I went on the Iona Cruise to the Fjords near the end of July and what a beauty spot! So picturesque and calm. We didn’t book any excursions in advance as P&O were rather expensive and we wanted to make sure the weather was good before booking anything. My dad can’t walk too long so we had to make sure we did things where he is able to sit for a bit and then continue on.
This cruise was for a week and the ports we stopped at (in order) were: Stavanger, Olden, Hellesylt and Haugesund. Here’s what we did and ate!
Stavanger
Looking out from the ship it was rather cloudy so got dressed in my autumny clothes… it turned out to be rather nice by the afternoon!
We got off the ship and walked into the little town to find the boat cruise. The cruise was for 3 hours and it went to the Lysefjord waterfall and passed Pulpit Rock. The ticket office for this was behind the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus and it was a red/maroon hut (it was also next to the boat!). The boat trip was called Lysefjord and for 4 adults and 2 children (4-15 years) is was 3630.00 krone; which was £282.08 (at the time), they did also have concession price but I didn’t ask at the time so it could have been cheaper! Live and learn!
We got on the boat and found a window seat, the window seat was enough for 6 of us and with a table too! After they’ve done the safety instructions it was time to set off, there were great views from the inside but the glare of the windows just ruined the photos so myself and my sister ended up walking upstairs to take in the views, we were not disappointed! It was still rather cold and windy so I had my coat and my hood up. Had some great mountain views on the way to the waterfall and we did a small stop to feed the mountain goats; which was rather cute, I say “we” I meant the people that worked on the boat fed them! The waterfall was breath taking, it was huge and we were able to get close up and personal; I didn’t think we were able to but I was proved wrong lol.
3 hours went past so quickly, time to leave the boat and find somewhere to eat. It was quite a struggle to find somewhere to eat as some places didn’t open until 1pm but we did eventually find a cute little place called Kaffelade.
Kaffelade is a cute little cafe, you will need to ask for the English menu from the bar as the menu on the tables were Norwegian. You need to go up to the bar to order: We ordered 2 pizzas (Serrano and Margherita), 3 fish soups, Scampi salad and Scampi Smorsbrod; this all came to £117.57. The fish soup was creamy and if you dig deep it had a lot of chunky fish in it, it was soooo good! Both pizzas were thin crust and the salad had a nice tangy dressing.
After lunch we went to look around the town. Stavanger has some really cute buildings/houses, so colourful! Go down each alley way because you don’t know what you will find!
Olden
It was a rainy day in Olden, but it didn’t stop us from booking the Leon Skylift. We got off the ship first thing to see where we can buy the tickets for it. There was a man selling tickets so we went to him and for 6 of us it was £349.62 and it included the bus to and from the Skylift.
There wasn’t really a line or organisation when waiting for the buses as people were just standing around! Once you get off the bus it’s a short walk to the shop and then lining up to get on the Skylift. You go up some stairs (there is a lift) to get to the Skylift; it was a bit of a queue so i reckon it took about 10-15 minutes. The Skylift was actually quite big and it can fit a wheelchair in, after about 5 minutes we were at the top!
The views were amazing from the top, even with the clouds it was just atmospheric. As it was rainy and cold we went into the restaurant to grab a hot drink and a snack. From the restaurant you can actually see Iona! After about an hour ish we went back down and caught the bus back.
For lunch we did a walk into the “town” and went to a place called Yris Kafe. I have no photos but they had chicken nuggets, salads and fish and chips; so the basic cafe food. We ordered chicken nuggets, 2 salads and chips (from memory) and that came to £57.76. After lunch we walked back to the shopping part and found a free land train that went back to Iona; it was a cute little land train, my nephew loved it.
Hellesylt
Hellesylt had some awesome views once you got off the ship, it was cloudy but at least it wasn’t raining! For this port we went on the HOHO bus and for 6 people it was £252.82, I think it was for 2 hours and there’s two 10 minute stops at the view points. The views from the bus were breath taking and the view points were even better!
Once we got back to the starting point we walked to the waterfall, Hellesyltfossen. You can see this waterfall when you got off the ship but close up was another story! It was amazing.
My parents, niece and nephew went back onto the ship for lunch but myself and my sister stayed out to walk up to the church and take in more views. We also had a cheeky ice cream, we both had 2 scoops each and that came to £7.78. Bargain!
Haugesund
Nice blue skies for our last port and we decided to go on a land train and for 6 people it was £98.83; this included a return ticket back to the ship. It had one stop off point and it took you to the centre and that stop is where you return back to the ship.
The land train took you around the town and it will tell you all the history of Haugesund. The stop it took you to was the Norway National Monument, Haraldshaugen.
Once you’ve taken your photos the land train bell will ring and back on the train you go! It will now take you into the centre and from there you’re on your own!
We went to grab lunch and we went to a place called Brakstad Brasserie. They had some amazing food! We had mussels, seafood spaghetti, lamb shank, seafood soup, scallops and lobster. We originally ordered 2 soups but the waiter got it wrong and gave us another plate of scallops on the house. I’m not sure of the price, but if you like seafood this is the place to go!
After lunch we went for a walk and went to the church, Var Frelsers Kirke (Our Saviour’s Church), went into the garden of a timber built house (we thought we were able to go into the house but it was just the garden!) and we went to take pictures of the famous Fishermen’s statue; which was across from the church.
We didn’t take the land train back to the ship as it was only a short walk back. We walked over the bridge and whilst walking back you see cute colourful houses.
Summary
So that was ports and what a holiday it was! I would definitely visit Norway again and I recommend this cruise to anyone. Although one thing we noticed was there wasn’t smoked salmon on the menus in the restaurants, I really thought I would get some yummy smoked salmon as Norway is famous for them. Nevermind!
Hope you enjoyed this blog, let me know in the comments if you’ve been to these places and if you went anywhere different. Jill x
The Oriental Foodie 