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Day 1: Bergen
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Bergen is the bustling capital of Norway's fjord district. If you arrive a few hours before departure, stroll around the old wooden buildings in the Bryggen Wharf, remnants of its Hanseatic past. In travel's early days, it was easier to get from Bergen to the Continent by sea than it was to get to Oslo-a fact apparent in this city's architecture and culture. You board the Norwegian Coastal Voyage as from 4 PM. You will have access to your cabin from 6 PM and the restaurant opens at 6.30 PM. On this cruise, full board is included, which means breakfast buffet, lunch buffet and a three-course meal at dinner, except for the first evening when a rich welcome dinner buffet will be served.
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Day 4: Nesna - Ørnes - Bodø - Stamsund - Svolvær
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Today you'll cross the Arctic Circle. Of course you can't actually see the line, but on your portside, the globe on the island of Vikingen serves as a marker. There are spectacular sites ahead: islands and skerries with majestic rock formations, whose origins are the stuff of legend. After Bodø, the ship heads out to open sea for the Lofoten Islands with their picturesque cabins on stilts and weathered wooden racks with drying cod. In the evening, she'll navigate the narrow Raftsund Strait, passing the looming crags of the Trollfjord.
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Day 7 : Kirkenes
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You will arrive at Kirkenes, the northern terminus and turning point of the voyage, at 9.45 AM. We recommend an excursion to the Russian border. After a few hours docked at Kirkenes, the ship will depart upon the southbound half of her voyage, calling during the day at ports passed at night on the trip northward. Crossing Varangerfjord, Norway's only east-facing fjord and a fabled bird-watching site, you'll arrive in Vardo, the easternmost point of the country. Next the ship will round the Varanger peninsula, where archaeologists excavated a community believed to date from 9000 BC.
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Day 10: Svolvær - Bodø - Ørnes - Nesna - Sandnessjøen
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From Ørnes, you will travel through crystalline waters, filled with spawning cod from January to April, and go by lush agricultural fields. Nearly every towering peak you'll see is associated with a local legend. Crossing the Arctic Circle once again, you'll pass the idyllic island of Sandnessjøen. On the approach to Brønnøysund, which you reach this afternoon, you'll spy the mythical Seven Sisters Mountains. Make sure you're on deck when the ship departs Brønnøysund, and you'll be impressed by the captain's steady hand! Today's last port of call will be Rørvik.
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Day 2: Ålesund - Geiranger - Molde -K ristiansund
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When you awake, the ship will be crossing the open Stadthavet and heading for Torvik. En route, you'll stop in the beautiful Art Nouveau town of Ålesund. Between 15 April and 14 September, all ships call at Geiranger in the Geirangerfjord, a Unesco World Heritage site, to see the beautiful Brudesloret, Friaren, and the Seven Sisters waterfalls. After a call at Molde, its magnificent view of the Romsdal Alps made it a favorite vacation spot of Henrik Ibsen. The ship will carefully navigate the Hustadvika, a belt of islets and skerries, before docking at Kristiansund.
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Day 5: Tromsø
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This morning you'll pass the medieval Trondenes church before calling at Harstad for breakfast. Afterward, you'll sail across the Vagsfjord past the great island of Senja with its diverse countryside of farmland, pine trees, and plunging peaks. Later you'll stop at Tromsø, the "Paris of the North". In the 19th century, Russian, British, Dutch, and German ships called here before heading off on Arctic expeditions for hunting whales, walruses and seals.
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Day 8: Honningsvåg - Hammerfest - Tromsø
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The ship arrives at Honningsvåg in the early morning, when you have a second possibility of visiting the North Cape. After calling at Havøysund, she will stop in Hammerfest, the world's most northerly town. Despite its remote location, it was the first Norwegian town to have electric street lighting and its own power station. She then heads south to Øksfjord, whose glacier calves directly into the sea. You'll dock in Tromsø just in time to savor its nightlife.
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Day 11: Trondheim - Kristiansund - Molde
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We arrive in Trondheim early, with plenty of time to visit Norway's largest medieval church, Nidaros Cathedral, and the restored Archbishop's Residence. You will then sail out through the beautiful Trondheimsfjord, past Hitra, island of deer, and lonely Grip. At day's end, you will call at Molde, before arriving in Ålesund late in the evening in time for a stroll on shore.
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Day 3: Trondheim
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The ship arrives early this morning in ancient Trondheim, where you'll have time to explore this jewel of a city, Norway's first capital. Did you know that the first Viking sale of goods from "the new found land" took place here about 1000 AD? Timber from Leiv Eriksson's Vinland estate was sold to a Bremen merchant. Walk the charming streets, sit by the peaceful harbor, or cross the old city bridge to see the restored wooden buildings in Bakklandet and the great gothic cathedral of Nidaros, where the new kings of old Norway once received their official blessing.
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Day 6: Hammerfest - Havøysund - Honningsvåg
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Finnmark's landscape is austere in its beauty, teeming with wildlife. Watch for rookeries of puffins and gannets along the cliffs and pods of orca hunting for herring. After calling at Honningsvåg, the capital of the North Cape, the ship heads east toward the pretty fishing villages of Kjøllefjord, Mehamn, and Berlevåg.
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Day 9: Finnsnes - Risøyhamn - Sortland - Stokmarknes
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The island groups of Lofoten and Vesteralen have some of the most stunning scenery on this journey. Before your arrival, you'll see the captain skillfully maneuver the ship through the shallow waters of the Risoyrenna Channel, where sand banks are visible through the green water on both sides of the channel. The ship will negotiate the narrow Raftsund Strait leading into the breathtaking Trollfjord, before arriving in Svolvær and Stamsund. Later, the ship heads east across Vestfjord toward Bodø.
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Day 12: Måløy - Florø - Bergen
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During the night, the ship will call at Torvik, Måløy, and Florø. The World's Most Beautiful Voyage is drawing to a close. Yet still ahead lies mile after mile of spectacular west Norway scenery: holly trees on Svanøy, the mouth of Sognefjord, and the beautiful archipelago on the approach to Bergen.
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