Norway's spectacular coastline is where expedition cruising was born, and it remains one of the most rewarding small-ship destinations on Earth - towering cliffs, cascading waterfalls and, further north, genuine Arctic wilderness at Svalbard.
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This is a different trip from a mainstream Norwegian Fjords cruise: smaller ships, a genuine expedition team, and an itinerary that reaches further than the standard fjord-and-city-port circuit - combining the fjords of western Norway with the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on the same voyage, where polar bears, walrus, Arctic foxes and vast seabird colonies sit beneath the midnight sun.
If you're after a more conventional big-ship Fjords holiday with departures from UK ports, that's a different itinerary entirely - Rich covers that side of Norway too, in more depth, over at FjordsCruise.co.uk.
HX traces its own history directly to this coastline, and several Arctic operators combine Norway with a Svalbard extension.
A standard fjords cruise runs on a large mainstream ship focused on scenery and ports; this is a small expedition ship with Zodiac landings, naturalist-led excursions, and typically a Svalbard extension into genuine Arctic wilderness.
Only on a winter departure - during the midnight-sun summer season, when most expedition sailings run, the skies never get dark enough to see them.
Independent advice on small-ship Norway and Svalbard, from a CLIA Expedition Cruise Champion.
Plan My Expedition