The vessel was scheduled to arrive in Tromsø shortly before midnight. We had to check out of our cabin around 8 pm so that housekeeping could have the chance to clean the cabin for the next guests. Mom and I stood outside as it didn’t get dark, taking in the views while approaching Tromsø.
In the afternoon, we said our farewells to Trond, and he thanked us for being his guests. I cannot thank him enough for enabling us to approach this natural, cultural, and historical landscape. After he dropped us off at our hotel in Vardø, Mom and I explored Vardø once more and went to the Tourist Information booth to organize the trip to Hornøya. This tiny island, situated in the rough sea a quick boat ride off Vardø, is a protected nature reserve and temporary home to 80,000 seabirds such as puffins, Common Guillemot, Kittiwake, and Razorbill.
In the afternoon, we said our farewells to Trond, and he thanked us for being his guests. I cannot thank him enough for enabling us to approach this natural, cultural, and historical landscape. After he dropped us off at our hotel in Vardø, Mom and I explored Vardø once more and went to the Tourist Information booth to organize the trip to Hornøya. This tiny island, situated in the rough sea a quick boat ride off Vardø, is a protected nature reserve and temporary home to 80,000 seabirds such as puffins, Common Guillemot, Kittiwake, and Razorbill.
Taking a boat of the classic Hurtigruten also was way out of reach because I always thought it is a posh and therefore expensive way of traveling cruise-ship-style along the Norwegian coast. It is, multi-day packages are expensive, yes, you’d get served reindeer and even whale beef if you want.
The first cherry is me taking a boat of the Hurtigruten which is a Norwegian public coastal route. Boats run either south, from Kirkenes to Bergen or the other way round. In total, it takes a little over a week to cover the whole distance. This route is legendary and a lot of people book the whole package including a cabin and pretty fancy meals. But you can also book harbor-to-harbor tickets without any frills that only cost a fraction of the package price. I boarded the vessel in Vardø, southbound to Honningsvåg.