This is the sixth post in the Cruise of Copenhagen and the Norwegian Fjords series. Other posts in this series include Restaurant Karla Copenhagen, Restaurant Relae, Pulpit Rock, Stavanger, Norway, and Bergen Norway.
Welcome to Alesund Norway, Stop number four of our cruise of the Norwegian fjords.
Alesund is a port town right at the edge of one of the most famous fjords in Norway, Geirangerfjorden (I will have a separate post dedicated to our visit to that fjord!). A lot of visitors will stay in this quaint town as a starting point for exploring hikes in the surrounding mountains, fjords like Geirangerfjorden, and local festivals.
One of my favorite parts of a fjords cruise is to wake up every morning to approaching land and houses from our next destination. I highly recommend getting an ocean view room if possible for a cruise like this. It makes so much of a difference because the views out the window are really stunning (plus the rooms are less stuffy since you can open the windows and let in fresh air!).
I think I took all these photos from our cruise ship balcony. So pretty, so serene, and so magical.
Alesund is cute and quite walkable. We explored the path along a canal and enjoyed looking at the colorful houses that lined the way.
One of the most popular quick "hikes" to do at Alesund is to climb the 418 stairs to the Fjellstua Viewpoint on Aksla Mountain.
If you don't want to do the climb, you can also take a car or purchase tickets to any number of hop-on-hop-off tour buses that go up there. There's a small cafe at the top that sells coffee, snacks, and other drinks. Enjoy a cold beer or a cappuccino while taking in the impressive views.
The panorama views are incredible. You can see the entire city as well as surrounding mountains and other islands. It's really breathtaking.
There's the canal we were walking on earlier!
Hello Alesund!
After climbing the 418 steps, we met Bryan's parents at the top (they took the bus). We then all descended it together.
We also visited the Sunnmoere Museum, an open-air museum with 55 historic Norwegian houses as well as a nice collection of Viking ships (very cool). It's a great place to visit if you feel like walking, since the historic houses all sit along a large lake. I loved the cool grass-covered rooftops!
One of the nicest surprises of the trip was a rainbow sighting in the late afternoon. It had been raining on and off most of the day (though that did not deter us from any of the outdoor activities!). It was so special to see the sun finally come out plus this gorgeous rainbow.
The rainbow's existence was fleeting and short. Soon, I was left with just a view of the patrol boat and a large cruise ship.
It was time to go. We headed back to the ship, ready to explore Geirangerfjorden the next day.
