Olden, Norway

The cruise in and out - all 60 miles of it each way is one of the highlights of a trip to Norway - with a rather small village the apparent reward - and we were a bit wary as we had been here last year and felt that the Birksdal Glacier was a seriously sad disappointment given how much it has shrunk.... but WOW - the Queen of Norway opened up a brand new option this year ...... the Loen Skylift. The Loen SkyLift is simply brilliant - expensive but brilliant. Why? 1. Only 10 minute coach transfer 2. Takes you 990m up! That is over 3,000ft above sea level (nearly as high as Snowdon) in 7 minutes in a beautiful Cable Car. 3. Stunning views are your reward from an amazing viewing station - across the surrounding landscape including the Nordfjord, and the glacier field. 4. Easy new paths enable you to walk on further up.... 5. Excellent mountain top restaurant - yes it is expensive - for two good reasons - a. Norway (it is expensive) and b. it is on top of the mountain! So whilst expensive, approx. £60 per person, it is no more expensive than most excursions, and is easy to book - simply on the quayside office.... Go for it! It simply was literally the icing on the cake for a cruise to the Norwegian fjords as it gave you a completely different perspective to that you enjoy on the ship. And oh boy does the ship look like a toy from over 3,000ft up!

Visited: Aug 12, 2017

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Had a really good day in Olden off of the Iona. We walked to the Loen Sky Lift which took an hour and a quarter and joined the queue to go up to the top. No priority was given to ‘ship excursions’ so those persons found themselves behind us in wait to go up. Once up to the summit the ‘ship excursion’ passengers pretty much had to go straight back down whilst we stayed at the summit for a good 2 hours. 2 hot chocolates and 2 cinnamon twirls in the summit cafe cost £17 but the view made up for it. Once back down we caught the shuttle bus back to the ship, off loaded our ‘winter wear’ onboard and then disembarked again for a wander around the town in the sun. All in all a great day was had 👍

Probably the nicest, friendliest and cleanest places I’ve ever visited, we did an excursion which was excellent and had a wonderful stroll around the place! Highly recommended.

My favourite port in Norway. Excellent walking/hiking with maps provided free at dockside. Wish we'd had longer to venture a little further. Really beautiful area.

Breathtaking place with beautiful nature. We took a walk to the red church which took around 20 minutes. On the way there we saw a beautiful river and little bridges. It's a wonderful hike if you like walking and exploring.