Focus on Scandinavia

Focus on Scandinavia
12 Day Tour from Copenhagen to Stockholm

Vacation Overview
Vibrant cities, distinct cultures, and unspoiled landscapes … welcome to your Scandinavia affordable tour! You’ll visit the fascinating Nordic cities and most scenic areas as well as some of its smaller and scenic towns. Overnight in Copenhagen, Frederikshavn, Oslo, the Telemark area, Bergen, the Fagernes area, Karlstad, and Stockholm.

As you would expect from a Scandinavia tour, this tour features breathtaking scenery. Norway is known for its fjords—with their steep and majestic mountains and picturesque villages dotting the landscape. A highlight of this budget-minded Scandinavian tour is a cruise on the Sognefjord – Norway’s longest and deepest fjord. Take a ferry across the Hardangerfjord, the world’s fourth-largest fjord.

Travel through Norway’s Telemark region with its lakes, winding valleys, and rugged gorges backed by towering mountains. Stop for photos at Steinsdalsfoss Waterfall, where you can walk behind the cascading waterfall without getting wet. Also enjoy a scenic drive along beautiful Lake Mjøsa. In Sweden, drive through the scenic Värmland – home to 10,000 lakes dotting the forested landscape. In Denmark, drive across the Great Belt Bridge – one of the world’s longest bridges – and take a ferry from Denmark to Sweden.

On this affordable tour of Scandinavia, spend time in the major cities: Copenhagen, capital of Denmark; Oslo, capital of Norway; Bergen, Norway’s picturesque second-largest city; and Stockholm, Sweden’s beautiful capital. You’ll enjoy an orientation drive of Copenhagen and guided sightseeing excursions of Oslo and Stockholm. Visit Lillehammer, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and take time for a photo stop at Sweden’s Gripsholm Castle – a fairytale castle built in 1537 and set in an enchanting rural setting on the way to Stockholm.

From the fascinating cities and small towns to the breathtaking landscapes, this value-minded Scandinavia tour has it all!

Itinerary

Day 1ARRIVE IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Check into your hotel. The rest of the day is free to explore the Danish capital. Tonight, meet your Tour Director and fellow travelers.

DinnerDinner
Day 2COPENHAGEN
Enjoy a day at leisure in the capital of the oldest kingdom in the world. Besides many interesting landmarks and architectural masterpieces, see some of the more famous sites on your orientation drive, including the legendary Little Mermaid statue. An optional tour of Zealand’s castles is also available.

Breakfast Breakfast
Day 3COPENHAGEN–ODENSE–FREDERIKSHAVN
After breakfast, start the journey northwards, enjoying the drive across the GREAT BELT BRIDGE, which will connect you to the fairytale island of Funen. Stop in Odense, Hans Christian Andersen’s hometown, and via the Little Belt waterway, head for Frederikshavn on the rural Jutland Peninsula.

Breakfast Breakfast
DinnerDinner
Day 4FREDERIKSHAVN–GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN–OSLO, NORWAY
Take a pleasant FERRY ride from Frederikshavn across the strategic Kattegat to Gothenburg, Sweden’s thriving second-largest city and one of Europe’s major seaports. After an orientation drive, follow the inland route and cross into Norway. Evening arrival in Oslo.

Breakfast Breakfast
Day 5OSLO–TELEMARK AREA
Gustav Vigeland’s sculptures are among the highlights of the included Oslo sightseeing tour; also see the soaring CITY HALL, National Theater, Broadcasting House, Parliament, and Akershus Castle. In the afternoon, drive through the Telemark region, where you spend the night.

Breakfast Breakfast
DinnerDinner
Day 6TELEMARK AREA–VEMORK–BERGEN
Take the scenic route for a visit to Vemork, where the heavy water plant was blown up by a commando unit of British and Norwegians known as the Heroes of Telemark. Visit the VEMORK MUSEUM, then proceed through the Telemark region with its lakes, winding valleys, and rugged gorges backed by towering mountains. FERRY across the Hardangerfjord from Utne to Kvanndal. Continue to Bergen, Norway’s picture-perfect Hanseatic seaport. En route, a picture stop at Steindalsfossen Waterfall.

Breakfast Breakfast
Day 7BERGEN
Built on seven hills with the fjords on one side and 1,000-foot Mount Fløyen on the other, Bergen was the home of composer Grieg. Spend the day exploring at leisure, or join the optional sightseeing excursion, which takes in the main sites, including the Hanseatic Museum, one of the landmarks of Bergen’s bayside area, and also a panoramic view of the city from one of the surrounding hills.

Breakfast Breakfast
Day 8BERGEN–SOGNEFJORD CRUISE–FAGERNES AREA
More spectacular scenery as you drive towards the Sognefjord, where you embark for a breathtaking CRUISE on one of Norway’s mightiest fjords. On to the Fagernes area.

Breakfast Breakfast
DinnerDinner
Day 9FAGERNES AREA–LILLEHAMMER–KARLSTAD, SWEDEN
First to Lillehammer, the mountain resort that hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics, then, a scenic drive along beautiful Lake Mjøsa. Continue towards Sweden, through Värmland’s unspoiled wilderness of forest and lakes to Karlstad, located by Sweden’s largest lake, Lake Vänern.

Breakfast Breakfast
Day 10KARLSTAD–MARIEFRED–STOCKHOLM
Leave Karlstad and head east towards Stockholm via Alfred Nobel’s Bofors to idyllic Mariefred. Here, view majestic Gripsholm Castle, built in an enchanting rural setting. On to the Swedish capital. Its beauty is due to its unique setting on 14 islands between Lake Mäleren and the Baltic Sea.

Breakfast Breakfast
Day 11STOCKHOLM
This is perhaps the most beautiful of the Scandinavian capitals, because the crystalline waters that flow through its intersecting canals give a luminous appearance to palaces, castles, and parks. Your included city sightseeing takes in all the highlights.

Breakfast Breakfast
DinnerDinner
Day 12STOCKHOLM
Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning.

Breakfast Breakfast
Vacation Highlights
Visits to Copenhagen, Odense, Frederikshavn, Gothenburg, Telemark, Vemork Museum, Bergen, Fagernes, Lillehammer, Karlstad, Mariefred, Gripsholm Castle picture stop.

Individual headsets
Jutland Peninsula, Hardanger Plateau, Søgne and Hardangerfjord, Steindalflossen waterfalls, Lake Mjøsa, Värmland

Guides:
Local Guides for city sightseeing in Oslo and Stockholm; professional Tour Director while touring

Meals
Buffet breakfasts daily; 5 dinners

Call 780-760-1244 for dates