Sailing Norway’s fjords the local way

For more than a century, Hurtigruten, formerly Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes, has been Norway’s connection to the sea. Founded in 1893 to carry mail, cargo and passengers between remote coastal towns, it became the country’s lifeline, linking fishing villages and transporting everything from supplies to schoolchildren. Along the coast, generations grew up watching the white, red and black ships sail past their windows, marking the passage of time as reliably as the tides.

One ship. A century of history. And a coastline that still depends on it. Photo credit: Jenn Allen.

Built for Norway’s coastal routes, today Hurtigruten carries travellers the same way locals have journeyed for more than a century: by sea, between fjords, fishing towns and harbors that still depend on the water. I joined Hu