Just below the Arctic Circle lies a volcanic and otherworldly nation that is sadly misnamed. Iceland is in fact about 90 percent ice-free, and it boasts one of the planet’s most varied and incredible landscapes, with a mix of lunarlike deserts, windswept tundra, extraordinarily green grassland, and glacier-carved valleys and canyons. Medieval Europeans believed it to be the threshold of the underworld, and Jules Verne chose an Icelandic volcano as the entranceway for his Journey to the Center of the Earth. The word “geyser” was coined here, named after Geysir, the largest of the island’s many spouting hot springs. There are also lava fields, bubbling mud pools, and steam vents here. And, yes, ice. The dramatic glacial lagoon at Jökulsárlón, in the southeast, is famous for icebergs that break off from the glacier face and form an ever-changing maze that challenges chugging tour boats.
The two-lane Ring Road (or Route 1—the only motorway circling the island) runs a roughly 830-mile loop. Along the way, you can stop and explore dramatic canyons, thundering waterfalls, and lava formations like those near Mývatn, a detour in the northeast corner (see p. 353); plan to spend about 8 days to complete the circuit around the island.
Reykjavik is your likely arrival point in Iceland. The world’s northernmost capital is perched on a scenic peninsula and boasts a vibrant music scene, cutting-edge galleries, a sprawling market, and first-rate dining. Weekend nights can be rowdy here (particularly during the summer), when locals and visitors alike take part in the late-night runtur (pub crawl), which tends to get more animated as the evening progresses. Reykjavik has a handful of excellent hotels, including the Hótel Holt, with its praised Gallery Restaurant serving Icelandic-French fusion, a cozy bar with fireplace, and 41 classically decorated guest rooms filled with Icelandic artwork: It houses the largest private art collection in the country.
The island’s fabled Blue Lagoon, just 35 minutes outside town, is one of a dozen public thermal pools that are said to be Iceland’s health and beauty secret. The swimming area is filled with silica-rich water whose milky turquoise color comes from blue-green algae. With temperatures near 102°F sending up billowing white steam, and a geothermal power plant just next door, the scene seems almost surreal—much like the entire island.
The coastal township of Vik is situated on the Ring Road.
VISITOR INFO: www.icelandtouristboard.com. HÖTEL HOLT: Tel 354/5-52-5700; www.holt.is. Cost: from $160 (off-peak), from $335 (peak); dinner $55. BEST TIME: Jun–Aug when average temperature in Reykjavik is 50°F. Jul sunset is about 1 A.M., and the sky never completely darkens.
Historic “Wooden City” in a Spectacular Setting
BERGEN
Norway
Founded in 1070, Bergen was the capital of the Kingdom of Norway during the Middle Ages and an outpost of the powerful Hanseatic League of Baltic merchant communities organized in the 12th century. At that time the wharfside district of Bryggen (the Quay) was a bustling trading center. Today it is the only neighborhood where you’ll find the city’s much-photographed gabled wooden buildings with their distinctive rust red and ocher façades. The remarkable collection of timbered warehouses and hostelries—responsible for the town’s nickname, the Wooden City—now house artisan workshops, cafés, and the Hanseatic Museum, in one of the city’s best-preserved buildings.
Enjoy spectacular views of the sunlit harbor, fish market, and mountains from the sleek, colorful rooms of the elegant Clarion Collection Hotel Havnekontoret. The Augustin Hotel is Bergen’s oldest family-run hotel. Perched on the harbor and housed in a 1909 building, it is thoroughly contemporary on the inside. More historic digs can be found at the cozy Steens Hotel, with just 18 rooms set in a beautifully maintained 1890 house.
Finnegaardsstuene, one of the finest restaurants in western Norway, is housed in a former Hanseatic League warehouse (parts of which date to the 17th century) and serves seasonal cuisine from roast pigeon to grilled monkfish. During the summer months, pack a picnic and head just south of town to Troldhaugen (Troll’s Hill), the 19th-century summer villa of Norway’s greatest composer, Edvard Grieg, where summertime concerts are held.
The funicular to Fløyen climbs 1,000 feet to the steepest of Bergen’s seven surrounding mountains for breathtaking views of the fjords. Bergen is the ideal jumping-off point for the unique Norway in a Nutshell tour, a 12-hour day trip that features the best of this stunningly beautiful corner of the country. Start with a bus trip through steep switchback roads to Gudvangen, where you can board a boat to sail through the Nærøyfjord (the narrowest in Norway) and the Aurlandsfjord, both branches of the highly dramatic Sognefjord (see p. 362). After that, board the train from the town of Flåm traveling up and over the side of a gorge to Myrrdal where, for 12 white-knuckle miles, you’ll pass in and out of more than 20 tunnels maneuvering 21 hairpin turns past waterfalls and steep overhangs, with occasional glimpses of the resplendent fjords far beyond.
WHERE: 347 miles/558 km west of Oslo (one of the country’s most scenic drives). VISITOR INFO: www.visitbergen.com. HANSEATIC MUSEUM: Tel 47/55-54-4690. HOTEL HAVNEKONTORET: Tel 47/55-60-1100; www.choicehotels.no. Cost: $250 (off-peak), $385 (peak). AUGUSTIN HOTEL: Tel 47/55-30-4000; www.augustin.no. Cost: $200 (off-peak), $280 (peak). STEENS HOTEL: Tel 47/55-30-8888; www.steenshotel.no. Cost: $190 (off-peak), $240 (peak). FINNEGAARDSSTUENE: Tel 47/55-55-0300. Cost: prix-fixe dinner $100. TROLDHAUGEN: Tel 47/55-92-2992; www.troldhaugen.com. NORWAY IN A NUTSHELL: Tel 47/81-56-8222; www.norwaynutshell.com. Cost:$180. BEST TIMES: Jun–Aug for the most pleasant weather; late May for NattJazz Festival; Jun 15 for Grieg’s birthday; mid-Jun–end Sep for concerts at Troldhaugen.
Norway at Its Most Majestic
GEIRANGERFJORD
Norway
The vertical cliff–walled, 10-mile-long Geirangerfjord was—and still is—the ne plus ultra of the country’s fjords. View it from the remarkable Ørnevegen (Eagles’ Road)—with its 11 hairpin, hair-raising turns— that snakes from Åndalsnes to Geiranger. Completed in 1952, it remains an astounding feat of engineering. Stop at the last bend, known as Eagle’s Turn, to take in the unforgettable view of the fjord winding through the verdant valley. From Åndalsnes to Valldal is another of Norway’s audacious serpentine roadways, the Trollstigen (Trolls’ Path), which follows the fjord and crosses one of Norway’s most desolate regions.
Visitors to the fjord can choose from numerous attractions—half-day cruises, salmon fishing, hiking, bicycling, visits to deserted hilltop farming hamlets, and excursions to Jostedalsbreen, Europe’s largest glacier, as well as to spectacular waterfalls with names like Seven Sisters and Bridal Veil. Nærøyfjord, said to be Norway’s narrowest (at one point it is less than 820 feet wide), lies just 75 miles south of Geirangerfjord and shares the same stunning landscape of sheer cliffs beyond its crystalline waters.
The lovely, waterfront town of Øye is a great base for enjoying the Geirangerfjord area and neighboring Norangsfjord. Check in at the Union Hotel, one of the traditional “fjord castles” so popular at the end of the 19th century and now thoroughly modernized. Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja chose to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary here in 1993, and visitors continue to delight in its historical ambience.
The gorgeous coastal fishing town of Ålesund lies west of Åndalsnes and is spread out over three islands. When two-thirds of the town’s wooden houses were destroyed in a fire in 1904, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II, who favored Ålesund as a vacation spot, led the swift rebuilding efforts. The town was reconstructed in a German Art Nouveau style with Nordic touches, evident in the flourishes on everything from turrets and towers to spires and gables. Pay a visit to the well-curated Ålesunds Museum for an in-depth look at the town’s unique history and architecture. The superb Radisson SAS, a modern hotel built in the Art Nouveau style, offers panoramic views. From your window you can see the Hurtigruten cruise ships (see p. 359) come and go.
One of the worlds deepest fjords, Geirangerfjord formed during the Ice Age.
WHERE: Ålesund is 147 m
iles/236 km northeast of Bergen. HOTEL UNION ØYE: Tel 47/70-06-2100; www.unionoye.no. Cost: from $345. When: late Apr–mid-Oct. ÅLESUNDS MUSEUM: Tel 47/70-12-3170; www.aalesunds.museum.no. RADISSON SAS: Tel 47/70-16-0000; www.alesund.radissonsas.com. Cost: $215 (off-peak), $300 (peak). BEST TIMES: May–Sep for nice weather; Jul for Molde Jazz Festival; Jul or Aug for Norwegian Food Festival in Ålesund.
The Soul of Northern Norway
LOFOTEN ISLANDS
Norway
Norway’s natural landscape is astonishingly beautiful, so it says a lot when the Lofoten Islands are regularly cited as one of the country’s standout attractions. Explore the Lofotens and you’re reminded of nature’s power and splendor at every turn: jagged, snowcapped peaks and a sea that may be the stormiest in Europe during the winter but in summer months is bathed in a mystical Arctic light.
Although the 118-mile-long archipelago with six principal islands lies 122 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the climate is surprisingly mild. The islands are dotted by small fishing communities and ringed by towering peaks that date back several billion years. The traditional rorbus (fishing cottages) were built on docks extending over the water; today they are popular as rentals and inns for their cozy, traditional simplicity.
Ferries arrive here from mainland Bodø, where Edgar Allan Poe spent a number of years writing “A Descent into the Maelstrom.” (The word maelstrom is derived from the Dutch, meaning “grinding stream.”) His inspiration was the 2-mile-long Saltstraumen Eddy, a furious, natural whirlpool that creates a goose bump–capital and has a thriving summer art colony; inducing howl and is worth a visit before embarking on the boat to the Islands.
Svolvær (population 4,000) is the islands’ capital and has a thriving summer art colony. The inviting Anker Brygge inn is on a tiny island in the small harbor, overlooking red-painted cottages and the craggy Lofoten Mountains. Svinøya, just across the bridge, was Svolvær’s first settlement. There you will find accommodation at Svinøya Rorbuer, a collection of comfortable, 19th-century fishermen’s cabins, as well as one of the area’s most distinctive restaurants: the Børson Spiseri, housed in an atmospheric warehouse dating back to 1828. Diners can enjoy the simple but superb Arctic cod (cod tongues are a specialty) and other fresh seafood that is always on the menu.
Rorbus, the traditional wooden fishermen’s huts that frequently are rented for vacation use today are built on stilts above the Norwegian Sea.
WHERE: Bodø is 466 miles/750 km north of Trondheim. Ferries from Bodø to the Lofoten take 4–6 hours; 30–45 min flights. ANKER BRYGGE: Tel 47/76-06-6480; www.anker-brygge.no. Cost: from $275. SVINØYA RORBUER: Tel 47/76-06-9930; www.svinoya.no. Cost: from $190; dinner $50. BEST TIMES: Midnight sun shines Jun–Jul; Feb and Jul for the Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival.
Polar Bears and Ice at the Top of the World
THE NORTH POLE AND SVALBARD
Norway
Few places in the world conjure up the mystical isolation of the North Pole, where the summer sees no darkness, and the winter no light. Just a century ago, no person had ever stood at latitude 90 degrees north. Today the North Pole, a remote spot that fascinated generations of explorers, has become a tourist destination, albeit a rarefied one. Unlike the South Pole, a continent surrounded by oceans, the North Pole is pack ice surrounded by continents. And that pack ice may be melting—so come and see it now.
Sailing from Spitsbergen, the main island of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, and Murmansk, Russia’s northernmost port, special nuclear-powered icebreaker ships navigate the Arctic Basin at speeds of up to 20 knots. Passengers enjoy lectures and presentations by on-board specialists, from naturalists to undersea experts, and stay on the lookout for sightings of polar bears, walruses, and Arctic birds. Inflatable expedition boats and helicopters provide the chance to experience the area up close.
When the ship reaches 90 degrees north it finds a suitable parking space, lowers the gangway (ice conditions permitting), and allows passengers to descend for a walkabout, and, for the truly hardy, a plunge into the Arctic Sea. Champagne flows and celebrating begins, as everyone pays homage to the great names who first reached this fabled place after so much adversity.
The gateway to Arctic adventure lies some 600 miles south of the North Pole and 350 miles north of Norway’s mainland: the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (“Cold Coast” in Norwegian), Europe’s most northerly landmass. This wilderness is filled with vast, creaking icebergs, snow-topped mountains, and deep fjords, and is considered the wildlife capital of the Arctic. Cruise expeditions allow you to kayak past icebergs and massive walruses, bearded seals, arctic foxes, and reindeer, as well as polar bears. Svalbard is considered the best place in the Arctic—if not on the earth—to observe them in their natural habitat.
The comfortable, 16-room Basecamp Trapper’s Hotel, constructed of driftwood, slate stone, and furs, is located in Longyearbyen, the capital of the region and the only town on the island of Spitsbergen.
WHERE: Departures to the North Pole are from Murmansk, Russia, or Spitsbergen, 1,250 miles/2,012 km north of Oslo and 600 miles/966 km south of the North Pole. HOW: U.S.-based Quark Expeditions offers 14-night expeditions to the North Pole. Tel 888-892-0334 or 802-735-1536; www.quarkexpeditions.com. Cost: $22,760, all-inclusive, with all flights in Scandinavia and the Arctic. Originate in Helsinki. When: Jun. National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions organizes 11-night expeditions to Svalbard only. Tel 800-397-3348 or 212-765-7740; www.expeditions.com. Cost: $8,240, all-inclusive. Originates in Belgium. When: Jun–Jul. BASECAMP TRAPPER’;S HOTEL: Tel 47/79-02-4600; www.basecampexplorer.com. Cost: from $250 (off-peak), $400 (peak). BEST TIMES: Jun–Aug for 24-hr daylight; Jan for Polar Jazz on Spitsbergen, the world’s northernmost jazz festival.
Cruising to—and Beyond—the Arctic Circle
NORWAY’S COAST AND THE NORTH CAPE
Norway
One of the most alluring ways to penetrate the northern reaches of the globe is aboard Norway’s legendary Hurtigruten cruise steamers, which have been making the grand coastal journey from Bergen (see p. 355) to deep within the Arctic Circle for over a century. Hurtigruten (which means “fast route”) hugs the filigreed coastline, a region of shimmering fjords, creaking glaciers, and sky-piercing mountains. The lifeline for the remote towns of northern Norway—some still accessible only by sea—this fleet of coastal steamers carries passengers, mail, and cargo to some 35 ports over the 3,200-mile, 12-day round trip (one-ways are possible too).
Shore excursions are many and include a day in historic Trondheim, Norway’s third largest city and its capital until the early 1200s, or a stop in Bodø, gateway to the Lofoten Islands (see p. 357). Tromsø, the largest city inside the Arctic Circle in the Nordic countries, is home to the world’s northernmost university, brewery, and cathedral, earning it the title of “Paris of the North.” It is also among the finest spots to view the famous aurora borealis (“dawning of the north”), or northern lights. Tromsø’s Northern Lights Planetarium is the perfect place to learn the science behind the famous swirling light show. For a lesson in the wonders of Nordic cuisine, book ahead at the restaurant Emma’s Drømmekjøkken (Emma’s Dream Kitchen). You’ll experience the magic produced by Anne Brit, a culinary personality in Norway’s north: Her grilled Arctic char with chanterelles is a revelation.
The boat journey continues to Hammerfest, one of the world’s northernmost towns, and the ethereal Nordkapp (North Cape), a sheer, granite cliff rising 1,000 feet out of the frigid Norwegian Sea. The cape’s plateau is a largely uninhabited place of wild and romantic moonscape—nothing grows on this tundra. Visitors either love it or not, but most adventurers join the celebration in the clifftop observatory’s Champagne bar, where you feel as if you’re about to fall off “the World’s very end,” as one Italian pilgrim wrote in 1664. The final port of call is Kirkenes, 240 miles above the Arctic Circle, at the border with Russia, where the boat turns around and heads back home.
Unapologeticall
y lacking a casino or spa, a no-fuss Hurtigruten ship is not a luxury cruiser—and that is precisely its charm. The cabins are more modest than luxe, but once the voyage begins, everything is eclipsed by Mother Nature—deep-blue fjords, pounding ocean, eye-smarting skies—and, above all, the palpable sense of wind-in-your-hair adventure in the northernmost part of the globe.
WHERE: Tromsø is 758 miles/1,220 km north of Bergen. NORTHERN LIGHTS PLANETARIUM: Tel 47/77-62-0945; nordnorsk.vitensenter.no. EMMA’S DRØMMEKJØKKEN: Tel 47/77-63-7730; www.emmasdrommekjok ken.no. Cost: $100. HURTIGRUTEN: Tel 47/81-00-3030; in the U.S., tel 866-522-0371; www.hurtigruten.us. 4- to 12-day cruises offered. Cost: 7-day cruise from $1,185. Originates in Bergen. BEST TIMES: Jun–Aug for midnight sun; Nov–early Apr for northern lights; late Jan for Tromsø’s Northern Lights Festival of classical and contemporary music.
Remarkable Nordic Art and Architecture
MUNCH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY
Oslo, Norway
Oslo has emerged as one of Scandinavia’s most artistically diverse cities, with an enticing blend of old and new, from the famous Munch Museum and National Gallery, which together feature Norway’s greatest collection of art, to the soaring architecture of the recently opened waterfront Opera House.
No one is as synonymous with Nordic art as Edvard Munch (1863–1944), one of Scandinavia’s most famous artists. Hailed as the father of Expressionism, Munch bequeathed to Oslo 22,000 pieces of his work, which became the foundation of the collection at the Munch-museet (Munch Museum). The museum, which opened in 1963, now houses paintings (including his most recognizable works, The Scream and Night), drawings, prints, sculptures, and personal possessions such as books and letters—all of which will move to a new location on the Oslo waterfront in 2014 as part of a large-scale art center near the celebrated Opera House. Designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta and unveiled in 2007, the futuristic Opera House—white marble with a delicate glass façade—holds the distinction of being the largest cultural building constructed in Norway since 1300.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 58