Norway and the Northern lights on Hurtigruten!

I have just got back from a four-night voyage on Hurtigruten’s Nordnorge. I know some of you will be thinking is he mad? Why would you go to a cold, dark, country in the Arctic circle in Winter? The answer my friends is Aurora Borealis (more commonly known as the Northern Lights), snow and the Norwegian fresh food!

I love all things natural and one of the best places for seeing the Northern lights is from a ship in the Arctic Circle. There is so little light pollution and a ship can get the best spot to view the phenomenon. Plus, the captain can move the ship if a cloud is in the way of the display! Hurtigruten offer a Northern light guarantee on its 12 night voyages and as we were only on for a short trip we were trying to manage our expectations by looking at the weather forecast leading up to our travel dates. It did not look good with lots of cloud and snow forecast! At least Max would get to experience snow.

We flew from Norwich airport with a charter plane from Germania which was great as we had a sandwich and non-alcoholic drinks provided for our three-hour flight to Tromso. Transfers were included to the Hurtigruten dock which is right in the centre of Tromso. We boarded the ship and our cabin was comfortable for the three of us and Max had a travel cot at the foot of our beds.

Let me just talk food for a paragraph as everything on board is typical of what is eaten in Norway and is fresh as can be. I have lived for a winter in Geilo, Norway and eaten in some great 4 & 5 star hotels and I must say the food on the ship gave those hotels a run for their money. We had table service during the evenings and 3 courses. The chef was great at sauces, to go with the, fresh fish, Reindeer steak, King crab, all served with fresh vegetables. The desserts with berries from the summers long sunny days were all amazing. Breakfast was a buffet and there was so much choice of both cooked items, fresh and dried fruits, fish, salad items, and cereals that you could mix together yourself as a home-made muesli with your own favourites. All the bread was fresh and delicious and the beverage selection was good as there were smoothies, different flavoured waters, juices, tea & speciality coffees.

We joined the team of four expedition leaders from the ship for their introduction. They were good fun as well as informative and they promoted things that could be done for free as well as the excursions available. We chose a trip to a fishing village with Heidi’s Christmas house and went on that from Honningsvag. As I had been to the North cape before we were looking for a more cultural experience. Heidi met us when we got to the fishing village and explained she had lived there for 60 years with her husband a fisherman and children eating fish for every meal every day. WOW. We met some of the king crabs and had home-made cake, waffles with jam and cream and Glogg which is like a mulled wine which is non-alcoholic. This was a nice tour and enjoyed by everyone.

Did we see the lights?  Yes, we did twice! We had our own private light show from our cabin window on the third night which was spectacular and just kept changing as it was windy that night. Lovely but difficult to photograph. The dining room emptied another night as they made an announcement that the Northern Lights were showing off the port side of the ship, this was just as dinner had started. Funny to see lots of hungry holiday makers heading away from the food. We stayed and ate and went up on deck after dinner as the lights were still showing themselves.

I can highly recommend Hurtigruten. The ship was newly refurbished and all of the public areas were comfortable and modern but still with a traditional feel. As for Norway its a great destination even if you have been many times before. If you have an urge to visit the fjords, Northern lights, or Arctic circle I would be happy to help you plan the best itinerary. You can call me, Adrian on 0333 300 2480 or you can ask me any questions you have below. As always happy cruising!