A visit to Norway wouldn’t be complete without a cruise on the fjords! It sounds as a cliché, but it’s a spectacular thing and I’m glad I had the chance to do it. There are two fjords close to Ålesund: Hjørundfjord and Geirangerfjord. The Hjørundfjord cruise was not yet available because we went there before 1st of June — the start of the season. This trip would have been more convenient, because the ferry leaves from the city. We could do the Geiranger cruise, though, and I was very pleased, since this was the one I actually wanted to see.

Geirangerfjord is an UNESCO Heritage Site and, according to some, the most beautiful fjord in Norway. It’s located approximately 100 km inland from Ålesund. You can take the ferry for this cruise from two villages: Geiranger, or Hellesylt. We took the bus 250 to Hellesylt from the terminal station in Ålesund, and 2.20 hours later we were there. There are different packages and organized tours that can be purchased in advance, but we didn’t have any of them. We bought the tickets separately for each part of the journey. The tickets for the fjord ferry were bought online, one day in advance, from Visit Flam — recommended to us by our friend from the hotel reception.

The day started with a cloudy sky and heavy winds. We were worried that the ferry ride would be bumpy and we even took pills to prevent motion sickness, but it wasn’t bad at all from this point of view. The wind, though, it was impressive! As the ferry made its way through the fjords, there were areas with almost no wind and others where I thought I will fly overboard or that the wind will take away my glasses. Luckily, none of these happened and the windproof jacket I was wearing did a good job at protecting me. You could sit inside, in the restaurant, but what’s the point of sailing through the wonderful fjords and not be on the deck, feeling the wind and inhaling the mountain air?!

Sailing between mountains that stand up to 1400 m high is breathtaking. One thing I liked the most were the waterfalls. White streams falling down the mountains, looking like thin strings from afar, in actuality being quite big. Some of them were more peaceful while making their way through the forest, others very restless, falling on the dark rocks almost vertically, so steep that the wind was blowing the water away, creating a veil of water foam. Pure magic!

We didn’t get off the boat in Geiranger, to visit the village and surroundings, because we were on a tight schedule. We took the ferry trip back. Only a few other tourists were going back, and they stayed in the restaurant, leaving the deck only for me and my friend. The sun came out of the clouds and it was quiet and peaceful. I truly enjoyed the beauty and grandeur of the fjords on the trip back. The initial excitement gone, I didn’t feel like taking thousands of pictures anymore. We sat quietly and listened to the wind, waves, and the occasional seagull screaming.

Back in Hellesylt, we spend the one hour till the next bus walking around the village, enjoying its tranquil atmosphere and majestic views. We arrived in Ålesund late but it was still sunny, so we had a few more hours to eat and watch the sunset.