Tom Bradshaw takes a trip to Norway - and is soon on cruise control

With a cool beer in my hand and the bubbles from the hot-tub churning up around me, boy was I relaxed. Or should that be buoy was I relaxed?

This wasn't any old hot-tub, you see. This was a hot-tub at the stern of a ship charting a course through arguably the most breathtaking scenery that Europe has to offer.

Fred Olsen's Classic Norway Cruise takes you down beautiful fjord after beautiful fjord and, in so doing, you journey into the heart of this Scandinavian paradise. Amid a landscape of snow-capped peaks, pine-packed slopes and icy blue waters, this cruise is the perfect way to soak up the pure, invigorating scenery for which Norway is renowned.

But before we get into the details, let me disabuse you of one notion. If you're of younger years and believe that cruises are only for those of pensionable age, think again. Sure, on board you'll find plenty of silver-surfers who are there to do very little other than eat, drink and enjoy the post-dinner entertainment (which, by the way, is terrific fun, as long as you're not expecting high culture).

But this 30-year-old found plenty to do, from kayaking down a sun-kissed fjord between waterfalls to chancing my arm on the Blackjack table.

The week-long cruise begins and ends in Dover, with the recently refitted Balmoral taking you on a four-stop odyssey. The first stop is Bergen, Norway's sophisticated and undulating second city before you dock in three gorgeous ports in the fjords: Olden, Flam and Eidfjord.

If it's the majestic scenery of the fjords that you're after, then this cruise doesn't begin in earnest until you reach landfall in Olden. But Bergen is more than worthy of the day-long visit that's allotted to it on the itinerary especially if you're willing to stray off the beaten path.

My departure from the beaten path took me to Troldhaugen, a place of quintessential Scandinavian solitude where the composer Edvard Grieg almost certainly Norway's greatest cultural export had a lakeside home and wrote many of his finest works. The house is now a museum, and it's interesting enough, but the wow-factor is provided by the new concert hall next door. Book this excursion in advance, and you can have your very own short Grieg concert performed by a top local pianist. And as the notes thunder around you and the milky northern sun shines through the large concert hall window that overlooks the lake, you'll enjoy a moment of pure Nordic magic.

But it's natural beauty rather than artistic beauty that this trip is principally about. And for vistas to take the breath away, the Briksdal Glacier near Olden and the route taken by the Flam Railway are must-sees. Take your camera and prepare to get snapping, as these trips encapsulate all that Norwegian natural beauty is about: silent, icy grandeur and mesmerising vistas.

The panoramas you enjoy on these expeditions are so fundamentally Nordic that if a troll popped his head out from behind the nearest glacier, you'd barely bat an eyelid.

But the natural beauty of Norway also carries a more serious message. Even the most cursory glance at the Briksdal Glacier makes you aware of just how quickly the glacier, thanks to rising temperatures, is receding. The marks that show where it extended to just a decade ago are so clear that you can't help wondering just what will be left of this spectacular object in another ten years' time should global warming continue apace.

But back on the Balmoral there's little time to worry about man's CO2 emissions. For those wishing to stay active on board, there are dancing classes, gym sessions and the chance for a bracing dip in one of two pools. For those for whom a holiday means the opposite of exercise, there is a well-equipped beauty salon, a plethora of bars, and a twice-daily pub quiz, the last of which I confess to having been a regular at.

And then there's the cuisine. You can have six courses every night should you wish, and the variety and consistency of the cooking is astounding. I tried reindeer for the first time (well, I was in Scandinavia after all) and got stuck into a whole host of tasty puds. The wine list is wide-ranging enough to keep even the most fastidious buff happy, while its tax-free status means the prices are palatable too.

My cabin, which came with a balcony, was spacious and comfortable, and was immaculately maintained by smiling, hard-working staff for whom nothing was too much trouble.

Talking of troubles, they'll soon ebb away on this trip. It's the perfect tonic for those seeking to leave behind the stresses and strains of everyday life. Before you know it, you'll be on cruise control.