andalsnes, tromso and alta

[Sjw19]

Hi

 

We will be visiting these ports in early March next year on Aurora, celebrating our golden wedding anniversary.  Your help with planning  P&O tours would  be welcome.  

 

Specifically, we are considering the Rauma Railway - advice on which side to sit in the train would be appreciated. Also husky sledging in either Alta or Tromso and the Northern Lights trip.  

 

We're new to these areas, fairly familiar with Stavanger our final port.  Unlikely will go again and so are unusually wary about making plans.

 

Any thoughts, positive or negative experiences,  more than welcome.

 

Thank you all

 

 

[kruzseeka]

6 hours ago, Sjw19 said:

Hi

 

We will be visiting these ports in early March next year on Aurora, celebrating our golden wedding anniversary.  Your help with planning  P&O tours would  be welcome.  

 

Specifically, we are considering the Rauma Railway - advice on which side to sit in the train would be appreciated. Also husky sledging in either Alta or Tromso and the Northern Lights trip.  

 

We're new to these areas, fairly familiar with Stavanger our final port.  Unlikely will go again and so are unusually wary about making plans.

 

Any thoughts, positive or negative experiences,  more than welcome.

 

Thank you all

 

 

I would recommend going up the cable car at Tromso.  Quite easy to do independently - take the shuttle into the city centre and go into the tourist office (labelled as tourist shop - there is more than one) ask for directions to the bus stop for the bus to the cable car (opposite Peppe's Pizza) and buy your tickets at the machine there using a credit/debit card - cost approx 3 NOK as opposed to 5 NOK from the driver (cash).  You will have to buy tickets separately though as there didn't appear to be a choice for buying more than one at a time.  (Norway is almost cash free - more or less everywhere uses CC).  There is an electronic display showing bus times and a route map on the shelter.  We didn't have to wait long.  I think several buses go to the base of the cable car which drops you just below the cable car station (bit of an uphill stretch but not far at all - perhaps 100m).  I think we paid 21 NOK pp for the cable car.

https://fjellheisen.no/en/

There is a cafe at the top and the views are magnificent.  If you can walk ok - it's not far to walk from the cable car to the Arctic Cathedral, 50 NOK each entry.   The bus top for the bus back across the bridge and into town is just at the base of the Cathedral but we did have to pay 50 NOK each for the bus for the return as there was no machine at this stop. 

We had a lovely day doing this under our own steam - though check out the cost against the ship's trip - as all the elements added up may not be much different but by going independently, we had the freedom to take as long as we liked up the mountain at take it all at a leisurely pace. 

[pete14]

In Alta, a visit to the ice hotel (it shouldn’t have melted by early March) is interesting. The prehistoric rock carvings at the museum are very good if you like that sort of thing but will not be visible if it is frosty or snowy when you visit and the paths may be slippery. The museum is a short bus ride from where the shuttle drops you (unless the drop off point has changed since I was there).

[Sussexboy]

The dog sledding in Alta was good fun. You are not allowed to drive though :(

However the dogs are fantastic, they just love people and I wanted to bring all of them home! 

[darknightsdespiser]

Definitely do the Rauma railway - it is absolutely fab.  Sit on the right hand side facing!

[Host Sharon]

Check out the Ports section of CC too. 

[J.E.C]

We did a private tour in Alta to see the Northern lights and loved it as there was only 8 of us up at the slate mine, and the scenery was spectacular and we also learnt a lot about the inuit community.

 

Also did the P&O tour to the ice hotel as couldn't find any independent tours and really wanted to see it. Glad we did as it was great (but busy)

 

All other ports we did our own thing. in Aldenes we tracked up to a viewing point for great views, worth a visit to the chapel in the railway carriage. (picture below)

 

Tromso hopped in a taxi from the shuttle bus drop off to the chair lift - spectacular views from the top (then the weather changed and we were in the middle of a blizzard 🙂. From the bottom of the chair lift we waled back to the church (worth a visit) and then across the bridge (which was interesting in the conditions).

 

I brought grippers for my walking boots and was so glad I did as it gave me the confidence to stride out and enjoy the snow.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sjw19]

Thank you all.  Replies all appreciated.

[kruzseeka]

Fab picture J.E.C.  We've just come back from Norway - first visit at this time of year and loved it just as much as in the summer.  There wasn't much snow except on the mountain tops which made it very picturesque but apparently it had been exceptionally mild before we got there.  Great to hear of your experiences at a colder time of year.  Can you remember approx the cost of a taxi from the town centre to the base of the cable car?  It would be very much more convenient and possibly not much more expensive than the bus.  

Edited October 27, 2018 by kruzseeka

[J.E.C]

On 10/27/2018 at 4:22 PM, kruzseeka said:

Fab picture J.E.C.  We've just come back from Norway - first visit at this time of year and loved it just as much as in the summer.  There wasn't much snow except on the mountain tops which made it very picturesque but apparently it had been exceptionally mild before we got there.  Great to hear of your experiences at a colder time of year.  Can you remember approx the cost of a taxi from the town centre to the base of the cable car?  It would be very much more convenient and possibly not much more expensive than the bus.  

 

I seem to think it was about £10 -12, but it all adds up as you then pay for the chair lift and entry to the church if you want to go inside. So may be worth comparing to a P&O trip if it covers what you want to do.

 

We found that the P&O trips whilst seeming expensive were no more so than local providers. I am not a big advocate of cruise ship tours and I know with our private Northern Lights tour we paid a little more than the cruise ship price about £10 more), but worth it to get away from the crowds.

 

The scenery everywhere was stunning as you would expect and the snow made such a difference 🙂

[silver surfer 2010]

This is an interesting webcam to watch

 

http://portalta.kystnor.no/

 

Plenty of snow in Alta just now

We were there in March this year and stayed on the ship at Alta and the Northern lights were visible 4 nights running. We had to leave the TV on after going to bed and were alerted by the officer on the bridge with a gentle nudge "ladies & gentlemen the Aurora is now visible" so there was a mad scramble and we just sat on the bed wrapped in the duvet and watched lights for a good half an hour - it was fantastic.

Previously we had done a P & O excursion and at 2-30 in the morning it was minus 26 out on the golf course which again was quite an experience 

It's all the luck of the draw there are no guarantees

 

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by silver surfer 2010