My wife and I just booked the 7-day northbound voyage (Bergen to Kirkenes) on Hurtigruten for mid-March. This is our second trip to Norway, but we're expecting a very different experience because we took a bus tour of the southern fjords during the late spring/early summer when we went the first time. We've started looking through the few shore excursions that are available on Hurtigruten in March, and we've picked out the ones at each stop that look most appealing to us. I was wondering if anyone could give us a quick review of any or all of these excursions:

- Alesund: Art Nouveau Tour
- Trondheim: City Tour with Nidaros Cathedral
- Stamsund/Svolvaer: Lofotor Viking Feast
- Tromso: Dog Sledding
- Honningsvag: The North Cape

The one that we're really the most curious about is the Viking Feast. We're wondering if that's going to be the best way to see that part of the Lofoten Islands or if it's going to be better to hang out on the ship and go off on our own for the hour we're going to be in Svolvaer.

Alesund is an Art Nouveau town. I do not know if it really needs a tour. We did it on our own, but probably had more time since we were not depended on a ship's schedule.

This Norway album includes pictures of Ålesund:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623070576316/

We walked from the ship and independently toured Alesund, Trondheim and Tromso. In Tromso we took a city bus across the bridge to the Arctic Cathedral but otherwise walked all town.
After Polaria we stopped into the old pub run by Mack brewing.
After the fact, we were told by other passengers that the Viking dinner was well done, historical, and not kitchy touristy stuff which we feared it would be. I would go on that excursion just to see more of the island.
Our Hurtigruten voyage was a wonderful trip,local passengers getting on and off with their luggage at various stops along the way.

Thanks for all the information, Michael and HappyTrvlr. We've been leaning toward taking the city tours in Alesund and Trondheim just to get some of the history from the guides, but especially in Alesund, I'm starting to think it might be better to go on our own.

That's good to know on the Viking dinner, Happy. I was really wondering how authentic it would be. I'm also glad to know that it would be a good way to see more of the island.

And Michael, your photos are fantastic. I really enjoyed looking through them.

We have made a number of trips on Hurtigruten and consider the shore excursions extremely expensive. Ålesund and Trondheim are easily done on your own (although opening hours at Nidaros Cathedral may make a tour tempting). North Cape appears to be a tourist trap and very busy but some people like it. This may be of interest: http://tinyurl.com/gqj5z

Because of the time of year, I'd opt to go on the tours, especially Trondheim (one of my favorite places in the world!). Trondheim is really such a great walking town, but the weather constantly changes and right now it would be supercold (by L.A. standards!) and still mostly dark. Because the cathedral is so very special and has such a great history, having a guide explain the history, which is interesting and curious. The cathedral was supposedly built over the grave of St. Olav, Norway's patron saint. Each year in summer they have the St. Olav festival there which is kind of like one of our California renaissance faires, with lots of revelry, entertainment, jousting and the like. Loads of fun -- my St. Olav festival hand-crafted ceramic wine mug sits in my room from my last trip to Trondheim, and brings a smile to my face every day! Have a great time!

We had a good guide book for Trondheim Cathedral and as I said earlier, Alesund, Trondhiem and Tromso were easy to see on our own.In fact, in Tromso, we saw more that those on the ship's tour.

wasleys, I enjoyed browsing through your Web site. I'm definitely going to study it closely before we go. Just out of curiosity, any luck spotting the Northern Lights when you went in March 2002? That's one of the major reasons my wife and I wanted to go at that time of year.

Great information on Nidaros Cathedral, everyone. We've got that very high on our list of things to see.

I really appreciate all the advice. While I'm thinking of it, we're going to take an extra day in Bergen at the start of the trip. We spent half a day there when we went in 2008, but we really didn't get much of a chance to explore beyond the Bryggen area and the funicular. Any recommendations for things a little off the beaten path that would be worth seeing?

jashton,

Yes, we saw the aurora one night northbound just north of Tromsø. Absolutely amazing and incredibly cold on deck even with every layer of clothing on and our rugs round us. Another night southbound the prediction was good and the weather clear. We gave up about 0200 and missed a good display about 0300!

Bergen is a marvellous place. We always enjoyed walking on Fløien and looking at the old buildings at Gamle Bergen.

Happy, how did you take a bus? I mean, you paid cash, small bills, right? How to get them?

Also, did the driver speak English? Did you tell the driver where to get off, or how to signal for a stop?

We asked for bus information at the tourist office right by Hurtigruten's dock. Then waled to bus stop, just gave driver the correct money, told him our destination. We never encountered anyone in Scandinavia who didn't speak perfect English.

Oh, I forgot, there are usually some tourist or information offices or kiosks by the docks! Thanks a bunch!

Takk

We went on the Finnmarken in May 2007. We caught the airport bus into Bergen and walked to our hotel, City Box, then spent the afternoon and next morning wandering around and site seeing. At the end of our cruise we stayed at Skansen Pensjonat for two nights. We did Norway in a Nutshell, which was a fantastic day, well worth doing but not sure now that would be in March. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time, the scenery is amazing, we loved the Troll Fjord.