Rotterdam - Norwegian Fjords Exploration

Where this cruise calls, day by day

6 ports and 2 sea days over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Rotterdam

   NetherlandsDepart

   Europe's largest seaport, and a city that looks nothing like the rest of the Netherlands - flattened in 1940 and rebuilt as an experiment in modern architecture. Cruise ships tie up at the old Holland America headquarters on the Wilhelminakade, directly under the Erasmus Bridge, with the skyline of the Kop van Zuid overhead.

   • The Cube Houses and Markthal at Blaak
   • Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the mirrored art storage building you can walk through
   • Euromast for the view over the port
   • Delft or The Hague, both about 30 minutes by train

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth alongside at Cruise Terminal Rotterdam on the Wilhelminakade; the centre is a 20-minute walk over the Erasmus Bridge or one metro stop from Wilhelminaplein.

   Best months

   Apr-Oct

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Eidfjord

   NorwayPort

   A village of a few hundred at the inner end of the Eidfjord arm of Hardangerfjord, with mountains rising straight from the quay. It exists on the cruise circuit because of what is up the valley behind it: the Måbødalen gorge and Vøringsfossen, a 182 m waterfall now crossed by a steel step-bridge over the ravine.

   • Vøringsfossen waterfall and the footbridge across the gorge
   • The Hardangervidda Nature Centre at Øvre Eidfjord
   • Måbødalen valley and the old zigzag road
   • Kjeåsen mountain farm, perched 530 m above the fjord

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside at the village quay and you walk straight off; everything beyond the village needs a coach or taxi, with Vøringsfossen about 30 minutes away.

   Best months

   May-Sep

4. Day 4

   Geiranger

   NorwayPort

   The most photographed fjord in Norway and, on a busy August day, one of the most crowded. The ship spends the last hour of the approach threading a 15 km arm barely 250 m wide in places, past the Seven Sisters falls and the abandoned cliff farms. The village at the end has a few hundred residents and a road that switchbacks up to a viewpoint at 1,500 m.

   • Dalsnibba viewpoint and the Geiranger Skywalk at 1,500 m
   • Flydalsjuvet, the rock ledge with the classic fjord photograph
   • The Ørnesvingen (Eagle Bend) hairpins on the road toward Eidsdal
   • The Norwegian Fjord Centre in the village

   Getting ashore

   Geiranger is a tender port - ships anchor in the fjord and tender to the village pier, a few minutes' ride, and the tender queue on multi-ship days can eat an hour.

   Best months

   Jun-Aug (road to Dalsnibba usually opens late May)

5. Day 5

   Bergen

   NorwayPort

   The usual start or finish of a Norwegian fjord itinerary, wedged between seven mountains and a deep harbour. Rain is the default - locals hand out umbrellas without comment. The draw is Bryggen, the row of leaning wooden Hanseatic trading houses on the north side of the Vågen inlet, and the funicular that climbs straight out of the old town to a mountain plateau.

   • Bryggen wharf and the alleys behind its facades
   • Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen, 8 minutes from the centre
   • The fish market at the head of Vågen
   • Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg's lakeside villa and composing hut

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Skolten, a 10-minute walk from Bryggen, or at Dokken/Jekteviken further south, which is 25-30 minutes on foot and usually shuttled.

   Best months

   May-Sep

6. Day 6

   Stavanger

   NorwayPort

   Norway's oil capital, which sounds unpromising until you see the berth - ships tie up on the Vågen inlet with the whole small centre around them. Gamle Stavanger, on the western side, is a lane of about 170 white-painted 18th and 19th-century timber houses. It is also the launching point for Preikestolen, the flat cliff shelf 604 m above Lysefjord.

   • Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) - a 4-hour round-trip hike plus ferry and bus transfer
   • Lysefjord sightseeing cruise past Hengjanefossen waterfall
   • Gamle Stavanger's white wooden lanes
   • Norwegian Petroleum Museum and the Swords in Rock monument at Hafrsfjord

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock alongside in the middle of town on the Vågen; you step off into the centre with no shuttle.

   Best months

   May-Sep

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Rotterdam

   NetherlandsArrive

   Europe's largest seaport, and a city that looks nothing like the rest of the Netherlands - flattened in 1940 and rebuilt as an experiment in modern architecture. Cruise ships tie up at the old Holland America headquarters on the Wilhelminakade, directly under the Erasmus Bridge, with the skyline of the Kop van Zuid overhead.

   • The Cube Houses and Markthal at Blaak
   • Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the mirrored art storage building you can walk through
   • Euromast for the view over the port
   • Delft or The Hague, both about 30 minutes by train

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth alongside at Cruise Terminal Rotterdam on the Wilhelminakade; the centre is a 20-minute walk over the Erasmus Bridge or one metro stop from Wilhelminaplein.

   Best months

   Apr-Oct