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5 magical experiences in Norway

By M.T. Schwartzman | Sponsored by Hurtigruten | Photographs courtesy Hurtigruten

November 28, 2023

Welcome to a landscape of glacier-carved valleys that were drowned by the sea eons ago. This dramatic coastline of towering cliffs, braided waterfalls, and pristine waters is known as Fjord Norway, and one company has been sharing its awe-inspiring beauty with visitors since 1893.

Hurtigruten Cruises is the undisputed expert in this unforgettable corner of the world. Aboard a Hurtigruten ship, you’ll travel Norway’s fjords and enjoy the pleasures of the region on ship and ashore.

Here are 5 one-of-a-kind experiences in Norway.

1. See one of Earth’s most spectacular light shows

The northern lights are even brighter at sea.

Norway is one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights. That’s due to its geographical position in the northern auroral oval, where the otherworldly light shows are most prevalent. With no light pollution to interfere, the aurora borealis displays are even brighter at sea.

Outfitted with outdoor observation decks and northern lights alerts that notify passengers when the lights are visible, Hurtigruten ships are the ideal vehicle for chasing the lights.

On the 16-day Svalbard Express Full Voyage, you’ll come within several hundred miles of the North Pole, increasing your viewing chances even more. Plus, if you schedule your voyage during the upcoming solar maximum between January and October 2024, you’ll be treated to what’s expected to be the most dazzling aurora activity in a decade.

Outdoor observation decks provide premium northern lights viewing on board.

Hurtigruten is so confident that it will deliver the best northern lights experience that the cruise line promises you’ll have the opportunity to see the lights on voyages of 11 days or more during the auroral season between October 1 and March 31, 2024—or you get a free cruise.

2. Sample authentic Norwegian cuisine

Savor authentic Norwegian cuisine on board.

With their longstanding connection to the sea and millennia of traditions stretching back to Viking times, Norwegians have a unique culinary legacy. Fresh ingredients, game, and fish sourced from the country’s wilderness and coast are characteristic of Norwegian cuisine.

The tastes of Norway are everywhere on board Hurtigruten ships and on shore: Visit Mack Bryggeri in Tromsø, long known as the world’s northernmost brewery, and sample craft beers made with local mountain water.

Or sign up for a day trip to an aquaculture center in Brønnøysund, where world-famous Norwegian salmon are sustainably raised. Savor authentic Norwegian food and drink, such as mead—the ancient Vikings’ fermented “beverage of the gods” that’s made of honey, yeast, malt, and water.

Passengers can choose from a variety of foods.

Aboard ship, chefs source farm- and fjord-to-table meals with sustainability in mind. You’ll have a chance to try cuisine of the Indigenous Sámi people at the Brasserie Árran restaurant on the  MS Trollfjord . The menu of traditional but updated dishes includes bidos, a Sámi reindeer stew; souvas (sliced smoked reindeer meat) with lingonberry aioli; and pickled herring on rye bread with cured egg yolk.

Chefs use age-old preservation methods, such as drying, fermenting, and salting. Slice into dry-aged beef served by a chef who also shares a story about the meat’s provenance. Drink beer made from water sourced in a fjord. Try aquavit, the distinctly Nordic spirit. Raise your glass and cheer, “Skål!”

3. Explore remote fjords

Explore remote fjords on an expedition boat.

Norway boasts about 62,700 miles of coastline and the highest concentration of fjords in the world. With a warm sea current running along Norway’s coast, the fjords are virtually ice-free and easily explored.

One of these fjords, the Hjørundfjord, is perhaps Norway’s best-kept secret. Most cruise lines overlook this idyllic arm of water 21 miles long, but not Hurtigruten. Thanks to its Sea Zero initiative, Hurtigruten can meet Norway’s new government regulations for cruise ships sailing in the fjords.

Three ships are being refitted with battery packs for hours of emission-free sailing. By 2030, the line expects to launch its first fully zero-emission ship, allowing Hurtigruten to visit these environmentally sensitive areas well into the future.

Visit picturesque villages, such as Sæbø in Hjørundfjord, Norway.

Also on Hurtigruten itineraries is the Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO-listed fjord that is 9 miles long and 853 feet deep. It is Norway’s crown jewel, renowned for its alpine mountains and picturesque falls: the Seven Sisters, the Suitor, and the Bridal Veil. The Sognefjord is Norway’s longest (127 miles) and deepest (4,291 feet) fjord, which is why it’s known as the “King of the Fjords.”

Many other fjords, too many to list, also await you on a Hurtigruten voyage. With 130 years’ experience sailing this region, Hurtigruten knows them best.

4. Play under the midnight sun

Connect with nature by hiking with an expert guide.

Outdoor living is the Norwegian way of life. With Hurtigruten you’ll connect with nature, whether on a 3-day mini-cruise of the fjords or a 12-day round-trip voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes and back. Activities accommodate all fitness levels and vary by season.

In summer, long days of midnight sun lend themselves to hiking. Trek with experienced local guides into the wilderness, where you’ll stop to enjoy views and maybe build a campfire.

Kayaking tours offer a unique perspective of historical Trondheim, Norway.

Kayaking is a popular way to sightsee Trondheim’s charming Old Town. The view from the water offers an unusual perspective and plenty of photo opportunities. Available year-round, this fun excursion is perfect for families—no previous kayaking experience is required.

Or take a cycling tour on the island of Senja, which affords wonderful views of the fjords. The bikes are electric-powered, so the ride won’t tire you.

Explore the spectacular mountains of Norway on a guided snowshoe tour.

Winter turns Norway into a white wonderland best enjoyed by dogsled, snowshoes, or cross-country skis. For the ultimate adventure, join a snowmobile safari into the polar night, driving across a frozen mountain landscape while northern lights dance in the sky. It’s all part of “friluftsliv”—a Norwegian concept of open-air living that literally means “outdoor life.”

5. Live like a Viking

Experience Viking traditions at the Lofotr Viking Museum in Borg.

If you’re a fan of the popular TV series Vikings or blockbuster film series like Thor and The Avengers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hurtigruten offers you an opportunity to “Meet the Vikings.”

A visit to Lofoten during a 5-day voyage from Bergen to Tromsø is just one of several shore excursions that highlight the country’s Norse legacy. Board a bus at the pier for a guided tour to the Lofotr Viking Museum.

Here, a traditional Viking experience awaits, complete with food, costumes, song, and dance inside the re-creation of a Viking longhouse—one of the largest ever found! After watching a Viking ceremony and exploring the longhouse, you’ll hear more Viking lore on the trip back to your ship.

AAA members receive onboard credits and more!

Plan your magical Norway vacation and receive an exclusive member benefit on Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Voyages.

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My First Trip to Norway, With A.I. as a Guide

Can artificial intelligence devise a bucket-list vacation that checks all the boxes: culture, nature, hotels and transportation? Our reporter put three virtual assistants to the test.

By Ceylan Yeğinsu

The assignment was clear: Test how well artificial intelligence could plan a trip to Norway, a place I’d never been. So I did none of my usual obsessive online research and instead asked three A.I. planners to create a four-day itinerary. None of them, alas, mentioned the saunas or the salmon.

Two assistants were, however, eager to learn more about me in order to tailor their initially generic recommendations, which they had spewed out within seconds. Vacay , a personalized travel planning tool, presented me with a list of questions, while Mindtrip , a new A.I. travel assistant, invited me to take a quiz. (ChatGPT, the third assistant, asked nothing.)

Vacay’s and Mindtrip’s questions were similar: Are you traveling solo? What’s your budget? Do you prefer hotels or Airbnbs? Would you rather explore the great outdoors or pursue a cultural experience?

Eventually, my chat sessions yielded what seemed like well-rounded itineraries, starting with one day in Oslo and moving on to the fjord region. Eventually, I locked down a trip that would combine the assistants’ information and go beyond a predictable list of sites.

This time around, my virtual planners were far more sophisticated than the simple ChatGPT interface I used last year on a trip to Milan. Though it offered more detailed suggestions for Norway, I ended up ditching ChatGPT in the travel-planning stage after it repeatedly crashed.

Vacay’s premium service, which starts at $9.99 per month, included in-depth suggestions and booking links, while Mindtrip, which is currently free, provided photos, Google reviews and maps. During the trip itself, each delivered instantaneous information by text and always asked if more specific details were needed. Sadly, only ChatGPT offered a phone app, whose information I found to be outdated (the $20-per-month premium version is more current).

I’m not alone when it comes to turning to A.I. for help: Around 70 percent of Americans are either using or planning to use A.I. for travel planning, according to a recent survey conducted by the Harris Poll on behalf of the personal finance app Moneylion, while 71 percent said using A.I. would most likely be easier than planning trips on one’s own.

I decided to find out for myself in Norway.

A whirlwind day in Oslo

After I landed at Oslo Airport, all three assistants directed me to the Flytoget Airport Express Train , which got me to town in 20 minutes. I was delighted to find my hotel adjacent to the central railway station.

Choosing accommodations had not been easy. I was looking for a midrange boutique hotel, and the A.I. assistants generated many options with little overlap. I went with Hotel Amerikalinjen , Vacay’s recommendation, which it described as “a vibrant and unique boutique hotel in the heart of Oslo.” Its location was the main draw, but overall the hotel exceeded my expectations, blending comfort and style with the 20th-century charm of its building, which once housed the headquarters of the Norwegian America Line shipping company.

For the one-day Oslo itinerary, the assistants were in agreement, packing in the city’s top sights, including the Vigeland Sculpture Park, the Royal Palace , the Nobel Peace Center, Akershus Fortress and the Munch Museum. I shared my location and asked each assistant to restructure the itineraries to start from my hotel. But when I gave in to my own research instincts and pulled up Google Maps, I saw that the order they suggested didn’t make sense, so I plotted my own path.

By the time I got to Frogner Park at midday, I had already covered half of the sights, and after walking past more than 200 sculptures by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, I was happy to sit down and admire his granite monolith of entwined humans.

For lunch, the assistants recommended high-end restaurants in the bustling waterfront neighborhood of Aker Brygge . But I wanted a quick bite in a more relaxed atmosphere, so I ditched A.I. and walked to the end of the promenade, where I stumbled upon the Salmon , a cozy establishment where I started with salmon sashimi that melted in my mouth and finished with a perfectly grilled fillet. How had my assistants not mentioned this place?

Next on my list was the Nobel Peace Center, the Opera House and the Munch Museum. The assistants had not recommended prebooking tickets, but fortunately, I had done so, learning, in the process, that the Peace Center was closed, a crucial bit of information that A.I. did not relay.

It was chilly for mid-June, and as I walked along the harbor promenade toward the Munch Museum, I spotted small floating saunas, which my assistants had not included. I went back to the ChatGPT phone app for recommendations. Even though I was eager to try a floating sauna, where people warmed themselves and then plunged straight into the frigid waters of the Oslofjord, I took ChatGPT’s suggestion and booked the Salt sauna, which is where I headed after spending a few hours at the Munch Museum, with its extensive works by the Norwegian artist and its sweeping views of Oslo’s harbor.

At the Salt cultural complex , a large pyramidal structure on the water, I was relieved that swimsuits were a requirement. In Scandinavia, saunas are usually taken naked , and earlier, I had asked ChatGPT for the etiquette at Salt, but it failed to give me a definitive answer. After sweating it out with around 30 strangers in Salt’s main sauna, I dipped into a cold-water barrel tub and then tried the smaller sauna options, which were hotter and quieter. It was the perfect ending to a long day.

Waterfalls, lush valleys, raging waters

Each of my assistants had different ideas on how to reach the fjord region. ChatGPT suggested taking a seven-hour train ride and then immediately embarking on a two-hour fjord cruise, which sounded exhausting. Mindtrip suggested taking a short flight to Bergen, known as the “gateway to the fjords,” and setting out on a cruise the next day, which was perhaps more efficient, but would also mean missing one of the most scenic train rides in the world. Vacay also recommended a train ride.

After conversing with the assistants, I decided on a shorter train journey (six hours) that would deliver me to Naeroyfjord , a UNESCO World Heritage site with lush valleys and thundering waterfalls. But to figure out the logistics for transport and accommodation, I needed live train timetables, which I found on my own, and information on hotel availability that none of the assistants had.

At this point, I was desperate for human guidance to navigate the region’s expensive and limited accommodations. This is where the pictures and reviews on Mindtrip were useful, helping me to understand that I would be paying premium prices for the spectacular setting of a mediocre hotel.

The train ride from Oslo to Myrdal was breathtaking: rolling hills, mountain villages, fjords, waterfalls. But nothing prepared me for the majestic one-hour Flam railway ride that followed. Vacay had described it as an “engineering marvel” with a breathtakingly steep descent as it passes picturesque villages, dramatic mountains, raging rivers and pounding waterfalls, complete with a dance performance featuring a mythological spirit known as a huldra.

The next morning I boarded a Naeroyfjord cruise, recommended by Vacay, on an electric, 400-person vessel. I was surprised by the serenity of the fjord. Later I learned from a tour guide that I had been lucky to visit when there were no large cruise ships. It was hard to imagine an ocean liner maneuvering through the narrow, windy fjord, but when I asked ChatGPT, it told me 150 to 220 cruise ships squeezed through the fjord each year, a detail that I felt the travel assistants should warn travelers about.

The cruise ended in the village of Gudvangen, where rain made me cancel a hike to a waterfall and instead try my hand at ax-throwing in the Viking Village Njardarheim. The assistants had told me that there were buses that left town every four hours, a time frame that had worked with my original hiking plan, but now I was stuck. Thankfully, I took note of the A.I. disclaimers to check all information and found an alternative shuttle bus.

On my way to Bergen, I decided to stop in the town of Voss, famous for extreme sports like skydiving and spectacular nature. All the A.I.-suggested hotels were booked, but a Google search led me to the lakeside Elva hotel , which had delicious farm-to-table food. I suspect it didn’t make the A.I. shortlist because it was new.

I ended my trip in Bergen, which, despite being Norway’s second-largest city, maintains a small-town charm with its colorful wooden houses and cobblestone streets. With only half a day to explore, I followed Mindtrip’s short itinerary, starting with a hearty lunch of fish and chips at the bustling waterfront fish market and ending with a funicular ride up Mount Floyen for panoramic views of the city and fjords. The A.I. dinner suggestion at the Colonialen was perfect: cozy vibe, live jazz and locally sourced dishes.

The bottom line

None of the A.I. programs were perfect, but they did complement one another, allowing me to streamline my travel decisions.

Overall, Mindtrip — with its polished, dynamic interface that allowed me to cross-check details with maps, links and reviews — was my favorite. While it gave some good recommendations, Mindtrip needed more prompting than Vacay, which offered a wider variety of suggestions in more detail. Unfortunately, Vacay doesn’t save chat history, which I discovered halfway into my planning after closing the website’s tab on my browser.

The biggest drawback was the absence of phone apps for Mindtrip and Vacay, which led me to rely on ChatGPT’s basic A.I. assistant when I needed on-the-spot guidance. Mindtrip, I’ve since learned, is planning to debut an app in September.

Still, there were times when I desperately craved the human touch. Before setting out on a trip, I always contact friends and colleagues for recommendations. This time, as part of the A.I. experiment, I refrained from reaching out to a Norwegian friend until after my trip, only to find out that we had both been in Oslo at the same time.

That’s one element of travel that I doubt A.I. will ever master: serendipity.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

Ceylan Yeginsu is a travel reporter for The Times who frequently writes about the cruise industry and Europe, where she is based. More about Ceylan Yeğinsu

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