Recharging in Norway above the arctic circle
Before embracing spring with warmer temperatures, flowers and first bbqs, I just need to recharge my batteries with cold, wind, beautiful black and white decor topped up with green northern lights! Did we go to Iceland? Nope, again Norway this time!
I wanted to combine “not to do anything” with some more “not to do much” so we opted for a ferry ride and some days next to Tromso.
Last year we had a great experience with using Hurtigruten ferry to go from Tromso to Lofoten islands and this time I wanted to prolong that trip by staying on board 3 days and 2 nights. Almost everyone has heard of Hurtigruten but not many people know about Havila - a competitor with much newer ships, larger cabins and even cheaper! Plus, Havila claims to have one of the greenest ferries in the world as they run on hydrogen. The usual trip is Bergen - Kirkenes - Bergen (12 days in total) but we thought it would be far too long to be stuck on a ferry for such a long trip. Port-to-port seemed more feasible to us. We got relatively cheap tickets from Brussels to Trondheim and it was an easy transfer there.
The airport of Trondheim is 35 min away by train - it’s a very beautiful ride. You can buy the tickets in the machine. Just figure out which train to take as in the info board none says Trondheim S (sentral). There are about 3 - 4 trains in an hour. Make sure you sit on the right side so you can enjoy beautiful views. The ticket was around 4.50 euros only.
I did not have any expectations for Trondheim but it turned out to be a really beautiful city.
The colourful houses are always beautiful. The centre was extremely clean.
The cathedral was impressive! Should definitely come back for more.
We boarded the ferry before 12:00 and had some time to explore the ship.
Some observations
- The Havila ships are all new, lots of deck space at different levels, never felt too crowded.
- Many calm corners inside as well. We noticed some knitting frenzy happening on board 😀
- We booked the cheapest room that has a window and it was very spacious with a very good shower.
- When it was a bit wavy, water in the shower was wavy too! If you don’t know where to spend your cash, you can also opt for a room with your own balcony with jacuzzi 😝
- There are two big jacuzzis available for everyone 6:00 - 24:00. Busy only in very popular times.
- Sauna has no view and men and women are separated. Weird…
- Every day there was a small activity at the open deck - we even tasted a (free) porridge with cinnamon. And they always announce if there is anything interesting to see on the way.
- There were only a few younger couples, mostly retired people from Germany and UK.
- The bar prices were actually acceptable. You could get a glass of champagne for 13 euros.
- We had opted for a meal package as thought it would be less of a hustle. Everything on the ferry is about the food. It was actually excellent! Breakfast and lunch are served in small portions - you can choose as many as you want but usually 3 - 4 are enough.
- Dinner is 3 courses. But there was a big but… something that we found very, very weird… you have to choose your meal times when you board. As we did not do the whole trip, only unpopular times were available for us. Also, you are seated next to people you don’t know! So you hear everything they speak… and you cannot have a decent conversation yourself. We asked to have a table for two and we got one without any view and unpopular times… And if you are doing a port-to-port trip like us, you will never get a table by the window. Well, we actually did once! Because people before us were too slow so we got the best table! So the table seating is something that Havila got totally wrong!
- The ferry is extremely quiet, you hardly hear the engine which makes it very pleasant, you really feel like you are in the middle of the nature. And those views! They were never boring on our way!
- The ferry claims to make environmental efforts by reducing waste. It’s probably true due to fact that there is no buffet. But the amount of dishes that need to be washed! Also, they use external heaters on the deck in some places! That’s a total greenwashing!
- If there are northern lights, the crew will announce them! We saw a really nice show in Svolvær. They never disappoint and always feel magic. Some of the crew also went on deck to take pictures as they had never seen them before.
- On the day of disembarking, you have to leave the cabin by 12:00. We noticed that many stopped the trip in Tromso.
- The ferry ride is just beautiful. All the way - views, views, views…
Once arrived, we had to pick up our car at Hertz. That is always a hustle and takes ages. Well, we were lucky we had a car as at the moment of travel there were no cars left at Tromso - a total sold out! So book yours early or you will have a very expensive bill! Once we got the car we noticed a red/orange sign that said that there was a problem with tyres… great! We went to Hertz garage where they just told us - oh, we never reset that option when we change the tyres, don’t worry! Excuse me???
We arrived at Buvik lodge where we were hoping to have some great time. Well, it turned out that a place that was 10/10 had became a total crap… well, the views were still amazing but the rest was totally worn out and not taken care of. Domage…
The weather was not too cooperative either. A bit of rain. But still beautiful. We had less snow than last time and could do some more walks in the area.
Sommarøy is such a beautiful place! A true Nordic Caribbean! Those colours!
We also tried to do the hike up in Hillesøy but it was too steep with snow at parts and we got gloves immediately wet. In more dry weather, I would say it’s a must!
We also wanted to see some reindeer but none were around… So we put a Sami radio on with a hope it would do some magic! And it did!!! Actually Sami songs are very interesting, worth listening to and exploring this part of culture more!
The next day the weather looked already better.
And just as we left, we spotted a reindeer herd! There they were - just chilling next to electricity facility. There was also a super friendly dog. It was a wonderful experience to see these beautiful animals so close. Some were very curious and were coming next to us. We did not see the owner so we just observed them.
So actually we saved 250 euros per person as that’s a cost of a visiting of a reindeer farm. On that day we spotted reindeers 6 times! The rest were in much smaller groups and further away.
We also did a hike up to Ornfloya. As there was not much snow, it was quite easy. The views are really beautiful.
Last time we did not manage to check out the long white sand beach Sangsviksletta - oh, what a treat it was! We were all alone there - just waves, loads of sea shells and sea urchins. Again such a beautiful and accessible place!
What I like about Norway is that all places in nature are accessible- it’s in the law. Nobody can keep the natural beauty only to themselves.
For the rest of the day we decided to drive around and we were treated with magic mirror views at Sørfjorden!
Well, that’s how 6 days disappeared in beautiful Norway above the arctic circle. To repeat, to repeat, to repeat…