Need help booking shore excursions for Norway Fjord cruise

[Cylphidre]

Hi

 

I will be cruising in Norway in August 2018 and am seeking advice on what shore excursions to plan and how/where to book locally. Prices of NCL are just too expensive

 

It could also help If someone already did something similar and would share their itinerary.

 

I have a preference for sightseeing, nature excursions. In second would be culture and history.

 

Here are the cities visited and the docking schedule

 

Haugesund 8am to 4pm

Hellesylt 8am to 9am, just a drop off I guess

Geiranger. 11am to 5pm

Flam. 9am to 7pm

Alesund. 8am to 5pm

Bergen. 8am to 5pm

 

Thanks in advance for your help

[LondonTowner]

In Flam you can book the train online direct with the train company. Station is about 200m flat walk from where ship's dock.

 

In Bergen you can buy funicular tickets at quayside. As weather is extremely changeable wait until you get there.

 

In Bergen and Alesund we walked around a bit and did HOHO. Haven't visited other places, but look on visitnorway.no as they have lots of information about local tours. You could also search these boards and look on Tripadvisor.

 

 

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[kaisatsu]

Do a search here for each of the ports individually, and you'll find a fair amount of info (with the exception of Hellesylt, which is indeed typically a drop-off for overland excursions, and maybe Haugesund, which is a less common port call).

 

Locally-run sightseeing tours are far less common than they are in other cruise port areas. Labor costs in Norway are prohibitively high, making guided tours particularly expensive. However, because of this there is a lot of infrastructure in place for independent and self-guided exploration and activity booking.

[rittsail]

We are going in June 2018 and have a few ports in common with you. I have found tours through tourism site for Norway. Called Visit Norway. Lots of ideas and links to tours.

 

In Alesund, we’re renting a car and driving the Troll’s path. In Geiranger, we are renting a Twizy electric car and going sightseeing to Mount Dalsnibba. In Bergen, we are taking the funicular so we can do some of the hiking trails up there. Then still have plenty of time to sightsee in Bryggen area of town.

 

Have fun!

 

 

 

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[kitkat343]

In Flam, book the railway first because those tickets can sell out. The railway is a very short walk from the pier but this is a possible tender port, so allow yourself some extra time (I believe that only one large ship can dock, additional ones needs to tender). We also did an amazing tour of a goat farm and local lunch with FjordSafari. They have an option for you to either ride a boat and hike or travel by car to the charming small village of Undredal. The company was great, and you can see their options at http://www.fjordsafari.com/ .

 

Another option which we didn't do in Flam is the Stegastein Viewpoint. There are buses that you can purchase right at the train station that will take you to Steastein and back. I would assume you can also reserve this in advance, but because of our two kids and the fact that we really wanted to take them to the goat farm we didn't do this. This might be another thing to decide last minute because if the weather is bad, I'm not sure you'd appreciate the viewpoint. On the other hand, I don't know if this tour sells out in August (we traveled in May) so its up to you.

 

 

In Geiranger, we were a little disappointed in the service provided by the company we chose, Geirangerfjordservice. We had booked a private limousine service since we were traveling with two small children and it is helpful if we can control the itinarary. They promised us we could go wherever we wanted to go, and I'd asked them via email if we could stop at a goat farm that was near a lake the normal tours to Geiranger visit. Via email, the company said that would be fine (although they totally reasonably pointed out that they could not control whether or not the goats would actually be at the fence near the road where we would be able to stop.) On the day of our tour, our tour guide lied and said anyone who goes to farms in Norway needs special vaccinations, which would render the previous tour we did in Flam illegal. We didn't argue with him, but were disappointed in their service since the reason we paid for a private car and driver was to control our itinerary. Otherwise, we could have taken the much cheaper bus they run to the exact same attractions we visited. The company also refused to provide a car seat booster for our oldest child, which is actually required under Norwegian law and we had to bring one for him since this was the only tour in England/Norway that would not provide a car seat for him.

 

However, the overall reviews on trip-advisor were quite strong for this company, and I don't think you'd have any similar problems using their buses to the attractions or taking a RIB boat or a regular boat with them (all of our problems were due to our expectations of a private tour, which I wouldn't recommend. However, you're probably better off with them than paying NCL prices for exactly the same tour).

 

LondonTowner is absolutely right about the funicular in Bergen since there will be limited visibility with fog. But on a clear day, there could be a long line to purchase tickets so it's up to you if you want to do that ahead of time. We did solely because we were traveling with children, and they liked the ride up even though we couldn't see anything due to the fog.

 

 

In Bergen, there is the HOHO bus, plus there is a less expensive museum bus that will take you to 4 stops near museums, so you can see if that takes you where you want to go. The museum shuttle bus stops pretty close to the funicular (they actually let us off directly there since we were the only ones on the bus and it was close to an actual stop) and that's close to the fish market where you can get a good meal and a close walk to Bryggen, a charming waterfront neighborhood. We were actually quite happy with the museum shuttle bus because they could tell us exactly what time they'd pick us up - we usually avoid HOHO buses because we can't wait with kids not knowing when they'll show up. Because Bergen is so small, and they only have 4 stops on their route they knew exactly when they'd be back and we didn't have to wait. There are also cabs, so Bergen is definitely a stop you don't need a NCL tour for - just visit tripadvisor and see what it is you would be most interested in.

We found tours in each of the places we visited on tripadvisor. It was a little harder than other cities we've visited, but definitely possible, especially since you have so much time before August and nothing will be booked up.

[Cylphidre]

This forum is amazing. Thank you so much for all the advice.

[Tiembiay]

Hi

 

 

 

I will be cruising in Norway in August 2018 and am seeking advice on what shore excursions to plan and how/where to book locally.

 

Are you doing the NCL Jade, August 12th? We are. If you are, get on the roll call. We will be having fun.

 

 

 

(From my iPad, so please forgive the errors)

[Cylphidre]

No, the cruise is NCL jade as well but Aug 25th

[dronnygirl]

We visit Haugesund in July but are struggling to find what to do. Visit Norway gives ideas where to visit but no info on how to get there. Would like to see Scudenshaven and the beaches at Kormoy but the shop trips don't cover both these. Help please...

[LondonTowner]

Why don't you send an email to visitnorway.no They are the official tourist board so should be able to help you. I have found when I have needed to send an email to Norway they have answered very quickly.

 

 

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[dronnygirl]

Thanks London Towner, will try that!

[BermudaBound2014]

I wrote up each of these stops in my live review titled “live from the jade....”. Lots of pics too. Let me know if you have any more questions :)

 

 

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[cyberjoys]

I wrote up each of these stops in my live review titled “live from the jade....”. Lots of pics too. Let me know if you have any more questions :)

 

 

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Any chance you can add the link to your post review? Thanks ~ Joyce

 

SaveSave

[BermudaBound2014]

Sorry, typing from phone. Does this work?

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53638459

 

 

 

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[Traveling Library]

Geiranger. When you get off the ship there is a tourist kiosk where tours are sold. There is a tour bus that will take you up one mountain to view the fjord from an overlook, down thru the port area, and then up the another mountain for another spectacular view. One the way back to the port you can ask them to drop you off at the Fjord Center and then you can walk downhill from the Fjord Center to the port stopping at the lovely church. There are gift shops, a restaurant or two, and a small grocery store in port. I've forgotten the price but it's reasonable. I think we paid in cash USD at the tourist kiosk. Tours run every hour or so.

 

Alesund. 8am to 5pm. Walk into the town and there is a trolley/train (not on railroad tracks but it looks like a choo-choo train at a theme park) that will take you up to a wonderful viewpoint. I think cash only but they took USD. Well worth doing this. Easy city to walk around and enjoy the Art Nouveau/Art Deco buildings. If you like historic sites go to the Jugendstilsenteret (Art Nouveau Museum) which is near the port. Also you can see artisans in the warehouses near the fishing boats.

Bergen - we've done the HoHo and took the funicular on our own. Yes there are lines but the lines move reasonably quickly. Nice view if not foggy. Second time in Bergen we visited the Bergen Fortress which is right by the port and well worth a visit. It's a 10 to 15 minute walk into town to see the Fish Market. On your way you will pass the Hanseatic Museum which is interesting to tour.

[cyberjoys]

Sorry, typing from phone. Does this work?

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53638459

 

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Worked great! Thanks!! ~Joyce