Best Travel Destination in Scandanavia

August 22, 2025 (Geiranger, Norway)

The Geirangerfjord in western Norway is home to some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve ever seen – not just on this cruise, but ever – and snuggled into that scenery at the head of the fjord is breathtakingly beautiful Geirganger, Norway. Named Best Travel Destination of Scandinavia multiple times by travel guide and content creator Lonely Planet, this little down of 250 full-time residents plays host to an average of 700,000 – 1 million visitors every year. And today we are lucky enough to be among them.

We began our day with a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) ride. First, we had to get suited up, including goggles to protect our eyes against the wind and water spray. Ken was not particularly excited about being on the water going 25-30 mph in an open-air boat in 30-degree weather, but off he went, sitting in the front seat no less, looking for the best photo ops. Pam’s there, too, way back in the very last seat.

Even our captain/guide thought it was cold out!

We were originally scheduled to anchor at the sea walk, a retractable floating sidewalk that rests on 10 wave-damping pontoons and can accommodate up to 4,000 passengers at a time making their way from the ship to shore, but at the last minute the port authority notified our captain that they were short on pilot boats to accompany our ship in, and he would need to anchor off-port and have us tender in. Not a big deal, but because they hadn’t planned on it, it put everyone about thirty minutes behind for tours.

We don’t know if this is why our RIB trip was so rushed, if it was the cold, or if it’s always like this, but there were very few stops or slowdowns for picture taking. Ken was able to get enough to give you an idea of the splendor and help us remember in days to come.

The guide pointed out a couple of farms high on the mountains, originally built in the 1600s and now abandoned. It was difficult to get pictures from the boat, and some were invisible because of the low cloud coverage, but hopefully you’ll get the idea from a picture Pam took on the way in. At the time the farms were built, out guide told us, there were over 2,000 Vikings living in the area and farmable land was becoming scarce. People started building farms on just about any piece of flat land they could find. To access the farms, one had to boat to the bottom of the cliff on which they were built, hike most of the way to the farm, and then climb a rope ladder to the actual homestead. How they were able to get supplies up there doing that we have no idea.

We had a little time between excursions, so we took a moment to enjoy a nice hot cappuccino and cinnamon roll before exploring a bit.

Ken finally found his polar bear, and we discovered Troll Cars.

Soon it was time for our panoramic tour of Geiranger. We boarded our full-size bus and began our journey along Eagles’ Road to our first viewpoint, a steep three-mile climb involving eleven hairpin turns, and the only road in the area that remains open during the winter months. We took this picture of the road from the RIB, not knowing we would be driving it later in the day.

It was a pretty tight fit when you had two full-size buses passing one another.

We were so lucky that when we got to the view point the fog lifted long enough for us to enjoy some fantastic views.

From here we made our way to the opposite side of town, to Flydalsjuvet Viewpoint. We began at the upper viewpoint…

Then made our way to the lower viewpoint…

From here it was on to Djupvasshytta Lake, where we had an opportunity to grab a snack in the hotel restaurant. Along the way we continued to pass picturesque waterfalls and a summer farm. The summer farm is long-since abandoned, but once upon a time it was where the women brought the children and goats during summer months. They would spend the entire summer up here collecting milk from the goats and making cheese that they would send back down to the village with the men, who came up once a week, for storage or trade.

The Djupvasshytta Hotel was originally built to house the workers who built the road we drove to get here. The portion of Route 63, or Geiranger Road as it is also known, we are traveling now was finished in 1889. It took as many as 300 men working eight summers to complete this stretch of road. With twenty-nine hairpin turns and grades as steep as ten percent in some places it’s no wonder it is closed during winter months. Completion of the road allowed for overland transport between the valleys of east Norway and the fjords of Sunnmore. The road was awarded a gold medal at the Paris World Fair in 1900.

Pam was able to find a picture of the original hotel, so here it is then and now.

The hotel was updated in 2011, but there are still no TVs, no internet, no in-room phones. The hotel website boasts that it is located 1030 meters above sea level – not quite 3400 feet. Coming from the PacNW, where we are used to the likes of Mount St. Helens (8,363 feet), Mount Baker (10,781 feet) and Mount Rainer (14,400 feet) this seems almost laughable, but when you’re within 300 miles of the Arctic Circle you get extra points for the weather conditions we normally think of as being reserved for those higher altitudes!

Ken got some great pictures of Lake Djupvatnet. There was a snow-rain mix falling when we arrived, and as we lingered it became a light snowfall. Ken got a cool picture of a couple enjoying the wonderland conditions on their walk around the 6,000 feet deep lake. It freezes over in the wintertime, but since you can’t get to it no one really knows if it freezes solid enough to be skated on or walked across.

We said good-bye to the mountain and made our way back to town, following those hairpin turns and holding our breath all the way. Over time the road has been widened for cars, but not so much for these full-size buses!