I went to Norway last year and fell in love!
It is so incredibly gorgeous!!
The Fjords are the most peaceful and scenic of places on Earth!! My opinion is of course subjective to where I’ve been before.
I’ve been to the mountainous regions of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, around the United States—including Alaska and many mountainous islands: Tahiti, Taiwan, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and most of the Hawaiian Islands.
While all of the aforementioned places earn ‘top mountainous scenery’ awards in my book—all for different reasons, Norway topped them—or at least tied with New Zealand… this said, I feel like you can’t really beat the fjord + the mountains + a cruise ship. You can look for hours without having to steer or pull over.
The Fjords were incredibly peaceful as we cruised up and down them. I sat on our balcony ‘drinking in the breathtaking scenery’ and had some much needed rest and relaxation.
The waterfalls, the little Norwegian houses, the massive heights of rock walls on either side of us the entire time quite literally brought tears to my eyes.
While looking for a Norwegian Fjord cruise, I read many travel guides and tips and forums. I wrote the commonalities down. I found that everyone who had been to these fjords said that were a few, “must sees”. The three “must see” fjords widely agreed upon were Nordfjordeid, Flåm, and Geirangerfjord.
People said that in order to really capture the, “Best of the Best that Norway has to offer” you should fit all three in.
The only cruiseline that went to all three of those Fjords during a time when my husband and I could make it was Celebrity.
We love Princess and are Platinum members but Celebrity was the only one that made it to all of those port stops and so we went with them and we were glad we took the chance. We loved Celebrity so much that we’d happily cruise both lines now. They are comparable in all aspects.
I’d recommend not missing any of these fjords but if I had to choose to rank them they would be ranked as follows:
1st- Nordfjordeid
2nd- Geirangerfjord
3rd- Flåm.
Don’t get me wrong, Flåm is incredibly beautiful but the other two ports were more impressive to me. Since many cruise lines do not offer itineraries with all three ports I listed them in order of my favorite to least favorite.
Here is what we ended up doing at each stop. Again, I sifted through a LOT of information in order to find what the majority of people said you MUST SEE on a Norwegian Cruise.
I found that there were three ports mentioned to not miss. I then researched those three ports and what most said were the best things were to do there. Then we booked those that most interested us and that is what we did.
Things we did at Nordfjordeid:
We disembarked as soon as we could and walked over to take photos at the iconic Nordfjordeid sign before it was swarmed with people.
Then, we hurried into Sagastad, a Viking Museum before it got too busy.
We were some of the first ones in but it filled up quickly. We did not stay long and as we were leaving there was quite the line out the door.
So get off the ship quick if you want to go to this museum it is not very big.
It was only a few minute walk to the Nordfjordeid sign and Sagastad.
The Myklebust ship is the largest Viking ship that has been found in Norway. It was found in a burial mound in Nordfjordeid in 1874 and replicated. This replica is used on the water for Norwegian celebrations.
Photo: Ruben Soltvedt
Then we took the bus to the Loen ski lift and saw the MOST SCENIC and BREATHTAKING view—it moved me to tears.
We also saw base jumpers jump from the top of the mountains—what a rush!
At the bottom of the ski lift I went into a darling Norwegian shop with handmade items.
I bought a centerpiece for my table at home.
It reminds me of my late step-grandmother who is Norwegian.
The vase was hers and coincidentally it matches the pink crystal goblets that I inherited from my late grandmother on the other side of my family.
This Norwegian-inspired tablescape is for my husband’s birthday and I’ll post about it soon but I wanted to show the darling branches, cherries, mushrooms, and strawberries that I found at this Norwegian shop at the base of the Loen ski lift.
We headed back to the cruise ship and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery headed out of Nordfjordeid…
Things we did at Geirangerfjord
The scenery coming in and out of Geirangerfjord could not be beat!! It was breathtaking.
This waterfall is called the Seven Sisters.
We got one of the first speed boat rides offered for our docking time and took it around the fjord.
It was so much fun!
Afterward, we hopped on the bus and went to the top of Geirangerfjord to a few lookout points that were amazing!!
3- We did some shopping. I found the most darling little Santa Claus that reminded me of my late grandfather, John Bliss, who recommended this cruise to us.
I wish I could find a photo of the mini Santa statue with a Norway flag on his sweater but it’s packed away in Christmas bins. Don’t miss the Norwegian shops, they have very unique items. My children loved the souvenirs we picked out for them.
We enjoyed the scenery on the way out of Geirangerfjord.
Things we did at Flåm
We took the train up to the top of the mountain and back.
2- We explored the cute little town at the bottom of the mountains and did some shopping.
Then we spent a few hours “drinking in the scenery”—this is a saying my late grandma used to say, on the back of the cruise ship as we ate lunch.
I loved looking at the horses off in the distance on that green grassy knoll (center mid-left).
I could not get over how beautiful it was.
Overall, it was the MOST amazing of cruises!! I would not hesitate to go again.
My late grandfather, John Bliss, used to rave about Norway. We hit four countries on this trip and I was truthfully more excited to see England, Scotland and Belgium…but Norway shocked me into wishing we had more time here because of its peaceful understated beauty!!
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