Skjolden, Norway
We were up at around 4am to see the sail down the fjord, it was breathtaking. I felt like I was in a Julie Andrew’s movie and she was going to pop round a wooden building and start singing at any moment. The fjord wasn’t overly wide so we sailed close to shore which gave us fantastic views of the hamlets of houses, the waterfalls and the flora and fauna
We docked in the hamlet of Skjolden which has a population of 200/300 people, our ship had 3100 passengers on board so we outnumbered them.
This port is very much about the scenery and doesn’t have shops or restaurants close by. There is bike and kayak hire however not a lot else. We had booked a Princess cruise ship excursion which was a scenic drive with photo opportunities. We went out along the valley floor and then up the mountain along the Sognefjell mountain pass. It was voted the most scenic route in Norway and is Northern Europe’s highest pass. The ancient thoroughfare is the only route connecting eastern and western Norway at an elevation of 4705ft above sea level. the description of the trip was “its a windy mountain road with a few white-knuckle hairpin turns” it didn’t disappoint, it was especially scary when we met a motor home or two coming the other way. Norway seemed to be the Mecca for motor homes and van life. Our tour guide was an 81year old local who told us about going skiing up there every April with his family, he was an incredible bloke.
Norwegians are extremely patriotic and were delighted to see us, 2 locals stood on the dock waving flags giving us a beautiful send off.
