We are planning a family trip to Norway for August 2023. I am having a hard time finding more detailed info on Nigardsbreen. Our young adult kids would like to do one of the hikes on the glacier, but I am not sure my husband and I would do well. Since everyone is tied together, we wouldn’t want to hold up the group. These are my questions. Where do the hikes on the ice begin? Could we both take the boat across the lake together and then we would take the hike to the base of the glacier, and they would go on the glacier hike? How hard is the hike from the boat drop off to the base of the glacier. I have read there are rope bridges and a good chance of walking through water. Is that on the hike to the base of the glacier from the boat dock or is that part of a longer walk? Is there parking at the boat dock? I hope these questions are clear. If you have any other helpful insight to help us plan, I would appreciate your help. We are just starting to plan and have much left to learn. Thank you!
Posted by
1598 posts
We visited NIgardsbreen in 2015 so my information may be a little outdated. For example, there wasn't a boat ride then and there were only two hikes offered, a family hike and the long hike. My husband and adult daughter did the long hike. Because of a torn meniscus I did not do the hike. I did walk from the visitor center to the area where you gear up - it's a fairly long but level graveled path. The guide offered to let me walk to the base of the glacier with the group but I declined, it would still have been a problem with my knee. I did meet a middle-aged woman who did the family hike and she said it was pretty much at the limit of her abilities. My husband and daughter's group were the first of the season to get to the ice caves. It was probably because my daughter (the only female in the group) was an all-American distance runner and the men felt like they had to keep up. :-) The guides put who they believe to be the slowest at the front of the rope line.
Even in 2015 the glacier's recession was obvious so it would not surprise me if there was a fair amount of standing water. You do gear up with boots and crampons so I would expect you'd remain dry.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
Thank you for your reply. It is so helpful to get someone's input who was actually there.