The Land of the Trolls and Fjords, a Small Ship & Olaf in Arendal

They say Norway belongs to the trolls — giants turned to stone by the sunrise, still watching from the mountainsides. We went looking for them.
Join us (Ken & Leslie of "Untamed Horizons-off again") aboard the small expedition ship Le Lapérouse as we sail Norway's fjords in June 2026: Oslo and the Vigeland sculptures, glassy fjords and waterfalls, Ålesund's giant midsummer bonfire Slinningsbålet, a welcome dance from Olaf in Arendal, Bergen's stave church and Edvard Grieg's "Troll Hill," and finally the Bergen Railway — snowfields, mountain lakes and red cabins all the way back to Oslo.
Watch for the troll in Arendal… and the faces in the cliffs.
???? Ship: Le Lapérouse (Ponant) — chartered by Tauck for our group of 149 guests, with a crew of 122 (the ship carries about 180)
???? Route: Oslo → the fjords → Arendal → Bergen → Bergen Railway → Oslo
???? Music-led cut — the story is told in the pictures and the captions (one scene keeps its real sound: the dancers in Arendal).
???? About the trip: This was a Tauck tour, all-inclusive at about $11,400 per person — a choice of shore excursions at every port (all included), every meal and drink, Wi-Fi, and private car airport transfers. Our welcome dinner was in the ballroom of Oslo's Grand Hotel, home of the Nobel Peace Prize banquet, and our farewell dinner was at the top of Mount Ulriken in Bergen. Flights were extra: SAS business class, Newark–Oslo nonstop, about $3,500 per person — and we were upgraded on the way home.
Chapters:
0:00 Norway — The Land of the Trolls
0:49 Oslo
1:28 Le Lapérouse — Our Small Ship
3:31 The Fjords
8:13 Arendal — Trolls & Olaf
9:54 Bergen
13:17 The Bergen Railway — The Journey Home
New videos every week — subscribe and come along. We're Untamed Horizons – Off Again: slow travel, scenic drives, and the stories hiding along the way.
Music credits (all tracks Creative Commons Attribution 4.0):
"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Moorland" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Skye Cuillin" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Celtic Impulse" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Minstrel Guild" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Folk Round" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Achaidh Cheide" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Fiddles McGinty" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Clear Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Photo credits:
Slinningsbålet bonfire photos (at 6:28 in this video; Sankthans 2025, Ålesund) by Kaushik Jayasayee, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/