Waking at 5am might sound like holiday sacrilege, but on a summer morning in Norway the sun has already been up for an hour — and sailing into the Oslofjord at dawn is exactly the kind of moment worth setting an alarm for. One travel writer did just that aboard Holland America's MS Rotterdam, a 2,668-passenger ship, on a seven-night roundtrip cruise from Rotterdam to Norway.

First stop is Oslo, where the ship docks from 7am to 5pm — enough time to walk the revamped waterfront past floating wood-fired saunas, visit the MUNCH museum (opened 2021, home to the world's largest Edvard Munch collection including multiple versions of The Scream), and wander Frogner Park's 200-plus Vigeland sculptures. Coffee devotees should detour to Tim Wendelboe's espresso bar in the hip Grunerlokka district, a regular on world's-best lists.

The itinerary's real showstopper comes later: the Sognefjord, Norway's longest and deepest fjord at 205 kilometres long and plunging 1,308 metres — on average ten times deeper than the North Sea. The final port, Skjolden, sits at the end of its innermost arm, a mountain-fringed village where philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once kept a lakeside cabin. Between ports, stops at Mandal and Sandnes offer a four-kilometre historic timber flume walk above the Otra River rapids near Vennesla.

The timing is notable. Norway welcomed a record 7.2 million international arrivals in 2025, and interest is only set to grow around the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where the national team's viral synchronised Viking-rowing celebrations will likely pull even more visitors north. Add a weakened krone to the mix and Norway's pricey reputation has softened somewhat.

Holland America runs seven-day Norway roundtrips from Rotterdam and Amsterdam from $2,564 a person, with a "Have It All" package bundling Wi-Fi, drinks, speciality dining and shore excursion credits. A Rotterdam departure on April 11, 2027, calls at Oslo, Mandal, Stavanger and Skjolden.

A cruise suits Norway well: accommodation and meals are locked in, sidestepping the country's steep land-based costs. Pack layers and waterproofs regardless — June weather swings from sunshine to downpours and rarely tops 20 degrees. Look out for white-tailed sea eagles, porpoises and, if you believe the Norse legends, the odd troll.

For anyone who'd rather trade a Mediterranean heatwave for waterfalls, glacier-smudged peaks and midnight sunsets at 11pm, the fjords make a compelling case.