The land of Iceland, Norwegian Coastal Cruise and a touch of Germany!

[ADLhighflyer]

Greetings!

I've just arrived back from a 5 week trip covering Iceland, Norway and Germany (with a side trip to the UK to visit family) where I had an amazing time during my time away. Really recommend you give Iceland and Norway a go during the winter season if you get the chance.

Highlights and Lowlights of the trip include:

- An airline bankruptcy before I'd even left home
- The amazing country of Iceland
- Norway in a Nutshell tour from Oslo to Bergen via Voss which included a Fjord Cruise and the Flam Railway
- Hurtigruten Coastal Cruise up and down the Norwegian Coast over 12 days, which included activities such as Dog Sledding, the North Cape and the Russian Border
- A cancelled flight due to snowstorm across England
- Berlin and Munich
- German Christmas Markets
- Neuschwanstein Castle
- Business Class travel on the main travel legs
- and lastly a missing suitcase on return

Its safe to say that the trip had it all, so sit back and relax whilst I start writing my first ever trip report over the next few weeks!

 

[Mumanddad]

What an amazing trip. Looking forward to a more detailed report.

 

[kermatu]

Onboard. I've done Hurtigruten one way, in summer, so really looking forward to seeing some winter experiences.

 

[get me outta here]

Sounds great and looking forward to reading and seeing the pix.

 

[RB]

Really looking forward to the detail of the cruise! We haven't been to Europe in winter, guess we really should experience the contrast some time.

 

[ellen10]

Sounds great, looking forward to your report.

 

[craven morehead]

I'm in !! Sounds like a cracker of a trip.

 

[LadyC]

This sounds great, look forward to reading about it!

 

[OATEK]

Had a snowy visit to Finland, Russia, Austria & Bavaria in April, so will be interested to compare.

 

[love_the_life]

Got my passport so ready to go (metaphorically speaking that is)
Looking forward to reading all about it.

 

[Major]

Boarding pass has been issued

 

[ADLhighflyer]

THE PLANNING

Planning for my annual leave commenced back in March when I was looking at what to do. Given I had changed jobs and relocated interstate the previous year, I was after a lengthy holiday and that would be both unique and memorable.

I had always wanted to visit the European Christmas Markets and see the Northern Lights, so set out working out how to achieve these with my travel agent back in Adelaide. Through a variety of phone calls and emails with my TA, she advised me of a company called Hurtigruten who conduct cruises both up and down the Norwegian Coast as part of their ferry service with remote cities and towns. With a bit more research, I decided that I both wanted a vessel that had recently been refurbished, and one that was one of their Coastal Expeditions – which turned out to be a great move.

I had also wanted to visit Iceland, due to its stunning scenery and unique environment. Subsequent investigations found a worthwhile tour of 6 days and 5 nights out of Reykjavik that would travel along the south coast right out to the eastern side of the country. A good way to get an amazing insight into this remote country!

Other parts to this trip were that I was keen to catch up with family in the UK, and visit Berlin where I had last visited back in 2003/4 whilst on a school exchange. This left the remaining parts of the trip to be worked out being an extra few days in Europe for Christmas Markets somewhere (which resulted in being Munich after a Facebook poll with my friends!) and how to spend a few days between Iceland and the Hurtigruten Cruise. My TA suggested the Norway in a Nutshell 3 Day, 2 Night tour which worked out perfectly.

Lastly, the final part of the holiday was to work out the flights – which was booked in two parts. The first part was to book the main sectors to/from Europe. I wanted to celebrate and reward myself with a well earned trip in Business Class, so being a QFF decided on Finnair from Sydney to Reykjavik; and Munich back to Sydney. The intra Europe sectors were booked with a combination of Icelandair, SAS, Flybe and Air Berlin – a whole bunch of airlines I’ve never flown with.

THE PLANNED ITINERARY…. AND A PROBLEM

Putting all the bits and pieces together, the following was the result:

13/11 MEL-SYD (QF); SYD-HKG (Cathay Pacific, AY Flight Number), HKG-HEL-KEF (Finnair)

14-16/11 Reykjavik

17-21/11 Iceland Tour

21/11 KEF-OSL (Icelandair)

22-24/11 Norway in a Nutshell Tour (Oslo-Voss-Bergen via train)

25/11-6/12 Hurtigruten Cruise Bergen-Kirkenes Return on MS Polarlys

7/12 BGO-CPH-BHX (SAS)

10/12 BHX-TXL (Flybe)

13/12 TXL-MUC (Air Berlin)

16/12 MUC-HEL-HKG (Finnair); HKG-SYD (Cathay Pacific, AY Flight Number)



After having everything booked, word came about in mid-August that Air Berlin had entered bankruptcy. At this point, my flight was still operating so I didn’t have anything to worry about as the German Government had helped allow flights to continue – but this was only until late Nov at this stage. As things unfolded and AB flights stopped in October, I was in the situation of having to organise my own transport to Munich as the excess of the insurance claim was more than the ticket paid . I found that the trains from Berlin to Munich were very economical and with a timetable change in early December, I purchased a first class seat on a train that only took 4 hours to get to Munich.

All I had to do now was wait and let the count down to the trip begin!

 

[I love to travel]

Looking forward to this one.

 

[bPeteb]

Greetings!

I've just arrived back from a 5 week trip covering Iceland, Norway and Germany (with a side trip to the UK to visit family) where I had an amazing time during my time away. Really recommend you give Iceland and Norway a go during the winter season if you get the chance.

- The amazing country of Iceland
- Norway in a Nutshell tour from Oslo to Bergen via Voss which included a Fjord Cruise and the Flam Railway
- Hurtigruten Coastal Cruise up and down the Norwegian Coast over 12 days, which included activities such as Dog Sledding, the North Cape and the Russian Border!

Anything with Iceland in the itinerary and I'm in!

 

[ellen10]

Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

[SuePa]

I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip. I​

did a 16 day Iceland trip, followed by the Norway in a Nutshell in September. I had a fantastic time.

 

[amaroo]

Hope you got to see the Nth’n lights - they’re amazing.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Hope you got to see the Nth’n lights - they’re amazing.

Sure did! Here's a little taster

 

[ADLhighflyer]

THE TRIP COMMENCES!

13th Nov 17

The day has arrived!

After enjoying a few days in Melbourne with family, it was time to commence the long awaited trip to Europe!

QF482 MEL SYD 1045 – 1210 VH-VXP

After a standard QF mid-morning flight MEL-SYD, I arrived in Sydney where it was time to collect my bag and train it across to the International Terminal to recheck it in given Oneworld’s awesome baggage rules.



My trusty noble steed to Sydney!


I completed check-in with no worries, and headed off to the QF Business Class Lounge to await my flight boarding and enjoy a good lunch. A quick check of the duty-free outlets and various shops and it was off to board the first of the long haul flights.

CX101 SYD HKG 1550 - 2155

Jumping onboard my Cathay Pacific flight, I was impressed with the various storage options of the seat. After a quick ‘Welcome onboard’ drink, it was into the air with the meal served soon after.



The starter was a very nice Smoked Makerel and Pepper Salad which was followed by a main of Roasted Lamb Loin. Both were very enjoyable. At the FA’s insistence, I had the cheese platter, fruit, chocolate mousse all for dessert. Let’s just say that I felt as round as a tomato at this point!

The meal later in the flight was a very nice butter chicken, but I was still very full to enjoy it!

It was a very enjoyable flight, where I felt that the seat was very comfortable with adequate storage space for everything, which starkly contrasted with Finnair’s A350 seat as I later found out.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

AY 99 14/11 HKG HEL 0045 – 0525

By the time I boarded this flight, it was nearly 4am Sydney time so was really keen for some sleep. After takeoff, I chose the Porcini Soup for a lighter meal which was the right choice. Very nice and light – helping me to get about 6hours sleep. Woke up to breakfast where I chose the Chinese Breakfast which was very nice – a good change from the standard Western Omelette and Hash Brown.

The seat was ok, but found that the only storage was the small area between the seat and the aisle. Just had to stuff everything in there!
14th Nov 2017

AY991 HEL KEF 0745 – 0935

By this time after more than 24hours of travelling, I was keen to just get to Iceland. Business Class or not – it still is a long way! After making my way through Helsinki Airport (which I might add is very easy to navigate through), made a quick stop at the lounge and then headed to the gate for my last flight. Up in the air ontime, and was served a standard breaky which was nice.



Landed ontime in Reykjavik Airport and completed a lap of the taxiways after missing our gate! It was then onto the hotel.

After 30 something hours of travel, it was time to now explore Reykjavik!