Geiranger

Geirangerfjord! My original destination in Norway💕. I have no idea why, but I've always wanted to come here. Maybe I saw a report on TV or photos from other tourists. In any case, this has always been the epitome of Norway for me, even though I didn't know exactly where it is located🤣.

Of course, the fjord is well-known for the large cruise ships that enter here, which is not without controversy. We were curious, though. We booked the ferry online the night before, which was a good idea because it was full and we wouldn't have gotten on without a reservation. The ride cost about €150 for our motorhome and us, and lasted about an hour. The weather was superb again☀️☀️☀️, so we were able to stand on the deck and enjoy the ride.

Rugged, snow-covered mountains and waterfalls everywhere 🥰. For example, there were the "Seven Sisters" on the left and the "Suitor" on the right. Truly beautiful! When we turned the last corner, we could already see the harbor where the "Norwegian Prima" was anchored. The campground is right next to it.

It's impressive when you have a floating skyscraper 🛳️ right in front of you. I'm certainly not a fan of cruises (we're campers after all 😉) and I have reservations about this type of vacation in terms of environmental impact and local infrastructure, but the large ships are still fascinating. The one picture gives you a good idea of the proportions: The "small" ship next to the 🛳️ is the car ferry we came on (along with our "small" motorhome) 🙃.

The small town of Geiranger consists of the harbor, the campground, a supermarket, a few restaurants and ice cream stands, and many, many souvenir shops. It's clearly geared towards the cruise ship passengers who disembark from the big ship in droves (more than 3,000 passengers were on board the Norwegian Prima) and then transfer to tour buses or take a RIB boat tour, etc. The small town quickly becomes quite crowded.

When it's dinner time on the ship in the evening, whoosh, suddenly everything is empty again. The "little boat" was supposed to leave the harbor at 10 p.m. We naturally wanted to witness this spectacle. Watching a colossus reverse out of a parking spot is not an everyday opportunity! It took less than 20 minutes for the ship to back up, turn around, and disappear😳.

What really surprised me in a positive way was that the engine was pretty quiet and the (visible) exhaust fumes were limited. I actually expected a lot of noise and fog. It's nice to be able to dispel prejudices sometimes.

We managed to get a nice spot towards the back at the campground. They don't take reservations and the front row with a view of the fjord was naturally occupied. But it wasn't a big deal, it's quieter in the back anyway (or so we thought). We didn't expect the thundering of the large waterfall behind us 😂. But hey, why bother with conversation when you have so much nature around you 💦.

Today we experienced the town again without the cruise ship passengers. Unfortunately, some shops/restaurants were closed as well. I guess it's not worth it for regular tourists. Our plan to have a nice dinner didn't work out, so we ended up having fries to-go (which were actually delicious) and ice cream 🍦.

Tomorrow morning we're heading to Trollstigen 😬