Northern Europe 12-Day Tours and Itineraries

“I recently completed the Absolute Scandinavia tour and found it to be comprehensive and well laid out. The drawbacks were the inconsistency and constant changing of our guide and the lack of clarity of meeting expectations by some of the newer guides. There were also numerous times when there were explanations in 3 different languages, making it difficult to follow any narrative. I understand the desire for a full bus, but it became like a game of checkers with guides moving around almost daily. Speaking English seemed to be an afterthought and less important. language.”

“Our "Stelkur" trip was great, and our guide Sylvi was awesome! He shared so much information with us as we toured his beautiful country about its geography, history, culture, etc. Hiking through the eastern fiords was amazing - unspoiled beauty and quiet. We thoroughly enjoyed it.”

“The Stelkur trip around Iceland gave hearty servings of the history, culture, geology and ethos of this remarkable island. Sure, we all knew the island had volcanoes and glaciers, but I for one was not aware of the tremendous impact of glacial flooding on the island and its people. This trip hit so many high points that it was almost dizzying, from puffins and whale spotting to black sand beaches littered with remnants of icebergs, to seemingly countless waterfalls and glacier views, to vigorous and rewarding hikes, superb cooking by our guide, solitude on the hut to hut portions (we saw one other hiker during 4 days), tales of Icelandic heroes, trolls and elves. Our guide, Solvi, was a natural teacher, gifted storyteller and even sang us to sleep one night with an Icelandic lullaby. He surprised us often with little outings or touches that were not listed on the official itinerary and made us feel like we'd been let in on special secrets. We looked for kids rescuing young puffins who had not made it to water, tobogganed down a huge black sand dune, and snatched blueberries from the bushes that lined the trails as we hiked. There was magic in the air on this trip!”