After we visited Alesund our next port was an unscheduled visit to Trondheim. Saga continued to work wonders shifting around the scheduled itinerary to account for the extreme weather we were having.
This was our only second visit to Trondheim. The first had been on our Hurtigruten Southbound Coastal Voyage. Then we had had only a few hours on shore to explore the city.
Day 7: Friday 24th February 2023: Trondheim
Saga had laid on a replacement excursions at Trondheim. We had decided that going on the early excursion would allow us to see more of Trondheim by ourselves in the afternoon.
Easy Trondheim Duration: 2 hours
This panoramic coach tour offers the ideal introduction to Trondheim, one of Norway’s oldest and grandest cities. You will pass many of its most important sites: spotting them from the comfort of your vehicle.
Begin by travelling through the busy city centre, spotting ‘Stiftsgarden’: built in 1778 and one of the largest wooden buildings in Norway. Today it is still owned by the state and it is the king’s official residence while in Trondheim.
A stop will then be made at the magnificent Nidaros Cathedral, work on which began in AD 1070. Throughout the middle ages pilgrimages to the site were commonplace, due to St Olav – the patron saint of Norway being buried here. Returning to your tour vehicle, you will continue uphill to the Sverresli quarter where a viewpoint offers an impressive panorama across the city.
Finally, return to the port and your awaiting ship.
After breakfast in the Grill, we went to the theatre to be checked in for the excursion. Once there were enough passengers to fill a coach, we were led out and down to the quay for the coach. Trondheim had had snow and we were also aware just how cold it felt.
Nidaros Cathedral
Our first stop was at the Nidaros Cathedral. Our guide had explained the importance of the cathedral as this was where Norwegian monarchs were crowned. We had enough time to walk around the cathedral in its snow covered grounds. This was the our experience of snow for a long time! In places the snow was pretty deep too!
Outside of the grounds there were other interesting buildings and statues.
Travelling through Trondheim
After the cathedral coach went very slowly past the old bridge. We were driven to the outskirts of Trondheim. We passed historic buildings before we were in the suburbs.
The roads were then lined with houses and there was lots of snow on the roads and pavements.
Viewpoint in the Sverresli quarter
To the left of the viewpoint we could see a path descending down into the trees below.
Kristiansten Fortress
Our guide wasn’t sure if we would be able to access the Kristiansten Fortress. To get there the coach driver had to navigate narrow suburban streets, as well as twisty uphill roads. The car park was ice covered and it was very gingerly that we made our way into the fortress grounds. We walked through a tunnel that was decorated with light bulbs before we went through the entrance archway. We later learnt that subsequent coaches were not allowed to drop passengers at the fortress because of the ice in the car park.
The views were again spectacular.
The grounds were the site of light shows. This explained the light tunnel that we had passed through before the gates and the large Trondheim sign in the grounds.
Above the wall there was a row of cannons.
I did try to walk on the snow rather than the icy paths. But I did manage to slip on a path after taking a picture of the cannons.
The way down took us through a college…
The coach then took us back to the ship pausing again at the Old Town Bridge.
Walking into Trondheim
We took a breather back by the ship’s gangway. The hot chocolate was simply too good to miss. While we sat drinking the Captain came down the gangplank and admired the snowman that the crew had made. He was so natural with them chatting to about how this was their first real snow and making their first snowman snowman. He even posed with them in turn for photographs. Then he went back to his inspections with the others officers who were with him.
We left the port area to walk into the city. One of the buildings in front of us was the Norwegian museum of rock, Rockhein. There we turned right onto Brattorkai and walked alongside the water.
On the opposite side of the road were separate glass fronted office blocks.
At the pier we crossed and climbed the steps to the top of the foot bridge that ran over the railway tracks at Trondheim station.
After the bridge there were shops and a café. Then we carefully went down the steep stairs to the station car park. In front of us there was a wide bridge over the Nidelva that lead into the centre of Trondheim.
This was the start of our exploration. On our previous visit we had headed for the old bridge before turning back to the Hurtigruten pier. This visit we were determined to see more of the city.
Lunch
After walking through (almost) pedestrianised streets to the cathedral we turned and wound our way back towards the river. As we passed a small shopping mall we noticed a very small café with what looked like five or six tables. The cafe’s entrance was just inside the mall.
After ordering at the counter we had to work out how to get our coffees from the machine before sitting down at one of the tables by the windows.
The streets looked vaguely familiar as we turned again back towards the river. A short detour took me to see this street art.
After the footbridge over the railway lines these spinners were in the snow filled gardens of the first offices.
Trondheim reflections
From our balcony the ship was reflected in the swimming pool complex at the side of the quay.
Our room had a picture of the Cornish wheelhouses that we had visited earlier.
My tripod was out ready just in case we had the Northern Lights.
Evening onboard
In the evening in the Britannia Lounge the newcomers to Saga, like us, were entertained by at first speeches and then by the ship’s entertainers. They put on a song and dance for us.
Before dinner in the Grand Lounge we met our friends for pre-dinner drinks in the Living Room.
Back in the Britannia lounge after dinner, Emily Ford, one of the ship’s company sang for us ‘A night at the musicals’. Then it was the house band’s turn.
The next day Spirit of Discovery sailed North from Trondheim to our rescheduled port call in Alta.