Our first port of call after Bergen Norway was Geirangerfjord – a small village at the end of the winding Norwegian Fjord which is framed by mountains with massive waterfalls on each side. The trick really is to be awake at 6AM to go on deck for the sail in, a 2 hour sail in serene waters with morning sun offering the most spectacular views – the challenge for us was that we were still getting over the Oslo-Bergen bus ride to want to get that early and opted to take it all in on the sail out of the Fjord.
We took the excursion called the scenic mountain drive and Dalsnibba Climb which
was mainly a bus tour passing around lakes, Fjords and glaciers with several stops including a Norwegian lunch at a Hjelle mountain top hotel. Stops included Djupvatn mountain Lake, the small village of Hjelle, Tystigen Glacier museum, Dalnibba Mountain top where you rise 5000 feet above the Geirangerfjord below you and eye to eye with the Ystigen Glacier in the nearby mountain range. Truly a spectacular day of scenery. Watch the glacier melt forming large waterfalls down the canyon and clouds forming skirts around the mountains. Being summer flowers were in bloom, rain would fall time to time and it just felt like the most peaceful region on earth.
We were glad to have enjoyed this region this year because as news has been reporting, the Geirangerfjord area is set to impose vessel restrictions that only electric/clean energy propelled ships will be allowed to pass through the fjord in 2027… this is not final, but certainly will restrict large cruise ships to enter the fjord in the future.
Here are some sail-away photos
