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ITINERARY
Day 1 BERGEN
Bergen is the charming and bustling
capital of Norway's fjord district.
If you arrive a few hours before
departure, we recommend a stroll
around the old wooden buildings in
the Bryggen Wharf, remnants of its
Hanseatic past. In travel's early
days, it was easier to get from
Bergen to the Continent by sea than
it was to get to Oslo - a fact
apparent in this city's architecture
and culture. You board the
Hurtigruten this evening.
Day 2 MALØY -
TORVIK - ÅLESUND - MOLDE -
KRISTIANSUND
When you awake, the ship will be
crossing the open Stadthavet and
heading for Torvik. En route, you'll
stop in the beautiful Art Nouveau
town of Alesund. (Between April 15
and September 14, all ships call at
Geiranger in the Geirangerfjord, a
UNESCO World Heritage site, to see
the beautiful Brudesloret, Friaren,
and the Seven Sisters waterfalls.)
After a call at Molde—its
magnificent view of the Romsdal Alps
made it a favorite vacation spot of
Henrik Ibsen—the ship will carefully
navigate the Hustadvika, a belt of
islets and skerries, before docking
at Kristiansund.
Optional shore
excursions available
Day 3 TRONDHEIM -
RORVIK
The ship
arrives early this morning in
ancient Trondheim, where you'll have
time to explore this jewel of a
city, Norway's first capital. Did
you know that the first Viking sale
of goods from “the new found land”
took place here about 1000 AD?
Timber from Liev Eriksson's Vinland
estate was sold to a Bremen
merchant. Walk the charming streets,
sit by the peaceful harbor, or cross
the old city bridge to see the
restored wooden buildings in
Bakklandet and the great gothic
cathedral of Nidaros, where the new
kings of old Norway once received
their official blessing. From
Trondheim, the ship sails on to
Rorvik, where the southbound and
northbound coastal ships meet.
Optional shore
excursions available.
Day 4
ORNES - BODØ - STAMSUND - SVOLVÆR
Today you'll cross the Arctic
Circle. Of course you can't actually
see the line, but on your portside,
the globe on the island of Vikingen
serves as a marker. There are
spectacular sites ahead: islands and
skerries with majestic rock
formations, whose origins are the
stuff of legend. After Bodø, the
ship heads out to open sea for the
Lofoten Islands with their
picturesque cabins on stilts and
weathered wooden racks with drying
cod. In the evening, she'll navigate
the narrow Raftsund Strait, passing
the looming crags of the Trollfjord.
Optional shore
excursions available.
Day 5 HARSTAD - FINNSNES - TROMSØ - SKJERVØY
This morning
you'll pass the medieval Trondenes
church before calling at Harstad for
breakfast. Afterward, you'll sail
across the Vagsfjord past the great
island of Senja with its diverse
countryside of farmland, pine trees,
and plunging peaks. Later you'll
stop at Tromsø, the “Paris of the
North.” In the 19th century,
Russian, British, Dutch, and German
ships called here before heading off
on Arctic expeditions for hunting
whales, walruses and seals.
Optional shore
excursions available.
Day 6-7 HAMMERFEST - HAVØYSUND - HONNINGSVÅG -
KJOLLEFJORD - MEHAMN - BERLEVÅG -
KIRKENES
Finnmark's landscape is austere in
its beauty, teeming with wildlife.
Watch for rookeries of puffins and
gannets along the cliffs and pods of
orca hunting for herring. After
calling at Honningsvag, the capital
of the North Cape, the ship heads
east toward the pretty fishing
villages of Kjollefjord, Mehamn, and
Berlevag. On the seventh day, you'll
arrive at Kirkenes, the journey's
northern terminus and turning point.
Optional shore
excursions available for both days.
Day 7
KIRKENES -VARDØ - BATSFJORD -
BERLEVÅG
After a few hours docked at
Kirkenes, the ship will depart upon
the southbound half of her voyage,
calling during the day at ports
passed at night on the trip
northward. Crossing Varangerfjord,
Norway's only east-facing fjord and
a fabled bird-watching site, you'll
arrive in Vardø, the easternmost
point of the country. Next the ship
will round the Varanger peninsula,
where archaeologists excavated a
community believed to date from 9000
BC. In the evening, the ship calls
at Batsfjord, which also boasts the
remains of a Stone Age settlement,
and Berlevåg. Look out for the
Tanahorn mountain, which long ago
was a Sami sacrifice site.
Day 8 HONNINGSVÅG - HAVØYSUND -
HAMMERFEST - OKSFJORD - SKJERVØY -
TROMSØ
The ship arrives at Honningsvåg in
the early morning. After calling at
Havøysund, she will stop for 1 1/2
hours in Hammerfest, the world's
most northerly town. Despite its
remote location, it was the first
Norwegian town to have electric
street lighting and its own power
station. She then heads south to
Oksfjord, whose glacier calves
directly into the sea. After
crossing open water, the ship calls
at the old trading post of Skjervøy.
You'll dock in Tromsø just in time
to savor its nightlife.
Optional shore
excursions available.
Day 9 HARSTAD-
RISØYHAMN - SORTLAND - STOKMARKNES -
SVOLVÆR - STAMSUND
The island groups of Lofoten and
Vesterålen have some of the most
stunning scenery on this journey.
Before your arrival, you'll see the
captain skillfully maneuver the ship
through the shallow waters of the
Risøyrenna Channel, where sand banks
are visible through the green water
on both sides of the channel. The
ship will negotiate the narrow
Raftsund Strait leading into the
breathtaking Trollfjord, before
arriving in Svolvaer and Stamsund.
Later, the ship heads east across
Vestfjord toward Bodø. Optional
shore excursions available.
Day 10
ORNES - NESNA - SANDNESSJOEN - BRONNØYSUND -
RORVIK
From Ornes, you'll travel through
crystalline waters, filled with
spawning cod from January to April,
and go by lush agricultural fields.
Nearly every towering peak you'll
see is associated with a local
legend. Crossing the Arctic Circle
once again, you'll pass the idyllic
island of Sandnessjøen. On the
approach to Bronnøysund, which you
reach this afternoon, you'll spy the
mythical Seven Sisters Mountains.
Make sure you're on deck when the
ship departs Bronnøysund - you'll be
impressed by the captain's steady
hand! Today's last port of call will
be Rorvik.
Day 11 TRONDHEIM - KRISTIANSUND
- MOLDE
Arrive in Trondheim early, with time
to visit Norway's largest medieval
church, Nidaros Cathedral, and the
restored Archbishop's Residence.
You'll then sail out through the
beautiful Trondheimsfjord, past
Hitra, island of deer, and lonely
Grip. At day's end, you'll call at
Molde, before arriving in Ålesund
late in the evening in time for a
stroll on shore.
Optional shore
excursion available.
Day 12
FLORØ - BERGEN
During the night, the ship will call
at Torvik, Maløy, and Florø. The
World's Most Beautiful Voyage is
drawing to a close. Yet still ahead
lies mile after mile of spectacular
west Norway scenery: holly trees on
Svanøy, the mouth of Sognefjord, and
the beautiful archipelago on the
approach to Bergen.
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Cruise-Only Rates 2008
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