A European grand tour by yacht. Last stop - Norway.

Planning your European grand tour by yacht

Norway

For the ultimate yacht charter adventure in Europe, step aboard an explorer yacht and sail up the west coast of Norway to the top of the world. The scenery is beyond spectacular, of course, but what makes this cruising ground truly unique is the Skjærgård, or skerries – a string of small islands and islets that stretches almost unbroken along the coast for more than a thousand miles.

Inside this natural breakwater is a maze of deep-water channels where a yacht can cruise in perfect shelter and comfort even while Arctic storms batter the outer side of the islands, little more than a stone’s throw away.

We’ve all seen pictures of Norway’s famous fjords but no photograph can capture the mind-blowing experience of actually being there. The scale of the fjords is so immense that by far the best way to see them is from the deck of a boat – or, even better, from the sun deck of a superyacht.

The gateway to Fiordland is Bergen, a UNESCO World Heritage City built almost entirely in timber. It’s well worth a visit in its own right, and an ideal place to start your Norway charter cruise. Nærøyfjord and Geirangerfjord are the most spectacular of all the fjords, untouched in modern times and with no road connections, so ideal for exploring by sea.

Several of the fjords lead to Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier in continental Europe. It’s a skier’s paradise in summer with long and short routes and runs available. For the brave, there’s a challenging three-day traverse of the entire glacier. Ice-hiking and ice-caving are also recommended – you’ll see a unique play of colours inside the caves as sunlight penetrates the 1,000-year-old glacier ice.

A few days’ cruising north from Fjordland, Ålesund is generally reckoned to be the most beautiful city in Norway, famous for its Art Nouveau architecture. It’s a wonderful place to wander, a centre of contemporary Nordic design and the seafood cuisine is superb.

Even further north, inside the Arctic Circle, are Norway’s other great scenic attraction, the rugged and remote Lofoten Islands. An impossibly steep and high mountain ridge forms the spine of the islands, well known to climbers as the Lofoten Wall.

But the main attraction here, for most visitors at least, are the lovely old fishing villages at the foot of the mountains where on a sunny day you can contemplate the ice-capped ridge from the centuries-old wooden waterfront and look out across the sparkling Arctic Ocean. The waters up here are still teeming with fish, and hence also with whales. You’ll probably see plenty – humpbacks, minkes, sperm whales, orcas and more – on a yacht charter up here.

The natural northern terminus for a west Norway yacht charter is Tromsø, the capital of the Arctic, at 69° North. It’s a lively and cosmopolitan small city with a rich history, some fine contemporary architecture, excellent nightlife and a vibrant cultural scene.

But it’s also the launch pad for extreme Arctic adventures. If that’s the sort of experience you want – polar bears, walruses and snowmobile treks in a vast, pristine frozen wilderness – you can charter an ice class yacht and explore Svalbard, at 78° North, the most northerly place in the world that can be reached by sea. Burgess can take you there… 

Planning your European grand tour by yacht. Introduction

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Norway

To find out more about Burgess’ yachts for sale and yachts for charter, please contact a Burgess broker. Alternatively, get in touch with one of our offices directly: London, Monaco, New York, Miami, Singapore or all other locations.