Sailing to Fjords

[Dwalli, Liverpool]

Hi all, we are sailing to the Norwegian Fjords with Cruise & Maritime Ocean Countess from Liverpool. My question is can anyone recommend some 'must see' places we can visit under our own steam so to speak. Have heard that a visit to Flam and a ride on the funicular railway is a must but can you do it yourself or is it neccessary to use the ships excursions. Thanks in advance for any advice. Rene.

[Raymond8, Carlisle]

You can do the Flam railway yourself but it may pay to book tickets on line before you go. If there is more than one ship in, and there can be 2 or 3 in, the first train's can be full with ships excursions. Well worth it though.

[shark-t, Swindon]

Will be heading that direction as well in August (Stavanger, Flaam, Geiranger and Bergen). Would appreciate any advice on things to do / must see etc. Would also appreciate suggestions for less active activities as well be traveling with parents & in laws with minor mobility problems but cannot walk too far before requiring a rest. Thanks.

[Pammy, stourbridge]

I too am cruising to the Fjords, but in May.
You may be interested in looking at ..About.com Scandinavian travel.. as it has a lot of interesting information which you might find useful.

cheers.Pam

[Mrs M]

Hi all, we are sailing to the Norwegian Fjords with Cruise & Maritime Ocean Countess from Liverpool. My question is can anyone recommend some 'must see' places we can visit under our own steam so to speak. Have heard that a visit to Flam and a ride on the funicular railway is a must but can you do it yourself or is it neccessary to use the ships excursions. Thanks in advance for any advice. Rene.

You may find this link to a forum thread of interest.

http://www.cruises.co.uk/1406-flam_c...port_call.html

[Cooke, Ashby]

I'm assuming Geiranger is on your itinerary. It is a tender port and can be very busy with three or four ships at anchor. The village is very over commercialised (tourist trap) but if you are reasonably fit, the walk up the hill to the church is well worth the effort. A bit further on is a park with sculptures in very picturesque settings. Have a good time. Judith

[Happy Sailor, Wombourne]

when in Flam wait until lunchtime to take the train less people and aesy to get a tcket, i did and saved quite a bit on the ships price.
Have a great time and take up all the advice offered on this site it can save time and money on your excursions. Roger.

[Issyalex, Glasgow]

You can do the Flam railway yourself but it may pay to book tickets on line before you go. If there is more than one ship in, and there can be 2 or 3 in, the first train's can be full with ships excursions. Well worth it though.

I emailed Flam railway to see if I could pre book two tickets but they said to be able to pre book you need to book for 10 people. they also said that we would be able to buy tickets on the day.

[bobbybuoy, peterborough]

The funicular in Bergen is easy to do yourself but we had to queue for about an hour to get on. It's quite near to The Bryggen which you won't miss. If you google 'Floibanen' you'll get to the website.



We definitely enjoyed the experience.

Bob

[Lacey, Wirral]

Hi all, we are sailing to the Norwegian Fjords with Cruise & Maritime Ocean Countess from Liverpool. My question is can anyone recommend some 'must see' places we can visit under our own steam so to speak. Have heard that a visit to Flam and a ride on the funicular railway is a must but can you do it yourself or is it neccessary to use the ships excursions. Thanks in advance for any advice. Rene.

Not sure about Stavanger but all the other ports are in the centre of the towns. Lerwick is a small town with a gôod range of shops and cafes a park and museum. A short scenic walk along the cliff path. It is possible to find plenty to do in O Ban - can be very blustery. Flam railway and ticket office are 2 minutes from ship. A Troll train runs at Eiderford again 2 minutes from ship. Ulvik a tender port is small resort. If weather is fine a gentle stroll along the fjord edge or for the more agile take the road for views of the fjord. Even if you are warm and in T-shirt and shorts the school children will dressed in quilted coats and trousers.

[sarah2482, Sheffield]

We've done the fjords 3 times now (far, far better than Alaska - don't let the American's fool you!) and yes, you can easily do Flam on your own. It's only about 200m from the ship to the train, and if you're savvy about it you can get to the front of the queue for tickets. The journey takes about 45 mins each way so make sure to give yourself time. There's not much at Myrdal (the station at the top) so you may well get off, take some photos and get back on again but you'll not see scenery like it elsewhere.

Stavanger is very pretty, lots of little white houses, and you can happily walk from the ship through the little streets to the 'main' part. You can spend a few hours there.

If you go to Oslo, a visit to the Castle is recommended, and in Bergen just get off and wander around.

We're not fans of cruise excursions, you only see what they want you to see and generally from the cooped up inside of a coach.

Enjoy it!

[fem240964, tewkesbury]

hi
the cruise is fabulous. definitely do the train trip at Flam its fabulous. i think we paid about £30 doing it ourselves. you just get off the ship and the train station is a few yards up. the ship probably charge twice as much.

hope you enjoy it.

[Mrs M]

We've done the fjords 3 times now (far, far better than Alaska - don't let the American's fool ...

The Fjords are fine, an intersting destination, easily reached and a week will do it without any air transport involved.

Alaska is in a different league. Wild, untamed and America's 'Last Frontier'.

Totally different and a must see if possible.

[poshtotty, north yorkshire]

The fjords are wonderful, we love Norway so much we are doing our third cruise there next month. We decided to do a "last minute" on the refurbished? Oriana. Our daughter is getting married next week, so we felt it would be a nice relaxer after a very busy time. The scenery is amazing, in my view a balcony cabin is a must. Cannot wait to sit on that balcony, glass in hand, enjoying the sights.

[fife cruiser, Cupar]

We went to Flam and it is so easy to do the rail trip on your own as the station is just yarsd from the ship, and so much cheaper,we did it last August on the Ocean Countess the North sea was calm both ways. in fact we never paid for any of their trips, we did it all ourselves. we found the photos they take are far too expensive £20.00 for 3 photos. get someone to take your photo with your own camera. I amsure you will have a lovely time all the ports are great! best wishes Fife Tourer