ULTIMATE NORTHERN JOURNEY: SCENIC FJORDS TO ARCTIC ICE 

The southernmost town in Norway has a curving 1 km, grassy dune-backed beach, Sea Sand, one of seven beaches in Furulunden forest park. Sea Sand is only one of the calm, beautiful hideaways surrounding this charming town of white-painted buildings at the mouth of the river Mandalselva. The snaking waterway is filled with sailboats while gentle hills rise as a backdrop. Mandal also has the largest wooden church in Norway, seating 1,800 people.

The magnificent gateway to the fjords, Bergen is a medieval port surrounded by mountains. From the beauty of Bryggen, the seafront maze of ancient timber buildings, to the modern Fløibanen Funicular that soars up Fløyen peak, no one would want to miss this city. Other highlights are the aquarium, the KODE art museum encompassing Norway’s Edvard Munch, as well as Picasso, while outside town is composer Edvard Grieg’s enchanting house.

The Eidsfjorden village of Nordfjordeid has a craftsman-built replica of Myklebust, Norway’s largest known Viking ship. The surroundings boast rich Viking burial mounds. Nordfjordeid is also the gateway to Briksdalsbreen Glacier, an accessible arm of the expansive Jostedalsbreen glacier. At the end of Innvikfjorden, the Loen Skylift gondola ascends 1,011 metres, offering breathtaking views.

Geiranger is a small village at the head of Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO heritage site for its staggering mix of snow-capped peaks, clear blue waters, lush greenery, and magnificent waterfalls. The mighty Seven Sisters are a series of seven waterfalls cascading down a steep cliff face. The 1,500 m Geiranger Skywalk at Dalsnibba offers panoramic vistas. In Geiranger, the Norwegian Fjord Centre is the visitor and education hub of the fjord region.

Sea days are rarely dull. Take the time to sit back and let the world go by. The ship’s observation decks provide stunning views of the passing ocean. A day at sea gives you the opportunity to mingle with other passengers and share your experiences of this incredible trip or head to the library which is stocked full of reference books. Get an expert’s view in one of the on-board lectures or perhaps perfect your photography skills with invaluable advice from onboard professional photographers.

In the Lofoten Islands, Leknes, the main town on Vestvågøya island above the Arctic Circle, is nestled on the bay-like Buksnesfjorden. The surreal landscape features red-painted houses against craggy, mountainous isles. In summer, the white sand beaches resemble the South Seas, while the region experiences almost two months of the Midnight Sun.

Trollfjorden is unbelievable. A 100m-wide entrance to a narrow fjord with near-vertical mountainous sides up to 1,100 m high, the passage slices through Austvågøya, on the edge of the Lofoten Islands. As the ship enters the fjord, the silence is only broken by the gentle sound of the ship’s engines and the occasional cry of a white-tailed eagle soaring overhead. At the end of the fjord, the ship slowly spins, offering a final captivating view.

Harstad is the largest town in the Troms region of northern Norway and serves as a practical and cultural hub for the surrounding archipelago. Unlike many Norwegian towns, Harstad was spared significant destruction during World War II, leaving its early 20th-century architecture largely intact — a rarity in the north. The town sits at the northern tip of Hinnøya, the largest island in Norway, surrounded by a rugged landscape of mountains, fjords and open sea. The medieval Trondenes Church, dating from the 13th century and one of the northernmost medieval stone churches in the world, stands just outside the town and remains in active use to this day.

The greatest bird cliff in the Barents Sea is on Bear Island, or Bjørnøya, Svalbard’s southernmost island. Atlantic puffins, northern gannets, glaucous gulls, great skuas, black-legged kittiwakes, little auks, common guillemots, and Brünnich’s guillemots, nest on the steep cliffs near Kapp Kolthoff, south of Sørhamna. The ocean has sculpted sea stack rock columns, sea caves and tunnels, with a notable tunnel at Perleporten.

Svalbard is the kingdom of the polar bears, deep in the Arctic Circle, featuring varied polar landscapes and gargantuan glaciers. Beyond magnificent fjords in the north, the remaining sea ice serves as prime hunting grounds for polar bears. Closer to Longyearbyen, tundra and beaches replace snow and ice. Alongside 600 polar bears, this Arctic hotspot is home to walrus, Svalbard reindeer, ringed seals and arctic fox.