Two plus years into retirement, and we are still enjoying the freedom to slow down, travel at our own pace, and revisit some of our favourite corners of Europe by bike. This post is a lead-in for our trip. Over the coming weeks, during our travels, I plan to publish detailed daily posts covering our accommodation, ferry crossings, quality of cycling routes, the great food that I’m hoping to have, logistics and stats, costs, and the highlights (and I’m sure occasional mishaps)

One of the wheels on our large Tripp suitcase finally gave up while I was dragging it around Japan. It was a long walk from the station to the hotel, trying to keep the suitcase balanced on it’s remaining three wheels. Anyway. When I got home I contacted Tripp thinking I could just buy a replacement for the failed wheel. It’s an older suitcase and has had a good long life. It’s survived airports, train stations, cobbled streets, and more flights than I can count, so didn’t ex

United WiFi in the Sky Yes, in short - airline Wi-Fi is mostly shite. Well, sort of. Somewhere over Scotland on the way to the US, on a 9-hour United Airlines flight, I made what should have been a simple decision: “I’ll buy the Wifi”. Easy decision, and what should have been a simple task. But it didn’t work like it should. It should be as simple as making a cup of tea or turning on a TV - but it’s not. It’s not a simple button click, where you enter your credit card details

Day 1 The flight from Lima, followed by an overnight stay in an airport hotel in Santiago, was fairly uneventful – mostly just a lot of waiting around. The only thing of note was that the Chilean wine was good, but the local dish called Pastel de choclo wasn’t really for me. It is made of sweetcorn ground into a paste with beef, chicken, raisins, black olives, onions and slices of hard-boiled egg - this all sounded fine, but why, in God’s name, was there sugar sprinkled on to

Exploring Kirkenes

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 6 - Arrive @ 05:05, Depart @ 05:45 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 8 / Day 2 - Arrive @ 11:00, Depart @ 12:45 Climate Midnight Sun - 14 May - 31 July Polar Night - 22 November - 20 January Here is a good link to the Norwegian weather service. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-325339/Norway/Finnmark/Hammerfest/Hammerfest Observations - other than Excursions With 1hr 45mins southbound available - there is a good opportunit

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 6 - Arrive @ 01:50, Depart @ 02:00 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 8 / Day 2 - Arrive @ 15:50, Depart @ 16:05 Climate Midnight Sun - 15 May to 29 July. Polar Night - 23 November to 18 January. Here is a good link to the Norwegian weather service. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-317301/Norway/Finnmark/Loppa/Øksfjord Observations - other than Excursions The 10min stop northbound, and 15min stop southbound doesn't provide

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 5 - Arrive @ 02:55, Depart @ 03:10 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 9 / Day 3 - Arrive @ 12:30, Depart @ 13:00 Climate Midnight Sun - 23 May - 23 July Polar Night - 30 November - 12 January Here is a good link to the Norwegian weather service. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-285703/Norway/Nordland/Sortland/Sortland Observations - other than Excursions The 15min stop northbound, and 30min stop southbound doesn't provide

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 5 - Arrive @ 01:30, Depart @ 01:40 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 9 / Day 3 - Arrive @ 14:15, Depart @ 15:15 Climate Midnight Sun - 24 May - 21 July Polar Night - 6 December - 8 January Here is a good link to the Norwegian weather service. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-285245/Norway/Nordland/Hadsel/Stokmarknes Observations - other than Excursions With the 60mins southbound available - we have taken two different wal

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 3 - Arrive @ 09:45, Depart @ 12:45 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 11 / Day 5 - Arrive @ 06:30, Depart @ 09:30 Climate Midnight Sun - Not applicable Polar Night - Not applicable Here is a good link to the Norwegian weather service. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-211102/Norway/Trøndelag/Trondheim/Trondheim Observations - other than Excursions Ideally timed for before or after a hearty breakfast. We chose to explore on

Quiet and peaceful.

Schedules Review the sailing schedule carefully. Depending on the time of the year the boat may dock in Ålesund all day, alternatively it may only dock for a short while at Ålesund then progress to visit into the Geirangerfjord to Geiranger for a short stop, before returning to Ålesund. Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 2 - Variant 2 - Hurtigruten operate this June to August. Havila operate it May to August. Arrive Ålesund @ 09:45, Depart @ 10:00 Arrive Geiranger @ 14:25,

Ålesund is a busy town - with a great viewing point if you have the energy and time.

Torvik is only applicable to Port to Port travellers.

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 2 - Arrive @ 05:15, Depart @ 05:30 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 12 / Day 6 - Arrive @ 05:45, Depart @ 06:00 Climate Midnight Sun - Not applicable Polar Night - Not applicable Here is a good link to the Norwegian weather service. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-166893/Norway/Vestland/Kinn/Måløy Observations - other than Excursions The 15min stop northbound, and 15min stop southbound doesn't provide a long enough oppo

Florø is only applicable to Port to Port travellers.

Schedules Round Voyage & Voyage North - Day 1 - Depart @ 20:30 Round Voyage & Voyage South - Day 12 / Day 6 - Arrive @ 14:45 Climate Midnight Sun - Not applicable Polar Night - Not applicable Here is a good link to the Norwegian weather service. https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/1-92416/Norway/Vestland/Bergen/Bergen Observations - other than Excursions Not exactly a port stop but as the route starts and finishes in Bergen - it's likely that you will spend some time he

Tromso should be recognized as a premier destination for Northern Lights enthusiasts, often overshadowed by its Icelandic rival.

I'm writing a brief summary of each port on the Norwegian Coastal Route, stop times, polar night and midnight sun - where applicable, weather, and what you can do at the port if you aren't going on an excursion.

As the snow melts, flowers bloom, and daylight extends, the scenery transforms into a vibrant landscape