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Highlights include a visit to Unesco-listed Vega Island, a centre for the production of duck eiderdown, and a planned landing at Jan Mayen where the Beerenberg volcano is the world’s northernmost active volcano, last erupting in 1985. The new kid on the block along the Norwegian coast is Havila Voyages, which has a fleet of four eco-friendly ships that launched in 2022. The line has a variety of options to sail part or all of the way along the classic route from Bergen to Kirkenes and back, with the round trip taking 11 nights. Observation lounges have glass roofs and reclining chairs to view the Arctic sky and you can push a button on the cabin telephone to be woken up in the night if the lights appear. It also has a northern lights promise — if the phenomenon doesn’t appear during a 12-day sailing, passengers get a free week-long voyage. No photograph or television documentary can prepare you for seeing the northern lights in real life.
Stavanger, Norway
Swan Hellenic Announces Deep Arctic Northern Lights Specials - Cruise Industry News
Swan Hellenic Announces Deep Arctic Northern Lights Specials.
Posted: Sun, 17 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Nunavut in the heart of Canada’s High Arctic is a prime aurora borealis viewing country, with its close proximity to the North Pole and vast expanses of tundra. Consider visiting a remote traditional Inuit community for an unparalleled night of dazzling aurora displays. Every year, millions of tourists flock to the Arctic for a chance to witness the phenomenon of the Northern Lights. To increase your chances of seeing the Northern Lights, be prepared to venture into the heart of the Arctic, to destinations such as Greenland, Iceland, Northern Canada and Northern Norway.
Narvik, Norway
While it’s never a guarantee that the Northern Lights will be visible, one way to stack the deck in your favor is to be on a cruise ship that can move in search of the lights, typically in the Arctic. We will attempt to enter Kaiser Franz Josef Fjord, a remote and rarely visited fjord system with countless opportunities for exploration, located within the Northeast Greenland National Park. Cruising through Kong Oskar Fjord, we marvel at the geological beauty of the mountains. We will then head south along the coast of Liverpool Land, with our passage dependent on ice conditions. Enjoy a Zodiac cruise through spectacular Trollfjord, a gorge flanked by steep mountains and so narrow that it can only be accessed by small ships. In the Lofoten Islands, voted by National Geographic as one the of the most beautiful destinations in the world, we stroll through picturesque villages dotted with red and white fishers’ huts, surrounded by soaring granite peaks.
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Cruises sail to and from Portsmouth and to increase your odds of seeing the light show there’s an overnight stay in Tromso, where you can visit the Polar Museum or embark on an exhilarating husky or reindeer sledding ride. You’ll be joined by experts from the conservation charity Orca who will be out on deck to host seabird and wildlife spotting sessions. Then it’s on to Tromsø, Norway’s northernmost city, for two days of Arctic adventures, before sailing to Atla, a town known for its bluebird days (ideal for Northern Lights viewing later) and ancient rock carvings for two days. Because it’s often chilly in this part of the world (especially at night), each passenger is given a waterproof polar expedition jacket upon arrival. The sailings will take place on the expedition vessel Greg Mortimer, which can hold 132 passengers in 79 cabins (most have private balconies for auroral viewing). From there, you’ll visit the Westfjords region of Iceland (the northwestern peninsula), with its colorful small towns, turbulent waterfalls, and fjords rich in bird-viewing opportunities.
But there will also be activities geared to exploring parts of the world filled with many other natural, cultural, and man-made wonders. Iceland, Greenland, and polar regions around the Northwest Passage promote some of their active, adventurous cruises around the equinoxes in September and March as northern lights viewing opportunities as well. Lines cruising in these regions include Hurtigruten, Silversea, Lindblad Expeditions, Viking Cruises, Quark Expeditions, Adventure Canada, and others. Remember that seeing these lights doesn't involve a cruise director flipping on a switch.
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Kayaks offer a unique opportunity to view marine and land mammals, coral reefs, tropical fish, sea birds and an astonishing range of rainforest birds. We will bring our snorkelling gear with us during our paddles and take advantage of any opportunities to view marine life up close. Kayakers in wild temperate regions will have a unique wildlife experience, with possible encounters with seals and basking sharks. You will have the opportunity to view some of the largest sea bird colonies in the northern hemisphere.
Explore the Norwegian Fjords and See the Northern Lights With Hurtigruten - TravelPulse
Explore the Norwegian Fjords and See the Northern Lights With Hurtigruten.
Posted: Fri, 12 Apr 2024 02:00:00 GMT [source]
The Nordic Spa area is one of our favorite parts of the ship with its ice room, sauna, and hot tub. Charming and postcard-pretty, Stavanger is an idyllic coastal town, famous for its perfectly preserved wooden buildings (some dating back to the 18th century) and miles of pristine white sand. Our Scandinavian tour packages offer a deeply immersive experience — the perfect Nordic adventure is waiting for you. There’s more than one way to sail with us and discover the many wonders of the Norwegian coast. While Cunard’s 2,996-passenger Queen Anne will offer oodles of nightly performances once it launches in 2024, one of the most dazzling shows could be the one Mother Nature puts on. Want to book flights and accommodation with us or simply want some additional information?
Hand-crafted Arctic Cruises
Seeing the Northern Lights is one of those magical experiences on nearly every traveler’s bucket list due to the surreal way light moves in waves of green color across the nighttime sky. Our Scenic Discoveries are designed to allow you to enjoy seeing the world from a unique perspective of our ship. The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the world – and the advantage of viewing them on a cruise is the sky is unpolluted, so you get the full spectrum of colours.
Both Hurtigruten Expeditions and the Hurtigruten’s Norwegian Coastal Express, offer a good number of itineraries that showcase the Northern Lights. The Coastal Express serves as both a passenger cruise line and a lifeline for Norwegian coastal residents and these working ships transport locals’ cars, fjord towns’ freight and up to 1,000 total passengers on any given day. Along the coast of Norway, the Northern Lights can make appearances as early as September and as late as May. Hurtigruten offer a variety of voyages, including an epic 13-day trip among Norway’s fjords, mountains and islands as you travel from Bergen to Kirkenes.
Norway isn’t the only spot to see the Northern Lights – all of northern Scandinavia enjoy the lightshow in the autumn and winter months. The bonus of cruising during those times is that you’ll get much more daylight to appreciate the scenery of Northern Norway and enjoy daytime activities and excursions. In February and March, the winter landscapes combined with the sunrise and sunset can be absolutely magical. One of our world’s most intriguing natural phenomena, colorful aurora borealis displays are caused by particles released by the Sun interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field.
Over the course of 13 days, a luxurious Viking ocean ship transports guests from London to Amsterdam, then all the way up the coast of Norway and north of the Arctic Circle, before returning back south to the Norwegian city of Bergen. (Although some sailings operate in reverse.) The Norwegian fjords themselves are a sight to behold — and if they're paired with the northern lights, that's all the better! The sailings run from January to March when daylight is limited in the Arctic Circle, making for prime aurora opportunities. Rates start from $4,999 per person in 2023, and it should be noted that Viking is an adults-only cruise line.
The expedition vessels are strategically positioned in areas with minimal light pollution, maximizing the chances of observing the vibrant colours and dancing lights of the Northern Lights against the Arctic night sky. Passengers will enjoy the magical display from the comfort of the ship, creating a truly extraordinary and unforgettable experience. The most affordable option on this list, British cruise line P&O operates 12-day sailings to Norway year-round, but during the auroral season, there's a strong chance you'll see the northern lights while onboard. Guests embark in Southampton, England, before sailing north to Norway, traveling as far north as Tromsø, well north of the Arctic Circle. We recommend splurging on a room with windows for the best northern lights viewing options. However, those in interior cabins can always run up on deck — which you should do anyway to witness the full grandeur of the atmospheric phenomenon.
While the best time to see the northern lights is in the northern winter, this is flipped for the aurora australis, aka the southern lights. Within the United States, Alaska is definitely the best place to visit the northern lights due to how far north it is. Ideally, you start in Anchorage or Fairbanks and drive into Denali National Park. Other winter activities in Alaska, such as dogsled mushing and snowmobiling, will keep you busy and satisfied, even on days when you aren't lucky enough to get a glimpse of the lights. Finding the best place to see the northern lights is critical, but it's not the only detail that matters. Before you go aurora chasing, brush up on the facts about this dazzling natural spectacle.
The aurora borealis originates on the sun’s surface with a massive explosion of electromagnetic matter, which projects a stream of charged particles known as solar wind into space. When these particles approach Earth a few nights later, they distort our magnetic field. The excited, ionised atoms that enter our atmosphere through the poles emit light which, when emitted on a large scale, causes the phenomenon of the Southern and Northern Lights. Northern Lights experiences are best with a dark sky as the aurora is not strong enough to outshine the sunlight. Create a very personal souvenir as you go in search of the northern lights with an art session on Bolette and Borealis; watercolour classes to help you capture the awe-inspiring night-time display are held aboard both ships in the Olsen Art Studio.
You’ll need to remove them when going indoors or on the ship, but they will keep you steady on the snow and ice. Yet the longer you spend watching a display unfold, the more you will appreciate the movement, and the pulsing colors. After a few minutes, you’ll begin to understand all the myths and legends that are linked to the aurora from various cultures around the world. Although cameras with a long exposure pick out the vibrant colors, many people complain that an aurora sighting looks milky, or in the cases of some weaker displays, like a cloud. Modern cameras are so much better at detecting light and especially color at night than the human eye.
The Restaurant - this is another sit-down restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We went once or twice on ocean days as it was on a lower deck and better for motion sickness. If you like seafood, at dinner there were always steamed king crab legs, freshly made sushi, and on various days there were scallops, soft shell crabs, British style Fish n Chips, Norwegian Salmon, Lobster, and much more. Like all the other ocean class ships, the Viking Venus is very spacious and luxurious with interesting artwork displayed throughout the ship.
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