Cruising: Norwegian magic
A cruise through Norway’s magnificent fjords features extraordinary land and seascapes, picturesque villages and a vibrant capital city, writes Sally Macmillan.
Tulips were blooming all over the country, but when Queen Máxima of the Netherlands christened the gleaming new Koningsdam, a freezing spring rain soaked eager onlookers at Rotterdam. Fortunately, the ceremony was held inside the ship. By the time we were halfway across the North Sea, the sun came out and stayed out for most of the next week.
That’s because we were heading into the Land of the Midnight Sun (and sleep masks) to cruise Norway’s fabled fjords. The first one we entered, Sognefjord, is the country’s longest, deepest and arguably most spectacular. Glacial snow-capped mountains flank broad blue-green waterways and inlets, and our cameras went into overdrive.
The ship docked at the picturesque little port of Flåm at the end of Aurlandsfjord, one of the “arms” of Sognefjord. It is a focal point of the Norway in a Nutshell tourist route and, in high season, visitors outnumber residents by the thousands. Advance booking on the ship for the Flåmsbana train ride is advisable – my travel buddy and I were lucky to score tickets.
We quickly realised why this trip is so popular. The railway line is one of the steepest in the world and the train chugs through astoundingly beautiful scenery – lush pastures and painted wooden houses, craggy valleys and dramatic waterfalls. On the way to Myrdal, we stopped at Kjosfossen waterfall for a photo and ethereal music started playing. Suddenly, we were all gazing at a woman in red dancing in the distant mist. She is, we’re told, a huldra, a mythical forest nymph, but even when we discover she is actually a dance student wearing a long blonde wig, it doesn’t take the gloss off a rather magical moment.
City of contrasts
Stavanger offers a different sort of visual feast. The city’s harbour is ringed by converted wooden warehouses that lead to narrow winding streets and preserved 18th-century houses, while a short walk in the opposite direction takes you to the ultra-modern Norwegian Petroleum Museum. This shiny monument to Norway’s massive oil riches is much more interesting than it sounds and makes a fascinating contrast to the 12th-century cathedral.
A leisurely wine stop at one of the waterfront cafes gave us the chance to people-watch for an hour. The sound of a jazz band has everyone craning to find its source and it was five men in a car, playing instruments out of the windows while they drove around.
We pass on lunch at one of the tempting seafood restaurants because we were booked into Koningsdam’s Culinary Arts Centre for a cooking lesson and we know that will involve extensive tasting. As it turns out,
we’re making a salmon dish (Norwegian, of course). I’m a little concerned that my travel companion isn’t going to love this, as she isn’t that fond of cooking or fish, but at the end of the session she says it’s one of the highlights of the cruise.
Chef Robert leads eight of us through a fun afternoon, first smoking the salmon, then getting us to prepare and cook a delicious smoked wild salmon and asparagus hash, followed by unexpectedly good maple popcorn. Robert is very patient considering he was trained in Paris – he clearly relishes his new role as the ship’s chef-instructor.
Talking about food, we take a galley tour with Koningsdam’s charismatic Food and Beverage Director, Colin Jacobs. He tells us that about 48,000 eggs, 12,700 kilos of meat and 58,000 kilos of seafood are consumed by passengers and crew on an average 12-day cruise. More than 450 kilos of Dover sole were served in one day on our cruise – and considering it takes 20 to 30 minutes to fillet at the table, that’s a pretty labour-intensive task.
Idyllic waterways tour
Having digested all that, our next port of call is Kristiansand, where we jump on a small boat called Maarten for a scenic cruise around the Kristiansand archipelago. Many of the gorgeous old houses are holiday homes and the idyllic waterways attract hundreds of sailors in summer. Our guide tells us that Norway has an extra week’s holiday for over-60s and free “tenting” on the island of Stokken is a big drawcard for the outdoors-loving locals.
This tour includes a bus trip to the charming town of Lillesand, but it’s a fleeting visit. If we’d had longer in port, we would have fitted in Kristiansand’s open-air museum, where you can see original sod-roof houses dating back to the 1500s. However, you can’t do everything and we have a busy day planned for Oslo.
History capital
One day doesn’t do Norway’s capital city justice, but you can tick off one attraction before you even disembark because the ship docks right outside the medieval Akershus Fortress. A brisk walk around the harbour brings you to City Hall, where you can catch a ferry to the Bygdøy peninsula and visit several fascinating museums. The Viking and Kon-Tiki museums are small, well laid-out and essential viewing for anyone interested in maritime history – and the trip across Oslofjord is lovely on a fine day.
Another Oslo must-do is Vigeland Park, the largest sculpture park by a single artist in the world, with 212 larger-than-life bronze, granite and cast-iron sculptures, all created by one artist, Gustav Vigeland. Then there’s the Royal Palace, window (or real) shopping along Karl Johans Gate and somewhere to squeeze in lunch – a late one for us, at an open-air bar on the Aker Brygge side of the harbour.
By the time we return to Amsterdam, it feels as though we’ve been away much longer than a week. The cruise has given us a memorable introduction to Norway, a country rich in natural beauty, mythical and modern charms – and did I mention multekrem, the traditional Norwegian dessert of cloudberries and whipped cream?
“450 kilos of Dover sole were served in one day.”