Welcome back for Part 2 of my travelogue describing our recent Viking Ocean Cruise entitled “Viking Homelands.” Part 1 described the pre-cruise extension activities in Oslo and Bergen, Norway. This episode will cover the beginning of the actual cruise. Here’s a map of the overall itinerary:
This Part of the travelogue covers our remaining activities in Norway, including locations 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the map.
Bergen, Norway (Wednesday and Thursday, June 17 and 18, 2026): At the conclusion of Part 1, we were still in Bergen on a beautiful sunny Tuesday (rare for Bergen) following our adventures with the goats and trolls on Mount Hoyen. The main activity on Wednesday consisted of a short bus ride from our hotel to our Ocean Cruise ship, the Viking Sky, anchored in the Bergen fjord near the famous Bryggen (wharf), getting the mandatory safety briefing, and getting settled into our cabin, where all our luggage was waiting for us. One of the best things about these Viking cruises is that there is no need for packing and unpacking as is the case with land-based travels. Once settled in, we simply enjoyed the comfort of our cabin and the ship’s amenities for the duration of the trip. As a fellow passenger put it: “they move the hotel to all your destinations.” (The ship is essentially identical to the ones we sailed on in our two previous Ocean Cruises, the Viking Star and the Viking Neptune. I included details about the Star in Pat and Dave’s Tremendous Tropical Trek, which you can take a look at if interested, so I won’t spend any time describing the Sky.)
On Thursday morning, we embarked on a scenic coach tour of Bergen, which turned out to be somewhat repetitive after our tour on the previous Tuesday. I did get a better view of the Bergen Fortress that we visited on Tuesday and I discussed in Part 1, from across the harbor:
There were some new stops along the way, however. One of these was the New Church (Nykirken). The name comes from the fact that, when originally built in 1621, there were several older churches in Bergen. The church was built on the foundations of the medieval Archbishop’s Residence, originally constructed in the late 1200s but destroyed by fire in 16th century. My only photo of the exterior of the Nykirken illustrates what we understood to be typical Bergen weather, but I’ve added one from the internet to show the building more clearly.
The ruins of the Archbishop’s Residence have been preserved beneath the church, and we were able to go inside to see the interesting artifacts.
Like much of Bergen, Nykirken has been rebuilt multiple times following devastating fires, most notably after a Nazi ammunition ship exploded in the harbor in 1944, which also destroyed many of the buildings in the harbor area. As an aside, though some claim the explosion was an act of sabotage due to its occurrence on Hitler’s birthday, it was apparently merely a tragic accident.
As you can see in the following photos, the rain stopped as we continued the tour. We walked past several Bergen landmarks, including: the National Theater, built with assistance from world famous violinist Ole Bull in 1850; the Telegraph Building, originally built for the telegraph system; and Ole Bull Plaza, a wide pedestrian avenue with a view of the National Theater.
The tour ended at the Bryggen, or wharf, which features the buildings of the Hanseatic League, the powerful medieval confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northern and Central Europe. The League dominated maritime trade along the North and Baltic seas from the 13th to 15th centuries through control of major trade routes and secured vast economic privileges. Bergen was one of the four major trading post of the league beginning around 1350. For nearly 400 years, these German merchants dominated the city’s economy, maintaining a strict monopoly over the highly profitable stockfish (dried cod) trade until the 1760s. The iconic Hanseatic League buildings on the Bryggen have been maintained as a major attraction. Restoration of several of the buildings following the harbor explosion continues today, using the original plans and building materials.
On Thursday afternoon, we went on a particularly enjoyable outing – an E-bike tour of Bergen with about a dozen other Viking passengers. The bikes were excellent and surprisingly easy to maneuver even when we traveled on old cobblestone streets. The tour covered about six miles with a dozen or so stops to gawk at the scenery and listen to our guide, starting from the pier a short distance from our ship, then winding uphill for beautiful panoramic views of the city, then descending back to the city center and returning to the pier.
One especially interesting thing for me was when we stopped at a station on the funicular line where several parents were waiting to pick up their kindergarteners who were coming home from their school on the train.
One of the stops was at St. Mary’s church (Mariakirken), a Romanesque style building constructed from about 1130 to 1180, which is considered the oldest remaining building in Bergen. It was historically known as the German church as it served the German merchants of the Hanseatic League.
Shortly after we were back on board the ship, it set sail for our next destination. I snapped this photo as we passed on into Thursday evening:
Eidfjord, Norway (Friday, June 19, 2026): Early Friday morning provided another opportunity to gawk and snap photos as we continued sailing along the Hardangerfjord toward our next docking location at Eidfjord.
Once the ship had docked, we set off on a full-day excursion to Flåm, one of Norway’s most scenic coastal villages. Here’s a map showing how we got to Eidfjord and how we spent the day:
We boarded a motorcoach for a drive from Eidfjord to Flåm, soon finding ourselves crossing the fjord on an impressive suspension bridge and entering into an enormous tunnel – it was so large that it included a roundabout for following tunnels in multiple directions. After what felt like several miles, we emerged again into the countryside, crossing scenic mountain passes and driving through more manmade tunnels. About halfway along, we stopped to admire the Tvinde Waterfall cascading down a steep cliffside.
After the waterfall stop, our coach delivered us to Flåm, where we boarded the Flåm Railway – generally known as the scenic Flåm Railway for a good reason. The track climbs nearly 3,000 feet while passing through 20 tunnels and over numerous bridges on the way to Myrdal.
At Myrdal, we boarded the Bergenbanen train, once again passing through the spectacular vistas we saw on our way from Oslo to Bergen during the pre-cruise program. Our train ride this time ended at Voss, where we enjoyed lunch before once again boarding the motorcoach for our return to the ship. Along with the beautiful scenery, including yet another impressive waterfall, we saw a plethora of “marshmallows” dotting the farm fields – the local pet name for bales of hay or straw wrapped in white weather-resistant coverings.
As the ship headed back down the Hardangerfjord toward the North Sea, we contented ourselves with more delightful views of the passing scenery.
Stavanger, Norway (Saturday, June 20, 2026): After an overnight sail, we arrived in Stavanger at 7 AM for what proved to be a rather quick, half-day stop. While Stavanger appeared to be a lovely city with a world-famous Oil Museum, we opted out of the city tour for an alternate activity – a local sightseeing boat ride up the Lysefjord (“light fjord”, named for the lightly colored granite mountains that rise on each side of the fjord).
As our tour boat set sail from the Stavanger archipelago, the day was rather dreary, and it seemed as if our visit to the Preikestolen, (Pulpit Rock) might be a bit of a bust. However, as we approached the destination the clouds began to part and we were rewarded with bright sunshine as we passed alongside the famous rock. As you’ll see in the pictures below, the rock takes its name form its resemblance to a church pulpit.
As an interesting side note, we learned that Tom Cruise filmed one of his iconic Mission Impossible: Fallout stunts atop the Pulpit Rock (serving as a stand-in for the mountains of Kashmir), where Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character fights Henry Cavill and dangles from the 2,000-foot-high cliff. The filming required heroic efforts from helicopter pilots to bring in the actors and film equipment in the windy conditions. As sort of a reward for the cooperation of the Norwegian authorities, the world premier of the movie was later shown to an audience on top of the rock.
After ogling the Pulpit Rock, we sailed a bit farther up the fjord for a close-up view of an interesting cove as well as the chance to see a pair of goats that generally spend the summer in a cozy spot along the fjord.
After the sightseeing, as the boat headed back toward Stavanger, we were treated to a lunch of Norwegian waffles with cream and sweet jams. We also purchased a couple of bars of an iconic Norwegian candy called the Kvikk Lunsj, which means just what it sounds like in English and is considered a necessity for hikers in Norway. While some compare it to a Kit Kat bar, any good Norwegian will tell you it is much better. We were told that Kt Kat tried to sue the Freia Candy Company for trademark infringement or some such thing but the court ruled that Kvikk Lunsj was developed and marketed before Kit Kat even existed.
On the way back down the Lysefjord toward Stavanger, we passed by several fish farms, which looked to be quite sophisticated operations.
Once back in Stavanger, we wandered about the town for an hour or so before reboarding the ship. Back on our ship, we headed off in the early afternoon for an overnight sail to Oslo. Here are some photos from the town and one more photo as the ship sailed away.
Oslo, Norway (Sunday and Monday, June 21 and 22, 2026): Our ship arrived in Oslo harbor at noon on Sunday. Our previous arrival, for the pre-tour program described in Part 1, had been at the airport, located far out in the boondocks. It was much more interesting to be able to see the Oslo archipelago as we sailed in.
Our activity of choice for Sunday was a trip to the hills above Oslo to the Holmenkollen Park, a popular destination for Oslo residents, especially on a bright sunny day as we had. Our tour group went on a roughly 3-mile, leisurely nature hike through the park, eventually ending up at the world famous Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Biathlon facility. After a tour of the Skiing Museum at the site, we had a nice lunch and a dessert of Kvikk Lunsj bars. (I can confirm that – to my delicate palate – the Kvikk Lunsj was far superior to a Kit Kat bar.) After lunch, we went to the top of the ski jump for a spectacular view of the city, before returning to the ship.
On Monday, our last day in Norway, we began with a motorcoach tour of Oslo including an extensive visit to the Vigeland installation at Frogner Park, which turned out to be an amazing, one-of-a-kind experience. In 1921, Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland struck a deal with the city of Oslo. Vigeland gifted his lifetime’s work to the city in exchange for a combined home, studio, and creative freedom. The result of this extraordinary deal is the Vigeland installation, the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist, featuring 212 works by Vigeland. The sculptures are located on 80 acres in the center of Frogner Park and are mostly displayed within several major groupings:
- The Bridge contains 58 bronze sculptures portraying men, women, and children interacting, including the iconic Sinnataggen (Angry Boy). None of the individual sculpture actually was named by Vigeland, but the Angry Boy has become the popular name, and many visitors touch it for good luck.
- The Fountain: Originally meant for the grounds of the Norwegian Parliament, it features 20 tree-group figures depicting various stages of life, from birth through old age.
- The Monolith: The centerpiece of the park, the monolith is carved out of a single massive block of granite. It features 121 entwined human figures reaching toward the sky, representing mankind’s longing for the spiritual and the divine.
- The Wheel of Life: Found at the far end of the park, this bronze sculpture shows four adults and a child intertwined in a circle, symbolizing eternity.
Vigeland did not live to see the park fully completed before he died in 1943, but what he left behind is simply amazing.
Our final activity in Oslo was a special classical music concert performed for Viking travelers. The University Aula is a prestigious ceremonial and concert hall of the University of Oslo, located on Karl Johans Gate in the center of the city. Built in the mid-19th century, the venue is world-renowned for its interior walls, which feature 11 monumental oil paintings by Edvard Munch, including his masterpiece The Sun. The concert was presented as the story of Peer Gynt, the famous Henrik Ibsen play based loosely on the life of his longtime friend, Ole Bull. The program featured Edvard Grieg’s music written to accompany Ibsen’s play as well as works by Mozart, Puccini, and others.
All in all, we were very impressed by Norway – not only for its stunning beauty and rich culture, but for its environmental leadership. We learned that 100% of new cars sold in Norway are all electric, as are about 80% of all cars on the road. The necessary electric car charging infrastructure is fully in place, providing hope that other countries will eventually be able to do so as well. Norway is powered entirely by green energy, including hydroelectric, wind, and solar. Even though the oil and gas industry is a major part of Norway’s economy, all fossil fuels are exported to other countries. Although only a small country (population 5.6 million), Norway supplies 2% of the world’s crude oil and 3% of its natural gas, and the revenues from these exports are funneled into its sovereign wealth fund for the good of the Norwegian people. The wealth fund exceeds $ 2 trillion and holds stakes in approximately 7,200 companies worldwide, effectively owning about 1.5% of all listed companies on the planet. The fund’s substantial earnings are used to support the national budget including investments in infrastructure, while the large principal value is saved ; the principal is saved to ensure long-term wealth for future generations.
But now it’s time to move on, and when I begin work on Part 3, we’ll find ourselves in Denmark.
Stay tuned …
Dave Saari 