Ålesund, Norway: What to see when you’re ashore!

We recently explored the majestic Norwegian Fjords on our first ever cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. Our first port in Norway was the art nouveau city of Ålesund.

Widely claimed as one of Norways’ most beautiful cities, Ålesund is built on a hook-shaped peninsula extending out into the ocean. It is located at the mouth of Storfjord, where three islands are connected by bridges

On a stormy night in January 1904, a terrible fire ripped through the city of Ålesund. 850 houses were burnt to the ground. 10,000 people were left homeless. With the help of foreign aid, the city was rebuilt within three years, and it’s distinctive Art Nouveau architectural style (Jugendstil) was borne out of this tragedy. The Ålesund you visit today quite literally rose from the ashes.

Thinking about booking a Norwegian fjords cruise? Click here for a (not-so-brief) overview of our 7 day itinerary on the Celebrity Silhouette…

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Exploring Ålesund

It’s an early morning alarm for me and Mr Fletche for the scenic sail-in to Ålesund – our first glimpse of the spectacular fjord landscape. It will not be the earliest morning of our trip. We grab a tea-to-go from the Oceanview Cafe and find a vantage point on deck to watch as we glide through the glistening water, the snow-capped Sunnmøre mountains piercing the skies. We’re glad of our multiple layers, and the clouds threaten rain so we make sure we have an umbrella handy for our trip ashore. A little dig around the wardrobe in our stateroom and we discover a second umbrella, Celebrity Cruise branded. Nothing screams cruise tourist more than a cruise ship branded umbrella.

We meet Ma and Pa Lee for breakfast before heading to the deck 2 gangway for our first steps on Norwegian soil. Once we disembark – a quick swipe of our Seapass cards and we’re set free – there are a number of tour options available, right outside the cruise terminal. We decided not to opt for costly cruise excursions. preferring instead to explore the town ourselves. But we do book a ticket for the little blue and white tourist train (NOK290pp, approx £22,00). Pa Lee and I are overexcited for our day in Ålesund, so we leave the grown-ups (Mr Fletche and Ma Lee) to purchase tickets. The trains depart every half an hour; we have just over an hour to kill.

The two islands of Ålesund, Nørvøya and Aspøya, are connected by the Hellebroa bridge. The pastel coloured buildings reflect in the still waters of Ålesundet sound. It’s chilly and a little drizzly, so we’re glad of those umbrellas. Norway’s oldest lighthouse “Molja” overlooks the harbour. It’s now maintained by a Hotel Bronsundet – what a unique place to stay! That can definitely go on our quirky accommodation wishlist.

We head back to the cruise terminal to catch our train, but not before seeking out public conveniences first.

Looking for free public toilets in Ålesund? There is a shopping centre called Kremmergaarden, with an entrance on Korsegata. There are payable toilets inside, but if you go through the grey door outside (handily marked WC) and down a couple of flights of stairs you’ll find free loos! In expensive Norway, you take advantage anything that might be free.

The seats on the tourist train are in rows of three. Our seats were allocated at the point of booking. Ma and Pa Lee clamber in behind us and we all clamp the headsets to our ears (proper over-the-ears ones, not the fiddly little in-ear ones handed out willy-nilly on Ho-Ho buses). We get our first taste of the official Ålesund city train playlist. The opening song is an earworm which will plague us for the rest of the day. If not for the rest of the cruise.

It’s sunny when we head off, along Keiser Wilhelms Gate, the fjord glistening to our right between wooden houses. Yes, there are still some wooden buildings despite the fire of 1904. Some town planners never learn. Our driver veers off to the left and we ascend Mount Aksla to the Fjellstua panoramic viewpoint. Naturally, the heavens open as we arrive. They were right about the Norwegian weather. Luckily, we are prepared for four seasons in one day. It doesn’t diminish the spectacular views though. We can see our ship from up here, the Celebrity Silhouette looking like a child’s toy boat placed in a tiny, colourful model village.

Want to know more about packing for a Norwegian Fjords Cruise? You can find my (almost) perfect packing list here!

If we had been feeling more energetic then we could have climbed the 418 lung-busting steps to the viewpoint from the city park. With Ma and Pa Lee in tow it was a great excuse to take the lazy option instead. Our driver gives us a 15 minute photo stop before ringing his bell to continue our journey. The sun comes back out as soon as we take our seats.

Our journey continues us through the town, with it’s Jungendstil architecture. There are turrets and spires, like a fairy-tale city. The intermittent downpours mean that the cobblestones are shiny and reflect the colourful buildings that surround them. The train ends its journey right at the cruise terminal so we take the opportunity to grab a quick lunch onboard before continuing our Ålesund adventures.

Cruise ships dock right in the centre of Ålesund, and it’s easy to navigate your way round the city. It’s a 10 minute walk from the cruise terminal to the Hellebroa bridge – a good starting point for any Ålesund stroll.

We dive into souvenir shops to dodge the showers. It’s our first taste of the Norwegian gift shop so we ooh and aah at everything; only to discover that all Norwegian gift shops appear to stock exactly the same merchandise. Woolly hats and socks. Things with trolls on them. Things with moose on them.

There are plenty of excursions if you have a day in Ålesund. You can book excursions through your cruise provider or, with a little bit of research, independently through a local tour company. One of the most popular – but also the most expensive – is the full day trip to the winding Trollstigen (Troll Road) and the Stigfossen waterfall. If you want to explore Alesund on your own then there are free maps in multiple languages at the information centre at the cruise terminal.

We return to the Celebrity Silhouette. There is plenty of time to spare before the gangplank is raised. We’re not cutting it quite as fine as our return from Bruges. Our sail-away is as spectacular as the sail-in, with incredible scenery on both sides of the ship. This is the most north we will be, which means sunlight well into the evening. In fact, sunset is just after 11pm, and it will rise again in just over three hours. It is incredibly windy on deck though – I step outside after dinner and have something of a Marilyn Monroe moment.

It’s an early night for us though… we have a 5am alarm call and an appointment with a glacier to keep the following day.