]

It looks like the bus isn't wheelchair friendly judging your reply to happytraveleruk, which was going to be my question, so could you walk to the Sky Lift? Are there pavements/sidewalks or no protection from the traffic? I got told about this attraction the other day so would really like to try it out.

 

According to P&O and their accessibility info on the port of Olden, the availability of accessible busses/taxis is non existent (shame).

 

 

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You can send a request to the shuttle bus operator : post@oldencruise.no

[Johnno3c]

Thank you Galaxy I have sent an email. Fingers crossed.

 

 

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[happytravelleruk]

It didn't look like it was to me. It was a fairly normal looking coach I'm afraid,,it did have an extra step so you didn't have such a big first step up. If you ( or whoever) could mange that then the lovely driver would definitely store a wheelchair for you. The buildings at both ends have good lifts and would be fully accessible but I didn't notice a suitable way out. The door I went out had a fairly big step out and down onto the paths. The cafe has an outside area that is the same level as inside and also a very large roof viewing area that someone in a wheelchair could get out onto via the lifts. The railings around it are sloping glass type things,,like very thick Perspex type stuff so when you stand at them you really are looking straight down:D I'll see if one of my kids can get a photo up for you,,I have no idea how to do that I'm afraid!

Thank you. The shuttle would be no good as I don't do steps. May have to get a taxi if there is such a thing there. The rest of it sounds fine.

[Galaxy]

Thank you. The shuttle would be no good as I don't do steps. May have to get a taxi if there is such a thing there. The rest of it sounds fine.

 

You can contact Olden taxi on this number : +47 950 86 146

 

Stryn Taxi - Email adress : taxistryn@gmail.com ( this company have cars for wheelchair )

[Johnno3c]

Tried Stryn taxis and they do have a wheelchair taxi which only takes one chair.

 

I enquired about the cost of the three mile journey and they informed me that it would be £77 return! So the new Skylift will have to wait. I checked on the Skylift website and it is £44pp return trip for that so it would work out a very expensive day for two people.

 

 

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[Galaxy]

Hello everyone.

 

I have get the e-mail adress to Olden taxi you can use for any request : stalsolh@start.no