Norway, from the fjord rim to the Arctic coast.
Which Bergen cruise actually reaches the waterfall. Where the aurora is a better bet than Tromsø. What a Preikestolen day costs once the ferry is counted. Every tour in Norway, reviewed.
Norway sells these six days out first.
Fjord cruises that sail all year, aurora nights from late September, whale weeks off Tromsø, sled teams out of the Arctic camps, the railway down to Flåm and the ledges above Lysefjord. The handful of days most Norwegian trips get planned around.
The tours most travellers in Norway actually take.
Every review →The same handful of boats, sleds and minibuses carry most visitors through the year. Here is what each one is, what it costs, and the town it leaves from.
1
The Original Fjord Cruise to Mostraumen
Review the Bergen to Mostraumen fjord cruise, with waterfall spray, Bryggen views, winter scenery, onboard comforts, and practical tips.
From · $93
Read our review →
2
Reindeer Sledding & Feeding with a Sami Guide
from $198
3
Scenic Fjord Cruise to Lysefjord and Preikestolen
from $82
4
Scenic Fjord Cruise with Audio Guide Commentary
from $44
5
Whale Watching Tour by Hybrid-Electric Boat
from $195
6
Aurora Borealis Tour
from $181
7
Tromsø’s Top-Rated Fjord & Fishing Cruise – All-Inclusive
from $142
8
Fjords and Sommarøy Islands Tour with Salmon Picnic
from $112
Norway has four aurora bases and they are not interchangeable.
All 166 northern lights tours →
Tromsø runs the most departures and simply drives to wherever the cloud is not. Alta sits inland, behind the coastal weather. Lofoten puts the lights over granite and water instead of over a car park. Three different nights, three different odds.
- 1Aurora Borealis Tourfrom $181
- 2Northern Lights Chase Minibus Tourfrom $172
- 3Reindeer Sled, Dinner, and Chance of Northern Lightsfrom $219
Tromsø: a departure every clear night
The Arctic capital keeps dozens of chases running at once, so a guide is always driving towards the gap in the cloud. It is also the only base where you can swap a bus for a boat on the night.
Alta: the sky behind the coast
Alta sits inland of the coastal mountains, so the grey that shuts down the shoreline often stops short of it. Fewer departures, longer drives, and a better chance the sky is simply open.
Lofoten: lights above the peaks
Svolvær and Henningsvær sit under sharp granite with water in front of it, which is why photographers base here rather than in the bigger towns.
Tromsø runs the Arctic on a timetable.
Whale boats through November and December, sled teams from the first hard snow, aurora minibuses every clear night from September, and a cable car up Storsteinen for the hour in between. Nowhere else in Norway packs this much into one island city.
What a day out in Norway actually costs.
Norway is expensive and nobody here pretends otherwise. Three price bands, from an afternoon that costs less than dinner to the days that eat a week of the budget.
City walks, museum entries, the funicular up Fløyen and the short harbour cruises. A whole afternoon for the price of one restaurant main.
The standard Norwegian day out: fjord cruises with a waterfall stop, aurora chases, guided hikes, whale boats, the railway seats.
Sled teams you drive yourself, private fjord charters, glacier days with equipment, and the long runs north that eat a whole calendar day.
Bergen is where the western fjords start.
The Bryggen wharf, the fish market, and then the water: Mostraumen and its waterfall, Sognefjord on a fast boat, the railway inland to Flåm and the Nærøyfjord. Most Norwegian trips use Bergen as the door to all of it.
Bergen sees rain on more days than not. Plan around it.
Western Norway is one of the wettest corners of Europe, and the fjord boats sail through it anyway: the decks are covered and the waterfalls are better full. For the days you would rather be dry there are the Viking halls, the polar ships, a railway carriage with a window seat and a long lunch.
- 1Kon-Tiki Museum Entrance Ticketfrom $19
- 2Viking Village, Nærøyfjord Cruise & Flåm Railwayfrom $418
- 3Paradox Museum Entry Ticketfrom $29
Oslo earns the two days most Norway itineraries skip.
A fjord full of islands you reach on a normal ticket, three ships pulled out of burial mounds, Vigeland's two hundred stone bodies, and an opera house with a roof you walk up. The capital is not a stopover between the airport and the train.
- 1Scenic Fjord Cruise with Audio Guide Commentaryfrom $44
- 2Oslo Nature Walks: Island Hopping Tourfrom $69
- 3100% Electric Oslofjord Sightseeing Cruisefrom $40
Three things Norway has that nowhere else quite manages.
Mountains and cold water exist all over the north. A slab with no railing over a fjord, a railway that climbs out of one, and a sun that refuses to set belong to this coast.
The Pulpit Rock ledge
Preikestolen is a flat slab of granite that stops, without a railing, 604 metres above Lysefjord. The walk is about four hours there and back over boardwalk, boulder field and one long staircase, and it is the ferry-and-bus timing out of Stavanger that decides the shape of the day. Go on the first departure: by late morning the slab is a queue.
- 1Scenic Fjord Cruise to Lysefjord and Preikestolen★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 5,791 reviews
- 2Fjord Cruise to Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,357 reviews
- 3Guided hike to Pulpit Rock Preikestolen★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 390 reviews
The Flåm Railway
The line from Myrdal down to Flåm loses 863 metres in twenty kilometres on plain adhesion, with no rack rail, through twenty tunnels that were largely cut by hand. It stops at the Kjosfossen waterfall so everyone can get out and be soaked. Summer carriages fill weeks ahead, and the seats are released as a block rather than trickled out.
- 1Viking Village, Nærøyfjord Cruise & Flåm Railway★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,047 reviews
- 2Guided Tour To Nærøyfjorden, Flåm And Stegastein – Viewpoint Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,021 reviews
- 3The Wonders of Flam Guided Half-Day Shore Excursion★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 668 reviews
The midnight sun
North of the Arctic Circle the sun does not set between roughly late May and late July. It slides along the horizon at one in the morning and starts climbing again. Boats and buses run at hours that would make no sense anywhere else, and the light is the entire reason to book them.
- 1Eggum: Lofoten Islands Midnight Sun Kayak Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 322 reviews
- 2Midnight Sun Kayak – Northern Explorer★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 151 reviews
- 3Sommaroy Fjord Tour with Lunch Option & Midnight Sun★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 76 reviews
For two months the Arctic never gets light. That is the point.
All winter days out →
Northern Lights Husky Visit with Traditional Dinner
Read our review →
Midnight Concert Ticket at the Tromsø Cathedral
Read our review →Book these before you fly to Norway.
Most of Norway can be booked from the hotel the night before. These cannot. They run on a season, a snowpack or a block of seats that is gone long before you land.
- 01Full-Day Trolltunga Hiking, and Climbing TourThe guided season runs roughly mid-June to mid-September. Outside it the route needs winter equipment and a guide, and the road to the upper trailhead is shut.
- 02Northern Lights Chase Minibus TourThe season runs late September to late March. Through the light half of the year nothing departs at all, whatever the calendar on the booking page says.
- 03Eggum: Lofoten Islands Midnight Sun Kayak TourThe sun stays up from late May to late July above the Arctic Circle, and not one night on either side of that.
- 04Viking Village, Nærøyfjord Cruise & Flåm RailwayCarriage seats are released as a block and the summer departures are taken weeks out. There is no standby queue at Myrdal.
- 05Snowhotel Entrance TicketRebuilt from scratch each winter and melted by spring, so the rooms exist only between roughly December and April.
Oslo to Lofoten, the way most first trips run it.
Oslo2 days · the fjord and the ships
Flåmthe railway down · Nærøyfjord
Bergen2 days · the wharf and the water
Geirangerhalf a day · Dalsnibba first
Ålesunda night · the harbour from Aksla
Trondheimthe cathedral and the wooden streets
Tromsø3 nights · everything Arctic
Lofotenthe last stop · granite and red cabins By base — where the day leaves from
Tromsø357 tours
Oslo214 tours
Bergen205 tours
Lofoten84 tours
Stavanger62 tours- Ålesund59 tours
Alta43 tours
Bodø40 tours
Åndalsnes31 tours- Geiranger21 tours
- Trondheim20 tours
Hardangerfjord32 tours
Sognefjord33 tours
Flåm43 tours
Voss8 tours
Geilo10 tours
Haugesund10 tours
Kristiansand11 tours
North Cape9 tours- Every base in Norway →
By experience — what kind of day is it?
Just added to the Norway shortlists.
All recent →
Vossevangen: Nærøyfjord Full-Day Guided Kayaking Trip
Read our review →
Two Fjord SUP n Sauna Guided Paddle Tour (Stavanger)
Read our review →
Ulvik adventure: Exploring Hardangerfjord’s Osafjord by RIB
Read our review →
Tromsø Sweet Temptations tour: afternoon tea & chocolates
Read our review →