Reiseverlauf

Welcome to your gastronomic voyage along Norway’s beautiful coast – both on land and sea. Culinary delights await you on board and at each port of call. With exceptional food and drink from our local suppliers along the route, it’s a celebration of Norway’s Coastal Kitchen, and an homage to some of the freshest and most delicious cuisine this region offers.   If you have time before your ship departs, Bergen has plenty of things to see … and taste. Take in the UNESCO-listed wharfs of the colourful Bryggen district with its artisan shops and cobblestone streets. Just across the street is the famous fish market and the well-known Fjellskål restaurant which serves exquisite freshly caught seafood. Try a traditional ryebread open sandwich – or smørrebrød – ideal with smoked wild salmon, dill and poached eggs.    Upon boarding, to get your journey off to the perfect start we offer you a sail-away toast and a platter of shellfish harvested from the pristine fjords around Bergen. The city is sometime called the ‘gateway to the fjords’ and as we set sail you’ll see how rich it is in natural beauty, and why its mountains, forests, small farms and waters offer such an abundance of culinary delights.  Afterwards, why not drop in at the bar and sample a few of our curated locally crafted beverages as you chat to fellow guests – your culinary adventure has begun.   

Today begins with breakfast in Kysten, your ship’s top-tier restaurant. Afterwards there will be an opportunity to learn about and sample Norwegian bacalao on deck. This salted cod is a speciality of Norway, although it’s commonly known by its Spanish name, in Norway it’s known as clipfish and is traditionally dried out on rocks down at the shoreline.   Ålesund is a colourful and vibrant university town famed for its Art Nouveau architecture – it really doesn’t look like anywhere else in Norway. Here, on board the ship, we will get the opportunity to taste some of the products from Feddie Ocean Distillery – a unique venture founded and run solely by women on the tiny island of Fedje. The organic spirits they produce include blended and single malt whiskies, botanical gins and traditional aquavit – definitely a highlight for connoisseurs of artisanal spirits.  Later, you’ll enjoy a dinner that features a five-course menu, with many ingredients harvested from and grown in the surrounding fjords and mountains. The meal is paired with selected wines, as well as curated ciders and beers. After dinner, why not indulge in another cocktail in the Explorer Lounge & Bar, or go out on deck for some fresh air and the chance to watch the landscape slowly glide past. 

Trøndelag is the region we now find ourselves sailing through; one of the most fertile areas of Norway and a paradise for foodies. The diverse landscapes of mountains, rivers and mineral-rich soils make it a centre for quality meats, seafoods, vegetables and organic cheeses. So rich, in fact, is its culinary heritage – which stretches back to the time of the Vikings that in 2022 Condé Nast Traveler magazine named it in the top three food destinations anywhere in the world. What’s more, the scenery here on the Helgeland coast is as inspiring as it is beautiful – you won’t want to take your eyes off it.  Our lunch today will be inspired by Trøndelag’s bounty, and afterwards there will be an opportunity to learn about Sámi cooking from one of our top chefs. The Sámi are a semi-nomadic people who live in northern Scandinavia, famed for their reindeer herding and living close to nature. With our very own Sámi Culinary Ambassador, we are able to showcase their foods, giving you an opportunity to taste fully authentic Sámi cuisine during this evening’s four-course meal.   Another treat comes in the form of afternoon tea, accompanied by our very own Havets Bobler. Meaning ‘Bubbles from the Sea’, this truly unique sparkling wine has been created exclusively for Hurtigruten by Rathfinny, and sea-aged at the bottom of a fjord in Norway’s Arctic. The location of the fjord is a closely guarded secret, but it’s no secret that Havets Bobler, with its rich palate of citrus, apricots and cream, is a sparkling wine like no other.  

Today we leave our ship behind and begin the overland stage of our culinary adventure. After lunch, we step ashore and head off on an adventure to the magical Lofoten Islands, where we will be staying at an extraordinary farm.  Myklevik Gård, situated just outside Stamsund, is a small farm with a big heart. It was here that its visionaries Åshild and Gisle put down roots, so to speak, creating an ecological and biodynamic farm where most things are done by hand instead of using machinery. They are long-term friends of Hurtigruten and are helping us on our journey towards zero food waste. Our ships bring excess food here, and it’s fed into a system that turns the waste into rich compost – which is then used to grow fresh organic produce for us.   This evening, we will be Åshild and Gisle’s guests. After a tour of the land, where you’ll learn about the close-to-nature horticulture they follow, we’ll sit down to a family dinner together and savour some fine dishes prepared using the produce grown, foraged and prepared right here on the farm. We are in for a real treat, and after dinner we’ll go to our accommodation for the night in Stamsund. 

Our adventure in the extraordinary beauty of the Lofoten Islands continues as we pay homage to one of the most nutritious, sustainable and tasty plants on the planet: seaweed. There are around 500 different types of seaweed growing around Norway’s coast, and founders of Lofoten Seaweed, Angelita and Tamara, aim to make you fall in love with this most oceanic of delicacies. While Angelita is from and grew up in Lofoten, Tamara hails from New Zealand, and her Japanese mother taught her how to bring out the umami in seaweed using time-honoured techniques.  We’ll enjoy a presentation about the many delights of seaweed and you’ll learn the fascinating story of how Lofoten Seaweed grew from being a bold idea of two young women to a supplier of seaweed-based products and ingredients to Michelin star restaurants across Europe. You’ll get the chance to get creative with seaweed, whether that’s foraging for some at the shoreline if tidal conditions are right, or preparing some on land if they aren’t. There then follows a seaweed inspired lunch, during which you’ll taste unique combinations and flavours.  Afterwards, we travel to Kvitnes Gård, an inspiring and peaceful farm which is also where we’ll be staying for the night. Following a guided tour of the farm, we’ll be treated to some of its outstanding gourmet Nordic fare when dinner is served with a full drinks package. After today’s health boost from the mineral-rich seaweed, and with full stomachs, you’ll enjoy a cosy night’s rest in beautiful accommodation. In the morning there’ll be a fantastic breakfast made by our welcoming hosts.  

The adventure north continues, and today we’ll be journeying along a pathway between heaven and earth as we seek out the world’s northernmost whisky distillery. Biv and rost are ancient Norse words that mean “The Shaking Road”, a Viking term for the Northern Lights – those shimmering celestial patterns that were believed to lead mortal men to Asgard. And it’s at the Bivrost distillery where we’ll sample some premium spirits that even the ancient gods would likely approve of.   Their Aurora Spirit distillery produces famous Norwegian whiskies, as well as other spirits including vodka, gin and aquavit. Many of their products are made using wild berries, herbs and other Arctic ingredients foraged from the surrounding landscape, giving them their delicate yet distinctive tastes.   We’ll go on a tour of the distillery with one of the owners or their knowledgeable staff, and learn about the old Viking drinking customs, as well as modern production methods. Afterwards, there will be a ‘surprise from the sea’. We don’t want to reveal too much about this – after all it is surprise – but know that it’ll be a unique experience that you’ll want to tell your friends about afterwards!  Dinner today will be a three-course meal with cask whisky tastings, and afterwards we will spend the night in Aurora Distillery’s Scandi-chic shoreside cabins. The area we are now in is the Lyngen Alps, one of the most beautiful and tranquil regions in all of Norway, and you’ll awake to some of the most awe-inspiring scenery imaginable.  

It’s the final day of our gastronomic adventure into the heart and soul of Norway, but don’t be too sad as today is also a celebration. We’ll be visiting family-run Mack, the northernmost brewery in the world founded in 1877. and Its famous beers are brewed with pure water from the nearby Lyngen Alps. Just like others you have met on this journey, Mack are friends of Hurtigruten, and our co-operation goes back an incredible 127 years! They even brew our exclusive onboard beer, Iconic IPA.   We’ll get a tour of Mack’s brewery, and there will be a presentation about its history and how their founder, Ludwig Markus Mack launched his brand of beer that has become synonymous with quality Norwegian ales. Naturally, there will be a tasting of some of these fine brews.  A sandwich lunch follows, and this will feature two types of our special signature bread. We think this will be a fitting finale to our special tour taking in some of the places in Norway we hold dear to our hearts. Along the way you will have dined on the finest food, tasted drinks that are fit for future legends, heard some extraordinary stories about passion and creativity, and made some friends for life with whom to raise your glass. Skål!