Cruising Around Norway

I have always had a passion for travel, since the first holiday abroad that I remember; two weeks with my family in Italy. I remember thinking how majestic Venice was and how when I was a grownup I would like to travel to work by gondola.

So in 2004 when I passed my A levels, my mum offered to take me on a cruise. “Oh God!” I thought “a cruise is full of old people!” but I obviously sucked it up as she seemed so excited.

And it was absolutely magical. The cruise that we took was around Norway and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like flying (a firm plus in my mum’s positive tick sheet) and who loves to see areas of natural beauty from a different perspective.

The cruise left from Southampton and headed straight to the Norwegian town of Bergen.  We took a funicular (like a cable car) up the mountains to see all of Bergen and get out first glimpse of the ffjords, and then reboarded the ferry for our journey.

I was obviously panicking the entire time as I hate heights, but I coped and by holding firmly onto the edge of the car I saw some beautiful snowy mountains and chocolate box houses.

We then visited the Royal City of Trondheim and saw their attraction, The Old Town Bridge, which was once the only way in and out of the town centre, when the city was the hub of Norwegian trading.

Over the next few days we sailed through the arctic circle and down the Raftsund strait, stopping on Harstad (the largest of the Norwegian islands) and seeing where explorers had been before us.

We sat and had coffee in the university town of Tromso; soaking up the atmosphere and watching people go about their daily lives before we boarded the ship again, ready for an excursion where we got to go kayaking in a ffjord.

I thought that sort of stuff only happened in the films! With hindsight, I don’t think my Travel Insurance covered this, and with the recent news of a teenager dying after a polar bear attack in the country, I realise we were luckier than we thought. We didn’t see polar bears, but saw a whole host of other wildlife on our sail.

On the return part of the journey we visited Seven Sisters (not the borough in London!) where folklore tells that the arrow from Hestmannen’s bow formed the hole in the mountain, and you can see the prettiest landscapes in the area.

On the return part of the journey we visited Seven Sisters (not the borough in London!) where folklore tells that the arrow from Hestmannen’s bow formed the hole in the mountain, and you can see the prettiest landscapes in the area.

If you really are scared of flying then a cruise is a great way to see the world, and give you a really interesting perspective. Its also great value for money as you get to see a lot of different towns and sights with your accomodation and travel paid for.