A 130-year-old, essential ferry route doubles as a spectacular cruise
SOURCE:Sydney Morning Herald|BY:Simon Johanson
Over breakfast, a debate begins: is this a cruise or a ferry? Delicious meals, viewing lounge and other luxuries on one hand, a busy schedule of stops and cargo deliveries on the other.
January 3, 2026 — 5:00am
A hot spa on a ship’s top deck is not where most passengers are watching the lights of one of Norway’s loveliest coastal cities, Bergen, fade into the distance. Alone in a small sea of bubbles, my travelling companion and I are mesmerised as the rugged coast slips astern.
We’re at the start of a long-anticipated journey: seven days on a coastal ferry wending our way through wild ocean, fjords, islands and towns along one of the world’s most spectacular coastlines.
Midnight at Trollfjord on Norway’s west coast.Simon Johanson
Other passengers are avoiding the clouds, the cool evening (it’s 8.30pm and 12 degrees) and yes, the rain. But we couldn’t resist. It’s late summer and Bergen, our departure point, while beautiful, is living up to its reputation as Norway’s wettest city – it averages 231 days precipitation a year.
Our spa is perched midships atop one of the Hurtigruten line’s seven vessels, the MS Midnatsol. A competing ferry service, Havila, has four similar-sized ships. Both companies operate state-sanctioned ferries up and down Norway’s west coast, but Hurtigruten has sailed these waters, initially as a postal service, for about 130 years – providing a lifeline for isolated farms and towns nestled among the remote fjords and islands which, in the past, were only accessible by water.
The ship, whose name translates as Midnight Sun, is rated for 820 passengers and feels big to me, an inexperienced cruiser. However, compared to other monolithic cruise ship encountered plying the coast later in our voyage, it’s actually relatively small and intimate, and we depart port early in August with a comfortable 430 travellers aboard.
A short time later, my companion and I give in to the cold and, sporting goosebumps, make our way below deck to a cabin on the starboard side. The next morning, over a hasty breakfast (we’re due to dock at Ålesund at 9.45am), a debate begins. Is the ship we’re on more of a cruise or a ferry? The delicious Scandinavian smorgasbord meals, high-end restaurant, wine list, set tables, comfortable viewing lounge and other luxuries suggest a cruise liner, but the practical orderliness, well-used cabins, somewhat dated fittings, bustling passenger traffic and cargoes at port signal a thoroughbred ferry.
Ålesund in Norway has a rich Viking history.iStock
Unresolved, we head for the top deck where the beguiling beauty of Ålesund is looming on the horizon. The town’s colourful art nouveau buildings line the edge of a glistening harbour that is part of an archipelago at the entrance to one of Norway’s most dramatic and admired fjords, the UNESCO-listed Geirangerfjord.
The town and surrounding islands are steeped in Viking history, stretching back to 800 AD and earlier. Here, I have another decision to make.
I’m visiting this remote coast partly from a desire to explore my family history. My Norwegian mother migrated to Australia aged 21 and has traced one line of her ancestry back to a little island called Giske where a relative, Finnvid Fundne, born in 857 is presumed buried.
Ferry or cruise ship? Why not both? The MS Midnatsol.
Should we join a throng of passengers on a paid excursion to see Geiranger’s majestic steep snow-patched mountain peaks, fir forests, dramatic waterfalls and – at summer’s end – lush green pastures, or, can we find a way to island hop to the tiny outpost of Giske? There’s not enough time for both.
“Why do you want to go to Giske. It’s flat!,” states a bemused member of the ship’s expedition team when we ask for directions.
A local bus takes us into an undersea tunnel and emerges on another island. We change to another that rumbles over a long, low-lying bridge to Giske. It is indeed very flat, but spying a small neat white church with a graveyard we jump off at the next stop and trudge back.
The church, it turns out, was built by wealthy Viking families 900 years earlier, and is the oldest in the region. Disappointingly, no burial site bears our ancestral name, but one crumbling tombstone, weathered by time, seems as ancient as the church itself.
A nearby sign gives a history lesson on Rollo the Viking who lived in Giske around 860 AD and was known for raping and pillaging so violently he was outlawed and exiled by King Harald Hårfagre. Rollo took refuge in France, swearing allegiance to Charles the Simple, and began a long line of Norman rulers.
Hurtigruten has plied the Norwegian west coast for 130 years, originally as a postal service and later as a vital supply line.
Relieved that the family name isn’t associated with the unsavoury Rollo, we head back and climb Mount Aksla to admire the sparkling colour of Ålesund and the islands spread out below.
Like its sister ferries, Midnatsol makes multiple stops at tiny hamlets along the coast with just enough time to unload a handful of passengers and cargo, sailing at around 14.5 knots and berthing at 34 ports. The ship picks up produce along the way and incorporates it into a menu that reflects local flavours and dishes. Cod fish caught in the frigid waters off Lofoten is a staple while small hillside farms supply goat milk cheeses.
“We have a tight schedule. In many ports, we have only 10 minutes. In those 10 minutes we need to dock, load cargo, cars, guests on and off, close the ramp, and then leave again,” says the ship’s Captain Ingar Holmberg Lorentsen who has spent his career sailing these complex waters.
“We have done this for many years so we are quite familiar with the coast of Norway. For guests, it’s quite spectacular to be out on deck watching these areas. We are sailing in places where nobody else is sailing,” he says.
For Lorentsen, the intricate coastline is not just about work.
During a sunny afternoon on day three Midnatsol makes an unscheduled diversion. The vessel’s vast bulk nudges into a narrow channel between a low-lying island and the mainland, just metres of space either side, edging into an impossibly small harbour in the tiny fishing hamlet of Bessaker.
It towers over the clusters of houses onshore and people appear on balconies enthusiastically waving Norwegian flags and shouting greetings to the passengers lining the deck rails. In response, the ship’s horn sounds, shockingly loud above, and then we slowly inch back out before getting under way again.
Mystified, I ask what’s behind our visit? It turns out it was a thankful salute from a romantic Captain to the townsfolk of Bessaker who had helped to host his wedding there the year before. There’s a palpable connection between Hurtigruten’s crew and the coast I doubt is present in much larger cruise ships.
Down in the ship’s shuddering bowels there are 20 car parking bays, racks of bikes, a sizable cargo hold and, surprisingly, a morgue.
Every ship has one, says Per Øyvind Dahl the ship’s hotel manager who is showing me around. “There’s nobody in there now,” he says with a flash of dark Scandinavian humour, opening the door to reveal three body-sized stainless-steel shelves.
In an earlier life, Midnatsol also boasted a prison cell – now used by the ship’s electrician – to transport minor criminals between ports, courts and prisons along the coast.
Dahl says cycling tourism along Norway’s craggy fjords and steep valleys has exploded.
The coastal terrain being pedalled is monumental, even stupendous. Just north of Bergen at the inner end of the 205-kilometre long Sognefjord - nicknamed the King of Fjords because of its length and depth – is a mountain range that rises a sheer 2000 metres above sea level.
The southbound ferry frequently picks up summer cyclists who have made it all the way up to North Cape, the country’s northernmost tip. “They’re coming on board in Honningsvårg or Hammerfest and going to Tronheim,” he says.
Old wooden buildings line the river leading to Tronheim’s famous cathedral.Simon Johanson
“We have a lot of Australians coming in the wintertime,” he adds, piquing my curiosity. Why’s that? It’s more exotic for them, particularly the prospect of the northern lights, he says.
It’s in the open stretches of ocean away from the more sheltered cruising among fjords and coastal islands where winter sailing can make for rough seas. Tempestuous winds can kick up waves 10 metres high or more. “If there is strong wind from the north, you have nowhere to hide,” says Captain Lorentsen.
So, do passengers cope? “Some people love it. They sit and look out and just say, ‘Wow!’.” Others not so much, he admits. “For us, it’s not that much fun when the wind is too strong because then we need to cancel some ports and deviate the route,” he says.
Having had my fill of northern winters in the past (albeit never having seen the northern lights), I’ve been soaking up the unexpectedly sunny, lengthy August days, gentle seas and blue skies since the ship left rainy Bergen.
The Svartisen GlacieriStock
The next day, I look up from my chair on the top deck and glance across the deep blue water. We are passing the sun dappled, broad saddle of the Svartisen Glacier fringed by mountains. I exhale slowly in admiration. There’s a lot of that on this trip!
A short while later, there’s a commotion on deck as Njord, Ruler of the Seven Seas, appears carrying a trident, clothed in fish netting and begins baptising laughing and squirming passengers with an ice shower to mark their crossing of the Arctic Circle.
On a glorious evening near midnight the next day, we make our way into Trollfjord. The midnight sun has passed its peak, giving way to a few hours of dark, but there is still enough light to see the steep, steel-blue, craggy rocks etched against ink-black water – a landscape inhabited by trolls in anyone’s imagination.
Passing through Magerøysundet – a strait across which reindeer herds swim seasonally to find fresh pastures – we approach Kirkenes, in the far north, and the end of our voyage. It feels too soon. Six nights and seven days of sailing past weathered wooden huts, craggy islands and unfolding fjords have drawn me into an ancestral landscape which I’m loath to leave.
Passengers enjoy the view in Trollfjord.
The details
Stay
The Hurtigruten Coastal Express offers a variety of cabin/seating options and can be boarded/disembarked at multiple points along Norway’s west coast.
An off-peak twin-share, polar inside cabin from Bergen to Kirkenes, a seven-day journey, starts at $2426 per person including full-board dining. A drinks package with one bottle of wine per cabin per day adds another $628.
**Tour
**The ship organises daily excursions which range in price from $135 to $482. They are varied, topical and a great way to get a feel for coastal towns and the environment.
If you are on a budget, setting your own agenda is relatively easy. Most towns offer bicycle or scooter hire (an enjoyable way to see a lot with little effort) or local guided walking tours.
The ship’s Expedition Team offer free evening information sessions covering the next day’s activities – ports of call, interesting landmarks, history, geology, native species, environment and Sami culture.
**Things to consider
**Because Hurtigruten is a ferry service, you can mix up your voyage. It’s possible to get off at any port, stay a few nights and then get back on the next ferry. However, you need to prearrange this itinerary.
As well, it’s possible to sail short sections. Bergan to Tronheim is worth considering as both cities are stunning, have airports and lengths of beautiful fjords in between. Another option is Bodø to Tromsø past the Lofoten Islands, a dramatic stretch of coast.
Midnatsol always docked on the port (left) side when visiting towns. Cabins to starboard generally had a better view of the harbour than those overlooking the dock.
The northbound route touches more key ports during the day and offers a few more excursions than southbound. If you aren’t planning a return trip from Bergen to Kirkenes and back, northbound may be better value.
The writer travelled as a guest of Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkenes.
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