Hurtigruten started in 1893 when a relatively young Captain Richard With thought it possible to provide express boat service and mail delivery to some of the northernmost cities. This quickly revolutionized communication between towns and villages. Industries and coastal inhabitants had better access to the outside world. Letters from Trondheim to Hammerfest which previously took 3 weeks in the summer and 5 months in the winter now took a few days. As other shipping companies followed, the number of towns served expanded. Now a ship leaves Bergen almost daily to begin the journey to north to Kirkenes on the Russian border and return south to Bergen. . Hurtigruten specializes in delivering people and almost everything else between 34 ports along the rugged west coast of Norway. Tourists have always been a part of Hurtigruten but as an anti-cruise-ship where life doesn’t revolve around the tourists. There are no climbing walls, gyms, water parks or midnight chocolate buffets. The ships are small by comparison to what we’re used to seeing headed for Alaska from Seattle. They need to be able to enter small inlets and moor at tiny coastal communities where the ships dwarf their docks. Some of these ports are visited during the night and a couple people told me that it can get noisy during the docking and off/on loading. (We always tie up on port side and my cabin is starboard, so I don’t hear any of the noise!) Tonight we are arriving in Tromso at 11:45 and one of the optional excursions is a concert in the cathedral between 12:15 AM and 1:15 AM!
Barrier Islands buffer the rough North Sea and the icy Barent Sea. Some of these ports are no bigger than a few houses and a large dock and people are waiting quayside for the ships to arrive. Some are waiting for machinery, appliances, packages, friends and some are just there to wave to the passengers on the boat. Stay in the different ports of last 15 mins to just pick up or drop off supplies to 3 hours with optional excursions. The route revolves around the ports, not the tourists. The scenery is the 24 hour event and in port, tourists can go ashore if there’s time, watch the loading/unloading take place or check it all out from a window in the lounge. Part of the charm is watching a working ship going about the business of delivery people and supplies. The deckhands efficiently moor the boat as they shout down to dock workers who’ve done this many times. Pallets of supplies are effortlessly moved to the docks. Southbound, fish and other commodities are loaded on to the ship.
Early on, Hurtigruten advertised the wild and beautiful Norwegian coastline and opened up previously remote places that were just too hard to get to. The Lofoten Island (going there tomorrow), Skervoy Island, Hammerfest and North Cape (saw today) were readily available to international travelers and the Hurtigruten Coastal Express became one of Europe’s biggest tourist attractions.
I’m on one of the newer ships, MS Trollfjord. They are getting more luxurious with a sauna, hot tub, lounge entertainment, a gift shop, bars and more excursions in addition to gourmet dining. Breakfast and lunch are extensive buffets and dinner is an above average assigned table affair. Sent courtesy of the Rica Hotel in Trondheim!
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