Hurtigrugen passage north vs southbound

Doesn’t the Express stop at the same ports north and southbound?

Doesn’t the Express stop at the same ports north and southbound?

No, the service stops at one more port northbound than it does southbound - Vadsø (the port before Kirkenes, a 15 minute call at Breakfast time).
But the point is that daytime calls northbound are night time calls southbound and vice versa. So whichever way you do it as a one way voyage you are missing half the experience.
Although with the very long summer nights in the north that is somewhat less of a concern in May/June.

In May northbound, after Ålesund you sail into the Hjørundfjorden, in June into the Geirangerfjorden.

Many consider the former to be the better fjord, but the latter is the one in all the tourist guidebooks. As the Hjørundfjorden is a shorter sailing time it means that you also get plenty of time to explore Ålesund afterwards (southbound Ålesund is a midnight call). In the summer with the Geirangerfjorden you have no time to explore Ålesund, especially if you take the bus excursion from Geiranger which takes you back to the ship further north at Molde.

It is only northbound that you get to visit the North Cape.

But for instance it is only on the Southbound voyage that you get to see the Hurtigruten Museum, and understand the history behind the service.

Which direction depends on your interests. We did the Southbound journey from Kirkenes to Bergen in May 2023.

We chose that route for several reasons. At the time, the ship did not enter the Geirangerfjord on the Northbound trip. We were hoping we would be able to sail into the very narrow Trollfjord on the Southbound journey, but, unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. And we wanted the better timing for the Lofoten Islands that the Southbound route provided.

Also, consider the rest of your Norway trip. After a few days in Bergen we did a DIY Norway in a Nutshell on the way to Oslo. This gave us the dramatic Naeroyfjord. And after a couple days in Oslo we flew to beautiful Ålesund for several days. This allowed us to cruise the Geirangerfjord and also travel the Trollstigen.

I did it both directions. You're smart to do one direction only. However, there were excursions I enjoyed both directions. Northbound had the sailing through Geirangerfjord and the excursion to Trollstigen. Also a fun RIB boat excursions at Bodø. Southbound there was a hike along the beach on the Lofoten Islands and another one at Torghatten. These were highlights.

My photo album from the trip is at https://photos.app.goo.gl/MzovGuvNDzXjgHyFA. Perhaps seeing my photos will help you pick?

I just returned from the "round voyage," both directions. All the stops are at ports, but some of them are very small and for only a few minutes. And some are in the middle of the night. But, as noted above, the nighttime stops northbound become daytime stops southbound and vice versa. In May-June the "nighttime" is short, but still you gotta sleep sometime.

I went with Havila, which offered a lot of excursions where you got off at one stop, then did something on land or in a smaller boat, and reboarded at a later stop. Some of the excursions are bus rides with interesting stops, others involve hiking, RIB boats, and other more challenging activities. What's a "nature stop" is in the eye of the beholder. But, as I understand the scheduling, only the northbound trips go deep into the fjords from Alesund. I expect the Hurtigruten line, which does the same route, offers the same excursions.

I'd recommend the northbound voyage for the big fjord (Geiranger or the other one) and more daytime in Trondheim and Tromso. But, as noted above, you get more daytime exposure to the Lofotens southbound. I'm glad I didn't have to choose. PM me if you want more detail.

Has anyone done the Port to Port by Hurtigruten, where you create your own itinerary? What was your experience and advice?

I did look into the Port to Port with Hurtigruten, but, logistically the full one way Coastal Cruise worked out better for us

With the Port to Port, you can only book 6 months in advance. For trips longer than 23 hours, booking a cabin is mandatory. However, you can only choose your cabin category, not the location. Meals aren't included in your cruise fare. You can purchase half or full board or ala carte. There is a regular dining room and a more casual restaurant on board. You can also bring your own picnic.

Hurtigruten usually has a good Black Friday sale for the full Northbound, Southbound and roundtrip journeys.

The Port to Port works well for short to medium distance bookings, where you can even turn up at the port and book for immediate departure- doing what the service was originally designed to do, to carry local passengers going about their daily lives.

So for instance there should never be problems in turning up and booking the first night Bergen to (say) Maloy (unberthed in a seat).

But for longer distances (say Bergen to Trondheim), where a berth is required, that is much trickier because the international cruise passengers have taken all the cabins.

Also for long distances, because you have to pay extra for meals, it can actually work out cheaper to take either a full one way or round trip cruise, or say one of the shorter packaged cruise segments (like Bergen to Trondheim or Tromso to Trondheim).

I can remember well when being an international round trip cruise passenger was the exception, not the rule- a time when there wasn't even a passenger terminal at Bergen- you just arrived quayside and walked up the gangway.