Norway

Day 3: Hurtigruten’s Cruise Ferry MS Richard With Bergen – Kirkenes – Bergen, April/May 2025

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By Paul Bryers

Molde was visited late on Saturday night, followed by Kristiansund around 3 am. Today’s port of call in daylight hours was Trondheim. Due to insufficient participation, my first and second choices for excursions (kayaking and a hike with Capercaillies) were cancelled, leading me to join a guided city walk, which was not particularly engaging.

After Trondheim, we were fortunate to navigate through the Stokksund (Eng: Stokk Sound) due to a combination of favorable conditions including minimal wind, no swell, high tide, and the expertise of a Stokksund- accedited Senior Captain. This narrow Sound presented a remarkable challenge, and it was impressive to observe the Captain skillfully maneuvering the 400ft long, 11,000 ton MS Richard With through the Sound and under the bridges.

Day 2: Hurtigruten’s Cruise Ferry MS Richard With Bergen – Kirkenes – Bergen, April/May 2025

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By Paul Bryers

Following overnight visits to Florø and Maløy, the ship has arrived in Torvik, its first daylight port. However, passengers are not allowed to disembark due to the short 10-minute stop. The weather is beautiful and the scenery is stunning.

Following our visit to Torvik, we sailed towards Ålesund for a 20-minute stop and then proceeded to Urke in the impressive Hjørundfjorden.

En route, we passed waterfalls, green mountains reaching up to 5000 ft with snow-capped peaks.

A short yet steep hike afforded us a breathtaking view of the fjord and our ship, MS Richard With.

The day’s events culminated in a 2-hour stop at Ålesund (our second visit of the day). In contrast to my previous visit last August on MS Trollfjord, I did not disembark.

It was an excellent day.

Day 1: Hurtigruten’s Cruise Ferry MS Richard With Bergen – Kirkenes – Bergen, April/May 2025

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By Paul Bryers

  • Embarkation from Bergen

Just boarded Hurtigruten’s MS Richard With (the ship line founder) at Bergen for my 12 day solo round trip to Kirkenes on the border with Russia – way up beyond the Arctic Circle (trip is known as BKB).

This ship is one of a number of car ferries used by locals that call into 34 ports on the round trip. I did a similar trip August 2024 to Svalbard but that was on a non-car cruise ship ie more like a traditional cruise. The benefit of the car ferry is that it goes to a lot more of the smaller towns/villages/ houses located in the smaller, less accessible fjords.

I have lots of shore excursions planned inc hiking, dog sledding and cross country skiing so hopefully you will follow along with me on my trip and see some stunning sights!