Ålesund is a relatively small city, but its international airport makes it easily accessible.
Ålesund is also served by large cruise ships, regular ferries and many bus routes.
By air
It is quickest and often cheapest to get to the city by plane.
There is an international airport on the island of Vigra 17 km from the centre Alesund AES.
You can get very cheap tickets to Ålesund, especially on the frequent flyer service to Oslo, where you can buy a one-way ticket with hand luggage from 450 nok.
The cheapest international tickets are usually offered by Wizz Air on its route to Gdansk.
Direct connections can be purchased with the following airlines:
- Norwegian - Alicante, Oslo
- SAS - Oslo and connecting flights further afield
- Wideroe - Bergen, Trondheim
- klm.com - Amsterdam and connecting flights further afield
- lufthansa.com (operated by Discover Airlines) - Frankfurt and connecting flights further afield (summer seasonal flights only)
- Wizz Air - Gdansk
Find flights to Ålesund via skyscanner.com
By bus
There are two main bus stations in Ålesund, while long-distance buses always stop at both of them:
- Ålesund rutebilstajson in the city centre (see map)
- Moa trafikkterminal on the eastern edge (see map)
To find transport, use Norway's ideal national search engine entur.no, which combines all bus, train and boat carriers, including a link to buy tickets online.
Local regional and neighbouring county services (often 6 hours or more) are provided by FRAM bus routes. This company also operates shipping lines in the area.
The table below shows the most frequent tourist bus connections from Ålesund with FRAM lines.
| Destinations | Line | Price | Travel time | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andalsnes | 681 - direct 100 + 400/482 |
138 nok | 120 minutes 150 minutes |
2x daily 8 times a day |
| Kristiansund | 100 | 138 nok | 4 hours | 1x per hour |
| Molde | 100 | 92 nok | 2 hours | 1x per hour |
| Trondheim | 905 | 505 nok | 6.5 hours | 1x per day |
| Ulsteinvik | Ferry + Bus 330 | 196 nok | 1 hours | 1x per hour |
| Volda | 101 | 92 nok | 2 hours | 1x per hour |
Tickets for FRAM buses are best purchased on the FRAM mobile app.
Long-distance services to Ålesund are only operated by Vy buses. Modern and comfortable buses run on the following routes.
- Bergen - from 669 nok, 1x daily, journey time 10 hours
- Tip: if you are travelling with hand luggage only, Wideroe flies to Bergen 2-4 times a day for similar or even lower prices
- Førde - from 515 nok, 1x daily, journey time 5.5 hours
- Oslo - from 750 nok, 1x daily, journey time 8.5 hours
- Lillehammer - from 600 nok, 1x daily, journey time 6 hours
Tickets can be purchased at vybuss.com.
Ferries
Local ferries to the nearest islands are described in the Transport chapter.
However, in addition to cruise ships for which separate tickets cannot be bought, long-distance ferries sailing across Norway also stop in Ålesund.
These connections serve both tourist purposes and locals for slower, but often cheaper, transport than overland. This is because the ferries sail overnight, eliminating the cost of a hotel.
All services are operated by Hurtigruten and tickets can be purchased via hurtigruten.com/nb-no/havn-til-havn.
Here are some examples of the most popular destinations:
| Destinations | Price - bed | Price - seating | Price - car | Cruise time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen | 2 613 nok | 1 058 nok | 780 nok | 13,5 hours |
| Bodø | 5 670 nok | -- | 1 040 nok | 41 hours |
| Florø | -- | 524 nok | 520 nok | 7 hours |
| Kirkenes | 13 491 nok | -- | 2 600 nok | 109 hours |
| Kristiansund | -- | 524 nok | 780 nok | 6.5 hours |
|
Måløy |
-- | 413 nok | 520 nok | 4.5 hours |
| Svolvær - Lofoten Islands | 6 037 nok | -- | 1 300 nok | 50 hours |
| Tromsø | 7 245 nok | -- | 1 560 nok | 66 hours |
| Trondheim | 3 081 nok | -- | 780 nok | 15 hours |
