Excursion Tips for Norwegian Fjords Cruise July 2022

[LoveGlasto]

Does anyone who has done a similar cruise before have any tips for shore excursions (P&O or self organised)?  We sail on the Iona for the week commencing 9th July 2022. Many thanks in advance. 

[2BACRUISER]

Go to the cruise ports page Europe then baltic loads of info there.

Hth 

[gsmt47471015]

Did the Mount Delsnibba in Geiranger tour a few years ago and it was a good trip, you can do it or part of the ships excursion  👍

[gsmt47471015]

Just now, gsmt47471015 said:

Did the Mount Delsnibba in Geiranger tour a few years ago and it was a good trip, you can do it or part of the ships excursion  👍

Sorry missed out Independently !!!!!

[DewsburyRobin]

Olden, it looks like the ship has stopped in them middle of nowhere and it has, however a bus ride away is the Birksdal Glacier which is amazing.

we went under our own steam by getting the public bus just across from the port (I use the word loosely) for a third of the price of the ship excursion and arrives back in good time for departure.

There are some cars at the bus stop at the Near the glacia (all tour buses stop here as well) which will take you up to the glacia, but the walk was gentle going up and easy coming down. Dependant on age and ability we took walking boots but some people wore trainers.

it real is a “do not miss” and I always feel better when we do it on our own.

[Fionboard]

Stavanger nice to wander around. I know it sounds boring but the sardine factory is actually  really interesting! Bit of history. 

[2BACRUISER]

1 hour ago, 2BACRUISER said:

Go to the cruise ports page Europe then baltic loads of info there.

Hth 

To add thats where I found all my info as doing fjords this August. 🙂👍

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, Fionboard said:

Stavanger nice to wander around. I know it sounds boring but the sardine factory is actually  really interesting! Bit of history. 

Olden is a nice walk off port.  Not too much there but lovely for a stroll around and as indicated above if you are fairly fit you can see some interesting places 
 

Stavanger, yes  the sardine canning factory in the old town was absolutely fascinating. So is the oil museum, again sounds dull but really interesting. We also just enjoyed the lovely shopping area.

 

Haegusund has the national monument of Norway about a 20 to 30 minute walk from the port which is worth seeing. Nice little town to wander round, lovely bars in the lower town area opposite the canal to people watch (but hefty prices).

[Sarah1974]

I did a fab trip in Stavanger; walked round to the boat trips and got on a trip out to Pulpit Rock - beautiful.  I can't remember if I pre-booked it with the company but I'd highly recommend

[Eddie99]

From Stavanger, if you don’t fancy the oil museum.

 

This is one of the nicest P&O excursions we’ve ever taken.  It was a glorious day when we went, which obviously helps

 

https://florogfjare.no/en/

[davecttr]

For me 

Stavanger - Pulpit Rock boat trip

Olden - Loen Skylift - you can buy a transfer and ticket on the quayside

Geiranger -Mount Dalsnibba or if you can manage it a walk up the river/waterfalls to the Fjord Centre Museum ( there are steps and handrails - walk back by the road).

Haugosund - A quick wander around, not a lot to see

[Wiseyowl]

6 hours ago, LoveGlasto said:

Does anyone who has done a similar cruise before have any tips for shore excursions (P&O or self organised)?  We sail on the Iona for the week commencing 9th July 2022. Many thanks in advance. 

Following ing for information too

[zap99]

21 hours ago, Sarah1974 said:

I did a fab trip in Stavanger; walked round to the boat trips and got on a trip out to Pulpit Rock - beautiful.  I can't remember if I pre-booked it with the company but I'd highly recommend

We did that independently as well. Walked off the ship onto the trip boat. We didn't book. Take your own drink. Very hot day and water at £3.50 a small bottle. Welcome to Norway. Back again in July.

[zap99]

21 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Olden is a nice walk off port.  Not too much there but lovely for a stroll around and as indicated above if you are fairly fit you can see some interesting places 
 

Stavanger, yes  the sardine canning factory in the old town was absolutely fascinating. So is the oil museum, again sounds dull but really interesting. We also just enjoyed the lovely shopping area.

 

Haegusund has the national monument of Norway about a 20 to 30 minute walk from the port which is worth seeing. Nice little town to wander round, lovely bars in the lower town area opposite the canal to people watch (but hefty prices).

I think we did a minitrain trip at Olden from the dock. I'm quite partial to a minitrain.🤣

[Jcr70]

I’m on this cruise too.  We did an almost identical itinerary in 2018 on Princess (Stavanger, Olden, Gerainger).  I wrote a review which does detail what we did in the ports (Stavanger, walked round the town, Oil Museum, Olden Loen Skylift, Gerainger rented electric car) which we did all independently … if it might help the link is here https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2575781-norwegian-fjords-july-sapphire-princess/

[Eglesbrech]

On 4/15/2022 at 12:48 PM, zap99 said:

I think we did a minitrain trip at Olden from the dock. I'm quite partial to a minitrain.🤣

I think we may have done one a couple of times back as well however who knows what is still available anywhere post covid. They are always fun though 😀

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I think we may have done one a couple of times back as well however who knows what is still available anywhere post covid. They are always fun though 😀

We are going back with Celebrity in July. As you say who knows, but we will make the best of it. If it's rubbish, we have the drinks package. It will be nice to see the Trolls again.🤣

[dazlight]

Olden we did the cable car. Amazing day on top with the snow. My girls loved it as they hadn’t seen snow like that in 10 years. 
also booking on the quay side saved us £200 per family the. Going with P&O 

[darknightsdespiser]

13 hours ago, dazlight said:

Olden we did the cable car. Amazing day on top with the snow. My girls loved it as they hadn’t seen snow like that in 10 years. 
also booking on the quay side saved us £200 per family the. Going with P&O 

I have been on lots of cable car type things but that one looks scary !!!

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, darknightsdespiser said:

I have been on lots of cable car type things but that one looks scary !!!

It is amazing. At the top is restaurant with views out over the fjord where your cruise ship looks like a little plastic boat. the more adventurous can take a walk along the many footpaths or you can just sit and admire the view. When I was there base jumpers were leaping off the precipice in front of the restaurant windows 😱

 

There was a local radio station interviewing one of the young ladies. Roughly translated the question was "When did you first suspect you were bonkers"  😁

 

Taking the private trip from the quayside has the advantage that you don't have a wasted trip if it is cloudy.

[davecttr]

Here we go

 

 

[kruzseeka]

We also enjoyed the Kjenndalen Glacier and Lovatnet Lake excursion from Olden.  Very scenic - distant view of glacier, gentle walk through wooded area, lovely waffles/coffee stop by the lake and beautiful, tranquil boat trip on the turquoise lake.  So picturesque and photogenic. 

 

Geiranger - we used to walk up to the Westeras cafe (pick up a walking trail map from the tourist office). You walk up from the village past the octagonal church and look out for the signpost on the left and strike off on the trail.  It's quite tough going - a rocky path through the woods - you need appropriate footwear. The trail is marked by red paint splodges on trees/rocks but it eventually opens out and the cafe has a terrace with fab views.  The easier way we do it now is to pick up the HoHo bus on shore (tickets were on sale on board but were more expensive).  We go to the viewpoint where it stops for 10 mins then get off at the Westeras stop on the way back down.  It's approx a 1km walk from there to the cafe on a made road a little bit undulating but pretty easy going. We walk back to the bus stop after coffee and waffles - buses were half hourly then get off at the visitor centre.  There's an interesting museum there and then we walk back to the village down the steps at the side of the spectacular river/waterfalls.  The link gives a good idea of the waterfall walk.  Not to be missed imo as long as you can manage the steps - doing it in the way we did you only have to go down!  Although you can of course walk up too - but there are a lot of them! 

Geiranger is one of the most beautiful places we've visited. Enjoy whatever you decide to do!  

https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/waterfall-walk-in-geiranger/190606/

[darknightsdespiser]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

It is amazing. At the top is restaurant with views out over the fjord where your cruise ship looks like a little plastic boat. the more adventurous can take a walk along the many footpaths or you can just sit and admire the view. When I was there base jumpers were leaping off the precipice in front of the restaurant windows 😱

 

There was a local radio station interviewing one of the young ladies. Roughly translated the question was "When did you first suspect you were bonkers"  😁

 

Taking the private trip from the quayside has the advantage that you don't have a wasted trip if it is cloudy.

Thanks!

[thornegirl]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

It is amazing. At the top is restaurant with views out over the fjord where your cruise ship looks like a little plastic boat. the more adventurous can take a walk along the many footpaths or you can just sit and admire the view. When I was there base jumpers were leaping off the precipice in front of the restaurant windows 😱

 

There was a local radio station interviewing one of the young ladies. Roughly translated the question was "When did you first suspect you were bonkers"  😁

 

Taking the private trip from the quayside has the advantage that you don't have a wasted trip if it is cloudy.

We went on the Skylift about a month after it first opened in 2017,  we now want to go again with all our family again in August.  When we went in 2017 we went on a shuttle bus which we booked at the tourist information office and bought the tickets at the Skylift. We would like to do that again, as like you say if it cloudy you don't get the full effect, plus you can stay as long as you like and not be tied to the timing of the ships excursion.

Do you know if the shuttle bus is still running?  I was going to email the Olden tourist information office but I can't find an email address, I've got a phone number so if all else fails I'll give them a call.

[Kittyonions]

Thorne girl I would also be very interested it doing the skylift independently, as the excursion on our cruise is fully booked. Please post if you are able to get any advice from tourist office in Olden. Many thanks.