Getting from Hellesylt to Geiranger - P&O excursion sold out

[meast1984]

With a month to go before our cruise on Iona to Norway I thought I would attempt to book a P&O excursion to allow us to get to Geiranger on a boat transfer. Unfortunately the one option we had in mind has now sold out.

 

Is there an alternative tour operator in Hellesylt who offer a similar boat transfer? I am aware that there is a car ferry however I've been told it's arrival times can be flakey to say the least!

 

Either that is it worth biding our time and wait until we are on board and take advantage of any cancellations from those who booked prior?

[Selbourne]

Keep in mind that when Iona leaves Hellesylt, she transits along the fjord past the Seven Sisters waterfall before turning around and heading back out of the fjord, so you will see much of the route that the boat trip take anyway, free of charge. Obviously you won’t see Geiranger itself, which is obviously preferable, but I gather it’s a tiny place. 

[Dobbers]

Been looking at this for next month too, you can get the ferry independently would just need to check the timings. It also works out cheaper which is a bonus.

 

[Dobbers]

[Britboys]

59 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Keep in mind that when Iona leaves Hellesylt, she transits along the fjord past the Seven Sisters waterfall before turning around and heading back out of the fjord, so you will see much of the route that the boat trip take anyway, free of charge. Obviously you won’t see Geiranger itself, which is obviously preferable, but I gather it’s a tiny place. 

Geiranger village is tiny but in an absolutely beautiful setting. One of my best all-time cruise memories is sitting on the sunny terrace of the little hotel there looking straight down the fjord, drinking a cold beer. Earlier we had coffee and a pastry sitting in a sunny garden of a little coffee shop in the village. As the credit card advert said - priceless.

[terrierjohn]

26 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Geiranger village is tiny but in an absolutely beautiful setting. One of my best all-time cruise memories is sitting on the sunny terrace of the little hotel there looking straight down the fjord, drinking a cold beer. Earlier we had coffee and a pastry sitting in a sunny garden of a little coffee shop in the village. As the credit card advert said - priceless.

You're very fortunate, on our only visit it rained heavily all day with frequent low clouds that obscured any view of the fjord.

[kruzseeka]

36 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Geiranger village is tiny but in an absolutely beautiful setting. One of my best all-time cruise memories is sitting on the sunny terrace of the little hotel there looking straight down the fjord, drinking a cold beer. Earlier we had coffee and a pastry sitting in a sunny garden of a little coffee shop in the village. As the credit card advert said - priceless.

Agree completely.  We've been several times and as Fjord villages go I think it's much bigger than many.  There's a Visitor Centre which is very interesting, a HoHo which takes you up to a viewing point, then you can get off at Westeras and walk about 1Km to the Westeras cafe which has phenomenal views from the terrace and also waffles and coffee!  Retrace your steps then pick up the HoHo again to the Visitor Centre then walk down the steps by the side of the tumbling river back into the village.  Spectacular. There you have a choice of quite a lot of cafes and more shops than at most Fjord destinations. Like Britboys some of our fondest memories are of this destination. Hellesylt is a pretty (very) little place but definitely worth getting to Geiranger if you can.  

[Selbourne]

56 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Geiranger village is tiny but in an absolutely beautiful setting. One of my best all-time cruise memories is sitting on the sunny terrace of the little hotel there looking straight down the fjord, drinking a cold beer. Earlier we had coffee and a pastry sitting in a sunny garden of a little coffee shop in the village. As the credit card advert said - priceless.

Annoyingly, we booked the cruise specifically because it was going to Geiranger, as that was the only one of the top 3 fjords that we hadn’t been to, so it was really annoying that P&O changed the port call to Hellesylt. However, as the ship does most of the transit at the end of the day I’m not sure that it’s worth the expense of paying for 6 of us just to get to the actual village. 

[Britboys]

37 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You're very fortunate, on our only visit it rained heavily all day with frequent low clouds that obscured any view of the fjord.

Yes, very lucky. Early September and sunshine all day apart from when we arrived at the summit of Mt Dalsnibba where it was foggy. Fortunately it cleared after about 5 minutes.

[Ardennais]

13 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Annoyingly, we booked the cruise specifically because it was going to Geiranger, as that was the only one of the top 3 fjords that we hadn’t been to, so it was really annoying that P&O changed the port call to Hellesylt. However, as the ship does most of the transit at the end of the day I’m not sure that it’s worth the expense of paying for 6 of us just to get to the actual village. 

Have there been any developments with regard to trying to ensure that Iona can actually visit Geiranger in the future? 

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, Ardennais said:

Have there been any developments with regard to trying to ensure that Iona can actually visit Geiranger in the future? 

Not that I’m aware of. One for @molecrochip perhaps?

[meast1984]

On 5/11/2023 at 8:55 PM, Dobbers said:

Been looking at this for next month too, you can get the ferry independently would just need to check the timings. It also works out cheaper which is a bonus.

 

I've checked the timings of the timetable together with the timings of the P&O excursion departures. Same times as when the ferry departs so it looks like it's the same ferry which P&O uses albeit P&O are charging double!

[Selbourne]

4 hours ago, meast1984 said:

I've checked the timings of the timetable together with the timings of the P&O excursion departures. Same times as when the ferry departs so it looks like it's the same ferry which P&O uses albeit P&O are charging double!

Good old P&O. Never miss an opportunity to rip people off with overpriced excursions 😂 

[Gettingwarmer]

4 hours ago, meast1984 said:

I've checked the timings of the timetable together with the timings of the P&O excursion departures. Same times as when the ferry departs so it looks like it's the same ferry which P&O uses albeit P&O are charging double!

I would avoid going and especially returning at the same as the excursion as the ferry may be fully booked.