Northern Exposure
Chic, youthful and yet historical port cities make the Kattegat Sea, wedged between Norway, Sweden and Denmark, delightful to explore on a cruise ship.
Don’t be deceived by those noir detective stories, screaming paintings and glum philosophers. There’s plenty to smile about in Nordic cities. Over the years, surveys on wellbeing and life satisfaction keep placing Scandinavians near the top of happiness lists. It seems they have a pleasant life, pedalling about on bicycles, playing with LEGO and listening to music on their Bang & Olufsen audio systems.
Does any of this happiness rub off on mere visitors? As I set out from Amsterdam on Oceania Cruises’ ship Marina, I anticipate it might. Later, as we’re sailing down the watery finger of the 100km Oslofjord, I know it will. I’m already happy, listening to seagulls shriek and turning my binoculars on red-roofed houses and little islands sprouting chapels and towers.
Marina is the right choice to sail here. The ship is upmarket and sophisticated, with chic contemporary décor and artworks, yet is as understated and unpretentious as the Nordic nations we’re visiting. Nobody on this ship hankers after wildness or waterslides. When guests aren’t lounging on the lovely pool deck they’re borrowing books from the library, or enjoying gin and gossip in one of several elegant bars.
WELCOME TO OSLO
I’m polishing off an omelette and toast outdoors at the Terrace Café as we slide into our Oslo dock. The Norwegian capital’s most striking building, its opera house, sits like an iceberg in marble and glass on the edge of the harbour. Its sloping roof almost dips into the water, and already locals are walking up it to
admire the views. I’m off to explore this cool, Nordic city. I walk past Akershus Castle and find the Oslo waterfront buzzing. Locals buy bags of just-caught shrimp in front of the town hall. Further on, former shipbuilding district Aker Brygge has been transformed into an upscale residential neighbourhood alive with restaurants and bars. In the summer sun locals are everywhere, slurping ice-creams, sipping cocktails, and lying on lawns in their underpants.
Oslo is inextricably linked to the sea, and has been since its founding in the 11th century. I hop on a ferry for the short ride across to Bygdøy Peninsula to explore the past. The Norwegian Maritime Museum displays a polar vessel, three-masted schooner and traditional fishing boats.
Even better, the Viking Ship Museum houses three longships, one nearly intact. The treasures, tools and clothes excavated from these funeral ships provide an incredible insight into the sophistication and trading reach of Viking society.
Oslo certainly makes me happy, and for reasons repeated on my Oceania cruise as it zigzags across the Kattegat Sea. Every city we visit is comfortable, water-loving, park-filled and backed by pine woods or purple hills. The pale northern light is lovely. Yachts dance in harbours, teenagers jump off bridges into chilly canals, while houses look as if they’re made from gingerbread.
Appealing old things (castles, cathedrals, cobblestones) are blended with just as appealing new things, from avant-garde architecture to vodka bars and shop windows chic with designer furniture.
It feels appropriate to visit these unassuming, mid-size, attractive places on an unassuming, mid-size, attractive ship. Marina carries 1,250 guests and sits in a premium-category niche between smaller luxury ships and bigger budget vessels. The ambience is luxury, the service attentive.
The ship doesn’t try to bamboozle me with bulk and bling, but Marina is large enough for pleasantries such as a wellness centre, multiple restaurants and delightful pool deck where, as we sail away from Oslo, I flop like a contented seal. The salty breeze brings a glow to my cheeks.
As we sail the Kattegat Sea I enjoy the subtle differences that set Denmark, Norway and Sweden apart, yet rejoice in what they have in common. Port cities invariably have wonderful water-and-island settings, relaxed lifestyles and distinctive Nordic style.
Sweden’s second-largest city Gothenburg is another city married to the sea. It too has bays and canals and water views at every turn. True, the approach isn’t romantic: this is Sweden’s industrial powerhouse, home to shipbuilding and Volvo. Yet the city centre is handsomely laid out along snaking parks and wide boulevards, and easy to explore on foot. A big university population gives Gothenburg a lively ambience and great café and bar scene. The whole city feels happy. I can’t resist plundering indoor market Stora Saluhallen market for reindeer salami, but Marina isn’t leaving me hungry.
FINEST CUISINE AT SEA
Oceania boasts it has the finest cuisine at sea, and it may well be right. French celebrity chef Jacques Pépin oversees the cruise line’s menus, and half the ship’s 800 crew work in the kitchens. The food is outstanding, especially as Marina’s speciality restaurants are all included in the cruise fare.
Restaurant Jacques serves French bistro dishes, Toscana authentic Italian, and Polo Grill’s choice between classic steaks and seafood dishes has me dithering.
My favourite, though, is panAsian restaurant Red Ginger for dishes such as spicy duck and watermelon salad, lobster pad Thai – the most ordered dish on the entire ship – and my personal favourite, a simple but sensational miso cod.
Next day we arrive in Copenhagen. Like many Scandinavian cities it has small-town charm despite its many big-city cultural assets. This is another place that grew rich on Baltic trade and shipping taxes. Old Copenhagen is preserved at Nyhavn, where wooden boats bob in the harbour and colourful houses are half-timbered. Yet I find plenty in Copenhagen that’s hip and experimental: eclectic museums, elegant design shops that are full of minimalist chairs, unexpected jazz bars.
As we sail away, I’m pinned to Marina’s deck again. The ship dodges past an island fortress and wind farms. I could almost stretch out my arms and touch Sweden on one side and Denmark on the other.
Vikings, Renaissance princes and Hanseatic merchants plied these waters once. As I tuck into peppercorn steak in brandy sauce followed by a lemon tart with pistachio ice-cream in the Grand Dining Room, we sail past fortresses and trading towns beneath cloudscudded northern skies.
DENMARK'S THE SPOT
Oceania guests are more focused on discovering new places than on flopping in a floating resort, so we’re all up early for our next adventure. Denmark’s second-largest city Aarhus is another easy walk from the docks.
Some passengers are off to visit Moesgård Museum outside town for a quick dose of archaeological and Viking history; others opt for an excursion to Den Gamle By, an open-air museum of meticulously restored historical buildings.
I’m off instead along a canal, across town to the ARoS contemporary art gallery, which is topped by a coloured glass ring with 360-degree rainbow views over the city. I’m back on board just in time for afternoon tea in Horizons Lounge: finger sandwiches and a temptation of tarts and macarons.
As the ship slips away, warehouses and apartment blocks loom beyond the lounge’s huge windows. We’re headed for our last stop – Skagen at Denmark’s northern tip. The Kattegat Sea ends here in sand dunes, a swirling sea and birds that prance like windblown confetti. I’m out patrolling the ship’s decks, happiness achieved.
“On Marina, the ambience is luxury, the service attentive.”