The Norwegian Fjords boast a stunning selection of delightful towns and natural wonders to enthral visitors. Here are just some of the most popular destinations.
The first port of call for many Fjords cruises, the attractive city of Stavanger with its white wooden houses and characterful Old Town serves as a charming introduction to Norway. As well as being home to several important museums, such as the wheelchair-friendly Norwegian Petroleum Museum, Stavanger is highly regarded as Norway’s gastronomic capital, with a wide range of impressive restaurants, cafés and coffee shops.
Cruises to Stavanger often continue along the nearby Lysefjord, where visitors can marvel at dramatic landmarks like the looming Pulpit Rock and Kjerag mountain, famous for its iconic large boulder suspended in mid-air between two sheer cliff faces.
The ancient Nordic city of Bergen is mainstay of cruise holidays, with so much to entice and entertain visitors. Its colourful Bryggen waterfront is packed with picturesque timber shop fronts and lively market stalls, while key attractions like the Maritime Museum, Natural History Collection and Bergen Art Museum are all accessible to disabled guests.
Don’t leave without taking a ride on the Mount Fløyen funicular railway, where you can enjoy splendid views of the city from 1,000 feet above sea level. The funicular’s two stations are wheelchair accessible, with the upper station featuring a selection of trails for wheelchair users.
Norway’s longest and deepest fjord, the majestic Sognefjord stretches 128 miles inland to the spectacular scenery of Jotunheimen National Park. The fjord boasts some of Norway’s wildest and most incredible scenery, with towering snow-capped mountains, clear blue glaciers, verdant farmland and traditional wooden stave churches.
Cruises to Sognefjord frequently head down the branching Aurlandsfjorden to the pretty village of Flåm. Here travellers can experience an unforgettable wheelchair-accessible roundtrip train ride that soars into the surrounding mountains, 2,845 feet above sea level.
Ålesund is often cited as the most beautiful town in Norway – an impressive feat in a country filled with so many picture-postcard destinations. After being destroyed by fire 1904, the town was almost entirely rebuilt in an Art Nouveau style, with pastel-coloured buildings, elaborate facades and quaint spires, giving it a fairytale quality that endures to this day.
Ålesund’s cruise dock is just a two-minute walk from town, making access to the main sights highly convenient. There’s also a wheelchair-accessible hop-on hop-off bus tour that picks guests up from the port and calls at eight stops, including the Aquarium, the open-air Sunnmøre Museum and the breathtaking Aksla Viewpoint in the hills above town.
Famed as the “Pearl of the Norwegian Fjords”, the deep-blue Geirangerfjord amazes cruisers with its mystical mountain peaks, spectacular waterfalls and lush green vegetation. The waterfalls are the stars of the show, notably the Seven Sisters, whose septet of sparkling streams entrance visitors with sheer veils of mist and rainbows as they cascade over 800 feet down the mountainside.
The fjord culminates at the small village of Geiranger, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on account of its amazing scenery. From the village you can take a trip up a twisting mountain road to the Geiranger Skywalk, a wheelchair-accessible vantage point boasting one of the country’s best views of the fjords.
Known as the Gateway to the Arctic, the lively northern city of Tromsø occupies a wonderful setting on an island between sea and snowy mountains, 186 miles inside the polar circle. Its northerly location makes it ideal for admiring the Northern Lights during the winter, especially between November and January, when the sun never rises above the horizon.
For a truly magical experience, you can take a husky sled dog ride (suitable for people with limited mobility) under the moonlight and green shimmer of the Northern Lights. Tromsø is also home to accessible attractions such as the striking Arctic Cathedral, an aquarium, several quality museums, and the world’s northernmost botanical garden.
Alta is the largest town in Norway’s most northerly county of Finnmark and is another fantastic location for witnessing the amazing spectacle of the Northern Lights. Cruise ships often dock here overnight before heading home, allowing guests more time to see the peerless natural displays at their best. For the serious “Aurora Chasers”, there are also specialist Northern Lights excursions, which visit remote locations for an even better chance of a sighting.
Other popular excursions include husky sled tours through the snow, and trips to meet the local reindeer. There’s also the award-winning disabled-friendly Alta Museum, where visitors can see incredible Stone Age rock carvings and paintings dating back 7,000 years.
Please note: The information we provide on accessible locations and local attractions is subject to change, specific accessibility requirements and availability. We do our utmost to ensure all information is as up to date as possible based on the information we receive.
Types of Norwegian Fjords Cruises