Iceland, Norway & Scotland: A Return to the North
There’s something about Iceland that keeps pulling me back. This was my third time visiting the Land of Fire and Ice — and my first time actually beginning a voyage there, rather than arriving as a port of call. Starting in Reykjavik changed the whole feeling of the trip. My first visit was in 2019, with an overnight that opened the door to the legendary Golden Circle. My second was a sweeping cruise from Tromsø, Norway, threading through five Icelandic ports. This time: three ports — Reykjavik, Ísafjörður, and Akureyri — and a route that eventually carried me through Norway and Scotland before ending in London.
Ísafjörður: Life at the Edge of the Westfjords
We began outside of town at Skutulsfjörður Waterfall, where our guide did something delightfully simple: she cupped the glacial water in her hands and passed it around. Pure, cold, straight from the earth. There’s no bottled water that tastes like that.
Because all of Iceland’s ports were repeat stops for me, I was deliberate about going deeper rather than wider. In Ísafjörður, I chose the NCL tour Life and Culture Ísafjörður — and it turned out to be one of the most quietly memorable excursions I’ve taken.
Back in town, we explored a recreated historic fishing village — a handful of weathered structures that conjured daily life in the old Iceland. Then came the food: dried fish, hákarl (fermented Greenland shark — acquired taste is an understatement), and a sharp shot of local vodka to wash it all down. It’s a rite of passage for any visitor to Iceland.
Then we headed in the opposite direction entirely, ducking into the 9.1km Westfjords Tunnel — the longest tunnel in Iceland, completed in 1996 and remarkable for having a three-way intersection underground, branching off toward three separate coastal villages. We emerged in the quiet fishing settlement of Suðureyri, where an old fisherman described the traditional Icelandic fishing life — a world of all-leather clothing, long winters, and work dictated entirely by the sea.
Our final stop was a small hilltop church where a young Icelandic woman sang for us — several of her own compositions, and an Icelandic lullaby. The intimacy of the moment, in that remote place, was unexpectedly moving.
Akureyri & a Missing Suitcase
Akureyri, Iceland’s “capital of the north,” was a familiar face — I’d visited before, so I left the day unstructured. Which turned out to be fortunate, because I had a more pressing errand: tracking down missing luggage at the airport. Travel has a way of keeping you humble.
Måløy, Norway: West Cape by Bus
After a day at sea, we entered Norwegian waters and arrived in Måløy, a small coastal town in western Norway. I’d booked the NCL Explore West Cape tour — a scenic bus ride to the western edge of the island, passing through green valleys thick with sheep and cattle. We stopped at a fishing village hotel for coffee and a pastry, and for a brief time, the pace of the trip slowed down to something more like the pace of the place.
Leirvik, Norway: Lighthouses and Quiet Coastline
The following day brought us to Leirvik, the administrative hub of Stord municipality, tucked into the Hardangerfjord region. I had the Coastal Beauty & Brandasund Hamlet tour booked — a scenic coastal drive that passed the striking Leirvik Lighthouse, one of those understated Norwegian landmarks that blends perfectly into its surroundings. Norway tends to be like that: quiet beauty that doesn’t announce itself.
Scotland: Castles, Loch Ness & the Elusive Monster
A day at sea carried us from Norway to the Scottish Highlands, arriving in Invergordon, the gateway to some of the country’s most storied landscapes. I had signed up for the full-day NCL tour: Best of the Highlands — Castles, Loch Ness & Inverness. I was hopeful about the monster.
Our first stop was Cawdor Castle, and it’s unlike almost any castle you’ll visit in Europe. This isn’t a ruin or a museum that used to be something — the Cawdor family has lived here continuously for over 600 years. It opens seasonally precisely because the family still retreats here. Walking through its rooms feels less like tourism and more like being a well-behaved guest. We had scones with butter and jam in that spirit, and they were exactly right.
We then traced the length of Loch Ness, that long, dark stretch of freshwater cutting through the Highlands — 37 kilometers long and in places over 220 meters deep. Deep enough, the locals will tell you, to hide all manner of things. Unfortunately, no stop was planned for monster-watching. We arrived instead at Urquhart Castle, a dramatic ruin perched directly above the loch — the site of centuries of conflict between Scottish clans and English forces. The backdrop alone makes it worth visiting, monster or not.
South Queensferry & Edinburgh: A City That Deserves More Time
Our final stop was South Queensferry, the coastal town that serves as Edinburgh’s port access and sits beneath the iconic Forth Bridge — a Victorian engineering marvel and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. My NCL tour, Panoramic Edinburgh, was a bus loop rather than a walking tour, which meant the famous Royal Mile was experienced through glass rather than underfoot. This was my second time here, and I’ve made a decision: Edinburgh needs to be a destination in its own right. Not a port of call. Not a day trip. The city deserves a proper visit, on foot, at its own pace.
Final Thoughts
Short cruises have their own particular rhythm — you cover distance without exhaustion, and you collect moments rather than itineraries. This one delivered a few genuinely new experiences: the underground tunnel in the Westfjords, the intimacy of the singing church in Suðureyri, Cawdor Castle still very much alive. I also met a wonderful travel companion along the way, which turned several evenings of specialty dining into something far more memorable than the meals themselves.
Iceland has a way of rewarding return visitors. The more times you go, the more you stop trying to see everything — and start actually experiencing something.
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