Olden Cruise Port: DIY Guide to Loen Skylift, Briksdal Glacier & Troll Cars

[I’m in the process of updating this post, as of 21 May 2026, so please bear with me! Bookmark this page and come back with a day or two, with updates!]

Docked in Olden Cruise Port and ready to explore Briksdal Glacier or jump onto the Loen Skylift? Besides these two iconic attractions, there’s actually more to do around Olden Cruise Port, especially if you’re up for an adventure. So let me share with you the top things to do around Olden and how to plan your DIY shore excursions to Briksdal Glacier (walk or the famous Troll Cars) and Loen Skylift.

Olden Cruise Port: Is a DIY Excursion Easy? 😎😎😎😎 Smooth Sailing

Olden Cruise Port has so much to do and you can definitely have plan a very busy independent shore excursion here! Here’s why I rated Olden cruise port 😎😎😎😎 (Smooth Sailing):

• Shuttle Services: Local shuttles run to both the Loen Skylift and Briksdal Glacier, allowing you to plan your own itinerary for your port day in Olden.
• Bus to Briksdal Glacier Trail: You can even take the public bus to start your walk to Briksdal Glacier. Stretch those sea legs!
• Compact walkable village: Olden village itself is very walkable, with wonderful views right at the waterfront. Or take a longer stroll down to Olden Lake.

📌 Zana’s Pro Tip: Two ships can visit Olden on a single day – one docked at the pier and the other using tenders. Know whether you’re “competing” with another ship’s cruisers will impact your excursion planning. Check Official Port Schedule here – look for “Port” column as Olden.

Olden Cruise Port Essentials: All You Need To Know

• Currency: Norwegian Kroner (NOK), May 2026: GBP £1 = ~12 NOK, US $1= ~9 NOK, CAD $1 = ~7 NOK, AUD $1 = ~6.5 NOK
• Cash or Card: 💳 Card wins hands down in Olden.
  • Norway is mostly cashless! Many shops don’t accept cash and if they do, they may not have change to give back to you. So save yourself the hassle and forget about withdrawing NOK at an ATM.
  • It’s perfectly acceptable to pay by card, even for a cup of coffee! Visa/Mastercard typically with Amex rarely accepted. Contactless and Apple/Android Pay are accepted universally.
• Language: Norwegian, but almost everyone you’ll encounter will speak English with you!
• Official Tourism Website: Visit Nordjord
• Olden Cruise Port Schedule: Visit nordfjordhavn.no
• Recommended Transport App: Use Google Maps to navigate, although you can see your ship from anywhere in Olden!
• eSIM for roaming in Norway: For a great data connection without the huge roaming fees, use an eSim data pack from Airalo. I always recommend having a smartphone with a valid plan when you’re at port touring independently. Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo when you use ROXANN1666 when you sign up or apply it at checkout

Olden Cruise Port Logistics: Docks, Tenders and Walking Distances

Olden Cruise Port is approximately 1 km (~0.6 miles) north of Olden’s small village centre, a distance that can be covered by a flat and scenic 15-minute walk along the fjord’s edge. See Olden cruise pier marked on my Olden Cruise Port map below 🗺️📍👇 – Your ship will dock here if it’s listed as “Pier” in the Official Port Schedule.

Tendering into Olden? If your ship is listed as “Tender” in the Official Port Schedule, then there’s two pontoon locations where tenders can arrive:

But there’s no need to walk into Olden’s town centre, unless you’d like to enjoy the scenic walk. Because everything you need, from local tour operator stalls to shuttle bus departure points are right where you disembark – see white tents in photo above 📸👆. Souvenir shops are conveniently across the road from Olden cruise pier, as well as a pub and cafe if you don’t want to return to your ship for lunch.

Olden Cruise Port Map

• On Desktop | Laptop? Use buttons on bottom left to zoom in/out. Click on the upper right hand corner to see a bigger version.
• On Tablet | Mobile? Pinch your screen to zoom in/out and use two fingers to move map around. If you have Google Maps installed on your tablet/mobile, my map will open in your Google Maps app if you click on the upper right hand corner.
• If the map is not loading correctly, click here to see it directly on Google Maps.

Olden Cruise Port: Sail-In to Nordfjorden

Don’t forget that due to Olden’s location in Nordfjorden, watching the sail into (and out of) Olden Cruise Port is magical. So do spend some time on deck for a panoramic view, even if you’re in a balcony cabin:

• Morning View: The awesome views start as early as 4am during June, if you fancy starting an alarm to watch the sunrise. Look up the time for sunrise for your dates and you’ll know what’s the best time to get up on the top deck your ship!
• Late Afternoon: If you’re not a morning person, plan your evening’s activities such that you can stay on the top deck when the ship sails out of Olden, for at least the first 45 minutes to an hour. This may mean a slightly later dinner if you dine early.
• My Experience: I watched both! It was very foggy on the sail into Olden. The fog did clear up later in the day. But the late afternoon sail out was really worth postponing my dinner for! And don’t forget to watch Olden Village’s bon voyage send off as you sail away!

Olden Cruise Port: Top DIY Shore Excursions

How to Maximise Your Port Day at Olden: There’s more than enough options at Olden cruise port to give you a jam-packed day! You can easily fit the Loen Skylift, the Briksdal Glacier and a walk around Olden (for souvenirs or a swim in the fjords – I’ll tell you where below!) in a typical 8-hour port day (9am to 5pm). But you’ll need to do it in order and you’ll need to pre-book tickets, so you’re not in the queue for tickets or waiting in line for the cable car.

Full Day Itinerary Suggestion: If you’d like to do all three, then I would recommend to do the Briksdal Glacier first, followed by lunch either at Olden or back on your ship, followed by Loen Skylift after lunch. You can tour Olden village on the way back from Loen Skylift.

1. Loen Skylift

In just 5 minutes, the cable car Loen Skylift will whisk you up 1,011 metres (~3,300 feet) from the shore of the Nordfjord in the village of Loen to the top of Mount Hoven. It’s one of the steepest cable car rides in the world, with a maximum incline of 60 degrees! You’ll feel almost as if you’re going straight up like an elevator.

At the top, you’ll be greeted by a panoramic view of the entire Nordfjord region. You’ll see snow-capped peaks (even in summer), the distant ice fields of the Jostedalsbreen glacier, and the deep blue Lovatnet Lake below.

How to Plan Your Loen Skylift Excursion from Olden Cruise Port

• How To Get There: Easiest way is to buy a return shuttle bus plus Loen Skylift tickets through Olden Adventures – the local operator that operates the shuttle. The shuttle leaves directly at the Olden cruise pier and will drop you off outside the fjord station of Loen Skylift. The shuttle ride is about 10 minutes. If you book this excursion through your cruise line, you’ll still be given tickets to the Olden Adventures shuttle bus, as it’s the only shuttle operator to Loen Skylift from Olden Cruise Port.
• Tickets: 920 NOK adults, 460 NOK kids – this includes return shuttle tickets AND the Loen Skylift tickets. (A return ticket for Loen Skylift on its own is 625 NOK adults, 330 NOK kids.) Your Loen Skylift tickets will be given to you at the Olden Adventures stand, right at Olden cruise pier when you disembark, before you board the shuttle bus.
• Booking Tip: If you’d like to do BOTH the Loen Skylift and visit the Briksdal Glacier (see below), book both excursions at the same time to receive a 10% discount. (If you book them separately in two different online bookings, you won’t be able to get the 10% discount.) You can cancel up to 24 hours before your excursion starts for a full refund.
• How to Dress: Dress in layers, even in summer. Even if it’s sunny at Olden, it can be chilly at the top of the Skylift, so bring a jacket, as well as sunglasses!
• Avoid crowds by making this the first item on your DIY itinerary! As with any attractions with a fixed capacity, queues get worse as the day goes on, before they get better again.
  • Worst cable car queues are around lunch time before it gets better after 2pm.
  • If you’re not a morning person, then consider doing the Skylift in the afternoon, to avoid the queues.

Should You Pre-Book? I often get asked whether it’s worth it to pre-book this excursion, as one never knows what the weather conditions and visibility are going to be like, even during summer months. You’ll need to decide whether you want to “take a gamble”. The Loen Skylift is such a popular excursion at Olden that they do stop selling same-day Skylift tickets due to long queues intermittently throughout the day. If you don’t pre-book, you may not be able to get tickets on the day.

Ship can’t dock in Olden? I don’t hesitate in recommending the local tour operator Olden Adventures because its official policy is to do automatic refunds if your ship can’t dock in Olden for whatever reason. For example, P&O Iona couldn’t get into Olden Cruise Port in July 2025 due to high winds and I got notification that all booked excursions would be automatically refunded.

Loen Skylift: What to Do at Top of Mount Hoven

Once you get up to the top of Mount Hoven, here’s the list of things to do:

• Outdoor Viewing Platform: You can just enjoy the views from the outdoor viewing platform. When you’re ready for a break, head inside to the bar area where you can get coffee, cinnamon buns or ice cream. There’s also a full service restaurant if you’d like to have lunch here.
• Walking: The easiest trail is the trail marked #1 on this map. The trail is well marked and a return circular walk is 2.2 km (~1.4 miles). Note that there’s some stone steps on this walk but overall has minimal elevation.
• Hiking Trails: If you’d like to walk a bit further, then there’s a range of longer and more challenging walks. Have a look at the trail descriptions here. Bring your own water and snacks!
• Zipline: If you’re looking for something a bit more adventurous, then do the Loen zipline! Budget for an additional 30 minutes to do this! If you know your ziplines, then this one has two sections, totalling 220m (~720 feet) long, so it’s not that long but you’re very high up. One for those thrill seekers out there! Book this zipline option here, then scroll down to add “Loen Skylift Tickets & Transport” – the two options need to be booked together.

P.S. If you’d like to have unlimited time at the top of the Skylift, it is best to book independently. If you book via your cruise line, your excursion will typically be of a fixed duration and you’ll be asked to return by a certain time, for your return shuttle to port. Of course, not every cruise line will operate fixed duration excursions for the Loen Skylift. So read your cruise line’s tour description before deciding. For example, P&O Cruises just gives you the vouchers and you decide which shuttle to hop on and return on.

2. Briksdal Glacier

Briksdal Glacier (Briksdalsbreen) is located within the Jostedalsbreen National Park, about a 45-minute drive from Olden cruise pier. Unlike many glaciers, Briksdal Glacier is relatively easy to reach with a well-maintained path leading to its base. During the summer, there’s no need for crampons to complete the walk to the glacier.

There’s a number of options to get there, depending on how much you’d like to stretch your sea legs:

(a) Bus & Walk to Briksdal Glacier: Most Active Option

The most popular way to experience the glacier is by hiking the 3 km (1.9 mile) trail that starts from close to the Briksdal Mountain Lodge to the glacier’s base. From Olden cruise port, it’s about a 45-minute drive to the start of the trail head – marked on my Olden cruise port map above 🗺️📍👆. The hike itself is about 45 minutes walk one-way. There’s some uphill passages on the walk but overall, it’s a relatively easy walk. You don’t need a map, as there’s only one trail and it’s well marked.

• Guided Hike From Olden Cruise Port: If you’d like a guided hike with return transport, then this tour will pick you up directly from the cruise pier and return you there. Budget for around 4-hours – around 1.5 hours for return transport to the trail head, with time to enjoy the views at Briksal Glacier
• Shuttle Bus to Trail Head & Walk on Your Own: Local operator Olden Adventures runs a return shuttle service departing at 9:30am, 11am or 1pm at Olden Cruise Pier, with the return bus around 3.5 hours later. (You can’t take a later shuttle bus back.) This means you’ll have two hours to do the return walk to the glacier. Tickets are NOK 580 for adults and 275 NOK for kids.
• Public Bus to Trail Head: Bus #115 has daily departures – unfortunately, there’s usually one bus in the morning – from Olden to Briksdalen at around 10am, with the return bus around 1:30pm – that works with typical port arrival & departure times.
  • Timetables: Check timetables using route planner on Skyss.no – the local bus operator. Enter beginning stop as “Strand Olden, Stryn” and end stop as “Briksdalen, Stryn“. Journey time is about 45 minutes. (Stryn is the local county name.)
  • Tickets: 44 NOK adults, 22 NOK kids – the easiest way to buy a ticket is through the Skyss Ticket App.
  • Finding the Bus Stop: It’s not this stop 👇 outside the supermarket. It’s the one on the opposite side of the road!

(b) Bus & Troll Car to Briksal Glacier: Less Active Option

If you prefer to walk as little as possible, you can take a “troll car” – an open-air electric vehicle which can fit 7 people, 6 in two rows of seats plus the seat next to the driver up the front.

• Troll Car Starting Point: The troll car starts from the trail head, close to the Briksdal Mountain Lodge, where you’ve alighted from the shuttle bus from Olden Cruise Pier.
• Troll Car Ending Point: You’ll be driven to about 700m (~0.4 miles) away from Briksdal Glacier. This means that you still need to walk the last half mile to get to the glacier. The troll car will wait for you to see the glacier and then return you to the start of the trail head.
• Tickets: 900 NOK adults, 550 kids. Pre-book with Olden Adventures – the tour includes return shuttle bus from Olden cruise pier and the troll car ride.

Important Note: The troll cars don’t start from Olden cruise pier but from Briksdal. So you’ll need to get to Briksdal either by shuttle bus or by the public bus.

3. RIB Boat Rides in Nordfjord

RIB stands for Rigid Inflatable Boats. They are high-speed inflatable crafts with a solid hull and inflatable tubes around the sides. This design makes them incredibly stable, manoeuvrable and able to handle rougher waters. RIB boats are smaller than traditional tour boats, allowing them to access narrower passages and get closer to the fjord cliffs and waterfalls. There’s typically 12-18 seats on each RIB boat.

That’s why there’s RIB boat rides in all of Norway’s fjords ports, so why do one in Olden? Compared to let’s say Hellesylt or Geiranger, Olden’s position is in a fairly wide section of Nordfjord, whereas Geiranger is relatively narrow in comparison. This gives the RIB boats more “room” to manoeuvre.

There’s also a few bends along the fjords on the way to Innvik. The rides are definitely thrill rides jam-packed into an hour. If you’d like to do a longer rib ride, do it in Stavanger for the ride to Lysefjord, as distance-wise, it is further away and RIB boat tours in Stavanger are typically two hours long.

• How to Book: The local operator is Olden Active. Pre-book here, especially if you want an AM time slot, as these are the most popular. RIB rides last an hour. Olden Active also does automatic refunds if your ship can’t dock in Olden for whatever reason. (But if you change your mind, you’ll have to cancel 72 hours in advance to get a refund.)
• Tickets: Rides from 992 NOK adults. Check-in at the Olden Active white tent at Olden Cruise Pier and you’ll be given your equipment, before being led to the RIB boat
• How to Dress: You’ll be given a full waterproof jumpsuit plus life vest and goggles. So I wouldn’t over-dress, even if it’s a cold day. Wear something comfortable underneath your jumpsuit, like a T-shirt and a thin fleece if needed.

4. Kayaking in Nordfjord

For a more immersive experience, consider kayaking in Olden. Paddling in Nordfjord offers a profound sense of scale of the fjords, as you feel dwarded by the immense cliffs and mountains. I really enjoyed kayaking in Olden, despite the weather making quite choppy seas that day.

If you’re a beginner kayaker or has never kayaked before, Olden IMHO is a better port than Hellesylt and Haugesund to do it in. That’s because kayakers get “started” in a relatively wide channel before heading out to the fjord 📸👇. (Hellesylt’s kayaking starting point, in comparison, is next to a waterfall, and is harder for a beginner to maneuver out to the fjord.)

Also, once you’re out into the fjord, there’s lots of room to maneuver in Olden, meaning it doesn’t matter even if your kayak is not heading where you’d like it to go🤣! The entire group were in double kayaks, which are a lot more stable than single kayaks.

• How to Book: Pre-book with Olden Active here for their group kayaking tour. Tours last 2.5 hrs. (Olden Active does automatic refunds if your ship can’t dock in Olden for whatever reason. If you change your mind, you’ll need to cancel at least 72 hours in advance to get a refund.)
• Tickets: 1,050 NOK adults, 795 NOK kids (aged 10-15)
• How to Dress: Depending on weather, you may be given a dry suit. (If you’ve never warn a dry suit before, it was built in water shoes, so you don’t get wet at all!) I kayaked on a very cold June day, (5C, ~40F before wind chill) and the dry suit kept me warm throughout. The dry suit will also act as a natural flotation aid, giving you sufficient buoyancy to float, in the unlikely event you get in the water. So no need to dress in too many layers – I was fine with just a T-shirt underneath the dry suit.
• Combining kayaking with something else? You can absolutely do kayaking in AM/PM, then to the Loen Skylift or a RIB ride before or after the kayaking session. But I think it’s difficult to do the trip to Briksdal Glacier, even if you pick the 9:30am departure, as that would not allow you time to eat lunch before the PM kayaking tour.

5. Explore Olden Village

Olden Village is small and only about 500 residents live here all year round. (During the summer, the population surges to 1,000 as additional help comes to Olden to take up tourism related jobs.) The village centre is a 15-minute stroll from Olden Cruise Pier along a flat, waterfront path – see this marked in my Olden Cruise Port map above 🗺️📌👆.

• Take a Dip: If you fancy getting into the fjord waters, then the small cove area just south of the cruise pier is shallow. It’s NOT an official swimming area and there’s no life guard. But I did see people swimming there. Do be careful if you’re not a confident swimmer as the water gets very deep very quickly!
• Olden Old Church (Gamle Olden Kyrkje): This white washed wooden structure dating back to 1759, is a classic example of rural Norwegian ecclesiastical architecture. Worth a quick visit.
• Oldevatnet Lake (Olden Lake): If you keep on walking south, you’ll get to the start of Olden Lake in about 30 minutes. This is a good half day DIY excursion if you don’t want to go to Briksdal Glacier or Loen Skylift.

There’s also a few more souvenir shops in Olden Village, in addition to the shop across from Olden Cruise Port. There’s high quality Norwegian outdoor wear and woollen sweaters, as well as Viking-themed arts and crafts and local jams. The local supermarket sells packaged dried reindeer meat (brunost) but you’ll need to eat it ashore or on the ship before you get home, as I doubt customs would let you bring it home!

6. Open-Top Glacier Sightseeing Bus

If you just want a short excursion, the open-top sightseeing bus will drive you to a nearby viewpoint about 10 minutes away to see the Melkevoll Glacier, with a stop in Løken Waterfall for photos before returning to Olden Village. You can then jump off, have a walk around Olden Village and catch a later bus back to Olden Cruise Port.

Bear in mind that if you didn’t hop off at Olden Village, the entire loop would be done in about an hour. Note that this is NOT the same excursion as going to see the Briksdal Glacier.

• Tickets: 400 NOK adults, 200 NOK kids. This bus is operated by Olden Adventures as well. No need to pre-book. Just buy a ticket on the day, as it never gets sold out.

7. Olden Land Train

The Olden Land Train is the other “low effort” option available at Olden Cruise Port. The entire tour is takes about an hour. It starts and ends directly from the cruise pier. There’s audio commentary and a few photo stops along the way, to let you enjoy the spectacular views around Olden.

• Tickets: I remembered it as around 200 NOK but please don’t hold me to this! No need to pre-book. You can pay by card and buy a ticket on the day.

8. Olden Bon Voyage Send-Off

If you’re typically an early diner, you may want to grab a snack as soon as you finish your excursion, so you do enjoy Olden’s famous heartwarming farewell tradition as your ship sails out of Olden!

Out of all the cruise ports I’ve sailed to, Olden’s musical send-off is definitely the loudest and the most spectacular! Many locals came out to see us off, even drivers waved to us! You can see many YouTube videos of a typical send-off. As the ship sails out of Olden, the views are spectacular as well, so do hang around in the top decks for just a little while longer.

Featured Image courtesy of Bård Basberg/Loen Skylift

I hope that this guide will make you plan an unforgettable DIY adventure in Olden! Whether you’re soaring to new heights with the Loen Skylift, hiking to the awe-inspiring Briksdal Glacier, or simply soaking up the charm of Olden village, this Norwegian gem has something for everyone! If you found this post helpful, I would really appreciate you sharing it with your fellow cruisers in your roll call groups! Happy travels!

Anchors aweigh! 👇 Find your next port of call here!

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