travel on the Geirangerfjord

Something's up. The Geirangerfiord is only about ten miles long and runs seaward from Geiranger empting into the larger fiord complex. The Geirangerfiord's where the steepest walls are with all the waterfalls. Alsesund's out on a little island barely shelted from the sea. A wild quess is that it's fifty miles from Geiranger by water. Figuring a boat makes ten or fifteen per, I don't really see how it can get into Geirangerfiord and back in one day. What I'd do is start from Geiranger and take the longest cruise that your pocketbook can afford in order to see the most. The steepness of the walls makes them beat either the fiords of Chile or New Zealand in that respect. If Randy stumbles along, he posted something a few years back about doing part of it by ferry at a pretty hefty savings - - I never quite understood how that worked.

Jinny, It has been a while (late 90s), but I figure scenery doesn't really change. I did this as part of a driving trip. We drove from Andalsnes along the trollstigen road (wow) and then took the ferry between Geiranger and Hellesylt. I think we finished that day in Stryn (not a planned stop but it was dark and we saw a sign renting a room there along the road). If time permits, I agree with Ed that a longer trip would be great, but even the short trip on the ferry between Geiranger and Hellesylt is pretty spectacular.

I took a day trip from Alesund to Geirangerfjord on a fast boat. I don't recall the exact details, but I think we departed around 9:00 am. We had lunch on the boat at Geiranger and had a leisurely stroll around the little town. We were back in Alesund in time for cocktails. The trip was arranged for a group I was with, so I didn't know who the operator was. It was a fine day.

Thanks Ed... There are lots of boats doing the Geirangerfjord because it is, I think, the best fjord to see commonly available for tourists. Many are "cruise" boats in the sense that they exist to serve tourists, and they are pricey. However, there is also a local ferry - a perfectly nice, good sized boat - that at least in part, serves the locals and those trying to get their cars out of Geiranger to the west the simplest way possible. This ferry travels exactly the same water and shows you exactly the same sights as the "cruise" boats, at much lower cost. I'd guess it departs about every 2 hours or so. It connects with the tiny but cute village of Hellesylt to the west and then comes back. You can either do it round-trip from either Geiranger or Hellesylt or one way with a car. You can also use public transport and bus into Geiranger from the amazing Trollstiegen road from Åndalsnes and/or bus from Hellesylt to Ålesund. We did both buses. Åndalsnes is pretty in a low-key, rural way with low mountains nearby. Ålesund is much larger, but charming and very interesting to walk around with all the c.1900 art nouveau architecture. Ed is correct that the main fjord experience is along the small finger of the fjord between Geiranger and Hellesylt. As the fjord widens and gets closer to the coast, the edges are no longer dramatic cliffs, but just steep rolling hills and it feels like you're just on a very wide river. So a cruise from Ålesund to Geiranger - however long it was - would have a very long segment that wasn't very interesting before you reached the good part. Happy travels!

Thanks, everybody. Your comments are very helpful. I'm sure we'll find something that works.