Havila or Hurtigruten? Compare ships, dining, inclusions, sustainability, Northern Lights and the onboard experience to find the right Norwegian coastal voyage.
If you are choosing between Havila Voyages and Hurtigruten, it is easy to assume the decision does not matter too much. After all, both travel Norway’s historic coastal route between Bergen and Kirkenes, calling at the same communities and sailing through the same extraordinary landscape. But once you step onboard, the differences become much clearer.
Havila offers four new-generation sister ships, a more consistent contemporary experience, straightforward packaged-voyage inclusions and advanced battery technology. Hurtigruten offers more than 130 years of coastal heritage, more Original Coastal Express departures and a varied fleet where individual ships have noticeably different personalities.
So, which should you choose? That depends on what matters most to you.
First, Compare Havila with the Right Hurtigruten
Before comparing the two, there is an important distinction to make. Havila’s classic coastal voyages are most directly comparable with Hurtigruten’s Original Coastal Express. These are the ships operating Norway’s scheduled coastal service between Bergen and Kirkenes.
Hurtigruten also offers Signature voyages, which are quite different. These feature fewer selected ports, longer stays ashore and a more inclusive onboard experience. If you are considering one of these, such as The North Cape Line or The Svalbard Line, our Hurtigruten Original vs Signature guide explains the differences in more detail.
For this comparison, we are primarily looking at Havila versus Hurtigruten Original, where the choice is genuinely like for like.
The Route Is Shared. The Experience Is Not.
Havila and Hurtigruten jointly operate Norway’s government-supported coastal service between Bergen and Kirkenes. The current contract allocates seven of the eleven routes to Hurtigruten and four to Havila, with the service connecting 34 ports along the Norwegian coast.
That means one commonly repeated difference is not quite true: Hurtigruten is not the only one offering an authentic working coastal voyage. Havila also carries passengers travelling between individual ports. On either line, you may find local travellers joining for a shorter journey while you continue north or south on a longer holiday.
The real distinction is subtler. Hurtigruten has the heritage. Havila has the modern interpretation. Hurtigruten pioneered the service in 1893. Havila arrived more than a century later with ships designed specifically for a new generation of coastal travel.
Havila or Hurtigruten for the Best Ships?
This is probably the easiest difference to understand.
Havila: newer and more consistent
Havila has four sister ships: Havila Capella, Havila Castor, Havila Polaris and Havila Pollux. They share the same generation of Scandinavian design, large windows, contemporary cabins and public spaces built around the landscape outside. Book one Havila ship and you have a very good idea of what to expect from another. Cabins use Nordic styling, most have sea views, and the ships share the same core facilities and technology.
Hurtigruten: more character and more variation
Hurtigruten currently operates seven ships on its Original Coastal Express. They span different generations and have individual layouts, histories and personalities. For some travellers, that is part of the attraction. A Hurtigruten voyage can feel more maritime and individual, and choosing the ship becomes part of choosing the holiday. The other side of that coin is consistency. Your cabin, facilities and general onboard environment can vary more between Hurtigruten ships than they do across Havila’s four-vessel fleet.
Our pick: Havila if you want the newest, most predictable onboard experience. Hurtigruten if ship character and heritage appeal more.
Which Has More Departure Choice?
Hurtigruten has a straightforward advantage here. Under the current coastal contract, Hurtigruten operates seven routes compared with Havila’s four. That translates into more Hurtigruten Original Coastal Express departures to choose from.
If you have fixed annual leave, are travelling during school holidays or need the voyage to fit around flights, hotels or another Norwegian itinerary, that extra flexibility can be significant. Havila still sails year-round, but there are simply fewer Havila ships operating the route.
Our pick: Hurtigruten if finding the right departure date is your priority.
What’s Included: Havila Keeps It Simpler
This is one of the most useful differences to understand before comparing prices.
On a packaged Havila voyage, breakfast, lunch and dinner, onboard Wi-Fi, selected drinks with meals and use of facilities including the fitness rooms, sauna and Jacuzzi are included.
Hurtigruten Original uses two main fare levels for full and half Coastal Express voyages.
Basic includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, with your specific cabin and dining time allocated to you.
Select adds complimentary basic Wi-Fi, unlimited tea and filter coffee, the ability to choose your cabin where applicable and a preferred dining time, subject to availability.
So simply saying “Havila and Hurtigruten both include Wi-Fi” can be misleading. With Hurtigruten Original, the fare you choose matters.
Neither Original nor Havila should be treated as traditionally all-inclusive, and optional excursions and many drinks still cost extra.
Our pick: Havila if you prefer a straightforward package with more everyday essentials included from the outset. Hurtigruten if you like having the option of a lower Basic fare and adding only the benefits you value.
For the complete breakdown, see What’s Included with Havila Voyages and What’s Included with Hurtigruten.
Which Is Better for Dining?
Hurtigruten has built its food identity around Norway’s Coastal Kitchen, sourcing directly from around 70 local farms, fisheries and bakeries.
On Original voyages, Torget is the main restaurant. Breakfast and lunch are generally buffet-style, while dinner moves towards a plated three-course format, with additional venues available depending on the ship.
Our pick: Havila if included à la carte dining is important to you. Hurtigruten if you like a broader mix of dining styles and the depth of its long-established Coastal Kitchen concept.
There is much more to both, so explore our Havila dining guide and Hurtigruten dining guide if food is likely to influence your decision.
Which Has the Better Cabins?
There is no useful answer based purely on cabin size, because both lines offer everything from inside accommodation to larger suites. The more important distinction is consistency.
Havila’s ships belong to the same generation, so cabins share a contemporary Nordic aesthetic and modern facilities across the fleet.
Hurtigruten’s ships vary more. That does not mean older is automatically worse, but it does mean we would pay closer attention to the specific ship when comparing a Hurtigruten departure with Havila.
If you like modern Scandinavian hotel styling, Havila will probably appeal immediately. If you are happier trading some newness for maritime character, there are Hurtigruten ships with plenty of personality.
Our pick: Havila for modern consistency. Hurtigruten if you enjoy choosing a ship for its individual character.
What About Saunas, Hot Tubs and Fitness Facilities?
Havila again benefits from having four sister ships. Packaged-voyage guests have access to the onboard fitness rooms, sauna and Jacuzzi facilities across the fleet.
Hurtigruten’s facilities vary slightly by vessel. Its current guidance says all ships have a fitness room and sauna except MS Vesterålen, while most have outdoor hot tubs, with exceptions including MS Vesterålen and MS Trollfjord.
It is a small distinction until you have spent an afternoon outside in Arctic Norway and have been imagining a sauna or hot tub afterwards.
Our pick: Havila for fleet-wide consistency. With Hurtigruten, check your individual ship.
Which Is Better for the Northern Lights?
Both travel deep into northern Norway during the darker months, so the route itself gives either line repeated opportunities to see the Aurora. Both also offer a Northern Lights Promise, but the terms are not the same.
Havila’s current promise applies to its 12-day Bergen to Kirkenes and back Round Voyage departing from 1 October to 31 March. If no qualifying Northern Lights event occurs, guests can receive a complimentary 6 or 7-day voyage the following season. Havila specifies that the ship determines whether an event occurred regardless of weather conditions and actual visibility.
Hurtigruten’s current promise covers qualifying voyages of 11 days or more between 20 September and 31 March. Its definition requires a Northern Lights sighting from the ship to be recorded by the deck officers and announced onboard. If there is no qualifying occurrence, the offer is a complimentary 6-day southbound or 7-day northbound Original Coastal Express voyage the following season, subject to the conditions.
That difference in how an occurrence is defined is worth noticing. But we would not choose either operator solely because of the promise. Weather, cloud and solar activity remain beyond anyone’s control. A longer journey gives you multiple nights in northern Norway, which is the real advantage.
Our pick: Too close to call on the voyage itself. Compare the current Promise terms carefully if they are important to your booking.
Read our dedicated Havila Northern Lights guide and Hurtigruten Northern Lights guide for the full details.
Which Is More Sustainable?
If sustainability is a major factor in your choice, Havila has one of its strongest advantages here. All four Havila ships were designed around the same low-emission approach, combining LNG with 6.1 MWh battery packs capable of powering the ships for up to four hours. Havila has already demonstrated silent battery-powered passage through Geirangerfjord.
Hurtigruten is tackling a different challenge: modernising an existing fleet. Its major fleet upgrade programme was completed in 2025, and four vessels now use hybrid-electric propulsion. Hurtigruten also reports shore-power connectivity throughout the fleet and a 29% reduction in total Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions in 2025 compared with 2018.
The distinction is therefore not “one cares and the other does not”. Havila started with a new fleet designed around current technology. Hurtigruten is progressively transforming ships from different generations. For a traveller booking today, Havila has the more consistent fleet-wide technology story.
Our pick: Havila if low-emission ship technology is one of your main booking criteria.
Which Feels More Authentic?
This is where we disagree with quite a few Havila vs Hurtigruten comparisons. You will often read that Hurtigruten is the “real working ship” while Havila is the modern cruise alternative. That is too simplistic. Norway’s government contracts both companies to provide coastal transport. Havila sells port-to-port journeys between all 34 harbours, just as Hurtigruten carries people making shorter local and regional journeys.
What Hurtigruten possesses is something different: heritage. Its association with the Coastal Express stretches back to 1893. That history, combined with ships of different ages and personalities, can give Original voyages a stronger sense of maritime tradition.
Havila feels more like modern Norway. The public spaces are contemporary, the ships are quieter and the technology is more visible in the story of the voyage.
So we would frame the difference like this:
Hurtigruten is the historic Coastal Express. Havila is the new generation of the Coastal Express. Both are part of the real thing.
Havila vs Hurtigruten on Price
We would be wary of any article that permanently declares one cheaper than the other. Prices change by departure, season, cabin category and promotion. Hurtigruten’s Basic and Select structure also means the cheapest fare may not contain everything you want.
Compare the holiday you would actually book. If you want Wi-Fi, a particular cabin, preferred dining arrangements and certain other benefits, make sure those are included when comparing a Hurtigruten fare with Havila. Likewise, consider drinks, excursions and anything else you are likely to add once onboard.
Our advice: compare the total price of the cabin and experience you want, not two headline “from” fares.
So, Who Should Choose Havila?
Choose Havila Voyages if your priorities are modern ships, Scandinavian design, a consistent onboard experience and straightforward inclusions.
It is particularly compelling if you value included à la carte dining, complimentary Wi-Fi on your packaged voyage and the ability to experience periods of quiet battery-powered sailing.
Because all four ships belong to the same generation, Havila is also reassuringly predictable. You are choosing the departure and cabin rather than worrying too much about which vessel happens to be operating it.
Who Should Choose Hurtigruten?
Choose Hurtigruten Original Coastal Express if the heritage of the route matters to you, you want a greater choice of departure dates or you enjoy ships with individual personalities.
Hurtigruten’s seven-ship Original fleet gives you more variety, and its association with the route since 1893 is impossible for another operator to replicate.
Just pay closer attention to the fare and ship. A Basic fare is not the same as Select, and one Hurtigruten vessel can feel quite different from another.
What If You Want All-Inclusive?
Then there is a third option to consider.
Hurtigruten’s Signature voyages move away from the classic Coastal Express format, with fewer selected ports, longer stays and a more inclusive experience onboard. At that point, you are no longer making a straightforward Havila vs Hurtigruten Original comparison. Signature is a different style of journey.
If all-inclusive dining and selected drinks, longer port calls and a more curated itinerary sound appealing, read our Hurtigruten Original vs Signature Voyages comparison before making your decision.
Havila vs Hurtigruten: The Verdict
The Norwegian coast is spectacular whichever name is painted on the side of the ship. But that does not mean the choice is irrelevant.
Havila has the edge if you want new-generation ships, consistency, simpler packaged inclusions, à la carte full-board dining and advanced battery technology.
Hurtigruten has the edge if you want heritage, a wider choice of Original departure dates, more variety between ships and the sense of travelling with the company that created the Coastal Express.
Neither answer requires pretending the other line does exactly the same thing. If your perfect voyage is about modernity and simplicity, start with Havila. If it is about history, choice and ship character, start with Hurtigruten.
And if you want all-inclusive cruising with longer stays in fewer destinations, look beyond Original altogether and consider Hurtigruten Signature.
The route may be shared. The way you experience it is not.
Frequently asked questions
Havila is likely to suit you better if you prioritise newer ships, a consistent contemporary onboard experience, included Wi-Fi on packaged voyages and advanced battery technology. Hurtigruten may be a better choice if heritage, more departure dates and ship variety matter more.
Both operators provide Norway’s coastal service between Bergen and Kirkenes and serve the same network of 34 ports. Hurtigruten currently operates seven of the eleven contracted routes and Havila four.
Havila includes onboard Wi-Fi on packaged voyages. Hurtigruten Original includes complimentary basic Wi-Fi with its Select fare, while it is not included in the listed benefits of the Basic fare.
Havila has the newer and more consistent fleet, with four sister ships designed as the same generation of coastal vessel. Hurtigruten’s Original fleet is more varied, with seven ships offering different layouts, ages and personalities.
Not quite. Both are part of Norway’s public coastal transport network as well as carrying holidaymakers. The service exists to transport local and regional passengers between ports, with the state contract also covering freight transport between Tromsø and Kirkenes.
Either can be an excellent choice because both travel into northern Norway during Aurora season. Their current Northern Lights Promises have different qualifying dates and definitions, so compare those terms if the promise is an important part of your decision.
Still Not Sure Which One Is Right for You?
The best choice often becomes obvious once you know your preferred dates, cabin type and what you value most onboard. At Paramount Cruises, we can compare Havila and Hurtigruten on the departures you are actually considering, including the specific Hurtigruten ship and fare, so you can make a genuine like-for-like comparison.
