Welcome to Norway in the Arctic World with Hurtigruten
Hardly off the plane in Tromsoe, Norway, you will find yourself in another world where whiteness seems to stretch on endlessly, especially in the winter season. Welcome to the Arctic World! Here you are 500 km away from the Polar Circle. «The Coastal Express» or «Hurtigruten» in Norwegian, a real institution in this country, awaits its guests for authentic navigation to take them off on a discovery trip from Bergen to Kirkenes, with scenery that is guaranteed to take passengers’ breathe away and continuously give them intense emotions.
An immaculate paradise
Steep cliffs crowned with tiny farms, milky-blue meltwater lakes, deep and majestic fjords, villages with small brightly coloured wooden houses, picturesque ports or Northern lights, thanks to the Coastal Express, you will be able to reach difficultly accessible places. Norway extends across 2,800 km, without including the Spitzberg in the Arctic Ocean, offering travellers ever changing scenery that is never the same.
Here luxury is outdoors, authentic and without glitter and glamour.
The Coastal Express, a real public service
With the Coastal Express, we don’t talk about cruises, but about navigating. Plus its 14 ships are very comfortable, crossing Norwegian coasts, every day and the whole year round, with stopovers in all of the small villages, for freight or for passengers.
Suites with terraces, outside cabins, all with full modern amenities, excellent food, cheerful and helpful staff, the ship is navigated in a friendly environment, a far cry from the classical entertainment on «cruises».
Leaving Tromsoe on Trollfjord
Affectionately dubbed the «Paris of the North» thanks to its lively local environment, the capital of the Scandinavian Arctic holds an exceptional location along the sea.
We embark on our «Trollfjord» boat that, in two nights with several stopovers, will take us up to Kirkenes, which borders on Russia, passing through Hammerfest, Honningsvag and the North Cape.
These are the times that navigation takes on the full meaning of the term. Hurtigruten, a grandiose open-air laboratory, turned towards the outdoors, thanks to its large picture windows, enables you to enjoy every moment of the beauty of Norway.
Authentic stopovers
The rhythm of the navigation is paced by stopovers where travellers can enjoy different winter activities (snow scooters, dog-sledge rides, snowshoes…) or simply walk around in the ports of the small villages.
There are several essential stopovers in the North Cape:
The most Northern point, by reaching the 71° degree of the North latitude, you will admire the nearly lunar landscape of the sub-arctic.
Lastly, there is Kirkeness, the last stopover near the border with Russia where West meets East. Here the Far
North gives off a special magic.
Sleeping in a rustic inn in the middle of the birch forest is part of this back to nature experience.
Another intense moment, is fishing King crab. The Arctic Adventure, a traditional complex, offers some exciting sensations including trekking with snow scooters, floating in water at 2° dressed in a waterproof suit and last but not least, sampling the unique and incomparable meat of the freshly fished King crab. A real luxury, with the setting of a winter landscape and the sun’s reflection in the ice.
Janvier 2009
