Hertigruten cruise up Norway's coast Bergen to Kirkenes

Norway started running ships up and down the coast in 1853 to improve communication and quality of life for those living in the coastal communities. The route became known as the "Norwegian Coastal Express".  In the 1980's the government subsidies were phased out and more emphasis was placed on tourism.  In March 2006 two independent companies running ships on the route were merged to form the Hertigruten group.  There are currently 12 ships in the fleet with daily departures from Bergen to Kirkenes.   The trip north takes 7 days with 34 stops along the way.  In addition to tourists the ships still carry mail and supplies.  Passengers do not disembark at every stop.  Some happen during the night and some are too short or in an area with no services.

We chose the ship MS Lofoten for our trip.  It is the oldest (built in 1964, last refitting in 2004) and the smallest (287').  Our boat had ~ 110 passengers.  People do get on and off at many of the stops so the passenger count changes constantly during the trip.  Passengers come from around the world.  On our boat we had people from Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Netherlands, France, USA, Canada, and Australia. 

Friends from Anacortes were taking an earlier Lofoten cruise in May.  When they arrived in Bergen they found that the Lofoten was in Denmark having major repair work on the engine. Their cruise was salvaged by shifting them to one of the bigger ships.  We were told that the Lofoten was expected to be back in service for our trip on June 10th, but we didn't know for sure.

When we arrived in Bergen on June 9th the Lofoten was still in Denmark.  The repairs were done, but everything needed to be tested before the boat could move on to Bergen.  As it turned out the Hertigruten Group put us all up in a hotel in Bergen on the 10th and provided a nice buffet dinner.   We did leave port on the morning of June 11th (the boat had arrived in Bergen at 3am that morning).  This delay in departure gave us an opportunity to enjoy the festival known as Hanseatic Days celebrating the northern European merchant trade in which Bergen was a vital player.

There was music like the Latvian male choir (upper left) and the group from Holland (lower left).  The firefighters marching band (upper right) and the Royal Norwegian Naval Forces Band with Frode Alnaes, popular jazz guitarist and composer (lower right).

There were boats, crowds, and of course fair maidens!

Finally at 9am on the 11th of June we begin our Hertigruten journey.  Because we were a day behind schedule, our first day took us all the way to Trondheim.  To make up for the lost day we skipped the Geiranger fjord.  It was a disappointment, but fortunately we had seen lots of fjords previously.

Our cabin was small, but there was enough room to turn around.  We had a shared bathroom and shower just down the hall.    The boat had 4 different inside lounges and a dining room.  There were  outside lounge areas on two levels of the stern.

The captain, Tor Amundsen, welcomed us with champagne in the bar lounge, David reads in the "blue chair" lounge toward the bow.  The dining room set for dinner.  Breakfast and lunch were buffets with open seating.  Dinner was served at assigned tables.  We were "lucky table 13" with Norwegians, Knut and Brodie, as out dinner partners.

On our first day heading to Trondheim, the weather was great and many passengers were out on deck enjoying the scenery. 



 We left Bergen (upper left) had some nice scenery (upper right), more nice scenery (lower left) and then the town of Maloy (lower right).

We arrived in Trondheim at8:30 am on June 12th.  It is the third largest in Norway with a population of greater than 187,000. Trondheim history dates back to the Vikings.  Today it is a vibrant industrial and university city.  The cathedral, the warehouses, and the old bridge all looked lovely.  We are pleased that we will be going back later and have more time to look around.

Trondheim

Departure from Trondheim was at noon.  Time to have lunch onboard and then settle back to watch the sights pass by.

The villages are getting smaller, more boats, and the clouds are coming down

June 13th was the day we crossed the Arctic circle.  It was cloudy, cool and rainy.  They entertained us by calling King Neptune up from the sea.  He initiated the willing explorers to the Arctic with a ladle of ice water down the back.  David took it like a man.  I wasn't so composed.

The Arctic circle lies above 66 deg N.  It is the point where the sun stays above the horizon for 24 hrs.  Hence the name land of the midnight sun. 

I will admit to using my camera's dramatic setting for the waters north of Bodo and the Svolvaer Church.  I threw in the flowers for some color.  They are planting their spring pansies now.

Between 11 pm and midnight we went into the Trollfjord.  This was a beautiful narrow fjord and it was exciting to be able to see it under the midnight sun.

MS Lofoten turning around in Trollfjord 11:45pm June 13th, 2016

Moving north at a steady 15 knots the villages are smaller.  Fishing is more prevalent.

This northern part of Norway is the region of Finnmark (or Lapland as you may have known it).  In WWII much of Finnmark was completely destroyed by Hitler.  All houses and industries were burned or bombed.  In Honningsvag the church was the only building left standing as shown in the old photo.

The Honningsvag church built in 1885, the only building left standing in WWII

The Sami culture tour was our excursion from Kjollefjord.  The Sami are an indigenous people who herd reindeer up in the Finnmark (Lapland) area of Norway.  The Sami actually span four countries, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia.  They do still move the reindeer south in September and back north in April.  The no longer live in tents, but have modern cabins.  Like many indigenous people in the world, they are renewing efforts to keep their culture and language alive. 

Sami Culture tour

We leave the Lofoten in Kirkenes in the far northeast of Norway.  We are about 5 miles from the Russian border as the crow flies.  We spend a night there.  We had been forwarned that there wasn't much to see and people were right.  The thought of going to the border was dashed by the receptionist at our hotel.  He said there is really nothing to see, just a guard station.  After walking all the streets in town we walk uphill to the lake.  It is an industrial area.  There is a ship building company, Kemik.  The temperature was surprisingly warm in Kirkenes.  David switched to shorts and a short sleeved shirt. 

We will now head back south taking some internal flights.  Kirkenes to Tromso to Bodo to Trondheim to Aulesund.  From Aulesund we fly to England to vist Anya and her family and then it is back home.