Trip to the fjords - private tour to Norway
I called my short story “Trip to the Fjords”, because it was because of the fjords that we went to Norway, but, as it turned out, in addition to the fjords, there are many other interesting things in the country. I don’t usually write travel reports, I don’t keep some special card file of facts, but in this case it’s different. Norway is a country that is impossible not to fall in love with. It is completely unlike anything where I have been before (and I have been in many places). It has both the architecture of European cities and unforgettable nature. I fell in love with this country and I want to pay tribute to it by describing my impressions.
It all started in June 2011: I received an unscheduled leave due to a production shutdown. The inopportunely arrived heat became a decisive factor in choosing a place to rest - it was necessary to urgently save the brains from melting. Competitors were Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. After reading reviews, reports and route descriptions, it became clear that nothing compares to the Norwegian fjords and temperatures of 20 degrees (above zero). I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but it was not there. All more or less possible options (it was possible to fly at least the next day, but I don’t earn that much) started in the range of 2-3 weeks from the date of the request. The prices of different companies were different, and the descriptions of the tours were muddy. Sergey Olsson, the manager of the Swedish company Svea Tour, answered quickly and clearly, for which we thank him. In principle, it was the efficiency and informativeness of the answers that determined our choice. An individual tour to Norway was offered from July 12 to July 21, i. e. for 10 days. Arrival in Oslo and departure from there. With various adjustments and discussions of the route, we managed to bring the cost of the tour to an acceptable cost (note to the hostesses - as Sergei said, if we booked the same tour not at the beginning of July, but at least 2 months in advance, and even better 3 months, then could save about 20%. As a result, we got the following route:
Day 1: Arrival in Oslo, hotel accommodation. Recreation and independent exploration of the city. Although I think that it would be possible to conduct a tour on the same day.
2nd day: sightseeing tour of the city. Again, free time.
3rd day: transfer to Bergen, cruise along the fjords on the way. Hotel accommodation.
4th day: sightseeing tour of Bergen and free time to visit the city.
Day 5: Drive from Bergen to Å lesund. Fjord crossings. Stop at the hotel.
6th day: drive from Å lesund to Kristiansund with a stop on the most beautiful road in the world. Stop in Kristiansund
Day 7: Drive from Kristiansund to Balestrand via the famous troll trail with accommodation on the bank of the fjord in a wooden palace-hotel.
8th day: Excursion to the glacier, moving to the deepest Hardangerfjord, stop at a spa hotel on the banks of the Eidfjord.
Day 9: Slow transfer to Oslo
10th day: flight home.
The program could be changed, made shorter or longer, but we decided that this option was more to our liking. He was quite full as it was.
The technical part is over. The story begins.
Departure and arrival went without problems and misunderstandings. At the airport, we were met by a guide, who, in fact, saw us off ten days later.
30 minutes - and we are already in Oslo and check into the hotel. We stayed at the Europa Hotel, not far from the Royal Palace. For a regular double room was quite spacious and roomy.
But for us actually it was not important, because. no one wanted to sit in the room all day long, and the Norwegians themselves say: “there is no bad weather, there are bad clothes. ” We stocked up on umbrellas back in Russia, but, fortunately, they were almost of no use to us. the weather, except for one day, when suddenly everything was covered with low clouds and fog, which was also very beautiful in its own way. An attempt was even made to swim in a mountain stream, but the river was very cold. What pleased me at the hotel was the breakfasts - a good choice herrings and cheeses, and in the lobby there is round-the-clock access to a coffee machine.
On the first day, despite all our enthusiasm, we could only walk to the Akerbrugge area recommended by the guide - a mixture of old industrial workshops with modern design, after which we dined at the Loften restaurant. They ate, of course, fish - cod soup and fried flounder. We walked a little around the area, walked along the central Karl Johansgade street, drank coffee and by 9 pm we realized that we needed to go to bed - it was already 12 am Moscow time, and we got up very early.
The second day was more eventful. The tour started at 10 am and continued until noon. We managed to go around the whole city in a circle, drove up to the opera, climbed the old fortress and walked around the sculpture park, were later returned back to the center and headed for lunch. More precisely, at our request, we were brought to a fish restaurant. Honestly, I don’t remember the name, but it is located right on the embankment near the wall of the fort. There are several of them in one row and look like port hangars. I must say, the cuisine there was an order of magnitude better than in yesterday's restaurant, and the cost was lower.
Fishermen were standing on the embankment, a breeze was blowing from the sea, and the smell of fish was all around. Having refreshed ourselves, we set a course for the island of Bygdeo. To my delight, the pier with the ships was only 200 meters from the restaurant - in the afternoon we could hardly crawl, dragging our stomachs behind us. We visited the Viking Museum on the island, and then until 7 pm we walked around Folkmuseet - an ethnographic village. Here for the first time we tried the most popular cheese in Norway - brown. Then we often met him in hotels, restaurants, and especially in eateries in mountainous areas where there are a lot of sheep.
Departure the next day was scheduled for 8.30, so as not to rush anywhere and not to be late anywhere. There was a 5-hour transfer to the city of Flå m, where a fjord cruise awaited us. Thanks to the guide for taking us out in advance. He had to stop almost every 30 minutes so that we could take photos, or just get some fresh air.
The change of landscapes was unforgettable, new surprises awaited behind each pass: either clouds descended to the surface of the lake, then dwarf birches and moss, then snowy mountain peaks, then a series of waterfalls. I want to note that the sensations and impressions were aggravated by the car on which we moved. It was a Citroen Picasso with a glass roof, so we felt like fish in an aquarium. 300 km. mountain roads passed unnoticed by us.
The places were most beautiful: mountain lakes at an altitude of 1000 m above sea level, wonderful white-haired sheep that lay along and on the road, and then were found even in the tunnels, the freshest air and, again, a sea of waterfalls.
I wanted to stop at every place, stick my head out of the car and just take a deep breath of the mountain air. Already on boarding the ship, on which we were supposed to make a tour of the fjord, it became hungry, but the forces were restored by a small lunch on board.
At the end of the cruise, the guide was already waiting for us at the other end of the fjord. Another 150 km and we ended up in Bergen. It was already a little late, so after dinner we went to bed.
So, morning. Let's go on an excursion. Again, busy trips around the city, stops in beautiful places for photographing, a history course, a walk around the Hanseatic offices, recommendations for free time and now 2 hours are gone. We are on our own again.
Bergen is considered one of the oldest cities in Norway, so first we go to the museum of old Bergen, and then we go to the Flø ibanan observation deck, which takes us up to 200 meters. The view is breathtaking. Bergen lies at a glance, and for some reason the water in the parks is all dark green. They didn’t understand whether Bergen is located on the sea or on the fjord, and then they forgot to ask the guide about it. We descend back ourselves through the territory of the park. We sit on the benches and take pictures of the city from different angles. I was very impressed by the old sleeping areas of Bergen with its white houses and thousands of cats that no one let home: some rubbed against the windows on the windowsills, others silently sat at the door, others scratched with their paws, trying to knock on the door. My attempts to take pity on them were politely rejected by the animals, dodging the hand and stepping aside. Well, okay, Vaska is better with us and eats everything. While walking around the city, we accidentally came across a Russian store selling goods from Russia. We bought fried seeds, dried fish and gingerbread for the sake of exoticism. By the way, everything was brought back to Russia)
The next day was full of travel. We also left early to arrive early. We were waiting for several ferry crossings through the fjords, for which there could be queues and again: we are in Norway, and here people lead a leisurely and relaxed lifestyle.
Accordingly, we should not rush somewhere and be late. In general, in these matters, we completely trusted the guide and did not think about anything. As a result, I even had to make up time, because. we couldn't get organized and stop taking pictures in time. Behind every turn there was some small gorge waiting for us, where we wanted to look, and behind the gorge there was a ledge where we wanted to climb, and behind the ledge there was a stone from which a beautiful view opens, etc. etc. .
And here is the city of Å lesund - the capital of Norwegian art nouveau. A wonderful city with severe weather, but as I said, we were lucky in this sense. Although it was not very warm and quite windy, but it was not raining. If you asked me what Å lesund is like, I would answer that it is a small Paris. It was very strange to see a northern city with houses decorated with foliage, sculptures, mosaics, as well as awnings. It's strange: they don't have enough heat anyway, and they put awnings on the windows. Although striped awnings are better than white air conditioner compressors. In Å lesund we had half a day, which, in principle, was enough. The next day we were waiting for the transfer to the city of Kristiansun, through the Oceanic Autobahn.
The morning began cloudless, but foggy and did not portend anything bad. A beautiful road, beautiful mountains, beautiful fjords, beautiful ferry crossings and, finally, what we came here for - the ocean highway. We moved from island to island, and to our right was the endless ocean.
Further - only America. The waves slowly beat against the bridge supports and protruding rocks, and the harsh Norwegian fishermen caught cod right from the bridges. The road back passed along a different route - through the troll trail to Balestrand.
The fact that we are approaching the lair of the trolls became clear from the houses of local residents: one troll sits on a half-motherboard, the other - on the roof, the third plays with a kitten, or maybe steals it, or maybe even eats. The entrance to the pass is guarded by a cafe with trolls of any kind and size.
When approaching the pass, it became quite obvious why it is called the troll path: it would not occur to any normal person to walk along such roads: we could not normally drive even 10 meters, because all the time we had to wait for someone, then let someone through, then go somewhere.
There were some pockets for junctions, but I did not notice a single car that would meet in this particular place. Met either above or below. But on the other hand, a reward was waiting for us at the top: a lake with crystal clear water AND an observation deck overlooking the trail and the cars climbing along it.
Every inch of the rock is strewn with man-made trolls, so we had to climb through the partition to a dangerous place and build our trolls there. Hope they last at least one winter. And two are better. We reached the ballestrand closer to 5 o'clock. To describe briefly, the hotel where we stayed "Kviknes" was a real wooden palace. The fact that the German emperor, the English queen and other good people liked to rest in it is not worth adding. All the staff speaks British English, the most luxurious antique lobby with hunting trophies, 15 different tea rooms, a restaurant with a view of the fjord, a wooden veranda, a mowed lawn, cricket, live music (someone played the piano) - and the screams of seagulls. To be honest, we never left the hotel grounds. Everything was so perfect, balanced and balanced that we just sat by the window in some very old chairs upholstered in English silk, drank tea and looked at the fjord. Nearby, an English grandmother was doing the same. I almost dozed off. We were ready to pay for an extra day of staying in this place, rowing a boat, walking in the mountains, but there were no more available rooms. The only thing we could do was to leave our things in the luggage room.
The next day we visited a real glacier. Not that the whole thing, but they approached the tongue of the glacier, which descended to an accessible distance. The ice was not cold, blue, big and beautiful. To get to it, we had to sail on a boat, then jump over the pebbles for 15 minutes. It was terrible to look at the base of the glacier, where it went into the mountains and covered the peaks. It is at such moments that you feel the power of nature and the worthlessness of man.
We arrived in Oslo late in the evening, more precisely, at Oslo Airport. Because Since the plane was with us early in the morning, it was convenient and rational to stop at the airport: we got enough sleep, and at the same time saved on a taxi.
I thought for a long time which photos to insert into the text, and I understand that none of them conveys the atmosphere, the feelings that we had a chance to experience. They look like some banal And just snippets taken out of context. Or maybe I’m such a good photographer that I can’t convey the atmosphere of what is happening and the camera decided to drown itself rather than continue to live with me (at the end of the trip I dropped it into the water). In general, Norway is a country that must be visited at least twice. I am ready to go to Norway at least every summer, if there are sponsors. We managed to visit only the fjords and the glacier AND several large cities, and there were fishing, skiing and hiking in the mountains. To my shame, I never took a dip, but I had to.
PS: because they constantly ask, I will add that the cost of the tour was 7.5 thousand euros for two, including accommodation, breakfasts, all excursions, tickets to attractions, transfers, ferry crossings, support of a Russian-speaking guide. The tour was made by the Svea Tour company (everything went well, although it was expensive. Thanks to them for organizing! )
