May 26^th to June 1^st 2025.

Our culinary journey begins in Ålesund, also known as the Art Nouveau city. From there, we will travel along a little part of Norway’s long coastline to handpicked destinations and local businesses that represent tradition and innovation in the Norwegian food culture. We will visit the island of Ona, where Nevada’s husband has family roots. We will learn about life on a small fishing island and the challenges and hardships of living along the coast and having the sea as your food source -magical, vast, unpredictable, and yet giving.

On the island of Gossen, we will meet two local businesses that utilize the gifts of the sea and have elevated past traditions to suit modern living. In Kristiansund, we will learn more about the history of klippfisk ‘dried cod’ that became a celebrated cuisine in Spain and Portugal, better known as the famous ‘bacalao’.

Arriving in Trondheim, we will taste how a Michelin-starred restaurant elevates local ingredients and uses them in its tasting menu. With this, we conclude our journey on a high by exploring the best of Trondheim’s attractions and food scene.

Nevada Berg is an author, cook, photographer, and creator of the highly praised culinary and cultural website, "North Wild Kitchen". There, you will find stories and recipes inspired by Norwegian traditions and history, as well as innovative ways of using traditional Norwegian ingredients. Nevada has also published two international cookbooks. Her first book, North Wild Kitchen, was named one of the best cookbooks of 2018 by The New York Times. Her second cookbook, Norwegian Baking through the Seasons, arrived in 2023 winning multiple awards. Nevada is well-known internationally with her special focus on Norwegian culinary traditions. This culinary journey takes us to the destinations of some of her stories and presents us with many of the recipes she shares.

Program

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Notice, changes may occur
Symbol explanation:
(B) Breakfast included
(L) Lunch included
(D) Dinner included
Day 1: May 26th – Ålesund, the City of Art Nouveau
Find your way to Ålesund, a vibrant city on the western coast of Norway. You can find flights to the city’s airport “Vigra” through connections in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, or Oslo, to name a few.

At our central hotel, you will meet your travel companions for the tour. We are a small group and look forward to getting to know everyone. We will start our journey with a guided culinary walking tour to explore this gem of a city.

Ålesund is known as the Art Nouveau city, due to a bit of chance. As it happened, a major fire ravaged Ålesund in January 1904 and thousands of citizens became homeless overnight. Around the same time, Europe was experiencing a new architectural and artistic style. Art Nouveau is also known as Jugendstil in German, el Modernismo Catalán in Spanish, and the Modern Style in English. When the houses were rebuilt, during the years 1904-1907, the architects were influenced by this new prevailing style. In addition to the special architecture found here, the city is built on several small islands dripping out into the sea giving it a Venetian-type feel.

The guided tour includes tastes of classic bacalao, traditional sausages of pork with mashed potatoes, a modern twist on dried cod served on pizza, a lovely fish soup, and then we end in an atmospheric setting with coffee, and a locally baked treat called a turtle.

There will be some time for checking into the hotel and more exploring on your own after the guided tour. We can suggest walking the 418 steps to get to the amazing viewpoint over the city, named Aksla. Get even deeper into the architectural history of the art nouveau city in the Jugend Museum or even further back in history at the open-air Sunnmøre Museum (public transport is required for the latter).

We meet again for a classic seafood dinner and get better acquainted in the cozy atmosphere of the restaurant overlooking the waters.
(L, D)
Day 2: May 27th – Seabound
Wake up to the sunlight peering in through your window. In June, most of Norway, including Ålesund, has light all night referred to as the white nights. We will embark on our tour bus for the journey out into the Nordic Sea to the small Island of Ona. The bus takes us through underwater tunnels and bridges that connect these small islands and islets. At Finnøy, the road stops, and we hop on a ferry to Ona. A must while on a ferry on the West coast of Norway is to have a coffee and a “svele”. This is a pancake-like pastry topped with sweat buttercream or the well-known Norwegian brown cheese.

Nevada looks forward to bringing you to Ona where her husband’s family comes from. His father left the island when he was young, and always dreamt of coming back. Nevada’s husband wanted to bring her to Ona for years to show her the magic of the island from his childhood memories. Nevada writes on her website: For years he wanted to take me to Ona – to the place where he spent several childhood summers racing between the quaint houses, collecting seashells, fishing, and playing into the night as the summer sun kept its brilliance. This place of charm and memories, with its stormy and sunny composition keeps you guessing. Rain or shine, cold or warm, this is a place suited for those who long for the sea and are braced for its sometimes-unforgiving disposition.

Read about Nevada’s first visit to Ona here: https://northwildkitchen.com/ona-crab-fishing/

Our hotel, Ona Havstuer, is a pearl far out on the coast and is going to be our home for the next two nights. We get to know the island better by going on a walking tour with a local guide. The island has been a fishing village for centuries. We visit the little red lighthouse that has been in use since 1867. The highest number of habitants was 300 people recorded in the years after the Second World War. At that time, Ona was the southernmost place where people collected and shipped “klippfisk” or dried cod. During the fishing season, the village increased severely in size as fishermen from the fjords came out to take part. Today, there are only about 15 residents living year-round. During our walk, we will visit a ceramic shop and an art studio, before having lunch at the hotel.

Take some time of leisure to savor the views and feel of this little village of colorful wooden houses built on grey rocks. See how history lives on with modern additions, hear the silence of the sea, and smell the salty ocean.

We will meet again for dinner at our hotel. Share your experience with the rest of the group and enjoy your surroundings.
(B, L, D)
Day 3: May 28th – Fishing and Birdwatching at Ona
Some of the inhabitants still live off fishing, but it has turned more into a hobby now, and a way of catching fresh meals by your own means. We hope you are eager to partake in the island life and come crab fishing.

A local fisherman will take us out on the ocean by boat to his tried-and-true locations. We try our hand at pulling up the traps set the day before and waiting with anticipation on how many crabs there are inside. Among the crabs, we should also have some shrimp and crayfish.

With a slow return to the port, the boat will circle small islets and an archipelago. We will look for wildlife and seabirds.

We return to our hotel for lunch, featuring local ingredients.

This evening, we will enjoy our own catch with a seafood platter. We are hoping for a similar experience to what Nevada had on her first visit, when she writes:

The crabs were lifted ashore. Almost immediately, the gas burner stove was lit and a large pot with water and sea salt was brought to boiling. One by one, the crabs were tossed in the water and simmered until just perfect. After a 5-minute rest, the water was drained and the crabs were lined up on the rocks to cool. We dug into the claws first. Fresh, sweet, and buttery. There’s nothing quite like eating something this local and so fresh that it doesn’t need anything else served with it. As the feasting continued, the reality of the moment sank in. Here I was, sitting on a rock on an island I had been wishing to visit for 15 years, eating freshly boiled crab from the waters surrounding it, and looking up at the lighthouse that has guided so many before me.
(B, L, D)
Day 4: May 29th – Where Old and New Traditions Meet
In the early morning, we pack our bags and take the ferry to the island of Gossen. Our bus is ready on the other side and drives us to North Sea Salt Works.

Here, we meet Michal, an American raised in Portland, Oregon. Michal started the company in 2014. Her love affair with salt began already back in Oregon, but when she and her family moved back to her husband’s home island, she wondered why nobody was producing salt in the surrounding area. With this incredible natural resource on their doorstep, surely somebody should take advantage of it, so she did.

North Sea Salt Works has won multiple awards and can be found throughout Norway, on some of the tables at the highest-ranked restaurants, and shops in Europe and the US. During our visit, we will be shown around the factory and learn more about their history. We will taste some of the products and get the opportunity to buy some to take home.

You can read more about Nevada’s visit with Michal and her sea salt production here: https://northwildkitchen.com/north-sea-salt-works/

We continue our journey on the island of Gossen and visit our next local producer, Juvik Sild.

Juvik Sild is a herring company that celebrates its traditional roots while looking toward the future. This is where people have been fishing as far back in time as anyone can recollect, making it a part of their DNA. The Sporsheim family took on the task of rejuvenating the Norwegian tradition with herring and carrying on the family company, established by their grandfather back in 1928. Nevada writes: Using their father’s herring recipe, and a few new ones of their own, they have set off to capture the taste buds and imagination of Norwegians and the rest of world.

This will be an exciting visit with interesting smells, tastes, and an insight into an old tradition made new. They will show us around and tell us their stories before we sit down in their cozy showroom to have a “sildebord” (a herring meal). On offer will be the delicious traditional ways of eating herring, and some modern twists that will keep herring on the menu for the future.

Read about Nevada’s visit to Juvik sild here: https://northwildkitchen.com/herring-a-juviksild-story/

After a fulfilling afternoon, we board our bus and drive to our next hotel, taking another ferry to reach the mainland as we drive through the city of Molde. After a while, we reach the sea and witness that there is no longer an archipelago protecting the land from the power of the Nordic Sea and this is where we find our next, beautifully located hotel. Take your time, breathe in the refreshing air, and take in the nature around you. We settle in and have some time for ourselves to go for a walk or just unpack in our rooms.

In the evening, we meet again in Nevada’s cabin. Here we will have an intimate cooking class and family-style dinner. We imagine there will be many good laughs, great questions, and interesting reflections this evening.
(B, L, D)
Day 5: May 30th – From the coast to Trondheim
Wake up to the soothing sounds of waves crashing on the shore, just steps away from your room. We will meet for breakfast and then check-out to continue our drive north to Trondheim. Today's adventure begins with the Atlantic Road, a scenic road with stunning natural beauty with remarkable engineering. As we travel the 8.3-kilometer stretch, you’ll be captivated by the stunning landscapes of the archipelago, where the road gracefully connects the islands of Averøy to the mainland. It features eight iconic bridges that create a dramatic landscape against the Norse Sea.

We stop in the city of Kristiansund. Similar to Ålesund, it sprawls out over multiple islands. In its heyday, Kristiansund was a bustling fishing city with boats coming from Portugal and Spain to trade for the famous dried cod, called “Klippfisk”. In Portugal and Spain, it is more commonly known as bacalao. We will have an early lunch here to try the famous tomato-based dish of Norwegian bacalao and hear the story of the culture connected to it.

We travel a bit further into the country. Even with the long coast, farming sheep, goats, and cattle has been essential to life. For our next visit, we will go to one of the typical Trønder-farms, where it was once normal to have a long, large house with multiple generations living side by side. Trøndelag is the region north of Møre og Romsdal.

Arriving in Trondheim, we make our way to the final hotel of the tour. We settle in before meeting in the reception to walk to dinner.

Tonight, we will have dinner in one of Trondheim’s great restaurants.
(B, L, D)
Day 6: May 31st – A city of tastes
Our last day will be spent exploring the beautiful city of Trondheim. This city has grown to be a real food destination with a focus on farm-to-table, local produce, and culinary excellence found in many of the restaurants and cafés.

This is also a city filled with history, with the largest medieval cathedral in Northern Europe. Nidarosdomen towers in the heart of the city. We start our day with a morning tour of this awe-provoking building. For nearly 1000 years, pilgrims have visited Nidarosdomen, which was built on top of the Viking grave of St. Olav.

After this, we will visit the colorful Baklandet to see if we can get a table at the very popular Baklandet Skysstasjon café for lunch. Bright-painted wood houses line the street alongside cozy shops and cafés. This part of the city is a treat both for food and shopping.

We will end our day with dinner at Kraft Bodega. This popular restaurant aims to create a unique dining experience by drawing inspiration from global cuisines and serving food with a touch of humor and creativity. They are known for their vibrant atmosphere and innovative dishes. The menu itself changes regularly to incorporate seasonal and locally produced ingredients.
(B, L, D)
Day 7: June 9th – Departure and journey beyond
Our journey together concludes, and we share our goodbyes at breakfast while leaving at our leisure.

From Trondheim, you can journey on by yourselves. We can recommend getting on the Hurtigruta or Havila ferries for a cruise further up the coast to the Lofoten Islands and Tromsø. Another option is to take the train to Røros, another magical destination where you’ll find good food and handicraft traditions in one of the most picturesque towns in Norway. This is a good choice for those who want to see a bit more of Norway before they continue with the train to Oslo and fly from there.
(B)

Departures and prices