We’re always keen to head off on an excursion to see some bit of history or an interesting example of architecture or experience something unusual when we travel, but once you’ve done a few of the Norwegian fjords a few times then some of the smaller ports shrink back down to simply being pretty places in which to enjoy the view. This was the case for our visit to Olden aboard Sky Princess in 2022. We’d visited the picturesque port only once before (see: Olden, Norway) but in terms of available trips there wasn’t a whole lot that we hadn’t either already done in some form (whether from this port or another), or which didn’t involve so much travelling by bus to reach that they began to feel like a small slice of interest wrapped in a thick sandwich of ordeal. I am very fond of a sandwich, but even still.
A pretty Norwegian port would have to suffice, we decided, and luckily for us the weather was utterly glorious.
In the previous post in this series there are photos of Olden from the top deck of Sky Princess, if you’ve missed that and want to see even more Norwegian landscape gorgeousness.
We gave the organised excursions enough time to get most of their passengers ashore before wandering down to take the tender boat from Sky Princess to the small pier at the end of the fjord. Olden can accommodate a cruise ship berthing alongside, but the space was already taken up by MSC Preziosa. Not a major problem when you’re cruising in fjords, though, as it would take some very odd weather to affect the typically still waters, so tendering tends to be a simple and quick process.
The photographs of Olden in this post generally follow our very gentle, very slow stroll from where the ship’s tender boat dropped us off, heading southwards and clockwise around the shoreline of the village and up one side of the fjord until it looked like we were running out of sights to see, then retracing our steps back, past the pier, forming a large U-shaped route up to where Preziosa was docked, which just so happened to be alongside a pub. What are the odds of that!?
The pretty church we initially passed, then doubled back to venture inside (since we saw it was open), was the Old Olden Church. Built on the site of former churches that themselves dated back as far as the thirteenth century, this building was built and consecrated in 1759 and served as the parish church in the county until 1934 when a new church was built to take over the role. The Old Olden Church was left as a museum and site of interest for tourists.
After leaving the church, we followed the shoreline road over the Oldeelva river. This river runs into the Nordfjord off the Briksdal Glacier; a popular destination for cruise visitors to Olden. It’s only the fact that we’ve seen other glaciers and my wife’s old hip and knee injuries were flaring up a bit that chose not to head to Briksdal on this port visit, but I suspect that if we were to return to Olden on a ship in the future then we’d likely either book an organised trip or take the land train to it if the port wasn’t absolutely heaving with tourists on that particular day. The clear blue skies helped the spectacularly beautiful views look even better.
Our walk in Olden took us to some decent vantage points from which to see the stunning Norwegian landscape and the two cruise ships in the fjord on that day. It’s a wonderful feeling to suddenly grasp the size of everything around when you see the vessel you arrived on dwarfed by nature. I know that there will be people who’ll look at the photos below and think that the ships spoil the views of the fjords and the mountains and the green hills, and I understand that point of view, but fortunately for me there are few enough cruise fans who visit this site as it is that I don’t think I have to worry about anyone who actually doesn’t like cruising popping along to leave a derogatory comment (that I likely wouldn’t allow to be published anyway; dictator of my domain, and all that).
We headed back around to the opposite side of the fjord, passing back over the river and through the village (with a quick stop to look for souvenirs as we always try to spend some money ashore, even if it’s on some right old tat, when we cruise around the world), making our way to where we knew a pub was located. This was right where MSC Preziosa was docked.
The pub was the Mølla Gjestehus and it was fairly quiet when we arrived. We soon guessed that because most of the MSC ship’s passengers were filing aboard it might be leaving soon (and, indeed, it would leave before Sky Princess). We found some seats on the terrace near some officers of the Italian vessel who were making sure to spend money in the port on food and drink (we approve of this), and grabbed ourselves some locally-produced beers and ciders.
I won’t lie: the drinks were… not great. Or, let’s say that they weren’t to our taste. The important thing for us when we try local drinks, though, is not that they’re nice, but that they’re local. You don’t have to like a thing to appreciate a thing. I’m thinking of having that printed up on my business cards.
More of those beautiful Olden landscape views accompanied our short walk back to the pier and a small wait in a long queue to take the tender boat back to Sky Princess.
I hardly need tell you again that Olden is incredibly beautiful, but it is, and we were fortunate enough to have good weather for this visit. It is, however, a village, and if you’re not a hiker or looking for things to do ashore that don’t involve trips to nearby lifts and glaciers or more distant waterfalls and churches then you might struggle a little for interest. Oh, the struggle of being in Olden with nothing but those views.
In the next post in the cruise travelogue series I’ll share photographs of the sail away from Olden along the Nordfjord, and it’s an absolutely beautiful one that the photos don’t do enough justice to.