The Most Beautiful Voyage in the World

Kristiansund - one of the last Hurtigruten stops before Bergen

Or so goes the tagline for the Hurtigruten. Although I can't say I have been on every possible worldly voyage, I can quite comfortably say that it can't be far from the truth. However, I have to admit, that it has some very good competition from the land based transport from Bergen to Oslo - or at least, the first 3 hours of it.


Although we had some super cheap (NOK 199) train fares booked for the 7 hour train ride from Bergen to Oslo, much of the first half of the journey was by bus due to track-works that were taking place. A bit annoying I thought, but in actual fact, the ride really was so absolutely beautiful that I can't say any of us cared too much. The journey along the fjord just outside of Bergen, right up to the point near Geilo provides some of the most spectacular views I can possibly imagine one can see from a bus or a train. Huge mountains dropping sharply into crystal blue ocean, beautiful small villages perched amongst green pastures at the foot of mountains, rocky cliffs, unbelievable waterfalls, and pure, green, clean landscapes. Unfortunately the dirty windows and the constant movement made good photos almost impossible - I guess this is something you will have to do for yourself...


Bergen itself is also a gorgeous city. It is famous for being rainy around 2 out of every 3 days (the statistics vary depending on the source, but no source quotes less than that...) True to form, we were not disappointed and although we had a couple of hours of dry weather, the clouds lowered onto the mountains and the heavens opened up.
Thankfully, we did indeed get to see Bergen in a great light. After arriving in town we quickly dropped our gear off at the hotel and then took the funicular up the Fløyen mountain for a great view of the city. We then embarked on one of our walking tours and despite getting a little wet, saw some interesting sights around Bergen. The inner city has a great little harbour, and this one fantastic little neighbourhood with really narrow cobble-stone streets, old houses, tiny gardens out the front, and like the rest of Norway, lots and lots of bright colours