Havila Voyages 7-day itinerary and overview (Should you take a Havila cruise up the coast of Norway?)

A Havila Coastal Voyage (or a Hurtigruten Cruise) is different from your typical oceangoing cruise ship. It’s also different from a river tour! Unlike these more well-known floating vacations, Havila and Hurtigruten spend a full week following old mail/ferry routes up (and down) the coast of Norway. On these ships, you are nearly never out of sight of land. And because Havila and Hurtigruten still operate as ferries, you stop in many ports along the way.

My family and I took a six day Havila cruise on the full route, from Bergen to Kirkenes. In this overview of the full Havila itinerary, I’ll share what ports we stopped in, what our time on board the Havila Castor was like, and a brief description of our cabins, meals and excursions.

While I don’t have experience on a Hurtigruten cruise, the itinerary and format are similar.

What a Havila cruise up the coast of Norway is like

Unlike a typical cruise, there’s no casino or entertainment on board a Havila cruise. The entertainment is out the window — the nonstop scroll of mountains, fjords, islands and picturesque port towns. In summer, you can see the scenery 24/7! In winter, the days are shorter, but you may see the Northern Lights!

Havila stops throughout the day and night. They let passengers disembark at port stops longer than about half an hour. I chose to disembark and nearly every stop that was allowed, daytime or nighttime.

You can check out my full Havila Coastal Voyage review for my impression of the whole experience.

The Havila Coastal Voyage Itinerary

If you take Havila for the full journey South to North, you start in Bergen on Day 1 and arrive in Kirkenes, on Norway’s northern coast, on Day 7. In between, the ship stops at 34 ports, including Trondheim, Svolvær (Lofoten), Tromso, and many charming smaller towns. In summer, the ship sails through the beautiful Geirangerfjord to the town of Geiranger. In winter, this stop is replaced with a stop in the pretty little town of Ålesund.

If you take Havila for the full journey North to South, you start in Kirkenes on Day 1 and arrive in Bergen on Day 6. It stops at the same ports.

Many people choose to take a round trip, either Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen (B-K-B) or Kirkenes-Bergen-Kirkenes. As much as I loved the trip, I don’t personally see any reason to do that, since you will see all the sights in the first half. We chose to fly to Oslo from Kirkenes after our one-way cruise.

You can also book shorter portions of the cruise, or even travel from one port to the next.

A Havila Coastal Voyage, day by day

Here’s a daily rundown of our seven-day Havila cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes:

Day 1: Check in at the Jektevik Terminal in Bergen, board your Havila ship, have dinner and watch the sail-away.

Day 2: The highlight (in summer) is the cruise through Geirangerfjord. We disembarked at Geiranger for an 8-hour scenic bus tour, a popular excursion. Meanwhile, the ship returned to the sea, backtracking through the long fjord, and resumed its northward journey along the coast. We rejoined the ship at Molde between 10 and 11 p.m., in time for our favorite on-deck activity: prosecco in the hot tub.

Day 3: The ship spends the morning in Trondheim, where you can see the famous Nideros Cathedral. We took one of Havila’s excursions, on a vintage tram which stopped at the cathedral briefly. In the afternoon, you pass the famous Kjeungskjær lighthouse.

Day 4: Midmorning, the crew will celebrate the crossing of the Arctic Circle by pouring a ladle of ice and water down your neck, if you let them. Then they give you a warming shot. After lunch, the ship stops at the city of Bodø, where we did a little shopping and admired public art.
At about 9 p.m., the ship stops at Svolvær, the gateway to Lofoten, a beautiful archipelago of fishing villages. Although this stop is less than one hour, do not be tempted to stay on board! Walking around Svolvær was a highlight for me; it feels like an adventure outpost flanked by dramatic mountains!
As if Svolvær isn’t enough late-night excitement, our ship also entered Trollfjord at around midnight that night. Being inside a narrow fjord, with waterfalls cascading down the walls nearly at arm’s reach, was scenic highlight of the entire trip!

Day 5: In the late morning you have a quick stop at the town of Finnsnes, and pass the island of Senja. Then after lunch, you can explor Tromsø, known as the “Capital of the North.” It’s a beautiful town to walk around, with a picturesque church downtown and a more dramatic one visible across the water. You can also ride a funicular here to get a better view.

Day 6: The ship stops at Honningsvåg for about three hours in the middle of the day, so that passengers can take the popular North Cape excursion. We skipped it and spent a blissful sojourn hiking up Honningsvåg’s hill to look down on our ship. We also visited the state liquor store and even returned to the ship to eat lunch. That evening, we disembarked Kjøllefjord to visit Davvi Siida, a really cool center for Sami crafts and culture. Then we rejoined the ship at Mehamn.

Day 7: The ship stops for a scheduled 45 minutes at 3 a.m. in Vardo, where I wish I could have disembarked to see the Steilneset Memorial Site, a famous monument to women and children burned as witches. Unfortunately, it’s too far from the terminal, and you can’t see it from the boat. (On the southbound route, the ship stops here for 55 minutes in daylight, so maybe you’d have a chance.)
At 9 a.m., the ship lands at Kirkenes. You can eat breakfast on the ship, but unless you’re doning the round trip, you have to clear out before it takes off again at 12:30 p.m.

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