Iona and Hellesylt port of call

[measter1984]

We have just booked a fjord cruise on the Iona for June 2023 and noted that the ship will be docking at Hellesylt instead of Geiranger. From previous posts I believe this may be down to Iona being too big to dock at Geiranger. 

 

We are keen to get Geiranger but P&O don't appear to offer any excursions from Hellesylt apart from a kayak experience. Is anyone aware of any local companies or ferries which will get us to and from Geiranger? A Google search doesn't bring up much!

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

https://www.norwaysbest.com/things-to-do/fjords/fjord-cruise-geirangerfjord/

 

There's a link to the timetable on there - you'd probably have to catch the 9.30am outbound.

Edited August 24, 2022 by BillieJeanKaraokeKing

[Just 47]

Be careful with the ferries as we watched a lot of passengers very late back from geiranger and were lucky  the ship didn't leave them behind.My sister was going to catch the ferry but locals warned them the timings of the ferries were very hit and miss.In my opinion hellesylt is far prettier and the ship cruises down past geiranger anyway.

[SarahHben]

13 hours ago, measter1984 said:

We have just booked a fjord cruise on the Iona for June 2023 and noted that the ship will be docking at Hellesylt instead of Geiranger. From previous posts I believe this may be down to Iona being too big to dock at Geiranger. 

 

We are keen to get Geiranger but P&O don't appear to offer any excursions from Hellesylt apart from a kayak experience. Is anyone aware of any local companies or ferries which will get us to and from Geiranger? A Google search doesn't bring up much!

I think you might find that more P&O excursions are added nearer the time.

When we went in May there was a good choice. We opted to get the ferry excursion to Geiranger and it was our favourite day of the cruise. There was also a trip to Mount Dalsnibba & I think one to the top or side of the seven sisters waterfall, plus others that I can’t remember 

[Yorkypete]

3 hours ago, Just 47 said:

Be careful with the ferries as we watched a lot of passengers very late back from geiranger and were lucky  the ship didn't leave them behind.My sister was going to catch the ferry but locals warned them the timings of the ferries were very hit and miss.In my opinion hellesylt is far prettier and the ship cruises down past geiranger anyway.

Apparently it does not go past Gerainger but only to the Seven Sisters.

[SarahHben]

4 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

Apparently it does not go past Gerainger but only to the Seven Sisters.

Yes, that's right. When we were onboard in May, Iona cruised just past the Seven Sisters then turned round. You can't see Geiranger from that point as it's round a corner.

[grumpypaul]

Hi there. Just got back from our fjord cruise. To confrim, once IONA leaves Hellysylt it cruises part of the the way down Geraingerfjord, passes the  Seven sisters waterfall, does a 180 degree turn in the fjord, and then sails back up - it does not go all the way down Geraingerfjord. I would check out the excursions offered nearer the time, but the road links between Hellysylt and Gerainger are not great.

[Yorkypete]

2 hours ago, grumpypaul said:

Hi there. Just got back from our fjord cruise. To confrim, once IONA leaves Hellysylt it cruises part of the the way down Geraingerfjord, passes the  Seven sisters waterfall, does a 180 degree turn in the fjord, and then sails back up - it does not go all the way down Geraingerfjord. I would check out the excursions offered nearer the time, but the road links between Hellysylt and Gerainger are not great.

To go from Hellysylt to Gerainger  you need to use the ferry which apparently costs around £60. The only problem being that the ferry appears not to be punctual at times and you may miss the ship. It is the recommended way to go by the local port authorities.

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

To go from Hellysylt to Gerainger  you need to use the ferry which apparently costs around £60. The only problem being that the ferry appears not to be punctual at times and you may miss the ship. It is the recommended way to go by the local port authorities.

As @SarahHbensays there is a  P&O excursion on the ferry. 

[devonuk]

On 8/25/2022 at 7:04 AM, Just 47 said:

Be careful with the ferries as we watched a lot of passengers very late back from geiranger and were lucky  the ship didn't leave them behind.My sister was going to catch the ferry but locals warned them the timings of the ferries were very hit and miss.In my opinion hellesylt is far prettier and the ship cruises down past geiranger anyway.

You can’t sail past Geiranger as it’s at the head of the fjord and it can’t be seen unless you sail to it. 

[terrierjohn]

9 hours ago, devonuk said:

You can’t sail past Geiranger as it’s at the head of the fjord and it can’t be seen unless you sail to it. 

And since there may be ships at anchor as well as berthed on the seawalk, it could be difficult to make a 180 turn.

Plus the view from ship level is nowhere near as inspiring as views from the hilltop lookout.

Edited August 30, 2022 by terrierjohn

[measter1984]

On 8/25/2022 at 7:43 AM, SarahHben said:

I think you might find that more P&O excursions are added nearer the time.

When we went in May there was a good choice. We opted to get the ferry excursion to Geiranger and it was our favourite day of the cruise. There was also a trip to Mount Dalsnibba & I think one to the top or side of the seven sisters waterfall, plus others that I can’t remember 

Can you remember how much the excursion cost? I would rather take an excursion with a ferry allocated to P&O instead of what could be a late arrival with other potentially unreliable local ferry!

Edited August 30, 2022 by measter1984

[Yorkypete]

15 minutes ago, measter1984 said:

Can you remember how much the excursion cost? I would rather take an excursion with a ferry allocated to P&O instead of what could be a late arrival with other potentially unreliable local ferry!

The ferry was approx £56. It is recommended by the port authority (which happens to be the same for both Hellysylt and Gerainger). I don't know about the P&O one as I was not aware of one.

 

[SarahHben]

19 minutes ago, measter1984 said:

Can you remember how much the excursion cost? I would rather take an excursion with a ferry allocated to P&O instead of what could be a late arrival with other potentially unreliable local ferry!

I’ve just looked it up and the P&O arranged ferry was £59 per person in May this year. I would expect that it will cost more in 2023 though.

[devonuk]

Mount Dalsnibba is a must do if in the area. 

[Steer]

We just got back from there. The local ferry takes about an hour. It costs almost the same on the local ferry as with the official P&O excursion to Geiranger. P&O had three or four different excursions to Geiranger  and beyond, the cheapest of which was more or less just a ferry to the town and you are left to explore. By the time we decided to do this, the official P&O trips were fully booked (we left it far too late).

 

I did not like the thought of the return ferry being late and us missing departure if we went on an unofficial outing, so instead we just got on one of those open top red bus tours, which went through some mountain valleys to a different fjord, and despite my fairly low expectations it was absolutely excellent. Anyway, this just gives us an excuse to go back at some point and actually visit Geiranger. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Steer

[Host Sharon]

On 8/25/2022 at 10:35 AM, Yorkypete said:

Apparently it does not go past Gerainger but only to the Seven Sisters.

Ships cannot go past Geiranger. It is at at dead end at the end of a fjord.

[Yorkypete]

9 hours ago, Host Sharon said:

Ships cannot go past Geiranger. It is at at dead end at the end of a fjord.

Thank you. Having visited a couple of times I Knew that but I meant to Gerainger. Where the Iona turns you cannot even see Gerainger as it is round a corner.

 

[ChristopherTracy]

At the end of July we witnessed a very disgruntled senior officer flapping about at the end of the jetty as the ferry was 30 minutes late back (so well past the 4pm cut off). We were wondering if Iona would wait but then we saw at least 100 people sauntering back towards the ship and realised that they were on a P&O excursion. I would only ever book on the official excursion there!

 

We booked a RIB Fjord outing independently - it was fabulous. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by ChristopherTracy