Bergen & Geiranger

For the first time in a few months, Spirit of Adventure turned east into the English Channel after departing the UK and headed up into the North Sea. Although, with thick fog enveloping us for the first 24hrs or so of our passage to Norway, it could have been anyone’s guess where we were heading…

Our first call on this week-long jaunt was into Bergen, Norway’s second largest city, nestled in Byfjorden (the “city fjord”). Bergen is unofficially known as one of the rainiest locations on the planet – unless of course one lives on the west coast of Scotland.

Whatever the facts, the city’s climate didn’t disappoint during our visit, with gentle drizzle hailing our arrival, turning into heavier rain on our departure.

The rain appeared not to spoil peoples’ day however, as I welcomed some soggy but very happy guests back to the gangway later that afternoon. Bergen has a wonderful fish market, located just next to where our complimentary shuttle bus drops guests off in the city (or a 10 minute walk from the ship) and well worth a visit for some tapas-style dining.

Our next stop was Geiranger, nestled at the end of Geirangerfjord (wouldn’t you believe…) which is one of Norway’s finest world heritage fjords. Snow-capped mountains surrounded the ship for our 24hr call here, with opportunities for hiking, fishing, kayaking, thrill-seeking RIB trips and gentle panoramic tours among others.

Pleasingly, the rain clouds remained over Bergen and we even saw sunshine for much of the day, making the scenery even more spectacular. For those who weren’t so interested in Fjords or snow, as always our on board entertainment programme on offer was varied and wide – with an ex Concorde & hot air balloon pilot giving a lecture in the theatre that day.

Early in the morning on Thursday, we slipped the lines to our mooring buoys and performed some spectacular scenic cruising whilst outbound some 70 miles or so back into the Norwegian Sea.

Kind Regards
Captain Kim Tanner