Slartibartfast: Oh, yes. Did you ever go to a place - I think it was called Norway?
Arthur Dent: No. No, I didn't.
Slartibartfast: Pity. That was one of mine. Won an award, you know. Lovely crinkly edges.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
As Douglas Adams so slyly implies in the above quote, Norway has one of the most gorgeous landscapes on earth. It’s tied with Croatia for the most beautiful place I’ve been. (Croatia also has lovely crinkly edges, so I clearly have a type.) Therefore, it’s not a surprise that Norway is home to what has been voted the World's Most Beautiful Sea Voyage: the Hurtigruten.
Though it sounds like it would be a lamp from IKEA, the Hurtigruten is actually a Norwegian sea route which travels the entire length of the country, making the round trip in 11 days. Last month, Norwegian public broadcasting broadcast a live feed of the one way journey from Bergen to Kirkenes. Since many of us don’t have 134 hours to spend watching the water pass by, some clever soul compressed the video into only 5 minutes and it’s been making the rounds on the interwebs. (I find the music in the video to be a little irritating, so I recommend also playing a little bit of the Norwegian artist Ane Brun to set the mood instead.)
So very lovely. I’d love to visit Norway again and get up above the artic circle to see the midnight sun (don’t you just love how it never gets dark in the video?) I didn’t go far enough north on my visit, but the beauty of the fjords is accessible all over the country. If you don’t have the 11 days to spend on the Hurtigruten, I’d recommend the trip I did through the tour company, Norway in a Nutshell. It can be a bit touristy but there are several itineraries available to fit any type of trip you're looking to take. I chose a train and boat tour that took me from Oslo to Bergen in one day past amazing sights like this:
Sognefjord photos by Pop Culture Passport. Click to Enlarge.
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