Some takeaways from the trip:

• Norway is the most expensive country from our trip (and any country we’ve ever visited).
• Helsinki, Finland was our coldest. Only -2°C but the wind chills (kills)!
• Cutest is a toss-up between Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia and Old Town in Stockholm, Sweden.
• Best food was in Sweden. Go for the Fish Soup and Swedish Meatballs!
• Most beautiful was Norway’s fjords. The Nærøyfjord is a must see!
• Biggest disappointment was not getting to see the full display of the Northern Lights. Mother nature has its own schedule so we’ll have to attempt a Northern Lights adventure another time.

While we called this our “Scandinavian Trip,” Finland isn’t technically part of Scandinavia. So then we could call it our “Nordic Trip,” however the last minute addition of Estonia, that’s not so accurate either.

To be the most accurate, this trip is our “layover in Munich, Germany (passport entry to the EU), Norway, Finland, Norway, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and one last layover stop in Munich trip!”

Whew!

Many people thought we were crazy for going in the winter. However we think the off-season is the best time to go. Bundling up for the cold by far outweighs the masses of tourists during the high-season. It was peaceful and we got to really get to see it more from a local perspective.

We both had a great time exploring all the places listed above and wanted to especially thank our friends Vibeke (for being our virtual tour guide in Oslo), and Janel (for being our tour guide in Helsinki).

We hope you enjoyed flowing us during our adventure. Where will we go next? We have a couple smaller trips on our schedule; a birthday trip to the Eastern US and to Chicago this summer to see the A’s play (beat) the Cubs and White Sox.

The next big trip abroad? Stay tuned…

Rocketman!

It’s our last day of sightseeing for this trip, and we want to make the most of it. So we follow Janel’s recommendation of catching the ferry across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia. The EU and EURO country was a part of the Soviet Union in the past, but now we don’t even need to show ID to get in after a 2-hour boat ride across the Gulf of Finland.

The weather is showing its sunny side but it comes at a steep decline in temperature. We are colder than ever on this trip when taking the tram from the hotel to the harbor just after 6am. It’s not any warmer when we disembark the ferry in Tallinn, adding Kirk’s 29th country ever visited and my 35th to our lists.

With only about 3 hours to spare here in town, we head straight towards Tallinn’s Old Town – inside the medieval walls. It’s a step back in time, and with the cold weather and early hour (it’s only approaching 10am), there are barely any tourists around. We explore Estonia’s capital on the Baltic Sea with its cobblestone streets, 15th-century defensive tower, and and much more.

We stroll past the Town Hall Square and Town Hall (Gothic style, built in 1402-1404 and the “hub” for the last 8 centuries), St. Nicholas Church (originally from 1230, withstood reformation looting in 1523 but destroyed in WW2), the Tallinn Tower Wall (13th century), St. Olaf’s Church (14th-century Gothic Church with its 124m current spire, open during summer months) and the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (the first neo-classical church in town, 1820-1827). Further sights along our route include St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (established in 1900) and finally the view points for great overlooks over Tallinn and the sea.

We wanted to check out the KGB museum as well, but it is open for scheduled/guided tours only and today’s time doesn’t fit our very tight schedule. One reason to come back!

After a quick lunch snack at a tiny cafe build in the city wall we are already heading back to the ship, ready for our 2-hour ferry ride back to Helsinki. We arrive mid-afternoon and take the tram back to the hotel, to collect our luggage – and head straight to the central train station to catch a ride to the airport.

Goodbye Estonia and Finland, time to get to Norway to wrap our our trip with one last night in Oslo!

Kirk, Andi and Janel in Helsinki, Finland

Why are we getting up so very early this morning? Oh, right, we’re heading to the airport for our next leg of the trip: Helsinki.

Norwegian Air will take us from ARN to HEL in just under an hour, but with change to Eastern European time zone, we’re short another hour this morning. As experienced before, free WiFi is available just about anywhere, and so we have no problem following the instructions Kirk’s Air Force friend Janel sent us on how to get from the airport to our hotel in Helsinki using public transportation.

As we arrive at the Hotel Katajanokka (Tribute Portfolio), I recall that this building used to be a prison! Sure enough, the hallways still look like you’d expect (kind of like at Alcatraz), with cell doors leading to the guest rooms. A little more spacious and a lot nicer than any prison cell is the room we have on the 4th (top) floor, overlooking the prison yard (aka courtyard). The staff I meet in the hallway (as I’m exploring the history of the building) is more than happy to tell me some more details about the prison. It was closed in 2002 having no longer met the Finnish standards of prison accommodations, and was renovated and re-purposed to a hotel which then opened in 2007.

By mid-day, Janel – who now lives here in Helsinki – comes to the hotel to pick us up to be our personal tour guide for the day! Thanks Janel!

After lunch at a brewery we check out Senate Square and the (Protestant) Cathedral, the Presidential Palace, the old university library, Market Square at the harbor (great place for salmon soup), the Esplanade and Torni (the tower), where we stop for a refreshing drink after enjoying the view from the top. Next stops include Helsinki Music Centre, Finlandia hall and the very impressive, brand-new Oodi Library. Here you can not only read books or use computers, but also use the sewing machine, test kitchen, large-size printers, sound (and video) recording studios as well as private work and meeting space. A place for all – open, free, and welcoming. What a treat for the locals!

Following a glance at the Opera house and Kamppi Chapel of Silence (wooden chapel), it is time to warm up again with a drink at another bar with a view. Having had a great day and covered most of Helsinki’s sight (even though we “missed out” on the true-Finnish sauna experience) it is time to head back to the hotel.

Kirk, Andi and Stockholm City Hall

While we’d love to make this as lazy of a day as possible, we have a couple of agenda items that require us to roll out of bed at a decent time and get going.

First up: breakfast at the Wiener Caffeét (anno 1904), a traditional Viennese Coffeehouse that I found in a brochure and declared a must-visit for today. Just a few minutes from the hotel, we enjoy the authentic atmosphere and food to get the day started properly.

Then we stroll back towards the water, past the Kungsträdgården (park) with an ice rink open to all and the St. Jacobs Kyrka. Then we walk past the Kungliga Operan (Opera house) before crossing over the Lilla Värtan (river) again towards Gamla Stan. This time we walk all around the Royal Palace, to get views from all angles. It houses various museums, but we are here for a 12 noon appointment in the Yttre Borggården (Parade Square) – to watch the Changing of the Guards (Swedish Armed Forces)! While we only get the “limited version” during winter (no music, no horses), it’s still a 40 minute spectacle worth the wait in the cold.

To warm back up afterwards, we head to the Belgium Waffle place just a few streets away, and enjoy some sweet, chocolaty goodness! Then we’re ready to relax a little, before heading out for some more sightsee-walking around town.

Stockholm Starts Here

It is time to say Goodbye to Tromsø as we leave the freshly snow-coated city through the maze of tunnels under the hills. Never have you seen less daylight when crossing an island than here – the tunnel starts in the middle of town and ends right at the airport, roundabouts and intersections under ground included!

Check in/bag drop, security and going to our gate only takes minutes at the small TOS airport, and soon we are walking across the snowy tarmac to our SAS plane, which will take us to the next stop (and country) on our tour in just under 2 hours: Stockholm, Sweden.

Once we arrive we have to change our minds from Norwegian (which has some German- and English-relateable words) to Swedish (no chance), and from the NOK to SEK (exchange rate is slightly different). Also our SIM card worn’t work anymore, so free Wifi only to connect online. But that is available just about anywhere, so off we go to catch the Arlanda Express train from the Airport to downtown Stockholm.

Just a few minutes walk from the central station is our hotel for the next couple of nights – At Six. A great find on Expedia, never heard of before, no obvious chain affiliation, but (finally) a luxury hotel again! Same room rate as the last two hotels, but we get immediately checked-in early by friendly staff, an upgrade to Junior Suite, welcome amenity to celebrate our anniversary and just about anything you’d expect from a nice hotel. (Yes, after almost 22 years with Marriott I’m having a hard time “roughin’ it”.)

After settling in, it’s time to head out and explore the city. The sun is shining and the thermostat says 8 degrees C plus (46 F), a high on our trip, so we are on our way. First up – lunch! Kirk looked up TripAdvisor for best “cheap eats” in Stockholm (we’re still shellshocked by pricing in Norway) and find Kajsas Fisk, a small restaurant inside the Hötorgshallen food market hall. Their fish soup comes highly recommended, so a no-brainer for Kirk. I’m going with the Fish & Chips, which is about as fishy as I’ll get. The meat counter is around the corner … But with our bellies full and our wallet having taken no offense to pricing here, we are happy to get the touristy part of the day started. Walking through the shopping streets of the Norrmalm district, we get a better sense of orientation on where we are. Busy streets on a Tuesday afternoon, with locals and tourists alike. Very different from the quiet daytime streets in Tromso.

We head south towards Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. First we cross the Riddafjärden to get to a little island housing the Riksplan (federal buildings and parks), before crossing the water once more to get to the much larger island of Gamla Stan. Here is where the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) sits, as well as a maze of tiny old streets, churches and more. A top tourist spot, but very cute. And in late-February not even overrun! We walk around most of the island before turning into a tiny bar for a couple of drinks and to warm up after the sun had gone down. Once it gets late we head back to the hotel. The Belgian Waffle place we had our eyes on early in (planning for a sweet dinner) was already closed when we had returned to it and so the hotel restaurant it is. Dessert is very good here, too, and the walk back to the room only a few steps!

Andi at the Österreichisches Konsulat

After getting back to the hotel after 4am last night it’s a very late and lazy start into this Monday in Tromsø.

The weather is not making getting up and out any easier as it is a toss up between rain and snow with some wind mixed in. Dog sledding trips are cancelled due to the heavy rains having washed out tracks and we’re not going for a 3rd light chaser tour as conditions are worse than the last couple of nights.

So we catch up on sleep, photos and our blog posts and take it easy until it’s time to brave the cold, get some fresh air and find a place for dinner. After walking around the icy streets of Tromsø for a while, we stop at Egon’s for a nice hot meal.

Now that we’re fed, it off to one last stop that’s a must see for any Austrian – the Austrian Consulate! Just stopping by to get a picture (home sweet home) before we continue on our stroll through the very empty streets of Tromsø (9pm on a Monday – there is no one out!).

Time to pack our bags again as we will head out for our next adventure in the morning … Sweden awaits!

The Northern Lights!

After sleeping off last night’s disappointment we get up and out by midday today. It is very quiet in Tromsø today – not unusual for a Sunday after tourists were out late chasing the lights and what seemed like all of the 20,000 students in town out partying until the wee hours of the morning (we saw them outside the bars, taxi lines and bus stops … everywhere… at 4am!)

We have a few hours for Tromsø sightseeing before our second light chaser tour is on tonight so we bundle up and head out.

The weather this afternoon offers a little bit of everything – cold, windy, rain, sunshine. This could make for an interesting evening! As we stroll through the city center past the Radhus, the public library, a cruise ship port and harbor. We then make our way to and over the Tromsø Bridge towards Tromsdalen. It’s not the Golden Gate Bridge, but at the highest spots the wind is just as fierce and chilly as in San Francisco!

On the other side, we check out the Tromsdalen Church (better known as the Arctic Cathedral or Ishavskatedralen). Quite the tourist attraction we decide to admire from the outside only, even if it is supposedly home to Norway’s 2nd largest glass mosaic. The cathedral is a landmark visible from the Tromsø Sound, the Tromsø Bridge and when landing in Tromsø by aircraft. The 11 aluminium-coated concrete panels on each side of the roof provide the cathedral’s form. The main entrance on the western side is surrounded by a large glass facade with a pronounced cross. The fantastic glass mosaic on the eastern side was added in 1972, seven years after the initial dedication in 1965.

Soon we are on our way back over the bridge towards the city center. Right at the harbor we get the last open table at the Kaia restaurant, a cozy place with good food: reindeer stew for me and fish & chips for Kirk (including an Arctic Brewery pilsner).

By early afternoon we had received word from our tour guide for later today, Geir. He has been checking the weather forecast this morning and there is a general improvement east. He thinks and hopes there is going to be chances for some clear sky towards east during the evening. There is still rain/snow and clouds so he can not give any guarantees that he will succeed in finding clear sky. Fair warning, to which he adds an opt-out with free cancellation, but we are not deterred.

Time flies and we’re soon heading back to the hotel to pack our stuff for the evening tour, and by 6pm we are on our way to the Aurora Photo Guide office downtown, where we meet Geir, our guide, driver and photo expert for tonight. Geir was born and raised in Tromso, and would not want to live anywhere else. He’s a professional photographer and offers the “Chasing the Green Lady” tours all season long. Before we all head out, Geir gives a presentation on how to set your camera for the Northern Lights, night photography and what the Northern Lights actually are. Then we are off to the mini bus. There are 15 people in our group tonight from all over the world again.

As we are leaving Tromsø just after 7pm, it is pouring rain outside. So we head to the mainland and south/southeast straight towards the Finnish border. By 9pm we arrive in the Skiboten area where the road towards Finland starts – it is still raining here and we keep going. Geir gets updates from colleagues who were already at the Finnish border, reporting that it may see some changes. A mountain at 800m elevation (past the border) might provide a spot high enough to find any breaks in the cloud cover.

We’re only a few miles inland when the rain turns into snow and the roads are quickly covered in white. This should make for an interesting ride tonight! It is 9:38pm as we cross the border into Finland tonight. Funny how it’s the same time as last night yet we have nothing to show for yet. By now, the snow as stopped, but the cloud cover is still thick with no stars in sight. We keep moving along …

At 10:15pm we pull over into a parking lot where multiple buses and private cars are stopped with cameras ready to catch some lights. It is too packed for us to actually park and stay with all spots taken by groups already here. We continue on south and by 10:35pm we pull into another one (after passing a couple others that were overcrowded as well). We are just a few kilometers south of Iitto (Finland), about 55 km south of the border to Norway.

After exiting the bus at 10:45pm, we are greeting but extraordinary clear skies littered with stars. As we get our camera equipment set up, our eyes adjust to the dark where we can see the Milky Way Galaxy above us. There are so many more stars visible than we ever get to see in most places we live or visit. But being out here in nowhere’s land, it is dark–really dark. And that makes for great star gazing.

And while we look up (north) the camera already detects the Northern Lights glowing above the horizon. Faint at first, but definitely there. A green layer right above the hill, with even a red layer above it. Nicely standing out in between the dark clouds that are still hanging around in the night sky. It’s not the spectacularly breathtaking dancing lights, but it’s the Northern Lights nevertheless! Bucket list, check!

As our eyes get more and more adjusted to the dark and the lights get a little stronger. We can even see the green layer faintly with just the naked eye. It is impressive for sure. Kirk is happily snapping away, his camera settings tuned in to the occasion. Others in the group are also getting their photos, and Geir is checking with everyone on settings, exposure, photo success and later on serving hot chocolate and cookies.

We are out here for just a little over 2 hours before Geir takes Aurora pictures of everyone, the clouds starts to thicken up and we pack up. It is time to head back to Tromsø. We have a 3-hour drive ahead of us and everyone is ready for the warmth of the van and a nap while Geir takes us there safely. We cross back into Norway by 1:30am (bye-bye Finland – we’ll see you again soon!) and will get to our hotel by 4am or so.

While it wasn’t the spectacular display we had hoped for, it was quite an adventure and a successful trip nonetheless. Plus we still got some great photos to show for it. Do we see another Northern Lights adventure in our future? With the bad weather and low solar activity we decide to forgo another light chasing tour tomorrow. But we’ll definitely make it the focus on a future trip. Alaska, Iceland or Norway again? Only time will tell.

Flying from Bergen to Tromsø

Kirk and I have a lot planned for this Saturday. Not only is it our 5th wedding anniversary, but it’s also the day we’ll first try to catch a view of the Northern Lights!

Step 1 in that adventure is to bid Bergen farewell as we hop on the airport express bus to catch our Widerøe flight from Bergen to Tromsø. Tromsø, also known as the Gateway to the Arctic will come up when you google “best place to see Northern Lights in Norway” and hence the reason we’re going. It’s a 2 1/2 hour flight and we’ll be crossing the Arctic Circle on our way, reaching the snowy city of 70,000 at 69 degrees latitude in the north of Norway. It’s still about a thousand kilometers to the Nordkapp (north cape), but we’ll try our luck here for the next 3 days (nights).

The airport as well a city center (aka tourist hot spots) are on the Tromsø island connected to the mainland by the Tromsø Bridge.

Our accommodation at the SmartHotel is about as simple as it gets. A room the size of a shoe box. At least the bathroom has floor heating. It’s high season in Tromsø and hotel rates do reflect that very well. Hence the choice … we’re not planning to spend any extra time in the room anyways! Since check-in is not until 3pm we deposit our bags at the front desk. With a little time to kill we head out to find a place for a late lunch. The Mathallen Delicatessen offers a winter menu including burgers (fish and beef) and we’re set. Walking off some of the calories after lunch we check out some of the downtown area including the Chasing Lights office/store. That’s where our Northern Lights Chaser Mini Bus Tour will depart from tonight.

At 3pm sharp we return to the hotel to claim our room to get settled and relax before it is time to dress warmly and head out for our tour.

We meet our Chasing Lights group at 5:35pm – Tour Guide Liam and Driver Waggaari pull up in the white Mercedes mini bus ready to welcome the 13 of us from all over the world. Liam is originally from Aruba, but a year ago decided he needed more than year-round summer and moved to Tromsø to chase the Northern Lights. Our group consists of guests from Austria, Singapore, Turkey, Hong Kong, the UK and US. Liam has everyone introduce themselves to make sure we fell as one team … with one goal: seeing the lights for the first time! He tells us that tonight the company will have a total of 3 mini buses and 2 large buses out on the chase. The guides are in contact with each other at all times to share updates on where there are favorable weather conditions, i.e. breaks in the clouds for lights to be seen.

The bus is all decked out for a comfortable ride tonight – with 4 rows of 2+1 (across aisle) plus back row of 4 it seats a total of 16 guests plus the driver and guide. Boots and heavy snow suits are stored in the back in case anyone needs them. Water and chocolate are available on board and beef stew and hot chocolate to follow later for dinner around the campfire.

As we drive out onto the mainland and along the fjords, Liam tells us that we need three factors to see the Northern Lights:

1. Darkness (got to get away from light pollution like the city lights)
2. Clear skies – or at least breaks in the clouds
3. And of course Northern Light activity

We learn that the “KP factor” is measured on a scale of 1-5, but really only indicates how far south the Northern Lights can be visible, but does not guarantee that you will see them. Liam for example has seen them up here with a only an 0.8 factor, when at KP 5 you should see them as far south as in Oslo! Tonight’s forecast predicts 50-60% chance of favorable micro climate weather on the mainland area we will be heading to.

First up, just over an hour drive south to Nordkjosbotn where we stop at a gas station to stretch and check up on sky updates. A whopping 560 people live here in town where E6 and E8, the two busiest highways in Norway meet. We see two other cars – one of them is another light chaser mini bus! The town has another claim to fame – home to the 2nd northernmost brewery in Norway: Arctic Brewery (Kirk will try their beer tomorrow).

We’ll head on to the next valley to stop and check conditions, then another large valley, with large micro-climate, if still nothing head towards Finnish border.

It is 7:35pm as we’re stopping as a small parking spot at the side of the road and Liam gets out to check on the stars. Good news – he sees some and we will stay put for a while to see if the break in the clouds will move north to open up a window to the Northern Lights. We are just south of Skiboten, one of the driest places in all of Norway, near Lyngen Alps on other side of the water in front of us. Liam tells us that with the mountains around us high enough to sometimes block the clouds from coming in, we can maybe catch some lights. Between here and the Finnish border there is no more salt water (no more fjords). In the past, Sámi people (indigenous to the area) would walk all the way from their lands where all rivers and lakes (fresh water) would freeze and it gets extra cold during winter, to the fjords/coast.

We are all set up with our cameras and tripods and searching for steady footing in the wind and on the ice. We’re eager to waiting for the Northern Lights to appear.

By 8:25pm we have a first glimpse of lights! The excitement is real and everyone is trying to get a shot. Just a smudge of green between the layers of the clouds not even visible to the naked eye. But the camera can see it and record it for proof! It’s not much and does not last long, but we get a couple of shots through our camera before it disappears again. We hang around at this spot for a while but the clouds keep coming and our spot eventually got invaded by other buses so we pack up and head out.

At 9:35pm we enter Finland, north of Kilpisjäri. It is still cloudy overhead, so we keep going for another 30 minutes or so hoping for a break n the weather. There is no border control and buses usually don’t get stopped at customs (Liam says the company saw that happen only twice in last six years). BTW, time zone change to Eastern Europe time … +1 hour!

By 10:30pm our tour hits a snag – a bus and a truck got stuck on an icy incline, blocking the road. Due to safety decide to head back towards the border, but do stop at the frozen lake crossing under the road (Lake Kilpisjäri, about 30 minutes south of the border). While we’re waiting for a little more clearing in the sky, Liam sets up a campfire with reindeer hides around for all to sit on and serves beef stew and hot chocolate.

It is a quarter past midnight when we’re all packed up again and start the 2.5 hours ride home on the icy road. While we haven’t had any luck with the lights tonight the chase isn’t over until we’re back in Tromsø. So Liam will keep his eyes open and camera checked for any more glimpses of the elusive Northern Lights. No luck on the way back so we’re all a little disappointed when we get dropped off at the hotel at almost 3:30am. Time for bed…

By the time we wake up on Sunday, Liam has sent us all an e-mail with a Google Map snapshot of our route, as well as a recap. It had been a very challenging night, and despite searching many different areas the clouds put up too hard of a fight. The weather forecast was looking challenging, but suggested that Finland would have better conditions. We found around 70% clear sky in Skibotn, however the Green Lady was a bit shy and only made a faint appearance.

Johanneskirken

We have a full day to explore Bergen, Norway’s second largest city located on the west coast of the country. While quite large, the downtown (and touristy) area is easily walkable. Even from our hotel (CityBox), a 5 minute walk from the training station, the main sights include the fish market and Bryggen UNESCO world heritage area, all within a few minutes walk. The city centre and northern neighborhoods are on the city fjord (Byfjorden). The city is surrounded by seven mountains and many suburbs are on islands.

Unbeknownst to me, Bergen has quite the music scene. Just outside our hotel is the Grieghallen concert hall named after Bergen-born composer Edvard Grieg and built in modernist architecture style. We pass by Lille Lungegårdsvann, a small lake in the centre of Bergen. The octagonal lake is a natural lake that was historically connected to the nearby bay via a short strait, which got filled in back in 1926. Along the Torgallmenningen pedestrian zone we reach the harbor which includes the tourist information center (can’t miss that), fish market (closed in winter months, except for the restaurants inside) and a first glimpse of Bryggen across the water.

Bryggen (the dock), also Tyskebryggen, is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the Vågen harbor. It has been on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage Sites since 1979. The city of Bergen was founded around 1070 within the original boundaries of Tyskebryggen. Around 1350 a Kontor of the Hanseatic League was established there and Tyskebryggen became the center of the commerical activities in Norway. Today Bryggen houses museums, shops and restaurants.

We grab lunch at a Food Truck (me) and a small fish restaurant called Søstrene Hagelin (for Kirk). Afterwards we head out back to the lower station of the Fløibanen. The funicular brings us up to the top of Mount Fløyen from where we enjoy a spectacular view of the entire city of Bergen. It may be cold and windy today, but the air is clear and we see all over the city and the fjords. There are several walking and hiking trails and we pick one to Skomakerdiket, a little lake in the middle of the woods. Also not to be missed – the Troll Forest near the station.

It is time to warm up again with some hot chocolate after we come back down on the funicular before exploring some more of Bryggen. As it is getting dark, we take the long way back towards the hotel past the Rådhus and the train station. We then scope out the bus terminal where we will be leaving from in the morning. Don’t want to miss the bus!

As it gets to be time to head back out for a later dinner, we bring the tripod along for Kirk to get some night shots. After Fishcake and Meatballs we explore Johanneskirken up the hill before heading back towards the Vågen harbour for photos of Bryggen at night. The little alleyways are already closed off as it is past 11pm, so we circle around and pass Fløibanen station, Domkirken, the Railway Station and Lille Lungegårdsvann before returning to the hotel past midnight.

Nærøyfjord, Norway

After a good night’s sleep at the Flamsbrygga Hotell and another hearty breakfast, we are ready to explore what Flåm has to offer. Late last night the rain had turned into snow and covered everything with a light blanket of fluffy goodness to greet us in the morning.

The village of Flåm is in Flåmsdalen at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjorden – a branch of the Sognefjorden with 350 people living here. As a cruise ship port however, it receives around 160 cruise ships every year (April-October season) offloading over 300,000 visitors into the town. In addition, the Flåmsbana (year-round train scenic train service) and some drive-in tourists bring the total number of guests to about 1 million per year! We are glad to be here in the off-season.

We stroll through town to get some more photos before climbing into the mini bus towards Aurland. Next stop, the Stegastein viewing platform. The observation point sticks out 30m (98ft) from the mountainside, 650m (2,130ft) above the fjord (sea level). The sun works hard to get a few rays through the cloud-cover and we are finding spectacular views of the fjord and villages below.

While I had originally thought the $39 per person price tag for this 90-minute round trip excursion was a little steep, we now feel it was worth every penny. While you could drive up there yourself (assuming you had a car), the road is almost less than 1 lane wide. With oncoming traffic, it’ll be a challenge to find a tiny turnout spot to pass. Sitting back in the van we get to enjoy the ride while our driver points out some of the highlights. There’s Aurland’s church (built back in 509!) and the penny loafer shoe workshop (dating back to 1930s where Nils Tveranger “invented” the penny loafer style after an inspiration from traditional moccasins of the Iroquois tribe in North America), and the view back to Flåm at one of the hairpin turns up the mountain (the town is not actually visible from the viewing platform).

Once back in Flåm we take a break at the Flåm Bakeri to warm up and relax. Soon after it is time to collect our bags from the hotel and board The Future Of The Fjords, the first all-electric, carbon-fibre vessel in the world (or as I would say: our boat) from Flåm to Gudvangen. This cruise along the Aurlandsfjorden and Nærøyfjord offers more breathtaking views, steep rock walls and frozen waterfalls through a UNESCO world heritage site. Along the way we see several tiny villages, some of them with as few as 10 people or not even inhabited year round. Most did not get road access until the 1980s and had to use boats to go anywhere.

Undredal has about 100 inhabitants on the western shore of the fjord. Famous for its goat cheese and a tiny church from 1147 which is one of the only 29 remaining stave churches that are unique to Norway. It seats only 40 people and is said to be the smallest church in Norway.

There is also Bakka, a town of only 10 located at the northern shore of the fjord and at the foot of the Bakkanosi Mountain (1,400m). Most people are involved in goat farming – as goats make excellent use of the large grazing areas up on the mountainsides.

It is just before dark when we arrive in Gudvangen, our transfer point to the next leg of the Nutshell Tour–a bus to Voss. Supposedly another great viewing opportunity as the bus winds its way up the mountain through all the switchbacks, but given the warmth and darkness enveloping us in our seats, we doze off into a nap rather than trying to see anything outside where it’s pitch black.

50 minutes later we arrive at Voss where we transfer one more time – back onto the Bergen Bahnen. The train will cover the last part of the Norway in a Nutshell tour and drop us off at the final destination for today: Bergen.

Our accommodations in Bergen is the Citybox, an economy hotel with automated check-in. It’s no frills yet nice, but has a great location just 1/4 mile from the train station!

My recommendation for anyone doing this tour in in the winter–take the 9:30am boat departure instead of the 3pm. This ensures you have daylight for the whole trip rather than missing out on the last hours due to early nightfall.