Travelling solo on Hurtigruten - MS Fram

A remarkable and memorable experience: travelling solo on Hurtigruten. Alice shares her experience aboard MS Fram, along with some ideas for making friends and getting the most from an expedition voyage.

This is a personal travel account from Alice's expedition voyage aboard MS Fram. It reflects her experience at the time of travel, so specific details such as the itinerary, onboard arrangements, excursions and cabin categories may have changed since her voyage.

Glaciers and Ice: Exploring the Old Norse Heritage on Hurtigruten

I was very fortunate to join a Hurtigruten Expedition Voyage aboard MS Fram, travelling from Iceland towards Greenland.

I am not usually a person to travel solo, always travelling with family or friends, or visiting family and friends. I was initially a bit hesitant, as I thought I might get lonely or bored – but this never happened on board MS Fram. I had equipped myself with a stack of books, of which I only got to read one. There was never a dull moment.

I arrived in Reykjavik two days prior to the voyage in order to get a feel for the city and adjust to the time zone. Hurtigruten offered a pre-expedition programme, which you could also join. Many guests did, as it was a good way to meet some of your fellow travellers before embarking.

I stayed at one of our new Director's Choice hotels – First Hotel Alda. A new, quirky and funky hotel centrally located at the "less noisy" end of the main street, Laugavegur. The rooms were spacious and the décor was Nordic. I would definitely stay there again.

Excursions in Iceland

My excursion to the volcano and glaciers had been cancelled on embarkation day, so I made my way to the ship at around 4pm, when check-in opened. There was not really a similar designated waiting area in Reykjavik as there is in Bergen. Only some guests could fit in the little shed-like shelter and the rest of us queued outside.

It was extremely windy by the harbour in Reykjavik that day, so when the doors opened we all just ran in to warm up. I had not been pre-allocated a cabin, so I had to go up to Deck 4 to check in, while the majority checked in on Deck 3. Luckily, the crew were handling our bags. I had to go back down and advise them of my cabin number so they knew where to send my luggage.

I was allocated an outside cabin on Deck 6, which I was very happy with. I then went down to pick up my blue expedition jacket and I was ready to embark on the expedition of a lifetime.

Making lifetime friends on board

I was determined to get to know as many people as possible by trying to sit at different tables every day for breakfast and lunch, as dinner was arranged seating for most nights.

This started out very well. However, after a few days you develop a habit of sitting with the same people, as we usually happened to be in the restaurant at the same time. It was always nice to hear about their experiences from the lectures and excursions from the day before, or what they were about to embark on that specific day.

I met many interesting people on my expedition and a surprisingly large number of fellow solo travellers. I was amazed to hear that many of them had travelled with MS Fram or Hurtigruten before, and some more than once. A lovely couple from the UK were on their sixth journey – an "addiction", they called it.

Another Swedish gentleman could hardly wait to embark on his trip to Svalbard at the end of July to see polar bears, which he did promise to send me some photos of.

Transfers from MS Fram in polar circle boats

I also happened to meet another Danish couple who were from the same city as me in Denmark, and it turned out we had some mutual acquaintances.

Two other solo German ladies had met during the first few days in the pre-expedition programme and were inseparable ever since. I know this because I asked one of the ladies if the other lady was her sister.

I thought I was the only Australian traveller on board, but I was alerted that there was a couple from NSW who also happened to be travelling to Aarhus after the expedition to see "Sculptures by the Sea". I actually ran into them on the main shopping street in Aarhus the following day – which was quite funny. It almost felt as though we were on an excursion and had to go back to MS Fram.

I could go on and on and tell you about all the wonderful people I met on my trip, and had I not travelled alone, I would most likely not have been able to speak to or get acquainted with so many lovely individuals.

A Norwegian lady I shared the dinner table with on the first night, who had also been on the trip around Iceland just prior and stayed to continue to Greenland, told me that once she travelled with her friend, but they decided not to travel together again so they could tell each other about their trips.

She even told me she knew of a married couple who travelled separately and then came back and told each other about their experiences, as this gave them a better way of seeing the world. This, I found very intriguing.

Ilulissat – sailing to the Ice Fjord

On board Hurtigruten – lots of games and helpful advice

By Day 2 I had already been adopted by a lovely couple from Norway and we ended up sitting together every night for dinner. It is safe to say that I think we were the loudest table in the restaurant at the second seating, with all our laughs.

By Day 6 or 7, another gentleman from the UK decided to join our table. Most nights, we ended up continuing to the bar, where our other American and German friends would join us to continue our many stories and share our experiences of the day.

The ambience on board was very enjoyable and many guests spent most of their time in the common areas doing puzzles, playing cards, reading or simply mingling. There was ample opportunity to get acquainted with other guests and hear their stories.

The Expedition Team were always present, very approachable and happy to have a chat and answer any questions you may have. They also knew I was travelling solo and always kept me company if they noticed I was sitting alone.

We were quite lucky, as this sailing was being filmed for Discovery Channel's "Mighty Ships". This was the first episode, so I was expecting it to air in a year or so. Some guests who were in the right place at the right time got a few added extras in terms of excursions for filming purposes, which they were ecstatic about.

I am proud to say that I am no longer a virgin solo traveller and I would do it again in a heartbeat – especially if I were to be lucky enough to be on board MS Fram.

A big thank you to the Hurtigruten Expedition Team, who worked around the clock and went above and beyond to make our experience as pleasurable and smooth as possible, and a big shout-out to the amazing service crew, who were always smiling and never short of a joke or two.

Norwegian expedition leader and the voyage photographer helping us get onto the Zodiac boats back to the ship in Ilulissat

Read more about Hurtigruten Expedition Voyages and discover the remote destinations and experiences available on expedition travel.

If you're interested in combining an expedition voyage with a Norwegian coastal journey, explore our Norwegian Coastal Voyages. You can also discover Norwegian Coastal Voyages combined with land packages, or explore our Northern Lights Voyages.

For more travel inspiration, read our Norwegian Coastal Voyages articles.