11 Days Itinerary for Norway Adventures – Day 6

Day 6 – Board Hurtigruten > Lofoten (Svolvaer Terminal) > Havern Holiday Home (AirBnB)

Day 5 was the start of another exciting journey venturing the Norway shoreline, Norwegian Sea and its majestic fjords via the Hurtigruten cruise. The cruise that we boarded, MS Kong Harald was last refurbished in 2016, with length of 122 meters. This ship also allows carriage of vehicles but not campervans, minivans and trailers. Size of the ship is not considered the huge type, but also with enough corners and sections for us to explore. Mainly would be panorama lounge, sun deck, hot tubs, restaurants and bars.

^ yay! excited to explore our Hurtigruten cruise

^ the size of the Hurtigruten cruise – MS Kong Harald

^ check in reception at the lobby area once stepped in the cruise

Our departing port terminal would be Tromso, and the cruise will stops at 5 different ports to pick up as well as to drop off passengers, so there will be normally 15-30minutes time for the onboard guest to go down for quick walk or explore the nearby area. In between our cruise stopped by Finnsnes, Harstad, Risoyhamn, Sortland, Stokmarknes and finally arrived our destination Svolvaer. We took an overnight ride, but basically spent less than 24 hours on board.

^ explorer deck with panorama view and comfortable seats

^ walkway towards the restaurant with tables and chairs for passenger to enjoy their drinks or simply sit there to admire the amazing view outside the window

^ this is one of the view looking out from the window, unreal

Most of the time we enjoyed hot drinks and relaxed at the observation deck with beautiful view. The cruise was not overly crowded as it was low season and overnight sail time. So we took the chance to enjoyed the facilities and the food served by the cruise. We were hoping to see northern while cruising, but the weather was quite cloudy, nevertheless the scenery still make the cruise ride worthwhile

^ settings and atmosphere inside the restaurant

^ there will be display like this around the cruise to let us know where we were cruising at that moment

^ luggage storage room located next to the lobby reception

^ every port that the cruise stopped has their own unique scene

^ the “blue” color fjord water

^ there will also be amazing bridge like this with sufficient height to let the cruise pass through underneath connecting the archipelago

Most of the stops were having snow fall hence we did not choose to go down explore the port towns. Only when it came to Stokmarknes and the weather was kind, we went down to check out the town and stock up some snack bites. Later we found out that this is a meaningful town as its literally the “born place” of Hurtigruten cruise company. The Hurtigruten Museum also found its natural location in Stokmarknes, the very city where founder of Hurtigruten, Richard With, lived and worked. The museum was within sight when the cruise engaged the port. However it is not operation hours during our arrival, thus we just managed to snap photo from the outside.

^ Stokmarknes in dark but beautiful

^ before we check out, we managed to visit the souvenir shop on the cruise and sent out the postcard through the post box on board (unfortunately I do not receive this piece until now, only left with the photo of it as memory)

Once we arrived at the Svolvaer cruise terminal, our car rental company is waiting at the port. Once we collected our car, we headed straight to our first AirBnb stay in Lofoten island which is located at the beach side, “House by the sea by Ingvill”. It was a wonderful place, but perhaps lack of sufficient heating system. Other than that, the house is well equipped and clean.

Signing off day 6.

Continue reading day 7.

 

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