Bergen is the bustling capital of Norway's fjord district. If you arrive a few hours before departure, stroll around the old wooden buildings in the Bryggen Wharf, remnants of its Hanseatic past.

In travel's early days, it was easier to get from Bergen to the Continent by sea than it was to get to Oslo-a fact apparent in this city's architecture and culture. You board the Norwegian Coastal Voyage this evening.

When you awake, the ship will be crossing the open Stadthavet and heading for Torvik. En route, you'll stop in the beautiful Art Nouveau town of Alesund. (Between 15 April and 14 September, all ships call at Geiranger in the Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to see the beautiful Brudesloret, Friaren, and the Seven Sisters waterfalls.)

After a call at Molde, its magnificent view of the Romsdal Alps made it a favorite vacation spot of Henrik Ibsen. The ship will carefully navigate the Hustadvika, a belt of islets and skerries, before docking at Kristiansund.

The ship arrives early this morning in ancient Trondheim, where you'll have time to explore this jewel of a city, Norway's first capital.

Did you know that the first Viking sale of goods from "the new found land" took place here about 1000 AD? Timber from Leiv Eriksson's Vinland estate was sold to a Bremen merchant. Walk the charming streets, sit by the peaceful harbor, or cross the old city bridge to see the restored wooden buildings in Bakklandet and the great gothic cathedral of Nidaros, where the new kings of old Norway once received their official blessing.

From Trondheim, the ship sails on to Rorvik, where the southbound and northbound coastal ships meet. 

Today you'll cross the Arctic Circle. Of course you can't actually see the line, but on your portside, the globe on the island of Vikingen serves as a marker.

There are spectacular sites ahead: islands and skerries with majestic rock formations, whose origins are the stuff of legend.

After Bodø, the ship heads out to open sea for the Lofoten Islands with their picturesque cabins on stilts and weathered wooden racks with drying cod. In the evening, she'll navigate the narrow Raftsund Strait, passing the looming crags of the Trollfjord.

This morning you'll pass the medieval Trondenes church before calling at Harstad for breakfast. Afterward, you'll sail across the Vagsfjord past the great island of Senja with its diverse countryside of farmland, pine trees, and plunging peaks.

Later you'll stop at Tromsø, the "Paris of the North". In the 19th century, Russian, British, Dutch, and German ships called here before heading off on Arctic expeditions for hunting whales, walruses and seals.

Finnmark's landscape is austere in its beauty, teeming with wildlife. Watch for rookeries of puffins and gannets along the cliffs and pods of orca hunting for herring.

After calling at Honningsvåg, the capital of the North Cape, the ship heads east toward the pretty fishing villages of Kjøllefjord, Mehamn, and Berlevåg.

On the seventh day, you'll arrive at Kirkenes, the journey's northern terminus and turning point.

The ship arrives at Honningsvag in the early morning. After calling at Havoysund, she will stop for 1 1/2 hours in Hammerfest, the world's most northerly town. Despite its remote location, it was the first Norwegian town to have electric street lighting and its own power station.

She then heads south to Øksfjord, whose glacier calves directly into the sea. After crossing open water, the ship calls at the old trading post of Skjervøy. You'll dock in Tromsø just in time to savor its nightlife.

Arrive in Trondheim early, with time to visit Norway's largest medieval church, Nidaros Cathedral, and the restored Archbishop's Residence.

You will then sail out through the beautiful Trondheimsfjord, past Hitra, island of deer, and lonely Grip. At day's end, you'll call at Molde, before arriving in Ålesund late in the evening in time for a stroll on shore.

During the night, the ship will call at Torvik, Måløy, and Florø. The World's Most Beautiful Voyage is drawing to a close. Yet still ahead lies mile after mile of spectacular west Norway scenery: holly trees on Svanøy, the mouth of Sognefjord, and the beautiful archipelago on the approach to Bergen.