Reykjavík, established by Viking settler Ingólfur Arnarson around 870 C.E, is the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland. The census of 1703 recorded that Reykjavík had 69 residents and consisted of a farm and a church. The impressive statue of Leif Erikson, in the center of town, reminds all of Iceland’s Viking heritage. Its name translates to ‘smoky bay, due to the geothermal nature of the surrounding area.
Today about 200.000 people live in the Icelandic capital, roughly 60% of the country’s population. It has evolved into a sophisticated city. The northernmost national capital in the world is also one of the cleanest, greenest, and safest on Earth.  Walking Reykjavik streets one will find rich culture, history, music, shopping, and in the late hour's vibrant nightlife. Colorful rooftops and the elegant spire of Hallgrímskirkja Church dominate Reykjavik’s skyline. Known for its arts, Reykjavik hosts a number of internationally recognized festivals, notably the Iceland Air music festival, Reykjavik Arts Festival, and the Reykjavik International Film Festival.

The Westfjords in northwest Iceland is a remote and sparsely populated peninsula of steep, tall mountains cut by dozens of fjords. The lack of flat lowlands suitable for farming played a key role in keeping this region wild and sparsely populated. The raw and untamed natural landscape around Ísafjörður is characterized by a subarctic environment. A colorful show of blooming tundra wildflowers carpets the mountain slopes and valleys during the short, cool summer.
 
Vigur Island, the second largest island in the Westfjords region, is one of the most renowned areas in Iceland for viewing nesting birds en masse. The area’s cliffs host an astonishing wealth of nesting birdlife, while the occasional arctic fox can be spotted patrolling the edges of the bird colonies in hope of an easy meal.
 
According to Icelandic history, Ísafjörður was first settled in the 9th century by a man called Helgi Magri Hrólfsson. The oldest house in Iceland, built-in 1734, can be found in Ísafjörður and is now a part of a local museum. 

Recognized as the “Pearl of Eyjafjörður” for its tranquil beauty, Hrísey is a dreamy little island set within the Eyjafjörður fjord in northern Iceland. It was established as a settlement in the 10th century and is mentioned in both the medieval Landnámabók and Víga-Glúms saga. Fishing has always been the main industry here, and a herring factory kept the place humming during the 19th century. Hrísey was a hub for shark hunters, too; the Shark-Jorundur house, built in the mid-1800s, features an exhibit on the hunting practice in Iceland. Today around 200 people live on the island, a birder’s paradise with more than 40 species — including one of Europe’s largest breeding colonies of arctic terns.

Husavik curls around the semi-circular Skjalfardi Bay on Iceland’s northern coast. It was the first Norse settlement in Iceland founded in 870 A.D. The name means ‘bay of houses,’ no doubt referring to the first farmstead on the island. The town’s skyline is dominated by the tall steeple of its picturesque, gingerbread-style church, built-in 1907.  Tourism has become increasingly important, and the bay has a well-deserved reputation for terrific whale-watching as several species frequent its waters. The Whale Museum capitalizes on that aspect. Other museums tout the history, including some ancient boats, and the history of human exploration, including a monument to astronauts.  Nearby natural features include the horseshoe-shaped canyon Asbyrgi and several waterfalls.

The remote town of Seydisfjördur is perched at the end of a narrow twisting fjord in East Iceland. A very picturesque village of 700 people, it is known for its thriving arts scene and a large number of resident artists. Tourism is on the rise as well, as its natural setting of mountains and waterfalls is simply breathtaking. Surrounded by impressive 1,085 meters (3,560’) tall snow-capped mountains, Seydisfjördur is home to the Technical Museum of Iceland and hosts populations of both eider ducks and Atlantic puffins. It was settled by Norwegian fishermen in 1848 and quickly became an important trading center between Iceland and Europe. It is known throughout Iceland for its colorful Norwegian-style wooden houses.
The first telegraph cable connecting Iceland to Europe made landfall here in 1906. A large dam was constructed here in 1913, which produced power for the country’s first high voltage AC power plant, a revolutionary achievement for its time. 

Papey, Celtic for ‘Friar’s’ Island, is situated 5 kilometers (3 miles) off of the eastern coast of Iceland. Although the largest island in Eastern Iceland, it is only 2 square kilometers (0.77 sq mi) in area. Its windswept, grassy slopes rise to 58 meters (190’) culminating in a rock formation called the Castle. Rocky sea cliffs surround much of the island, providing excellent habitat for nesting sea birds. Guillemots occupy Papey until mid-summer while Atlantic puffins abound until mid-September. Seals and eider ducks can be found here during the breeding season.
Although there is evidence of early Norse settlement, the island takes its name from Irish monks known as ‘papar’ who presumably occupied the island. The medieval Icelandic ‘Book of Settlements’ mentions this as a place inhabited by these ‘Vestmen’ (men of the west). 
Today, a lighthouse, a dwelling, and a church are on the island. The small church, with its white picket fence and red roof, is the oldest wooden church in Iceland, built-in 1902.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to whale watching, catching up on your reading, or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring the shore side.

Situated in the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord and surrounded by steep soaring mountains, deep valleys, and majestic waterfalls, Flam occupies the sort of dramatic setting one envisions when imagining the natural beauty of Norway's fjords. In fact, the word Flam means "little place between steep mountains." It's a short walk from the port to a trip on the Flam Railway, widely known as one of the world's most incredible stretches of railroad. Take a hike through the woods, go fishing in the mountains, enjoy a leisurely bike ride, or just enjoy the local shops and culture, including Otternes Bygdetun, with 27 different buildings dating back to the 1600s.

South of Alesund on Norway’s west coast, many of the myriad islands are connected by long bridges like strings of pearls. Among those, the Isle of Runde dangles like a pendant into the sea west from the island of Remøy. There are 150 human inhabitants on Runde, but its bird cliffs, which are the southernmost in Norway, are the summer home for over a half-million nesting seabirds. The island hosts the widest variety of birds in Scandinavia, but the showstoppers are its 100,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins. Large colonies of great skuas, gannets, and shags (cormorants) are also present in season. Cruising beneath these cliffs, immersed in the white-noise calling of innumerable birds and the visual swirling of a sky filled with birds ceaselessly coming and going to and from their nests overhead is an experience of nature’s astonishing extravagance that you will never forget.

A coastal city, Brønnøysund’s origin dates back to its 13th century Viking heritage. In the intervening centuries, it has been settled by immigrants from southern Norway and Sweden, and its local Swedish-like dialect still carries echoes of this past.
 
Brønnøysund sits on a narrow peninsula from the mainland and is surrounded by waterways dotted with a maze of small scenic islands. In this fairytale setting, picturesque, colorful houses are set amidst thick lush greenery, turquoise blue water, and shallow bays. Towering above the town like a giant troll’s hat is the massive granitic monolith of Torghatten Mountain. Here can be found one of the great natural curiosities of the area, a 520’ (160 m) hole piercing completely through the center of the mountain. The Viking sagas surmised that it was the impact of a warrior horseman’s arrow that created the wound. However, it was actually formed during the last Ice Age by erosion from ice and water.

Huddled together in what appears to be a wall of solid rock, the Lofotens are actually several islands. Their scenery, revealed when the ice disappeared from the last Ice Age, is held to be among the most dramatic in Norway. Svolvaer, located on the island of Austvaagoey, received town status in 1996, and is the Lofotens' most important city with about 4,500 residents. Dominating the town is the mountain peak called Svolvaergeita, a beacon for climbers. Fishermen flock here when the Norwegian Arctic cod enters the Vestfjord to spawn. Artists prize the picturesque setting and extraordinary light conditions. 


The entry to Trollfjord off the Raftsund sound is hair-raising. Just 100 meters wide, it is approached from an angle that hides the opening until the last moment. Then steep, sheer cliffs rise on either side as your ship slips between the polished walls. Once inside, the walls fall away to reveal a vast bowl of snowcapped peaks up to 1100 meters high. It is simply breathtaking. On your Seabourn ship, the Ventures by Seabourn team will likely offer the option to escort the ship into the fjord aboard Zodiacs, making for unmatched video and photo opportunities. Your ship will slowly turn to survey the whole ranks of peaks surrounding the fjord. No matter what the weather, Trollfjord is a high point of any cruise in Norway’s majestic fjords.
 

A unique feature of fjords cruising is the hours-long panorama of scenic beauty and points of interest that unfurls on either side of your ship. Quaint villages nestle on shore and tiny farms cling impossibly to mountainsides. Waterfalls tinsel the slopes, frequently frozen into bizarre sculptural artforms. Your Expedition Team members will be around to interpret the scenes, answer questions or just chat.

Just west of the North Cape lies the Gjesvaestappen island chain, a designated nature reserve, and birdwatcher’s paradise. These hilly, grass-covered islands – of which Storstappen is the largest — are home to some of Norway’s largest colonies of cliff-breeding seabirds, including 100,000 puffins, 10,000 black-legged kittiwakes, and 5,000 razorbills. Great cormorants, European shags, gannets, and thick-billed Murres are among the other nesting birds spotted here, as are predatory white-tailed eagles. While visitors are not allowed to set foot on Storstappen, your Zodiac excursion will take you up close to its puffin-covered cliffs. Witnessing the parade of seabirds overhead with its constant cacophony of cries, flapping wings, and splashing plunge dives is one of Nature’s great thrills.  


The tall plateau looming over the Arctic Ocean is scalloped on the east side by a sheltered cove called the Hornvika. To reach it, you will board a stable, rigid inflatable watercraft at Norway’s northernmost fishing village of Skarsvåg. On the way to the Hornvika, your boat will pass the free-standing rock feature called the Horn (Hornet in Norwegian), a place sacred to the Sami people, who sacrificed offerings there for good fortune. From the cove, a stairway and trail lead up just over a thousand steps to the plateau 307 meters (over a thousand feet) above and thus to the North Cape Monument. Once there enjoy the views and the informational visitors center. And relax, you’ll go back to your ship overland by road! Others can drive to the Cape from Skarsvåg.

The looming cliffs of Norway’s North Cape rise directly from the sea 1007 ft/307m to a plateau as flat as a table. This impressive headland has been selected to represent the northernmost point of Europe, even though it is technically located on an island, Magerøya, connected to the mainland by a bridge. At 71° 10’ 20” N latitude, it is just 1,306 mi/2012 km from the North Pole. At this point, the Norwegian Sea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean, meets the Barents Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. Further north, the mountainous archipelagoes of Franz Josef Land and Svalbard are the last lands before the Polar Ice Pack. The Midnight Sun does not dip below the horizon here at any time between May 14 and July 31 each year. Sheer and formidable, the North Cape pays its role to the hilt, emphatically declaring itself the end of Europe’s landmass.

 

Tromsø is the largest city in northern Norway and the ninth most populous municipality in the country. It surprises visitors with its sophisticated art scene, its contrasting modern and historical architecture, international cuisine, multicultural events, and festivals throughout the year.
 
Situated 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Tromsø is within the land of the midnight sun during summer months and the elusive northern lights in winter. However, thanks to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream, the sea doesn’t freeze here in winter, and there is no permafrost in the vicinity. Tromsø is noticeably milder than other towns at the same latitudes in other parts of the world.
 
Tromsø is also ‘The City of Explorers’ and has seen a number of expeditions set off from its shores to the probe the polar realm. Both Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen frequently recruited men in the city. Nowadays home to the Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø continues a tradition of being one of the key centers in explorations of the Arctic