Norwegian Fjords 2025

Bergen to Copenhagen 2025

Dear Matt,

Following 3 years of meticulous planning and scouting, the highest rated event in Santana’s history was tested in 2022, and will be repeated in 2025.

Our best-ever Scandinavian cycling cruise will start in Bergen and end in Copenhagen. Along the way, Norway’s finest fjords and two countries with sea-level cycling.

If you truly want to dive into Norway, we’ll host an optional 3-day Oslo PreTour that includes the 55 minute flight from Oslo’s OSL Airport to Bergen’s BGO Airport for our cruise embark. We'll spend a few days exploring Oslo, where museums, art, and architecture celebrate the country’s viking heritage.

More details on flight scheduling and the PreTour will be provided a year before the cruise. Imagine if the Alps or the Rockies were at sea level. The southwest coast of Norway offers warm summer cycling on smooth gentle roads skirting fjords, inlets and islands. Sunny days without steep hills or bothersome traffic.

Many would guess that a Norwegian Cycling Tour might be too tough to be enjoyable—but Santana’s Norwegian Cycling Cruise traces the coast to provide a week of rides that are deceptively easy. Enthusiasts who want an epic challenge can turn inland and climb to reach unbelievable vistas. Each day has multiple cycling options, as well as our duo of non-cycling options.

What about the routes? Shortest routes will be around 35 flat miles, mid-length routes around 40-50 with some gentle hills, longer routes are 55+ with a few more hills. Non-cycling options? Our panoramic-window coach will arrive at the gangplank each morning to transport any who would prefer a non-pedaling break from cycling without missing the highlights enjoyed by those who ride. Easier still is to remain aboard for swimming, reading or relaxing.

We selected the perfect slice of Summer to cycle in Norway, when the longest days of the year are combined with the driest weeks of short sleeve weather. Some rides will take us skipping across Norway’s coastal islands which are connected by uniquely engineered roadways. Invigorating rides through pristine glacier-carved landscapes on roads that hug the shoreline.

Breathe in the crisp clean air as you gaze across the serene water. Imagine riding into a painting. A week of rides through landscapes that encourage you to pedal further. What will you find around the next bend?

Bergen to Copenhagen

Photo Itinerary

Embark is in Bergen, Norway—a picturesque coastal city that hosts international flights from all 3 airline alliances at Norway’s second largest airport. Hosted bike building and short test rides will precede a late-afternoon embark.

Day 2 - Overnight our floating resort heads North and glides to the end of a long fjord to tie up at the center of the village of Olden. Most will start with a too-easy ride along the edge of the fjord and through the hamlet of Loen to reach a towering stone escarpment where the still-visible hoofprint of the 8-legged horse ridden by the Norse God Odin, shows where they crossed the mountain.

An included ascent using Loen’s new aerial tramway is the easier method of reaching our viewpoint lodge for a break with baked goods and hot chocolate.

Those who want a longer morning ride will reach the Loen Skylift after a gentle ride up the paved road of a long glacial valley to reach the foot of the still-present glacier. How many times have your cycling friends ridden to the base of a glacier?

Following an onboard lunch our afternoon rides ascend a parallel valley and follow the edge of a long lake. Some will turn back at the base of a climb, others climb 500 feet to a summit, others will add miles to enjoy a snack at a lakefront lodge, and those who don’t mind leaving the pavement will climb a short gravel section to reach the day’s second glacier. All will appreciate that a great feature of any cycling cruise is the downhill ride at the end of each day.

Day 3 - On this all-islands day we’ll leave the ship at a morning port on one island before reboarding the ship at the afternoon port of a different island. Today’s basic route between Molde and Averoy includes the longest climb and tallest summit of our entire tour. Those who don’t opt for our bus-and-truck “boost” that delivers them to the ski lodge at the top of Reindeer Summit will need to climb 8-miles to reach this charming chalet, which is a whopping 760-feet above sea level.

Cyclists who are anxious about their ability to enjoy this tour should re-read the preceding two sentences before pinching themselves. You won’t need to be super fit to enjoy this amazing adventure. Those who invest in some spring training, however, will love this tour’s longer daily options with plenty of extra miles and climbs.

No matter how you get to the lodge (and included fresh-baked treat) at Reindeer Summit, our island-hopping day includes the famous Atlantic Ocean Road, an inspiring piece of modern engineering featured in a recent James Bond car chase.

Day 4 - During our initial scouting we heard rumors of the careful creation of a replica of Norway’s most famous archeological find—a viking ship buried at Myklebust Mound. Over a thousand years ago a tribe of Norse Warriors mourned the death of their leader by using oxen to drag their ship inland from the top of Eidsfjord. After surrounding him with treasures fit for a Pharaoh, they turned the ship into a funeral pyre to transport their beloved chief to his place at the feast in Valhalla.

Newer than most of Norway’s guidebooks is the barn-like Sagastad, a museum that occupies a shoreline spot adjacent to the mound where archaeologists elected to rebury their priceless discovery. The museum’s centerpiece is the newly-created full-scale replica of what is believed to be the largest Viking ship ever built. Once each year this new wooden ship cruises the Fjord propelled by 48 oarsmen who pay for the rare honor.

In addition to the included visit of Sagastad, today’s offering includes a mild-to-wild assortment of rides. Shorter options allow you to reboard our ship for lunch, while a vikings’ option cruises through a waterfall valley to ride a distant fjord and return via a tall summit where a Valhallan feast will be enjoyed at an ancient rural inn.

Day 5 - Norway’s Romantic Road. What can we do to top the previous three days of cycling that each showcased one of Norway’s most sought-after attractions? The Romantic Road connects the terminus of Norway’s longest fjord with the country’s oldest stave church.

Because 90% of the tourists who flock to this wooden cathedral use a ferry to cross the fjord, the longer route is blessedly free of traffic except for cyclists who drive hundreds of miles to ride this picture perfect ribbon of smooth pavement.

Today’s choice of rides start and end in the small village Skjolden, a “fjordport” that is 130 miles inland from the open sea. The hardiest cyclists will want to top off their effortless cruise of the Romantic Road with a climb through switchbacks to reach Norway’s highest paved summit—which is 4,698 feet higher and 21 miles distant from our ship’s dock.

Day 6 - After four days filled with cycling most will be ready for a sans-cycling day to explore the UNESCO-heritage port of Bergen, where a collection of antique wooden storefronts face a bustling harbor. For this self-guided day of exploration we’ve included admissions to all three of the city’s leading attractions.

Rosenkrantz Tarnet, which dates back to 1270, was a summer residence for a long line of Norwegian Kings. The Nearby Bryggens fortress-museum includes artifacts from Bergen, a Viking stronghold that remained Norway’s capital until 1299. The included Floibanen funicular ticket takes you from busy Bergen to the peaceful park of Floyen, an above-the-city retreat with hiking trails, view restaurants and troll-themed enchantments.

Day 7 - This day is centered at a tiny heritage seaport where a recently-lengthened dock allows Star Pride to become the largest cruise ship ever hosted by Egersund. In this village the prime attraction is a folk museum complex that illuminates the everyday life and handicrafts of rural Norwegians of the 18th and 19th centuries (such as spinning, weaving, woodworking, coopering and watchmaking), and culminates with a sobering look at Norway’s five years of Nazi subjugation.

Our choice of routes from Egersund explore a large island and a peninsula famous for its natural beauty. A recent realignment of Norway’s coastal railway created a parallel bike trail linking leftover tunnels and bridges. Devotees of gravel will be able to enjoy a smooth loop through a patchwork of farms and of meadows.

Day 8 - Just opposite the tip of Denmark, the port of Arendal has been a prosperous trading center for centuries. Bypassed by modernity, historic Arendal has hung-on to become Norway’s favorite mild-weather vacation retreat. Our ship will be docked at the center of town, where a wealth of shopping, dining and galleries are a pleasant stroll from the gangway.

In this mountain-free area of Norway our choice of short-to-long rides leave traffic behind to explore a forested island where small coves are surrounded by summer cottages. In one of those inlets we’ll stop for a guided tour of a carefully-preserved shipyard from the Age of Sail that retained its original tools and workshops.

Day 9 - Does Denmark have fjords? No, but a long inlet allows our ship to reach a port nestled at the very center of Jutland—Europe’s mainland peninsula that’s home to most Danes. In a country famous for spirited cycling, our inland dock in Aalborg (Denmark’s 4th largest city) allows a fabulous choice of rural routes that radiate in all directions.

Our tip from past tours through Denmark is to watch for dairy farms with a small sign that indicates onsite baking or cheesemaking. If you decide to return to Aalborg for an onboard lunch, you’ll have time for some shopping before our late-afternoon session of mechanic-assisted bike packing.

Disembark will be in Copenhagen. Copenhagen’s CPH Airport is also served by all 3 airline alliances. If you wish to spend additional time in Scandinavia, bike-friendly trains reach Oslo or Stockholm in a matter of hours.