Olden from Cruise Ship
Olden Shore Excursions – Olden Adventure
I booked two Olden Shore Excursions with Olden Adventure: the Briksdal Glacier Troll Cars and the Loen Skylift with Transfer. Olden Adventure is a great option for cruise ship passengers who want to see the Briksdal Glacier. Unlike many cruise ports, Olden hasn’t granted the cruise lines a monopoly on excursions. You can book the identical shore excursion for about half the price and Olden Adventure is extremely well organized.
Discovering at the last minute that it would be necessary to tender ashore ended up being a very unpleasant twist. We waited almost an hour and a half for a tender and only arrived on shore for our first excursion with 10 minutes to spare.
Olden Shore Excursions – Getting to Briksdal Glacier
Olden Adventure streamlined the process of getting to Briksdal Glacier perfectly. Since we arrived by tender, they had set up a booth right beside the tender pier and it was easy claim our boarding ticket to the bus. The bus also boarded at the tender pier, which was great.
Our Amazing Guide
The weather was much the same as it had been in Eidfjord. We had drizzle, clouds obscuring the mountain peaks and glimpses of significantly more snow at higher elevations. The ride to Briksdal took about a half hour as it hugged the shores of several lakes. I really appreciated how excellent our guide was. She had grown up in the valley we were driving through and she had all kinds of interesting stories about her childhood.
Volefossen near Briksdal Glacier
Our guide also explained that the local farmers, who originally built the original road to Briksdal many years ago, were now in charge of tourism to the site as a result. They had even designed the “Troll Cars” we would be riding. The cars were made from tractor engines and a unique seating arrangement that accommodated 8 riders on each troll car. It was nice to see a local community benefitting from tourism instead of a multi national corporation.
Olden Shore Excursions – The Briksdal Troll Cars
After the bus ride, our group transferred to the Troll Cars. You could also book the tour without the troll cars, but then you would need to walk almost an hour, including some steep switch backs, in order to reach the viewpoint. So, the Troll Cars were more than worth the extra expense through saved time and energy. Plus you get the added enjoyment of riding these unique vehicles.
Briksdal Glacier and Glacial Pond
You get to spend about 15 minutes at the small glacial lake viewpoint at the foot of the glacier. The glacier has been receding rapidly and is not very big any more. If you visit Briksdal, plan to go for the Troll Car ride option. The highlight is riding over the bridge at the base of a very active and unique waterfall, followed by the hair pin turns up the very steep single lane road designed only for the Troll Cars. Lots of fun!
Olden Shore Excursions – Loen Skylift
After our Troll Car ride, the bus returned us to Olden and we continued on a short shuttle ride to the Loen Skylift. Again Olden Adventure was on top of their game. Tickets they had provided us earlier in the day at the tender pier were all we needed to open the gate at the gondola entrance. The ride up had amazing views, but right at the summit station, the clouds kicked in to obscure the final view.
Nordfjord View at Olden
Norway – Just Like the Photos
Back on the ship we had a little time left before our departure from Olden and the weather decided to show us the picture post card version of Norway that you see in all the travel brochures. The sun lit up the mountain beside us, turning the fields a lush green, the farm houses a bright red, and the peaks capped white. What a pleasant end to our visit to Olden.
