North Cape 2008
When traveling to a place on your personal bucket list, you expect to cross that place off your list. In our case, we instead changed our entire bucket list after our first trip to the Arctic.
Preparations
Summer temperatures in Switzerland often range around 30°C (86F). Therefore, packing for a summer cruise to the Arctic is quite a challenge. As a rule of thumb, wherever you can travel with a regular ship, temperatures will be above freezing, since the ship will need open waters. For summer trips to the Arctic, you won‘t have to pack your heaviest winter gear. But temperatures around freezing and high winds can still be chilly.
Since our cruise started in Hamburg (Germany) and led us to the northernmost tip of Europe, the North Cape, we wanted to be on the safe side, packing everything from a t-shirt to warm sweaters and jackets. This resulted in almost exceeding our baggage limits for the flight to Hamburg.
Northbound
After boarding our home for the next two weeks, MS Europa, in Hamburg, we went through the usual ship emergency drill. This is probably even more sensible when sailing the cold waters of the Arctic.
We enjoyed our first few days of cruising along the Norwegian coast with stops in Vik, Flåm, Molde and Åndalsnes. We visited the traditional wooden church in Hopperstad and took a trip on the historic railroad Flåmsbana. The contrast between lovely pastures with grass topped homes (with an occasional sheep grazing on the roof) and the dramatic waterfalls and fjords is really amazing in southern Norway. Trondheim was our last stop south of the Arctic Circle. We visited a now closed mine and took an old train back to Trondheim. With temperature still above 20°C (68F), we started to wonder, if we would even need our warmer jackets.
Arctic Circle
During the night, we had crossed the Arctic Circle! Our first port of call north of this imaginary line were the Lofoten islands at about 68°N. From Gravdal, we took the only major road to a small town called Å. After a short visit to the local fishing museum, we continued to Nusfjord, a picturesque town with traditional Norwegian buildings in bold colors. While being a heritage site, the town is still inhabited and you can even rent a so called „rorbuer“ (fishing hut) if you decide to stay for longer. We wouldn‘t have minded to extend our stay here, but we were still northbound and wouldn’t want to miss our northernmost stop on this trip.
Before heading north, our captain decided to use the Zodiac inflatable boats to do some cruising in the calm waters of the Lofoten islands. What a nice conclusion of e beautiful day in the Arctic.
North Cape
The distance between the Lofoten archipelago and the North Cape is more than your typical overnight distance. Therefore, we were not arriving at the port of Skarsvåg until the next evening. We enjoyed a relaxing day at sea. We had the rare opportunity to visit the engine room of MS Europa, which was really interesting. Even a small cruise ship with just around 500 persons on board is a small floating city with all the infrastructure from freshwater preparation and sewage treatment to garbage recycling and power generation.
Just after lunch, we accidentally walked by the photo gallery on board, which still displayed some older photos of past trips. One of those was an expedition cruise to Svalbard. We had already agreed to return to the Arctic before, but seeing this photos of polar bears and icebergs, we instantly knew what we would be doing next summer…
We reached the tiny port of Skarsvåg later in the evening. From Skarsvåg, we drove to the northernmost point of Europe. Which, to be true, is not really the northernmost point of the European mainland. First, the North Cape is located on an island. And second, there is a small peninsula, that is extending even further north. But since the North Cape is such a beautiful point with an impressive vertical cliff descending into the Arctic Sea, who would really mind the small inaccuracy…?
The North Cape is often windy and covered in clouds and fog. However, we hit one of the few sunny evenings of the season. And for the first time, we were really happy that we brought along layers of warm clothing. You could really feel the wind coming directly from the North Pole.
After this exciting trip to the North Cape, MS Europa left Skarsvåg long after midnight. With all the excitement of having visited the Top of Europe and with the midnight sun still up, we couldn’t really consider going to bed, yet.
Southbound
While heading south, our next stop was still in the Arctic: Tromsø is sometimes referred to as „Paris of the North“. It is best known for its iceberg shaped cathedral and for the Storstein, a viewpoint with a gorgeous view of the city and the fjords.
Our last adventure in the Arctic was a brief stop in the narrow Trollfjord. Only small ships can enter this impressive fjord that is only 100 meters (300 feet) wide at the entrance. Despite the rainy day, we enjoyed this last stop before crossing the Arctic Circle again.
On our way back to Germany, we visited two of the most iconic Norwegian sights: Geiranger Fjord and the city of Bergen. From Geiranger, we drove up the mountains surrounding the fjord and enjoyed the spectacular views. The city of Bergen was our final port of call in Norway. After two weeks of visiting small towns and cities, we really had to adjust ourselves to the „big city life“ again. Bergen is a beautiful, historic city with the picturesque old town of Bryggen and a famous seafood market. And by the way: Bergen is the place to buy Strawberries. Norwegian strawberries are among the best due to the long days of sunlight and the mild climate due to the warm gulfstream current.
After a final day at sea, we arrived back in Kiel (Germany). Even with our next trip to the Arctic already booked, we were really sad for this trip to end.
