Flam in Norway is one of the most beautiful places in the world and is one of the highlights of a Holland America cruise itinerary. Photo / Getty Images
Flam in Norway is one of the most beautiful places in the world and is one of the highlights of a Holland America cruise itinerary. Photo / Getty Images
Norway has a simple calling card – that it’s one of the most beautiful countries on the globe.
There are a number of beauty spots to visit, but two of the best in central Norway are Geiranger and Flam. Rail, vehicles and ferries are all options for looking around, but many tourists see these jewels in the country’s crown by cruise ship.
The settlements at the end of snaking fjords are as small as the surrounding landscape is large. In Geiranger, the hulking mountains are a deep black against the blueish gloom of the pre-dawn.
As our Holland America ship slides across Geirangerfjord, lights spot the night from the town across the water, and from moving vehicles along the road under the heights above. Lights from moored boats are shimmering orange lines reflecting on the fjord.
It's the mountains, slowly sharpening into focus as the daylight seeps in, that take the breath away. They're slumbering giants of rock and trees, mist covering their crowns so that their heads look part of the cloudy sky. In the early light, this squad of squat, spiked shapes surrounding a small hand-like bay in the fjord, loom steeply over the water. Later they become more distinctive and majestic. Still with trails of mist. Lording over the smooth ripples below.
Geiranger uniquely has a floating walkway for passengers to get to land, with the ship moored to buoys. Dotted among the houses are a few buildings with turf roofs.
Cruise ship port Geiranger in Norway uniquely has a floating walkway for passengers to get to land, with the ship moored to buoys. Photo / Nicola Lamb
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In Norway, vehicles crawl up the ranges along roads carved into the rock along hairpin bends. Tourists on day trips soon see their ship looking like a toy floating in a bath from high above. Buses ferrying them squeeze past each other where possible and at photographic viewpoints, there’s a healthy fear of the edge.
As the Unesco-listed fjord slips out of sight, small sheds are spotted which a bus driver jokes are troll toilets.
There aren’t enough stops to really appreciate the beauty all around on the one road out of Geiranger - a more leisurely trip by car would have been much better if we’d had more time.
Lime moss lies on grey and black sheer rock. Water streams spill down. At times the mixture of mist, rock, and vegetation in yellows, greens and heathery reds, recalls the Scottish highlands.
At the top of Mt Dalsnibba there's snow and an icy wind. Some bright red flowers stand out.
Viewed from a road near Geiranger, and from a deck as the ship heads away, are small houses on areas of cleared land perched on mountainsides. These are long-established mountain goat farms.
Cruise ships in Geirangerfjord, Norway. Photo / Nicola Lamb
The way out of Geiranger is a narrow arm of water. Several waterfalls sparkle against the rock. There are craggy rifts in some of the land formations.
As with Geiranger, it is good to get out into the surrounding Aurlandsfjord region at Flam, which connects to the large Sognefjord. A walk through the village takes the visitor to one of the most famous scenic train trips in the world.
The Flam train hauls passengers 20km from 2m above sea level to the station of Myrdal, 866m higher, over 45 minutes and through 20 tunnels. Anyone wanting to take photographs should try to grab a seat with a pull-down window.
On either side are deep cuts in the earth, with tossed boulders, rivers, waterfalls, and some houses among the green, gold and red autumn colours of the vegetation. There's a stop for the particularly impressive Kjosfossen waterfall near the track.
At Myrdal there's a crisp wait in the misty air for trains on the line linking Oslo to Bergen. A closer target is the relaxing resort town of Voss with its lakeside views.
A bus journey back to Flam passes through stunning scenery and two long tunnels through the mountains. Along a valley, mountains rear in the shape of mythical monsters' eggs. The bus stops for the gigantic Tvinde waterfall.
Nearby, beside a Viking village replica, is one of the highlights of the entire trip. It is a waterside spot ringed by mountain walls draped with scarves of cloud, below bright blue skies – all captured in an iconic reflection. It's a place that makes you want to just sit and stare in silence.
Leaving Flam in the afternoon haze, with cliffs on either side of the ship mirrored in the water to twice their size, is also unforgettable. It's a fitting goodbye. Just be prepared for the fact that no photos or words can adequately capture the experience of actually visiting these places.
Flam in Norway is one of the most beautiful places in the world and is one of the highlights of a Holland America cruise itinerary. Photo / Nicola Lamb
CHECKLIST: NORWAY
DETAILS
Holland America has a range of itineraries available that visit Norway, including Geiranger and Flam, among other ports of call. For more information and to book, go to hollandamerica.com
