By Caro from Scotland, Summer 2004
31st May 2004 - 19th June 2004, 6 days in Bergen followed by the Norwegian Coastal Voyage
This trip report was originally published on SlowTrav.com.
My grandfather was a merchant sea captain during the Second World War and afterwards until his retirement, and he had always said that it was the most wonderful cruise he had ever experienced, regardless of torpedoes. I think he was probably right.
We live in the Highlands of Scotland so the flight across to Bergen from Aberdeen is only 1 hour 25 minutes, that suits Graham, my husband, and me just fine and the plane is also quite small and cosy with only 42 passengers on a scheduled flight, so thanks to wide seats and seatbelt extensions my large husband managed to fit in. We travelled at the beginning of June this year so eagerly anticipated seeing the midnight sun, which never falls below the horizon north of the Arctic Circle at this time of year. Conversely, in winter the north experiences up to 3 months of twilight with no real daytime at all.
£1 was approx 12 Norwegian Kroner (NOK) at the time of our trip.
Bergen
We spent 6 days in Bergen ‘the town between the 7 mountains,’ staying at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel which is tucked tastefully behind Bryggen on the harbour. An excellent booklet called the ‘Bergen Guide’ is available in hotels free and has everything in there, including attractions, maps, restaurants etc. (Take a look at Visit Bergen - under Resources).
The climate in Norway is much like Scotland (i.e. rather unreliable, so be prepared for scorching heat, wind, rain and sleet, there are patches of snow down to sea level as you go north). Take a hat, gloves and layers that can be added/shed as the day goes on. Do NOT forget a jacket, preferably Gore-Tex.
Everyone in Norway speaks perfect English as they learn at school from an early age, most Brits are embarrassingly bad at other languages.
The hotel was great, with a small pool and huge buffet breakfasts, our first introduction to the legendary Norwegian meals. Coffee was automatically put on the table (tea and hot choc also available) and you could eat as much as you liked from the following:
Cereals, fresh fruit, stewed fruit, cheese, fish, cold meat, bacon, sausage, potatoes, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs and wonderful fresh breads.
A very dolled-up American lady visited frequently with her shopping bag which gradually got filled up and bulging with each visit until she could barely carry it up to her room. Either it was going to feed them for the rest of the week or she had 10 extra secret guests up there.
There was another gentleman who we reckoned might be Amish (Graham had just read about their huge calorie intake due to all the physical work they do all day long) but maybe not, as he was Asian with a very petite build and he quite upset G by managing to out-eat him at breakfast – Graham is 23 stone and 6ft tall so quite big. We found this fascination with people and their buffet extravaganzas lasted throughout the trip.
Bryggen is a super old warehouse area on the harbour side with rickety old houses at weird angles due to subsidence caused by a German munitions ship exploding during the war. In fact, Norway was occupied in the Second World War and many small towns up the coast were completely obliterated by the retreating German Army, (see Honnigsvag later on).
The harbour area is surrounded by open-air bars and restaurants, in good weather the place is heaving as everyone rushes out to make the most of the long days and sunshine. Tiny seaplane taxis buzz in overhead like benevolent bees as they land out in the bay and you can get a sightseeing ride around the area.
In Bergen we visited the aquarium (baby penguins expected any day), went up the funicular and being the only people without the free map of the top of the mountain managed to get totally lost and had to walk halfway down whilst looking for the funicular for the return trip. The next day we went up the cable car (in which Graham soaked everybody by opening a warm bottle of fizzy water, it was just a small bottle and he managed to soak 12 people and all the windows and have quite a lot left) to a different mountain top, luckily both days were hot and sunny so the views were great.
We limited our museum going to Old Bergen which is an area of old, preserved houses which have been moved to a heritage site just a short bus ride away and to 2 others just close to the harbour. Haakon’s Hall, a 13th century royal residence and the Rosenkrantz Tower, built close by in the 1560’s. The Tower is about 6 stories high and we had to laboriously follow a group of schoolchildren all the way up. They were allowed, 2 at a time, to view the King’s private toilet, a tiny room off his bedroom, which has a deep stone hole covered by a wooden lid (not the present King, by the way). The kids were absolutely fascinated by this and much giggling ensued.
On our return 12 days later we found David Bowie doing a gig right there (Graham insisting it must be a tribute band until we checked it out and went round a corner to find thousands of people crammed into a tiny park so we just lurked about outside to listen for a while). One of our favourite things was an evening walk to the end of the harbour to watch the coming and going of dozens of small and large boats (even a huge masted schooner from the Tall Ships race).
There is always something going on in Bergen through the summer and we were also treated to an AHA concert held on a floating stage and surrounded by dozens of little boats in the harbour, then the next day fancy dress parades and Dragon boat races.
The fish market is open every day with stalls selling wonderful varieties of seafood and fish. Street food is open prawn/smoked salmon/smoked whale rolls, punnets of strawberries and a kiosk sells the best fried fish and chips (about 80NOK) we have ever tasted. Local knitwear in amazing patterns, furs and reindeer skins and arrays of fruit are on sale, with many woolly hats, scarves etc. and a stall selling reindeer salamis and dried meat.
Food and drink in Bergen
We took our full duty free allowance, having heard that booze is hugely expensive in Norway as a deterrent to youngsters (and everyone else) but that means more people brew or distil their own illegally! What is quite interesting is that while you can buy beer and cider at supermarkets, wine and spirit sales are rigidly controlled and only sold in Vinmonopolet stores run by the government, though these are in most towns and even on the quayside as you get further north (cue droves of passengers and crew staggering back on board with clanking carrier bags and wine boxes!)
As a comparison price-wise, a bottle of wine we would pay £5-£6 at home in a supermarket is about 120 NOK and a 3 litre wine box of a not unreasonable Australian Shiraz in the Vinmonopolet was approx 300 NOK, the selection being pretty extensive, especially in larger places.
Food is expensive but good, a big Peppe’s pizza and 2 large beers were delicious but cost about £40. We also went to the Louisiana Creole £90 including 2 beers (not sure how authentic as we have never had the real thing) and the China Palace £70 including beers where a whole steamed lobster was about £20 (not bad comparatively). Finally, we ended up at McDonalds one night for burgers and salads, which are very popular over there.
We didn’t buy wine at any restaurants as the prices were ridiculous and the local beer was good, especially Hansa and the cold draught Guinness at Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub (they seem to be everywhere, we found one in Bruges on our last trip back from Tuscany). We found a super indoor gourmet market right near the harbour which had stalls selling groceries, bread and pastries, meat, fish, cheese, butter cut from a huge chunk, cooked meats and barbecue and pickles, olives etc. We made up a lovely picnic one day when it was raining and camped out in our room, managing to watch 3 movies (we had only just found out after 4 days that the pay-movies were free in our room).
Hotdogs are extremely popular, with every newsagent shop and mini-mart selling them as well as dedicated stalls.
Now to the serious part.
31st May 2004 - 19th June 2004, 6 days in Bergen followed by the Norwegian Coastal Voyage
This trip report was originally published on SlowTrav.com.
Bergen
A slow, slow travellers trip up the coast of Norway from Bergen through the Arctic Circle to the land of the Midnight Sun and the Russian border (and back again).My grandfather was a merchant sea captain during the Second World War and afterwards until his retirement, and he had always said that it was the most wonderful cruise he had ever experienced, regardless of torpedoes. I think he was probably right.
We live in the Highlands of Scotland so the flight across to Bergen from Aberdeen is only 1 hour 25 minutes, that suits Graham, my husband, and me just fine and the plane is also quite small and cosy with only 42 passengers on a scheduled flight, so thanks to wide seats and seatbelt extensions my large husband managed to fit in. We travelled at the beginning of June this year so eagerly anticipated seeing the midnight sun, which never falls below the horizon north of the Arctic Circle at this time of year. Conversely, in winter the north experiences up to 3 months of twilight with no real daytime at all.
£1 was approx 12 Norwegian Kroner (NOK) at the time of our trip.
Bergen
We spent 6 days in Bergen ‘the town between the 7 mountains,’ staying at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel which is tucked tastefully behind Bryggen on the harbour. An excellent booklet called the ‘Bergen Guide’ is available in hotels free and has everything in there, including attractions, maps, restaurants etc. (Take a look at Visit Bergen - under Resources).
The climate in Norway is much like Scotland (i.e. rather unreliable, so be prepared for scorching heat, wind, rain and sleet, there are patches of snow down to sea level as you go north). Take a hat, gloves and layers that can be added/shed as the day goes on. Do NOT forget a jacket, preferably Gore-Tex.
Everyone in Norway speaks perfect English as they learn at school from an early age, most Brits are embarrassingly bad at other languages.
The hotel was great, with a small pool and huge buffet breakfasts, our first introduction to the legendary Norwegian meals. Coffee was automatically put on the table (tea and hot choc also available) and you could eat as much as you liked from the following:
Cereals, fresh fruit, stewed fruit, cheese, fish, cold meat, bacon, sausage, potatoes, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs and wonderful fresh breads.
A very dolled-up American lady visited frequently with her shopping bag which gradually got filled up and bulging with each visit until she could barely carry it up to her room. Either it was going to feed them for the rest of the week or she had 10 extra secret guests up there.
There was another gentleman who we reckoned might be Amish (Graham had just read about their huge calorie intake due to all the physical work they do all day long) but maybe not, as he was Asian with a very petite build and he quite upset G by managing to out-eat him at breakfast – Graham is 23 stone and 6ft tall so quite big. We found this fascination with people and their buffet extravaganzas lasted throughout the trip.
Bryggen is a super old warehouse area on the harbour side with rickety old houses at weird angles due to subsidence caused by a German munitions ship exploding during the war. In fact, Norway was occupied in the Second World War and many small towns up the coast were completely obliterated by the retreating German Army, (see Honnigsvag later on).
The harbour area is surrounded by open-air bars and restaurants, in good weather the place is heaving as everyone rushes out to make the most of the long days and sunshine. Tiny seaplane taxis buzz in overhead like benevolent bees as they land out in the bay and you can get a sightseeing ride around the area.
In Bergen we visited the aquarium (baby penguins expected any day), went up the funicular and being the only people without the free map of the top of the mountain managed to get totally lost and had to walk halfway down whilst looking for the funicular for the return trip. The next day we went up the cable car (in which Graham soaked everybody by opening a warm bottle of fizzy water, it was just a small bottle and he managed to soak 12 people and all the windows and have quite a lot left) to a different mountain top, luckily both days were hot and sunny so the views were great.
We limited our museum going to Old Bergen which is an area of old, preserved houses which have been moved to a heritage site just a short bus ride away and to 2 others just close to the harbour. Haakon’s Hall, a 13th century royal residence and the Rosenkrantz Tower, built close by in the 1560’s. The Tower is about 6 stories high and we had to laboriously follow a group of schoolchildren all the way up. They were allowed, 2 at a time, to view the King’s private toilet, a tiny room off his bedroom, which has a deep stone hole covered by a wooden lid (not the present King, by the way). The kids were absolutely fascinated by this and much giggling ensued.
On our return 12 days later we found David Bowie doing a gig right there (Graham insisting it must be a tribute band until we checked it out and went round a corner to find thousands of people crammed into a tiny park so we just lurked about outside to listen for a while). One of our favourite things was an evening walk to the end of the harbour to watch the coming and going of dozens of small and large boats (even a huge masted schooner from the Tall Ships race).
There is always something going on in Bergen through the summer and we were also treated to an AHA concert held on a floating stage and surrounded by dozens of little boats in the harbour, then the next day fancy dress parades and Dragon boat races.
The fish market is open every day with stalls selling wonderful varieties of seafood and fish. Street food is open prawn/smoked salmon/smoked whale rolls, punnets of strawberries and a kiosk sells the best fried fish and chips (about 80NOK) we have ever tasted. Local knitwear in amazing patterns, furs and reindeer skins and arrays of fruit are on sale, with many woolly hats, scarves etc. and a stall selling reindeer salamis and dried meat.
Food and drink in Bergen
We took our full duty free allowance, having heard that booze is hugely expensive in Norway as a deterrent to youngsters (and everyone else) but that means more people brew or distil their own illegally! What is quite interesting is that while you can buy beer and cider at supermarkets, wine and spirit sales are rigidly controlled and only sold in Vinmonopolet stores run by the government, though these are in most towns and even on the quayside as you get further north (cue droves of passengers and crew staggering back on board with clanking carrier bags and wine boxes!)
As a comparison price-wise, a bottle of wine we would pay £5-£6 at home in a supermarket is about 120 NOK and a 3 litre wine box of a not unreasonable Australian Shiraz in the Vinmonopolet was approx 300 NOK, the selection being pretty extensive, especially in larger places.
Food is expensive but good, a big Peppe’s pizza and 2 large beers were delicious but cost about £40. We also went to the Louisiana Creole £90 including 2 beers (not sure how authentic as we have never had the real thing) and the China Palace £70 including beers where a whole steamed lobster was about £20 (not bad comparatively). Finally, we ended up at McDonalds one night for burgers and salads, which are very popular over there.
We didn’t buy wine at any restaurants as the prices were ridiculous and the local beer was good, especially Hansa and the cold draught Guinness at Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub (they seem to be everywhere, we found one in Bruges on our last trip back from Tuscany). We found a super indoor gourmet market right near the harbour which had stalls selling groceries, bread and pastries, meat, fish, cheese, butter cut from a huge chunk, cooked meats and barbecue and pickles, olives etc. We made up a lovely picnic one day when it was raining and camped out in our room, managing to watch 3 movies (we had only just found out after 4 days that the pay-movies were free in our room).
Hotdogs are extremely popular, with every newsagent shop and mini-mart selling them as well as dedicated stalls.
Now to the serious part.
