Brim Explorer Tours: Which Cruise Fits Your Day

You are choosing a route, not a better boat

The Brim Explorer fleet is electric or hybrid-electric, so there is no engine noise under the commentary. The saloons are heated and glazed floor to ceiling, and there are outdoor decks on two or three levels. Most carry a café and a licensed bar, and the guides talk through the route as it passes. What you are choosing between, then, is a stretch of water and a month, not a standard of comfort.

Fares run from 690 NOK to 2,895 NOK for an adult. The floor is the Silent Oslo Fjord Cruise, 2.5 hours on the Oslo fjord for 690 NOK. At the other end, 6.5 hours along the Svalbard ice edge costs 2,895 NOK on the Wildlife and Glacier Cruise. Most tours land between 990 and 1,990 NOK. Age moves the number more than anything else: on the Tromsø Arctic Fjord Cruise an adult pays 1,490 NOK, a child aged 3 to 11 pays 745 NOK, and an infant under three travels free.

Oslo is the only city where the boats run all year

Oslo is the one place where a Brim Explorer tour sails in every month, and it holds the cheapest fare of any Brim Explorer tour. The Silent Oslo Fjord Cruise is 2.5 hours for 690 NOK, departing at 10:00 and 13:30 daily, past Dyna Lighthouse, the Opera House and MUNCH, with the option of being dropped at Bygdøy. It is the shortest commitment and the easiest to book at short notice.

The two Oslo combos cost more than double and take a full day, which is the trade. The City-Bus Tour & Fjord Cruise is 1,500 NOK for six hours, starting with an electric coach at 10:00 for Holmenkollen, a guided walk through Vigeland and entry to the Fram Museum, then the 13:30 boat; which Bygdøy museum you get depends on the month, the Norwegian Folk Museum from April to October and the Kon-Tiki from November to March. The Forest Hike & Silent Fjord Cruise is also 1,500 NOK, runs November to April only, and puts a small-group walk with a local guide and her dog ahead of the same electric fjord cruise.

In Tromsø the month decides which tour you take

Tromsø's calendar makes the choice for you. The city sits 20 minutes from its airport by bus, and the light swings hard: aurora season runs from late September to early April, while June through August is midnight sun with no darkness at all. Which cruise makes sense depends entirely on which of those you land in.

The fjord cruise runs in the shoulder seasons, February to April and September to October, four hours for 1,490 NOK, with an underwater drone streaming live from below the boat and a route past the Tirpitz site and the Olavsvern submarine base. From 1 November to 28 March the Electric Northern Lights Cruise takes over: three hours, 1,290 NOK, rising to 1,419 NOK between 11 December and 10 January, with soup and focaccia included and three-quarters of the sailing on the electric engine. The fjord cruise and the Polaria aquarium come bundled from February to October at 1,690 NOK for 5 to 6 hours, which suits anyone who wants the aquarium and the water on one ticket.

Whales are the winter draw. The Silent Whale Watching trip runs 8 to 9 hours for 1,990 NOK, or 2,189 NOK over Christmas, with a stated sighting rate above 95% for orcas, fin and humpback whales. The MS Fjordjarl alternative leaves at 08:30 from 1 November to 31 January, costs 1,890 NOK, and carries up to 250 people on a 39-metre catamaran, where the silent boat caps its group at 135. Midsummer is the thinnest stretch: the whale boats do not start until October, and the aurora boats have finished by the end of March.

Svolvær: the Trollfjord is the one to plan around

The Silent Trollfjord Cruise runs from 1 February to 30 October, takes 3 to 3.5 hours and costs 1,490 NOK, with departures at 09:00 and 13:30 and extra sailings at 11:00 and 19:00 in June, July and August. Trollfjord is the reason: it has no road in, so you either take a boat or walk 10 km over the mountains. The crew deploys an underwater drone in Raftsundet when conditions allow, and does not feed the eagles.

The summer tours are short. The Sea Eagle & Sunset Cruise is 1.5 hours for 790 NOK, leaving at 17:30 between 1 June and 12 September. The fishing trip on Ms Symra, a wooden boat that turned 100 in 2017, is four hours for 1,195 NOK, departs at 09:30 from 1 May to 31 October, is operated by XXLofoten, and takes a maximum of 20 people. You can keep what you catch. The Lofoten Northern Lights Cruise is the outlier: three hours for 990 NOK at 19:00, from 1 February to 28 March 2027, and the only winter departure of the four.

Bodø, Stavanger and Longyearbyen: tidal current, cliff or ice

In Bodø, the Beiarfjord & Saltstraumen Cruise is four hours for 990 NOK, departing at 09:00 and 11:00 from 13 March to 30 September, and it sails to Saltstraumen, the strongest tidal current in the world. The boat is MS Bre, which has a wheelchair lift. The Kjerringøy Coastal Cruise is 1,290 NOK for four hours at 14:00 from 19 May to 31 August, and gives you 1 to 1.5 hours ashore at a 19th-century trading post with museum entry included. Both Bodø routes start in 2027.

Stavanger's Lysefjord & Pulpit Rock Cruise is the cheapest of the long ones at 750 NOK: 3.5 hours, departures at 10:30 and 15:00, 18 May to 30 August, under Pulpit Rock at 604 metres and past the 75-metre Whiskey Waterfall. Svalbard is the expensive end. The Arctic Fjord Cruise is four hours for 2,295 NOK, sails at 14:30 on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from May to October, and picks you up at your accommodation in Longyearbyen. The Wildlife and Glacier Cruise is 6.5 hours for 2,895 NOK, leaves at 08:15, includes a lentil soup lunch, and visits Skansbukta, with seals, walruses, whales and occasionally polar bears all possible.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Brim Explorer tour cost?

Adult fares run from 690 NOK to 2,895 NOK. The cheapest is the Silent Oslo Fjord Cruise at 690 NOK for 2.5 hours, and the most expensive is the Wildlife and Glacier Cruise from Longyearbyen at 2,895 NOK for 6.5 hours. Most tours sit between 990 and 1,990 NOK.

Which Brim Explorer tour is best?

The Silent Trollfjord Cruise is the one to build a trip around, running 1 February to 30 October from Svolvær, because Trollfjord has no road in and the alternative is a 10 km hike. If your dates put you in Oslo, the Silent Oslo Fjord Cruise sails every month and is the cheapest way onto the water. In winter, the Tromsø whale watching trips are the reason to be there.

Is Brim Explorer worth it?

The fare buys water you cannot reach by road: the 3.5-hour Lysefjord cruise puts you under Pulpit Rock's 604-metre cliff for 750 NOK, and the Svalbard cruises sail along the ice edge. The ships run on electric or hybrid-electric power, which is what makes a whale or eagle approach possible without engine noise.

How long is the Brim Explorer tour?

Tours run from 1.5 hours to 8 or 9 hours. The shortest is the Sea Eagle & Sunset Cruise from Svolvær at 1.5 hours, and the longest is the Tromsø whale watching trip at 8 to 9 hours. A half day covers the Trollfjord, Tromsø fjord, Bodø and Stavanger cruises at three to four hours each, while the Svalbard Wildlife and Glacier Cruise takes 6.5 hours and the Oslo combos take six.

Where does Brim Explorer leave from?

Departure points are Kaigata 6 in Tromsø, Rådhusbrygge 2 in Oslo, Torget in Svolvær, Sjøgata 37 in Bodø and Strandkaien in Stavanger. On Svalbard, both the Arctic Fjord Cruise and the Wildlife and Glacier Cruise pick you up at your accommodation in Longyearbyen rather than meeting you at a pier.

Can you see the northern lights on a Brim Explorer cruise?

Two cruises are built for it. The Electric Northern Lights Cruise from Tromsø runs 1 November to 28 March at 1,290 NOK for three hours, rising to 1,419 NOK between 11 December and 10 January. The Lofoten Northern Lights Cruise leaves Svolvær at 19:00 from 1 February to 28 March 2027 for 990 NOK. The aurora season in Tromsø itself starts earlier, in late September, so the sky can already be dark before the boats start sailing.

Does Brim Explorer run all year?

Only in Oslo. The Silent Oslo Fjord Cruise sails daily at 10:00 and 13:30 in every month, and the City-Bus Tour & Fjord Cruise runs all year as well. Everywhere else the seasons are narrow: the Stavanger fjord cruise runs 18 May to 30 August, the Svalbard cruises May to October, and the Tromsø fjord cruise February to April and September to October.

Can I see whales on a Brim Explorer tour?

Yes, from Tromsø between October and January. The Silent Whale Watching trip runs 8 to 9 hours at 1,990 NOK with a stated sighting rate above 95% for orcas, fin and humpback whales, and the MS Fjordjarl trip covers the same water in about eight hours for 1,890 NOK. On Svalbard, whales are one of the possible sightings on the longer glacier cruise rather than the point of the trip.

Is Brim Explorer suitable for children?

Yes on the shorter cruises. On most of them children aged 3 to 11 pay half the adult fare and infants under three travel free. The whale watching trips are the exception: eight to nine hours at sea in winter is a long day for a young child.