In Awe of the Northern Lights aboard Saga Sapphire

1 Southampton, England

Lying near the head of Southampton Water, a peninsula between the estuaries of the Rivers Test and Itchen, Southampton is Britain’s largest cruise port.
It has been one of England’s major ports since the Middle Ages, when it exported wool and hides from the hinterland and imported wine from Bordeaux. The city suffered heavy damage during World War Two and as a result the city centre has been extensively rebuilt.

2 Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway
Surrounded by mountains and sparkling fjords, the waterside city of Bergen has a spectacular setting. There has been a settlement here since medieval times and the colourful waterfront buildings of the Hanseatic Wharf, known as the Bryggen, are testament to its fascinating history of trade.
As Norway’s best known medieval settlement, the Bryggen is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Our comprehensive selection of excursions allow you to discover the many sides of Bergen, such as the open-air fish market and narrow cobbled streets, as well as the city’s open-air Old Bergen Museum. For a bird’s eye view of the city a ride in the funicular to the summit of Mount Fløyen is a must or even more spectacular, try sight-seeing from a seaplane.
Learn about one of Norway’s most famous sons, the composer Edvard Grieg, whose former home, Troldhaugen, has been turned into a museum. Those who have visited the city previously may like to enjoy a taste of the Hardanger region or even venture as far as Flam to experience one of the world’s most exciting train rides.

3 Åndalsnes, Norway

Andalsnes, Norway
A small town in Norway’s fjord country, Åndalsnes is a gateway to the rugged wilderness of the Romsdalfjord.
Known as the ‘village between the mountains and the fjords’, it typifies Norway’s striking natural beauty with its setting on a promontory lined by alps and set at the mouth of the Rauma River. The town itself is tucked under the lofty mountain peaks, backed by lush, green scenery.
Nearby is the impressive Trollveggen, or ‘Troll Wall’, which at 6,000 feet is Europe’s highest vertical cliff face and is often topped by cloud. The precipice said to be the ultimate trial for rock climbers, who regularly flock here to accept the challenge.

4 Cross the Arctic Circle

5 Tromsø, Norway

Tromso
One of the oldest population centres in the north of Norway, Tromsø is known as the Gateway to the Arctic because it was used as a starting point for hunters looking for Arctic foxes, polar bears and seals.
In the 19th century it was a base for explorers on Arctic expeditions – a history that is remembered in the city’s Polar Museum and Wilderness Centre which is visited on one of our shore excursions in the area. Another history that is commemorated in the area is that of Norway’s indigenous people – the Sami.
Visitors can learn about the traditions, heritage and struggle to preserve Sami culture at the Tromsø Museum. Nowadays, Tromsø is a charming mix of the old and the new with quaint wooden buildings sitting alongside contemporary architecture including the impressive and glacier-like Arctic cathedral with one of the largest stained glass windows in Europe.
A cable car runs to the top of Mount Storsteinen from where there are wonderful views of the city and surrounding countryside of forested peaks and reindeer pastures.
Founded on the island of Troms, it is more than five times the size of Norway’s capital, Oslo, and is the world’s northernmost university city located 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

6 Alta, Norway

Alta rock paintings
Alta sits at the mouth of Altafjord and is made up of three villages – Bukta, Elvebakken and Bossekop – where the indigenous Sami people used to hold their bi-annual market.
The area is famed for prehistoric rock carvings discovered in 1973. Just over a decade after they were discovered the site was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. See this historically important site on one of several shore excursions in the area.
The nearby town of Kåfjord is also well known as it was where one of the world’s largest battleships, the Tirpitz was based during World War II and was the German headquarters for the north-west. The local Tirpitz Museum is dedicated to the history of the heroic attempts to sink the battleship.

7 Narvik, Norway

Narvik, Norway
The town of Narvik came into existence to serve the needs of the iron ore industry. Iron is mined in neighbouring Sweden, and Narvik was chosen as the location from where to ship it as it offers an ice-free port.
This industrial heritage has shaped the town and now forms the basis of some of its tourist attractions, as can be discovered on some of the four excursions we offer in and around the town.
In 1883 a British/Swedish company was given permission to build a railway from the iron mines in Sweden to Narvik, which was then christened Victoriahavn. The railway, the Ofotbanen, opened in 1902 and the town built up around this industry.
Unfortunately much of the town was destroyed in World War II when it came under German occupation for some five years and was the scene of battles on land, at sea and in the air. The local war museum documents the history of this period with exhibitions and displays explaining the sequence of events.

8 Ålesund, Norway

Alesund, Norway
The city of Ålesund is the commercial and industrial capital of the Møre and Romsdal district and has a distinctive and unique character. It does not look like other Norwegian towns as there are no wooden clapboard buildings clustering around its harbourside. Instead, the city is crammed with art nouveau architecture and design.
This distinctive look is down to a massive rebuild that took place after a huge fire devastated the city in 1904, leaving 10,000 people homeless. The scale of the disaster was so huge that it gave rise to a popular saying in Norway: “I have never heard anything like it since Ålesund burned down”.
The rebuilding programme used the style of architecture that was popular at the time and was helped by donations of materials from all over Europe. Outside of the city, nearby Borgund was an important Viking settlement, now an open-air museum which you can visit on one of our four shore excursions from this port.
The Viking chieftain Rollo is said to have come from Ålesund and you may well see a statue of him on another of the excursions here, as you tour the city.

9 Southampton, England

Lying near the head of Southampton Water, a peninsula between the estuaries of the Rivers Test and Itchen, Southampton is Britain’s largest cruise port.
It has been one of England’s major ports since the Middle Ages, when it exported wool and hides from the hinterland and imported wine from Bordeaux. The city suffered heavy damage during World War Two and as a result the city centre has been extensively rebuilt.