Yes, I know, I just got home. And now I’m getting ready to travel again, this time to London and Norway. I’ll be staying a week in London and then taking a Hurtigruten cruise up and down the west coast of Norway.
I have wanted to take a Hurtigruten cruise ever since I first heard about them. And, as regular readers probably know, if I’m going to fly across the ocean, I like to make the most of it. So I wanted to add another destination. And I settled on London.
Why London?
I’ve been to London twice before, both on choir tours. In 1990 I took the Eureka College Chorale on tour to England and Wales, and in 2000 I went as a member of The Esoterics on a tour to Ireland, Wales, and England. On both of those trips, London was the final, and much too quick, stop. I really didn’t get to see much of anything. I don’t recall going into a single museum, and only have a vague recollection of what sights I did see. So a more prolonged visit to London seemed to make sense.
It also made sense because of Schengen. The problem was that, because of my recent trips to Italy and Greece and to Spain, France, and Portugal, plus my time in Norway, I’m close to the 90-day Schengen limit. So I decided on London, since the UK is not part of Schengen.
What is Schengen?
Twenty-nine European countries are part of Schengen. These countries share a system of external borders and do not carry out checks at their internal borders.
US passport holders are allowed to visit the countries that are part of Schengen for no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.
After my Norwegian cruise, I will be at 84 days in the last 180, giving me very little room for error.
So I’m eager to go back to London and see sights I didn’t see on my previous trips. In addition, as an art lover, I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time in museums.
My London Itinerary
Here are the things I have formally scheduled each day.
Saturday 21 June
Aeromexico flight 247, depart GDL 17:13, arrive MEX 18:50
Aeromexico flight 7, depart MEX 22:15
Sunday 22 June
Arrive LHR 16:00
Check in at Premier Inn County Hall
Monday 23 June
Changing of the Guard tour (morning)
Tuesday 24 June
St. Paul’s Cathedral (morning)
Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe (evening)
Wednesday 25 June
Westminster Abbey (morning)
Oliver! at Gielgud Theatre (evening)
Thursday 26 June
Tower of London (morning)
Back to the Future at Adelphi Theatre (evening)
Friday 27 June
Open (This will be my day to visit Greenwich if the weather is good.)
Saturday 28 June
Houses of Parliament (morning)
Train to Basingstoke (afternoon)
Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields concert at The Anvil (evening)
Train back to London
Sunday 29 June
Check out of hotel
KLM flight 1006, depart LHR 11:45, arrive AMS 14:00
Other things
There are several self-guided I can follow in Rick Steves’ London guidebook in various London neighborhoods: Westminster, the West End, Historic London, Bankside, the East End, and Greenwich. I don’t know that I’ll do all of them, but for sure I’ll do a couple. Westminster and Historic London are available as audio tours on his app.
I have a long list of things I also want to see. Some of these will fit into the free timeslots in my schedule. (Some will obviously have to wait for a future visit to London.)
This is my list, roughly in order of priority:
- National Gallery
- British Museum
- British Library
- Victoria & Albert Museum
- Tate Modern
- Courtauld Gallery
- Wallace Collection
- Royal Albert Hall tour
- National Portrait Gallery
- Thames River cruise to Greenwich
- Tate Britain
- Natural History Museum
- Kew Gardens
- St. James Park
- The Regent’s Park
- Covent Garden
My Norway Itinerary
Following an overnight stay in Bergen, I’ll be cruising on Hurtigruten’s MS Richard With.
Sunday 29 June
KLM flight 1169, depart AMS 15:15, arrive BGO 16:55
Check in at Citybox Bergen
Monday 30 June
Check out of hotel
Free day in Bergen
Departure 20:30
Tuesday 1 July
Ålesund
Excursion: Geirangerfjord with Trollstigen Pass (Geiranger to Molde)
Wednesday 2 July
Thursday 3 July
Ørnes
Excursion: Experience Bodø and Saltstraumen
Excursion: Highlights of Lofoten
Svolvær
Friday 4 July
Harstad
Finnsnes
Excursion: The Arctic Capital: Tromsø
Skjervøy
Saturday 5 July
Hammerfest
Havøysund
Honningsvåg
Excursion: Fishing Village Visit
Kjøllefjord
Mehamn
Berlevåg
Sunday 6 July
Vadsø
Kirkenes
Excursion: Riverboat to the Norwegian Border
Vardø
Båtsfjord
Berlevåg
Monday 7 July
Honningsvåg
Havøysund
Excursion: Mountain Hike In Hammerfest
Øksfjord
Skjervøy
Tromsø
Tuesday 8 July
Excursion: Midnight Concert in Tromsø Cathedral
Excursion: A Taste of Vesterålen (Harstad to Sortland)
Excursion: Lofoten Islands (Svolvær to Stamsund)
Wednesday 9 July
Ørnes
Nesna
Excursion: Vega Archipelago (Sandnessjøen to Brønnøysund)
Rørvik
Thursday 10 July
Friday 11 July
Måløy
Florø
Bergen
Disembark at 14:45
Check in at Comfort Hotel Bergen Airport
Saturday 12 July
Check out of hotel
KLM flight 1164, depart BGO 10:45, arrive AMS 12:30
KLM flight 1011, depart AMS 15:55, arrive LHR 16:15
Aeromexico flight 8, depart LHR 22:30
Sunday 13 July
Arrive MEX 02:55
Aeromexico flight 204, depart MEX 06:45, arrive GDL 08:16
I visited two of the destinations on this cruise, Bergen and Trondheim, in 2016, but I’m happy to have a chance to visit them again. I’ll be reviewing my posts from that trip to see what I might have a chance to do that I missed the first time around.
Tim
Have a wonderful time. You will be visiting some delicious places in Norway. Unfortunately, I believe the Trollstigen Pass will still be closed when you are there. I think it opens on 14 July. In any case, you will love Norway.
Lane
Your are right, Tim. Here’s what Hurtigruten has on their website: “Please note: Due to a high risk of rockfalls and ongoing maintenance, the local authorities have decided to close the Trollstigen pass leading to Åndalsnes until approximately mid-July 2025. Therefore, this excursion will follow an alternative route from the plateau to Molde. Panoramic views of the Trollstigen pass will still be visible from the plateau.”
So no, I guess we won’t be driving across Trollstigen Pass, but we’ll sort of be there to see it.
Jan Feldman
I would add the Churchill War Rooms to your time in London.
Lane
Thanks for the tip, Jan. War museums are just not very interesting to me. Same thing happened in Vietnam. In Hanoi we visited the underground bunker at Kinh-Thien Palace Relic. And the basement rooms at Independence Palace in Saigon. I just don’t find it interesting. I was thinking I should include the Churchill War Room when I was planning my itinerary for this trip, but when I visited the website and looked at the photos, I just lost interest. So many other things I’d rather spend my time seeing.