A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE The World´s Most Beautiful Voyage is a voyage like no other. Nothing can compare with it, just ask one of our passengers. Nothing about this journey will resemble anything you have ever experienced before. A ticket for the Coastal Steamer is a ticket to the theatre, an 11-day drama in which new acts constantly unfold all around you. See a live camera onboard every ship. Every day, 365 days a year, a Coastal Steamer ship leaves Bergen for Kirkenes. The World´s Most Beautiful Voyage offers a unique combination of peace of mind, comfort, and service on board, coupled with constantly renewed impressions of the scenery through which you sail and the harbours you visit. You will witness tender goodbyes on the quayside next to forklifts loaded with cargo. See simple, weather-beaten villages where you wouldn´t have thought it possible that anyone could live. All 11 ships are decorates with art from well known artists. Each ship has its own style, and therefore we recomend you to visit all our floating galleries. Among artists that have decorated the ships, we can mention Kaare Espolin Johnson, Karl Erik Harr and Frans Widerberg. RAFTSUNDET Sail through the spectacular, narrow Raftsundet strait and pass the magnificent Trollfjord. The entrance is 300 feet wide. The north wall is over 1,000 feet high, capped by ever-ascending mountain peaks that level off to form an ice field. The south wall is lower but meager only by comparison. The length of the glacial rent is a mile long and it opens up into a small round bay, maybe a half mile in circumference. Inside the fjord, the boat will be able to idle so close to the mountain walls that you may literally reach out and touch them. The Coastal Steamer don´t go into Trollfjord until most of the snow melts, becouse of Avalanches! If this trip is made at night between the end of May and middle of July, you will be able to see the midnight sun. During the summer season, both the northbound and southbound Coastal Steamer ships pay a visit to the Trollfjord. You can admire the rugged mountainous landscape jutting up on the horizon. You travel between coral reefs, sunken rocks, skerries and shallow sand bars into the Raftsund Strait, which opens before us - a contrast of green grassy hillsides and jagged mountain peaks. Steep escarpments in the distance and a sparkling, murky green ocean. The west side of Raftsundet is a mountain range called the Raftsundet Alps, and strech up to 1200 meters above sea level. The Trollfjord slices right into these mountains. On the east side there are lower mountains and moorland particularly appropriate for hiking trips, ans suitable for children as well as grown-ups. Along the Raftsundet, the fishing is good, both from land and from boats. Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskap, a relatively young steamship company based in Stokmarknes, took up the challenge. For some time, Captain Richard With and his pilots had been keeping accurate notes on courses, speeds and times taken to sail the route and felt that the service would be viable. On 18th May 1893, the government entered into a 4-year contract with Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskap, providing the company with the backing for a weekly sailing between Trondheim and Hammerfest during the summer and Trondheim and Tromsø during the winter. There were nine ports of call on the route. In Stokmarknes you will find Hurtigrutemuseet. Specialty museum of the history of the Coastal Steamer. Interpretation centre with ship models, films and slide shows. SEASONS No matter what time of year you travel the natural light plays an important role, dramatising the scenery and enhancing the experience. During the winter months a quiet, atmospheric darkness prevails, penetrated by warm embers of light from navigation beacons, clusters of houses and towns along the shore. If conditions are suitable the night sky will be illuminated by the fluorescent Northern Lights dancing on their black stage. During the summer months the sun works overtime. It forces winter to retreat, puts green leaves back onto the bare trees, renews the colours of the fields and meadows, makes the sea sparkle and creates evocative shadows over the landscape... practically 24 hours a day. PORT TO PORT From port to port just as you choose Hurtigruten has for a long time been one of the most important means of transportation along the Norwegian coast, and remains so today. The ships are equipped with the latest technology and they convey their passengers safely and comfortably to their chosen destinations throughout the year. If you want to travel anywhere along our twisting, rugged coastline, it is wise to check the Hurtigruten timetable first. We call in at 34 ports, and it can often be simpler to choose a Hurtigruten ship rather than plane, car, or train plus overnight hotels etc. If you are going to a meeting, for example, Hurtigruten often provides the ideal travel option, combining transport, accommodation and the chance to do some work on the way. You can also bring your car on the ship, and have a good night´s sleep and a meal instead of driving an uncomfortable distance. Discover sheltered, charming fishing villages under the Midnight Sun in the summer, and the spectacular night skies with dancing veils of Northern Lights in the winter. In large towns like Bergen, Trondheim, Bodø and Tromsø with its impressive Arctic Cathedral (Ishavskatedralen), you will find art and culture, tourist attractions and shopping to satisfy your every need. The World´s Most Beautiful Voyage is an awe-inspiring, spectacle of nature at close quarters. You´ll hear sounds you´ve never heard before, see imposing scenery the like of which you´ve never imagined, meet new people, and have feelings you have never experienced. Quite simply, this journey is: The World´s Most Beautiful Voyage.