Molde

- City of Jazz and Roses

Molde in the summer is idyllic, full of roses and jazz-music, and one of the most popular arrivals of the Coastal Voyage, the Hurtigruten. A lot of cruiseships on their Norwegian cruises are visiting this city, and passengers have the possibility of going on excursions to the amazing and unique Atlantic Road.

The town is close to my village, and from the small village centre we can see the town. Situated at the Moldefjorden, it's a beatiful view when you arrive the town from the seaside.

The town has an airport, and is also easily accessable by train from Oslo or Trondheim to Åndalsnes, and then about an hour with the bus. You can go here on the Hurtigruten Classic Norwegian Cruise, or on a cruiseship. There is also a bus connection with Trondheim.

Most of all this is an idyllic coastal town, with the blue fjord in front and the beautiful mountains of the Romsdalen Alps behind it. A little bit longer into the Romsdalsfjorden is the town Åndalsnes, and many cruise ships are also visiting Andalsnes and the Trollstigen Road (Trolls Path).

  
Hotels and accomodations in Molde

Rica Seilet Hotel Another view of the Rica Seilet Hotel, (the Sail) with the Bjørnson-House at the back. Bjørnson House is a culture hall for concerts and theatre, and is named after the famous Norwegian author and poet, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

Quality Hotel Alexandra This is the Alexandra Hotel, a hotel with a history. Beautifully situated in the centre of the town, and with an amazing view over the fjord. Quality Hotel Alexandra offer a total of 163 refurbished rooms, including 120 with a southwards-facing balcony.

In the town you will also find a hostel that is offering a cheaper alternative, and this one is popular and recommendable if you are looking for something more simple.

Both official parks and private gardens has impressing lots of roses of all kinds, and is know as the City of Roses. The climate is a maritime temperate, with rather chilly summers and mild winters.

26.000 inhabitants (confirmed April 2013) is living in the town and the close surroundings.

   What to see and do

Just a 10 minutes walk from the city centre you will find the folk museum "Romsdalsmuseet" (Romsdal Museum). It's beautiful and quite easy to walk there.

Established in 1912, and has buildings and old interiors from the whole region. One example of the typical Molde houses from before the WWII is to be found in ”Bygata” (The town street) with Mali’s Café in the museum area.

The museum is open from June 20. until middle of August, and you will find exact opening hours and prices at the museums own webiste.

I will tell you more about what to see, and one example is the Møre and Romsdal Art Centre which shows modern art and handicrafts. You find it in the city centre, within a 5 minutes walk from the cruise ships docking.
The gallery presents modern separate- and collective exhibitons of both national and international character. Normally the gallery has more than 10 different exhibitons every year.
In the artshop you can choose from a variety of paintings and articrafts from the region.

DID Adventure is offering an amazing expedition of 4 to 5 hour sea kayaking  on the Moldefjord. It includes expedition meals and the same gear as on longer trips. DID says: "You will be amazed how easy it is and how good the food tastes".

Approaching with the ferry from Vestnes, which is the municipality I live in, the view is quite amazing, and this is the same view you get when arriving here with the Hurtigruten, or a Cruise ship.

To the left is the Seilet Hotel, and down by the fjord you can see the beautiful Aker Stadium. The local football (soccer) team is playing in the top league in Norway, and the stadium has seats for 11.000 people in a town of 20.000 inhabitants.

The Church

This is the main church, built just after WW-II, as the old wooden church was bombed during the war.

The city was damaged from massive bombing of the German Air Force, and most buildings are build after 1945.

Molde is the administrative centre of Møre and Romsdal county, and the residence of the Bishop of Møre.

Another view from the main street ("Storgata" in Norwegian language).  As you can see the streets are quite narrow, and compared with most other European citys and many Norwegian towns too, this is very small one. 

Both the cruise ships and the Hurtigruten i docking in the city centre, and we recommend a walk through the silent streets of the town. If you have the time you can take a taxi up to the viewpoint on the Varden mountain just behind the town.

Ask for the price so you don't get an unpleasant surprise. The cabdrivers are not cheating you, but the price for taking a taxi in Norway is sky high.

Hurtigruten

Just across the street from Hotel Alexandra you find the Coastal Express arriving every evening, and this is also where the cruiseships are docking.

In the summertime both the south-going and the north-going Hurtigruten are visiting here at the same time in the evening, sometime between 21:00 and 22:00.

When you're leaving

Even if you don't want to, you finally will be leaving this little pearl.

On your visit you may want to leave with the Hurtigruten, northbound to Kristiansund and Trondheim, or on the southbound ship to Ålesund.

Or you can travel over the fjord to Vestnes, and take the express bus to Ålesund.