Eleven boats leave Bergen and the Hardangerfjord, and three of them sail the exact same route to Mostraumen for $68, $75 and $85. That is the first thing worth knowing, and almost no one tells you. This page puts all eleven side by side — the three-hour classic, the seven-hour run down the Hardangerfjord to a 1665 manor, and the long day to the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord.
From, per person
11 cruises compared$68
And the same Mostraumen route from the priciest operator is $85
Average rating
Across all 11 cruises4.7 ★
Across 18,230 verified reviews
Time on the water
The number that sets the price3.5–11.5 h
Three and a half hours to Mostraumen, eleven and a half to Flåm
Everything you can book here
Eleven departures, in price order. The first three are the same Mostraumen route sold by three different operators — compare them on review count and departure time, not on the description, because the description is the same water. After that the trips genuinely diverge: the Hardangerfjord, the Fyksesund by RIB, and the long day to Flåm.
★ 4.6 · 4,426 reviews
★ 4.7 · 10,064 reviews
★ 4.7 · 2,789 reviews
★ 4.5 · 644 reviews
★ 4.9 · 136 reviews
★ 4.8 · 56 reviews
★ 4.9 · 25 reviews
★ 4.8 · 47 reviews
★ 4.7 · 39 reviews
★ 5.0 · 4 reviews
Two questions
Eleven departures, and the first three are the same water sold three times. Three and a half hours to Mostraumen, seven down the Hardangerfjord, or a whole day to the Nærøyfjord. Pick what matters and the page picks the boat.
See it before you pay for it
Three quite different things, depending on how long you are willing to be on the water: a narrow tidal strait fifty metres wide, a 179-kilometre fjord with a seventeenth-century manor at the end of it, or the UNESCO-listed arm of the Sognefjord.
Side by side
Every fjord trip out of Bergen is one of three shapes. Three and a half hours to Mostraumen and back, from the city centre, from $68. Seven hours down the Hardangerfjord to Rosendal. Or eleven hours by boat, train and bus to the Nærøyfjord and Flåm. The scenery is not three times better in the long one — but it is different water.
Swipe the table sideways →
| MOST BOOKEDBergen: Mostraumen Fjord Cruise with Live Guide | From Bergen: The Original Fjord Cruise to Mostraumen | Bergen: Cruise to beautiful Rosendal by the Hardangerfjord | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | $85 | $75 | $88 |
| Time on the water | 3.5 hours | 3.5 hours | 7 hours |
| Cost per hour | $24.29 | $21.43 | $12.57 |
| Guide on board | Yes, throughout | Commentary | Yes |
| Fjord | Osterfjord & Mostraumen | Osterfjord & Mostraumen | Hardangerfjord |
| What you see | A 50 m strait, waterfalls, and a guide explaining them | The same strait and waterfalls, most-reviewed version | A 179 km fjord and a manor built in 1665 |
| Time ashore | None — round trip | None — round trip | About 3.5 hours |
| Rating | 4.7 · 2,789 | 4.7 · 10,064 | 4.5 · 644 |
| Best for | A half day, explained | A half day, most evidence | A whole day at fjord pace |
| Book this one→ | Check dates | Check dates |
Free cancellation up to 24 h · Reserve now, pay later
Verdict
Three and a half hours from the middle of Bergen, out through the Osterfjord and into a tidal strait fifty metres wide, with the bow taken in under a waterfall on the way — and more than seventeen thousand ratings across the three operators who sail it. The one reason to book something else is time: if you have a whole day, the Hardangerfjord run to Rosendal is the better use of it.
Check dates and availability→Before you book
Three boats on this page carry thousands of ratings each, and two private charters carry fewer than five between them. That does not make the newer listings bad — but a score from four people tells you very little, and 4.7 from 10,064 tells you a great deal. Read both numbers before you decide.
Two-minute check
Eleven departures, seventy-five minutes to two days, and three of them sail the same water under three different names. Three answers narrow it to one: how long you have, what you want to spend, and whether you would rather be on deck or behind glass.
How long have you got?This decides which boats you can take at all
What are you willing to spend?Per person, per trip
Deck or saloon?Every boat here has both; this is about where you intend to stand
You'll get the boat that fits your answers, the thing about it that catches people out, and an honest word about how much evidence its rating rests on.
Six kinds of flight
Ratings are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown exactly as published. We do not write reviews and we do not average other people’s into a score of our own. Three boats here carry thousands of ratings each; the private charters carry a handful, and we say which is which.
★★★★★
Based on 18,230
verified reviews
All eleven cruises on this page, rated by the people who took them on GetYourGuide.
Read all 18,230→Bergen: Mostraumen Fjord Cruise with Live Guide
From $85 · 2,789 reviews
★★★★★
Three and a half hours from central Bergen through the Osterfjord into the Mostraumen strait, with a live guide the whole way. 2,789 reviews at 4.7.
Bergen: Mostraumen Fjord Cruise, Operated & Guided by Locals
From $68 · cheapest here
★★★★★
The same three-and-a-half-hour route to Mostraumen for the lowest price on this page, run by a local operator. 4,426 reviews at 4.6.
From Bergen: The Original Fjord Cruise to Mostraumen
From $75 · 10,064 reviews
★★★★★
The original Mostraumen cruise carries 10,064 ratings at 4.7 — more than twice as many as any other boat here, and more than most tours in Norway.
Bergen: Cruise to beautiful Rosendal by the Hardangerfjord
From $88 · 7 hours
★★★★★
Seven hours: two on the water each way down the 179-kilometre Hardangerfjord, and about three and a half ashore at Rosendal, where the manor dates from 1665.
Norheimsund: All-Year Hardangerfjord & Fyksesund RIB Safari
From $94 · rated 4.9
★★★★★
Seventy-five minutes by RIB from Norheimsund into the Fyksesund, the narrowest arm of the Hardangerfjord. It runs all year and it is the highest-rated trip on this page.
From Bergen: Flåm Railway, Stegastein & Nærøyfjord Cruise
From $427 · 11.5 hours
★★★★★
Eleven and a half hours that collects the Flåm Railway, the Stegastein viewpoint and the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord, which is about 250 metres wide at its narrowest.
What it really costs
From $68 a person for three and a half hours to Mostraumen and back, to $427 for the eleven-and-a-half-hour day to Flåm and the Nærøyfjord. Private charters sit far above that and are priced per boat rather than per seat.
Swipe sideways →
| What you are paying for | Price | What you get | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mostraumen, 3–3.5 hours | $68–$85 | The same route from three operators, from Bergen city centre | Free cancellation 24 h |
| Hardangerfjord and RIB trips, 75 min – 7 hours | $88–$136 | Rosendal, the Fyksesund, or the Ulvik arm at speed | Free cancellation 24 h |
| The full day to Flåm, 11–11.5 hours | $299–$427 | Nærøyfjord, the Flåm Railway and Stegastein | Free cancellation 24 h |
The honest answer
For three and a half hours and $68, yes — and the evidence is unusually strong: the three Mostraumen boats carry more than seventeen thousand ratings between them. What you are buying is a narrow strait with a real tidal current, waterfalls the bow is taken right up to, and mountains straight out of the water, all from the middle of the city.
The trip, hour by hour
Boats leave from Strandkaien, a few minutes on foot from the Bryggen wharf. Check in about half an hour before; the ticket is a mobile voucher.
This is the decision people regret. The open deck at the bow is where the trip happens; the heated saloon has the coffee. Most people do both, in shifts.
The first twenty minutes are Bergen itself, then the suburbs, then the Byfjord opens out and the mountains start standing up on both sides.
The water narrows and the walls get closer. Waterfalls come down in numbers rather than singly, and the boat slows for them.
The part you came for. About six hundred metres long and fifty metres wide at its narrowest, with a real tidal current running through it. The skipper times the passage against the water.
The bow is taken close in under a fall and the crew usually fill a glass straight from it. This is the photograph everybody comes back with.
A different light on the way back, and the deck thins out as people go in to warm up.
Three and a half hours door to door, and you are in the middle of Bergen with the afternoon still ahead.
The one decision that matters
Everything else on this page is a preference. This one decides whether you come back saying it was extraordinary or saying it was long. Every boat here has a heated saloon with coffee and a shop, and every boat has an open deck at the bow. The saloon is where you watch a fjord through glass with forty other people; the bow is where the walls close in, where the spray comes over when the skipper takes the strait against the tide, and where the waterfall is close enough to reach. The people who found three and a half hours too long were sitting down. Bergen has rain on roughly two days in three, so the answer is not to wait for better weather — it is a windproof layer and a hat, and the trip looks after itself.
Four parts of the trip
About six hundred metres long and only fifty metres wide at its narrowest.
The bow is taken right in under the fall, and the crew fill a glass from it.
One hundred and seventy-nine kilometres, the second longest fjord in Norway.
On the UNESCO list, and about 250 metres wide at its narrowest point.
Start here
Start with the thing that confuses almost everybody who books a fjord trip from Bergen, because it is the first decision and nobody explains it: three of the eleven listings on this page are the same route. Bergen to Mostraumen and back, three and a half hours, out through the Osterfjord and into a tidal strait. Three operators sell it at $68, $75 and $85. The water is identical. What differs is the boat, the departure time, whether a guide talks you through it, and how many people have rated it.
The strait is the reason the trip exists. Mostraumen is about six hundred metres long and only about fifty metres wide at its narrowest, and a real tidal current runs through it. The skipper times the passage against the water, and on a busy afternoon you can watch the boat crab sideways against it. Everything before that is a warm-up; everything after is the same thing in a different light.
The waterfall is the photograph. Somewhere in the second hour the bow is taken right in under a fall coming off the wall, close enough that the crew fill a glass from it and hand it round. It is the moment that turns up in nearly every review, and it is the main argument for standing outside rather than sitting in the saloon.
The Hardangerfjord is a different day entirely. One hundred and seventy-nine kilometres, the second longest fjord in Norway and up to about 860 metres deep. The seven-hour run to Rosendal gives you two hours on the water each way and about three and a half ashore at a manor built in 1665 — often described as the smallest castle in Scandinavia. That is a day out, not an excursion.
And then there are the famous names. The Nærøyfjord is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, about seventeen kilometres long and roughly 250 metres across at its narrowest, with walls going up past a thousand metres. Getting there from Bergen is an eleven-hour day that also collects the Flåm Railway and the Stegastein viewpoint. Only a couple of those hours are actually on the fjord, and it is worth knowing that before you book.
Bergen has rain on roughly two days in three, and the boats sail anyway. This is not a destination where you wait for the perfect day, because there may not be one in your week. Cloud sitting halfway down the walls is what most people photograph, and it is arguably better than blue sky for it.
The last thing, which no listing says plainly: the deck is the trip. Every boat here has a heated saloon with coffee, and every boat has an open deck at the bow. The people who come back saying it was extraordinary were outside; the people who found it long were inside. Dress for outside and the rest looks after itself.
If three and a half hours is not enough
The Mostraumen boats go out and come back. These three keep going: seven hours down the Hardangerfjord to a manor of 1665, a hundred and five minutes of open-boat speed on the same fjord, and the eleven-and-a-half-hour day that collects the Flåm Railway and the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord.
Practical
Five things decide how it goes: which of the three Mostraumen boats you take, whether you are dressed to stand outside, which side of the boat you sit on, what time you sail, and the fact that Bergen has rain on roughly two days in three.
The strait and the waterfall, from $68. Three operators sell the identical route.
Down the Hardangerfjord and about three and a half hours ashore at the 1665 manor.
The narrowest arm of the Hardangerfjord, from Norheimsund, all year.
The fastest way to cover the Hardangerfjord, from the village of Ulvik.
Railway, viewpoint and the UNESCO fjord in a single day from Bergen.
Priced per boat rather than per seat, from a yacht day to a two-day Sognefjord trip.
A tidal strait about 600 m long and 50 m wide at its narrowest, at the head of the Osterfjord.
The second longest fjord in Norway, up to about 860 metres deep.
The longest and deepest in the country, reaching about 1,308 metres.
A UNESCO-listed arm of the Sognefjord, about 17 km long and 250 m at its narrowest.
The arm the Flåm Railway comes down to, and where the Stegastein viewpoint looks from.
A manor of 1665 at the end of the Hardangerfjord run, with its own walled garden.
A few minutes on foot from the Bryggen wharf, in the middle of Bergen.
Every boat has a heated saloon; the people who loved it were outside.
It is colder and windier on the fjord than on the quay, in every month.
Bergen has precipitation on roughly two days in three. The boats sail regardless.
The bow gets spray, and on the RIB trips it gets a lot of it.
Three and a half hours means three and a half hours, quay to quay.
Standard on all eleven trips on this page.
They sail the same water; the review counts are 10,064, 4,426 and 2,789.
The cheapest sailing is not always the one that fits your day.
Eleven hours to Flåm, of which a couple are on the fjord itself.
Full waterfalls, snow still on the tops, and the deck not yet full.
The warmest weather and the highest demand of the year.
Best time
The Mostraumen boats run all year and the fjord is never closed. What the month decides is daylight, how many other people are on deck, and whether the mountains have snow on them — which, for photographs, is the argument for coming in the shoulder months rather than in July.
May – Jun
Long light, waterfalls at their fullest from the melt, snow still on the tops, and the cruise ships have not yet filled every sailing. Late May into June is the most reliable combination of daylight and space on deck.
Jul – Aug
The warmest water and air, near-endless evenings, and the highest demand of the year. Sailings sell out and the deck is full. Book ahead and take the earliest departure.
Sep – Oct
Autumn colour on the fjord sides, far fewer people, and some of the clearest air of the year between fronts. Days shorten quickly, so take a midday sailing.
Nov – Apr
Short days and the most weather, but the boats keep sailing and the fjord in low winter light is a different place entirely. This is when the deck is yours.
Worth knowing
Three of these boats sail the same route. Bergen to Mostraumen and back, three and a half hours, at $68, $75 and $85. Compare them on review count and departure time, not on the description — the descriptions are describing the same water.
The deck is the trip. Every boat has a heated saloon with coffee and an open bow. The reviews that say it was extraordinary were written by people standing outside; the ones that say it was long were written inside.
Dress for the fjord, not for Bergen. It is colder and windier out on the water than on the quay, in every month of the year. A windproof layer and a hat change the trip more than the price difference between the three Mostraumen boats does.
Rain is not a reason to cancel. Bergen has precipitation on roughly two days in three and the boats sail anyway. Low cloud halfway down the walls is what most people photograph, and the waterfalls are fuller for it.
The long day to Flåm is eleven hours, and only a couple are on the fjord. The rest is the railway, the bus up to Stegastein, and the road back. That is a fine day out — but if you want the fjord itself, the three-and-a-half-hour boat gives you more of it per hour.
Read the review count as well as the score. The original Mostraumen cruise carries 10,064 ratings. Two private charters on this page carry fewer than five between them, and a 5.0 from four people is not the same evidence as 4.7 from ten thousand.
Round out the trip
Go deeper
Common questions
From $68 a person for three and a half hours to Mostraumen and back, up to $427 for the eleven-and-a-half-hour day to Flåm and the Nærøyfjord. Private charters are priced per boat and sit far above that.
Because three operators sell the same route. Bergen to Mostraumen and back, three and a half hours, at $68, $75 and $85. What differs is the boat, the departure time, whether a guide speaks throughout, and how many people have rated it — 4,426, 10,064 and 2,789 respectively.
Three to three and a half hours, quay to quay, leaving from Strandkaien in central Bergen. There is no time ashore — it is a round trip by boat.
The original Mostraumen cruise at $75, which carries 10,064 reviews at 4.7 — more than twice as many as any other boat on this page.
A tidal strait at the head of the Osterfjord, about six hundred metres long and only around fifty metres wide at its narrowest. A current runs through it with the tide, and the passage through it is the reason the trip exists.
They are different days. The Hardangerfjord is 179 km and the second longest in Norway, and the seven-hour Rosendal run gives you time ashore at a 1665 manor. The Sognefjord is 205 km and the deepest in the country, and its Nærøyfjord arm is UNESCO-listed — but reaching it from Bergen is an eleven-hour day.
Yes. The Mostraumen boats and the Fyksesund RIB run all year, and there is a dedicated winter day trip to the Nærøyfjord. Days are short, so take the earliest departure.
A windproof outer layer and a hat, in any month. The best of the trip is from the open bow, where it is colder and windier than on the quay, and Bergen has rain on roughly two days in three.
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One PDF: all eleven cruises by fjord, hours and price, the three Mostraumen boats side by side, and the year month by month.
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Why trust this page
Durations, prices and ratings are read off the live listings rather than copied from other affiliate pages. The heights, distances and place names come from the published record.
Every cruise here is sold on scenery and priced on time on the water. We put the duration on every card, and the cost per hour in the comparison, because that is the number that actually separates them.
A 5.0 from two reviews is not the same evidence as 4.8 from two thousand, and we label it that way rather than sorting everything by score.
Eleven cruises, ordered by price, ranked on which fjord they reach and how much evidence stands behind the rating. We earn a commission when you book, and it does not change what we recommend.
The answer
If you are sailing once from Bergen, take one of the three Mostraumen cruises. They are the same three-and-a-half-hour route: $85 with a live guide, $75 for the most-reviewed version with 10,064 ratings behind it, or the cheapest of the three. All of them go through a strait fifty metres wide and put the bow under a waterfall, and all of them leave from the middle of the city. If you have a whole day instead, the seven-hour run down the Hardangerfjord to the 1665 manor at Rosendal is the one to take.
Check dates and availability→ Free cancellation up to 24 hours · Reserve now, pay laterBefore you go
All eleven cruises by fjord, hours and price, the three Mostraumen boats compared, and the year month by month.
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Bergen: Mostraumen Fjord Cruise with Live Guide
★ 4.7 · 2,789 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h
