Shore excursions Flam, Lerwick, Akureyri, Isafjordur, Reykjavik, Torshavn

[Mel]

We will be on the M/V Discovery sailing May 31st from Harwich and are trying to plan our time in each of the above ports. We prefer to arrange our own tours in port, if possible, rather than take the ships excursions, and wonder if anyone could give us any help with these destinations. I would really appreciate it if anyone who has been there could give us the name of any local tour operators they have used and enjoyed. I understand the Flam train is very easy to do on your own, so I think we'll just buy tickets when we get there. Has anyone done a Grayline bus tour of the Golden Circle in Reykjavik? I understand from them that you can be picked up at the port. The only downside of doing it that way is that you have to prepay and I don't know what would happen if our ship was delayed.... The other ports, well, we have no ideas - - please help!

[kruzseeka]

It is easy to do the Flam train yourself but we couldn't buy tickets until the 13.10 departure as the previous ones were fully booked by the cruise companies. This was ok but only gave us time to go up to Myrdal and come back on the same train (having said that, there was nothing much to stay for).

 

Perhaps you could buy on-line ahead of time, but as you say there is always the danger of delays.

 

It is a fabulous journey though and certainly not one to miss!

[Mel]

Thanks, Kruzseeka, we are in port from 9:30 to 6:30 so we should have lots of time even if we can't get a train ticket until the afternoon. We would love to do a little hiking also while there - are there nice hiking trails from the port, or anything else we should try and see while in Flam? Mel

[kruzseeka]

Hi Mel

 

Yes, the tourist office at Flam (in the railway station building) has a great map of local walks/hikes which are graded according to degree of difficulty, length and approximate time to complete.

 

The valley is beautiful - serene and so peaceful. We hope to go again this year and intend to walk to old Flam (inland about 1.5/2 miles) to visit the stave church.

 

There is very little at Flam where you dock - it's not really a port just a few buildings around the railway station. There is a small old-fashioned museum (free entrance if I remember correctly) which is nevertheless quite interesting showing the history of the area and especially the construction of the railway. It won't take long to see around it though - perhaps half an hour. So taking a walk is a good idea.

 

Try this webcam to give you an idea of what Flam is like but explore the site too as it has some really interesting information and slide shows.

http://www.visitflam.com/visartikkel.asp?art=254

 

Sorry I can't help with your other ports of call, but have a great trip.

 

P.S. Go and get your ticket for the train the minute you get off the ship - then take time to explore. You may be lucky and get an earlier train but whichever train you want to book for, if a lot of people are trying to do the same as you, the train can soon fill up so try to be at the head of the queue!

[kaisatsu]

This is getting a little Flåm heavy, but I thought I'd add a little more!

 

If you want to buy your Flåmsbana (Flåm tourist train) tickets ahead of time, the Norwegian railway site is nsb.no and the route is from Flåm to Myrdal. You can book tickets up to a few months in advance, and your reservation will have a time on it. However, the Flåmsbana is open seating, so you'd probably want to get ahead of the cruise tours to board!

 

The walking tour map from the tourist office is great. We were on a day trip from Oslo and missed our ferry at Flåm due to train delays from Oslo, so we had some time to kill and just walked around the town. Honestly, though, if you're not much of a hiker, there's not too much to see in Flåm!

 

If you're feeling adventurous (and not fjord-ed out), you can take a ferry to Gudvangen through the Nærøyfjord, which, like the Geirangerfjord, is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage site. From Gudvangen, take a bus to Voss, and then a train from Voss to Myrdal. From Myrdal, ride the Flåmsbana back to Flåm. You can buy the ferry and bus tickets from the Flåm tourist office. And in addition to booking online, you can probably book the Voss-Flåm ticket wherever you book the Flåmsbana ticket. If not, you can buy it from a machine at the Voss station.

[kaisatsu]

I also wante to add: The Flåm tourism website has a lot of good info: www.visitflam.com

[Mel]

Thanks so much Kaisatsu and Kruzseeka - this is just the kind of information we are looking for. Now if anyone else could help us with the other ports, we'll be all set!

[sfocruiser]

In Reykjavik, we took the bus to the Blue Lagoon on our own. Cost about half of the ships tour and were able to stay longer. On the retuen trip, the bus may also let you off downtown, if you want to see the area and at least on our bus the driver was nice enough to offer to take other cruise passengers back to the ship (this was above and beyond the call and should not be counted on). We enjoyed the Blue Lagoon (though was a bit odiferous), my wife especially liked the spa products they offered.

 

In Torshavn we explored the town on our own, so can't really give any advice on tours. We very much enjoyed the walk around the town, and found the locals (Torshavnders?) to be helpful and friendly. Be warned though that whaling is still very much a part of the local culture. We happen to dock on a day when they were harvesting a pod of Pilot whales.

[YoPhilly]

In Reykjavik, we took the bus to the Blue Lagoon on our own. Cost about half of the ships tour and were able to stay longer. On the retuen trip, the bus may also let you off downtown, if you want to see the area and at least on our bus the driver was nice enough to offer to take other cruise passengers back to the ship (this was above and beyond the call and should not be counted on). We enjoyed the Blue Lagoon (though was a bit odiferous), my wife especially liked the spa products they offered.

 

Can you tell us more about this? Was it a public bus? Where was the bus stop in relation to the port? Do you remember how much admission is to the Blue Lagoon?

[sfocruiser]

Can you tell us more about this? Was it a public bus? Where was the bus stop in relation to the port? Do you remember how much admission is to the Blue Lagoon?

 

 

The buses leave from the Reykjavik BSI Bus Terminal, which was about a 10-15 minute walk from downtown. The tour including entrace to the Spa was about $50 a person. There are several return buses so you can stay as long or as little as you choose. On the return we chose to be dropped off down town to explore. Our table mates took "the grand circle tour" which they enjoyed. The link to the tours are below.

 

Hope this helps!!

 

http://www.re.is/home/daytours/blue-lagoon/

[G&B]

We rented cars in Akureyri, Reykjavik and Torshavn. It is easy to drive there as there are not many main roads and they are in very good condition.

 

The Faroe Islands are beautiful and the small towns are very interesting. We rented from Avis, a short walk up the hill from where you dock.

 

National car can be booked with the same company in Akureyri and Reykjavik, you can arrange for them to pick you up at the port.

 

Book on line before you leave, no credit card is required. Should your ship not be able to make the port, then there is no cost to you.

 

Gary

[Mel]

Thanks, Gary, we'll look into that, for sure!

Mel

[YoPhilly]

The buses leave from the Reykjavik BSI Bus Terminal, which was about a 10-15 minute walk from downtown. The tour including entrace to the Spa was about $50 a person. There are several return buses so you can stay as long or as little as you choose. On the return we chose to be dropped off down town to explore. Our table mates took "the grand circle tour" which they enjoyed. The link to the tours are below.

http://www.re.is/home/daytours/blue-lagoon/

 

Thanks for the link. I've got it bookmarked.

 

G&B, re: the call at Faroe Islands. Do you remember which island you tendered to? Is it a walkable island, i.e., flat, hilly?

 

Also, from Akureyri, where did you drive to?

[G&B]

We were in Torshaven on the island of Streymoy. The islands are hilly and very lush with small waterfalls everywhere, this was one of our favorite ports.You can walk the town, but the countryside is were the beauty lies.

 

Our drive from Akureyri was to Godafoss waterfall and Lake Myvatn and we drove the Golden Circle out of Reykjavik.

 

Gary

[G&B]

Visit http://www.faroeislands.com and google Iceland there are many sites and the Iceland tourist board will send you a packet of information.

 

Gary

[YoPhilly]

Visit www.faroeislands.com and google Iceland there are many sites and the Iceland tourist board will send you a packet of information.

 

Gary

 

Thanks for the info. It looks beautiful.....can't wait to see it. I first heard of the Faroe Islands in the mid-70s....met someone who lived there. Now I'm finally getting to see them.:)

[blondie1234]

We took the Golden Circle tour in Reykavik. It was nice - we took it from the ship. We saw the geysers and waterfall. We also took the all day tour offered from Akureyi to see different geological features. Take the bug spray! We were in Iceland in late June and there were tons and tons of little midgets flying all around, into the mouth, etc. I am not sure if they were only there that one week in June (I think it is a seasonal thing when they come - like they only come out for a few weeks in the summer) but we were not warned before the tour that there were going to be all of these bugs and it make it quite unpleasant to get off the bus.