Måløy cruise-day decision guide
Måløy Cruise Day: Raid Centre or Briksdal Glacier?
Måløy sells a seven-and-a-half-hour coach to a glacier that sits forty-five minutes from another port on the same coast. The thing that actually happened in Måløy is a short walk up from the harbour.
Måløy from across the harbour. The Raid Centre sits in the town above the waterfront.
Every excursion desk works the same way. The longest tour gets the best position on the board, because it costs the most. At Måløy the longest tour is Briksdal Glacier, and it takes seven and a half hours.
That is not a complaint about the tour. It is a good glacier and the drive is real. It is a question about which port you should see it from, and what you give up to do it from this one.
How long does Briksdal take from Måløy?
Seven and a half hours, at NOK 1195 for an adult. Fjord Guiding publishes both figures on its own website, so this is the operator’s account rather than an outside estimate. Children aged six to fifteen are NOK 895 and under-sixes are NOK 495.
Put that next to the rest of the same list and something stands out. The Geirangerfjord trip runs five and a half hours and costs the same NOK 1195. Two extra hours on a coach, no extra charge, and no extra glacier.
Seven and a half hours also swallows most of a normal port call. If your ship is alongside from eight until five, you get back with about ninety minutes to spare, and you will have spent five of those hours looking at the inside of a bus.
Is Briksdal better from Olden?
Yes, and it is not close. From Olden quay the glacier is a forty to forty-five minute drive. From Nordfjordeid it is ninety minutes each way. From Måløy it is seven and a half hours door to door.
Same glacier. Same valley. Same troll cars up to the ice.
The part worth knowing is who sells it. Nordfjord Havn operates the cruise quays at Måløy and at Olden. One port authority, both ports, and from one of them it sells a seven-and-a-half-hour coach to something that sits three quarters of an hour from the other.
So check your itinerary before you check the price. If Olden appears anywhere in your week, do Briksdal there. If Nordfjordeid appears, that is still better than Måløy. Only if neither is on the list does the Måløy version become a real choice, and even then it costs you the whole day.
What happened at Måløy in December 1941?
On 27 December 1941, around 570 British commandos landed on the island of Vågsøy. The operation was called Archery. Troops from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway took part alongside them.
It was the first Allied operation of the war to put army, navy and air force under a single command, which is why it gets studied and not just remembered. More than five hundred bombs fell on the town in the opening ten minutes. The fighting lasted about six hours. Ten ships were sunk in the harbour.
Martin Linge was killed here. The Linge Company, the Norwegian special operations unit, carries his name. Churchill called the raid a letter to Hitler.
None of that happened somewhere else and got moved here for visitors. It happened in these streets, and the town kept it.
Is the Måløy Raid Centre worth the time?
Yes, and give it longer than you think. Visitors say so repeatedly, and the exhibition is denser than the building suggests.
The centre opened in 2018 and won the local council architecture prize in 2020. It runs over three floors, one of them a bunker the German garrison built and later used as a sanitary bunker after the raid. Original film runs alongside the photographs. Jack Churchill’s bagpipes are there, and so is Martin Linge’s pistol.
Two practical things. It is wheelchair accessible and there is a lift, which is not always true of buildings like this on this coast. And audio guides come in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Norwegian, while the live guided tours are usually English only. If English is not your first language, take the audio guide instead of booking a guided slot.
Can you walk there from the ship?
Usually, and it depends on which quay you get.
Nordfjord Havn runs three cruise quays at Måløy and allocates them by ship length: up to 180 metres, 180 to 280 metres, and over 280 metres. The port says only the town-centre quay suits the smaller vessels. Two of the three take the largest ships, and those berths sit further along the harbour front.
So a 150-metre ship and a 300-metre ship do not get the same walk into town, and nobody can tell you in advance which one you will be on. Ask at reception in the morning. The excursion meeting point does not move: the Fjord Guiding ticket office is 100 metres from the cruise gate whichever berth you are given.
What should you actually book?
On a short call, nothing. Walk into town, spend two hours in the Raid Centre, and look at the street art on the way back. There are more than twenty works around Måløy and most of them sit close to the centre. That is a full and honest port day for the price of one museum ticket.
On a normal call, add an hour. The Kannesteinen minibus is the cheapest thing on the pier and runs an hour out to the mushroom-shaped rock at Oppedal. The RIB safari is also an hour and puts you on the Stadhavet, which is the open water this town actually faces. Either one still leaves the Raid Centre in reach.
On a long call, take the boat to Selja Monastery. Two and a half hours from Måløy, against four hours for the same island from Nordfjordeid. It is the one big trip this port does better than its neighbours, and it is the one worth a whole day rather than the glacier.
Four ports sell this glacier, from four hours to ten. Compare Briksdal from every port.
Back to the full guide: Måløy cruise port: a coast port sold as a fjord port. The same glacier from the near end is here: Briksdal Glacier or the Loen Skylift from Olden, and the middle rung is Sagastad or Briksdal from Nordfjordeid.
Quick answers
What is there to do in Måløy on a cruise day?
The Måløy Raid Centre in the town centre, the war memorials, and more than twenty street artworks within walking distance of the harbour. Paid options from the pier are the Kannesteinen rock by minibus at one or two hours, a one-hour RIB safari on the open coast, and a two-and-a-half-hour boat trip to Selja Monastery. The long coach tours to Briksdal, Geirangerfjord and the Loen Skylift all leave the island and take between five and a half and seven and a half hours.
How long does the Briksdal Glacier tour take from Måløy?
Seven and a half hours. Fjord Guiding, which sells shore excursions at the Port of Måløy, publishes that duration on its own site at NOK 1195 for an adult. It is the longest excursion offered from this port, and it costs the same as the operator’s two-hour-shorter Geirangerfjord trip.
Is Briksdal Glacier better from Olden or Måløy?
From Olden, clearly. Briksdal is a 40 to 45 minute drive from Olden quay and a seven-and-a-half-hour round trip from Måløy. From Nordfjordeid it is 90 minutes each way. All three ports sell the same glacier, and Nordfjord Havn runs the cruise quays at both Måløy and Olden.
What happened at Måløy in 1941?
Operation Archery, on 27 December 1941. Around 570 British commandos, with troops from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway, landed on the island of Vågsøy. It was the first Allied operation of the war to put army, navy and air force under a single command. More than five hundred bombs fell in the opening ten minutes and the fighting lasted roughly six hours. Martin Linge, the Norwegian officer the Linge Company is named after, was killed in the raid. Churchill described it as a letter to Hitler.
Is the Måløy Raid Centre worth visiting?
Yes, and allow more time than you expect. The centre opened in 2018, won the local council architecture prize in 2020, and runs over three floors including a bunker built by the German garrison. Original film and photographs, Jack Churchill’s bagpipes and Martin Linge’s pistol are on display. It is wheelchair accessible and has a lift. Audio guides are available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Norwegian, though guided tours are usually in English only.
Can you walk to the Måløy Raid Centre from the cruise pier?
Usually, but it depends on your ship. The Raid Centre is in the town centre above the harbour. Nordfjord Havn operates three cruise quays at Måløy and assigns them by vessel length, in bands of up to 180 metres, 180 to 280 metres, and over 280 metres. Only the town-centre quay suits smaller ships, so a large vessel berths further along the harbour front. Ask at reception which quay you are on before planning the walk.
What is the best short excursion from Måløy?
The Kannesteinen minibus tour at one hour is the cheapest thing sold on the pier and the most booked. A one-hour RIB safari on the Stadhavet is the other short option and takes you out onto the exposed coast, which is what Måløy is actually near. Both leave enough of the day to visit the Raid Centre afterwards.
Sources checked
These are the public source families used for this guide. Always confirm live schedules, weather, and operator details before booking.
- Måløyraidsenteret (maloyraidsenteret.no) Operation Archery, the Churchill quotation, the exhibition contents, the 2018 opening and the building.
- Fjord Guiding / Visit Måløy (visitmly.no) Excursion durations and direct prices including child rates, and the 100-metre meeting point at the cruise gate.
- Nordfjord Havn (nordfjordhavn.no) The three cruise quays at Måløy, the ship-length bands in the mooring plan, and the quays it also operates at Olden and Loen.
- Kystverket / Kystdatahuset 2025 cruise calls and passenger-visits for Måløy, Olden and Nordfjordeid.
- Last checked Reviewed 27 July 2026. Prices, timetables and seasonal openings change, so confirm live details before you sail.