Three-Day Ålesund, Atlantic Islands, and Fjord Itinerary

Three full days in Ålesund give you time to explore the 1904 to 1907 Jugendstil stone town across Aspøya and Nørvøya on foot, visit the marine science centre on Hessa and the open-air folk museum at Borgundgavlen, drive through the Vigra Fixed Link subsea tunnels to the outer Atlantic islands of Giske and Godøya, and spend an entire day cruising into either Hjørundfjorden or UNESCO-listed Geirangerfjorden.

Day 1 Morning: Svaneapoteket, Jugendstilsenteret, KUBE, and Aspøya

Start your opening morning at Apotekergata 16 right beside Hellebrua inside the former Swan Pharmacy (Svaneapoteket), designed by architect Hagbarth Martin Schytte-Berg and built between 1905 and 1907. Spend two hours exploring Jugendstilsenteret and the KUBE Art Museum, beginning in the preserved 1907 wooden apothecary hall before descending into the 2004 to 2005 underground extension for the multimedia time machine on the 23 January 1904 fire that destroyed nearly 850 wooden houses and left more than 10,000 residents without shelter. Afterwards, walk west up Kirkegata past pastel-rendered turrets and Fjellgata 2 (where the solitary wooden house Waldehuset survived the 1904 blaze) to inspect the 1909 Ålesund Church, designed by Sverre Knudsen with 2,000 square metres of Nordmøre marble cladding and stained glass and frescoes by Enevold Thømt.

Day 1 Afternoon: Brosundet Shrimp, Fiskerimuseet, and Molja Lighthouse

Return down Kirkegata to the tidal channel of Brosundet to buy a bag of freshly boiled fjord shrimp (reker) directly from a moored fishing trawler or sit down for lunch in a converted 1904 to 1907 sea warehouse along Apotekergata. Follow the western quay north along Molovegen past Rønnebergbua across the water to Holmbua, a surviving 1861 timber warehouse housing the Fisheries Museum in Ålesund (Fiskerimuseet i Ålesund, with the replica bank fishing smack Storeggen av Aalesund), where exhibits explain how salted and dried klippfisk built the port's global trade. Continue out along the curved stone harbour breakwater to the red-and-white 1889 Molja Lighthouse (Room 47 of Hotel Brosundet) to watch coastal ships pass Skateflua and Skansekaia.

Day 1 Evening: Byparken, the 418 Steps up Mount Aksla, and Bacalao Dinner

Cross Hellebrua to Nørvøya and stroll along pedestrian Kongens gate and Keiser Wilhelms gate to Byparken, pausing at the Rouen-gifted bronze statue of Gange-Rolv (Rollo) and the 1910 Kaiser Wilhelm II obelisk. Climb the 418 stone and concrete steps up the western cliff face of 135-metre Mount Aksla past the wartime bunker emplacement and the cantilevered Kniven platform to the 1903 Fjellstua terrace for late-afternoon views over Aspøya, Hessa, Giske, Godøya, and the Sunnmøre Alps, then descend to Brosundet for a slow-simmered Norwegian tomato bacalao dinner.

Day 2 Morning: Atlanterhavsparken, Tueneset, and Sukkertoppen on Hessa

On your second morning, take a FRAM local bus or drive three kilometres west across Steinvågsbrua (opened on 30 August 1953) to Tueneset on the 4-square-kilometre island of Hessa for Atlanterhavsparken (opened on 15 June 1998 and designated Norway's first national marine science centre in 2018). Watch the hand-feeding dive show in the unfiltered 4-million-litre Great Atlantic tank through its 18-by-4-metre acrylic panel, visit the harbour seals in the outdoor 15-million-litre Selbukta basin (opened 2014) alongside the Humboldt penguins and coastal otters, and walk the coastal battery trails around Tueneset or hike the 314-metre (1,030-foot) ridge of Sukkertoppen.

Day 2 Afternoon: Sunnmøre Museum at Borgundgavlen, Giske, and Alnes Lighthouse

Head four kilometres east of the centre to Borgundgavlen to spend two hours at Sunnmøre Museum (founded in 1931 across 120 hectares), touring the 55 relocated timber farmhouses and boathouses, the 1910 Lars Kinsarvik parlour furniture, the four boat halls housing over 40 traditional craft and the Viking ship replica Borgundknarren, the 1987 Medieval Museum over Borgundkaupangen, and medieval stone Borgund Church. Late in the afternoon, drive north from Nørvøya through the 3,520-metre Ellingsøy Tunnel and 4,222-metre Valderøy Tunnel and cross the 552-metre Giske Bridge to visit the c. 1130 white marble Giske Church (restored in 1756 with Tavle-Jacob's carved altarpiece) before continuing through the 3,844-metre undersea Godøy Tunnel to the 22.5-metre 1937 Alnes Lighthouse facing the open Atlantic.

Day 3 Morning: Cruising into Hjørundfjorden or UNESCO Geirangerfjorden

Dedicate your third day to the inner fjords of Sunnmøre. Board a morning sightseeing catamaran or Hurtigruten steamer from Skansekaia into the 33-kilometre Hjørundfjorden, narrowing to 441 metres deep beneath 1,717-metre Kvitegga and 1,564-metre Slogen, or sail 100 kilometres inland into the 15-kilometre UNESCO-listed Geirangerfjorden past the Seven Sisters, Suitor, and Bridal Veil waterfalls and the cliff farms of Knivsflå and Skageflå.

Day 3 Afternoon: Hotel Union Øye, Trollstigen, or Runde Puffin Cliffs

On the Hjørundfjorden route, step ashore at Urke to visit the 1891 Dragon Style Hotel Union Øye and the submerged 1908 farm at Lygnstøylvatnet in Norangsdalen. On the Geiranger route between mid-May and October, climb the 11 hairpin bends of Ørnevegen (1954), cross the Eidsdal to Linge ferry with a warm 1971 MRF ferry svele folded around buttercream or brunost, and descend the 11 hairpin bends of Trollstigen (1936) past the 320-metre Stigfossen waterfall, or in late May to July substitute an evening trip south to the 294-metre cliffs of Runde to watch 30,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins return to roost.

• Day 1 (Aspøya and Nørvøya on Foot): Jugendstilsenteret and KUBE in the 1907 Swan Pharmacy, Waldehuset, 1909 Ålesund Church, Brosundet shrimp boats, 1861 Fiskerimuseet, 1889 Molja Lighthouse, Byparken, and the 418 steps up Mount Aksla to 1903 Fjellstua.
• Day 2 (Hessa, Borgundgavlen, and Outer Islands): Atlanterhavsparken's 4-million-litre tank and Tueneset on Hessa, Sunnmøre Museum's 55 houses and Viking ships beside Borgund Church, and the subsea tunnels to c. 1130 Giske Marble Church and 1937 Alnes Lighthouse on Godøya.
• Day 3 (Sunnmøre Fjords or Runde Bird Cliffs): Full-day cruise or car-ferry loop into 33-kilometre Hjørundfjorden and 1891 Hotel Union Øye, UNESCO Geirangerfjorden and the 11 bends of Trollstigen, or Runde's puffin cliffs and 1767 lighthouse.

If bad weather rolls in off the Norwegian Sea on your planned fjord day, swap the order of Days 2 and 3 so you sail into Hjørundfjorden or Geirangerfjorden under clearer skies and save the indoor tanks of Atlanterhavsparken and the exhibition halls at Borgundgavlen for the rainier day. Returning to Brosundet on your third evening leaves plenty of time for a final stroll along Apotekergata and Skansekaia as the coastal express steamer sounds its horn across the harbour.