Norway Tours in Summer

Luiz was a fantastic tour guide. The accommodations were fabulous and meals outstanding. I would go again in a minute, especially with Luiz as a guide. He provided excellent information about the various sites. A highlight was the Vigeland sculpture garden in Oslo with guide Yuri. Wow! He was amazing. The fjords were beautiful.

The tour provided a most interesting overview of the three Scandinavian countries and was presented excellently by our tour leader and once by another guide in an urban setting. It gave a wonderful view of the landscape of each of the three countries, including mountainous areas and waterways important for interaction in different terrains. There was plenty of opportunity for us to make choices, such as experiencing a chair lift on a mountain. If anything, the tour was a little short on time to experience the three countries, but it certainly gave valuable insight into the culture and landscapes.

Amazing discovery of the fjords via hiking, cruise, ferry rides and mini-bus travel. The accommodations at Nes Gard and Fjaerland Fjordstove Hotel added to the spectacular hiking. Views of the fjords and farm-to-table food was amazing at both Inns. Each day of hiking was a unique experience ; all of which offered amazing views.

I enjoyed the places we saw in Sweden very much. I wish we had been able to see a little more of Denmark. Copenhagen was great but that’s really all we saw. Norway was the highlight of all for me. The absolute beauty of the fjords, the country side as we traveled and the cities. The Flam railroad trip was one of my favorites. Also the Geiranger Fjord boat ride was another highlight. Cesar our guide had great information about each place we traveled. He kept us all organized and everything stayed right on time! We had a large group of 43 people so not an easy task. The Iceland extension was good too but not quite as organized without a designated tour guide. The local guide was good and she showed us sights in Reykjavik. The waterfall and geyser on the mini circle tour were incredible!

The tour was great, and I'm very happy that we selected it. Stockholm was very good as were most all of the cities. We flew in to Stockholm early and had 1.5 days extra to acclimate and explore the city, and I very glad we did. As part of the tour we (as well as everyone else on the tour) selected the Vasa Museum which was incredible and a must see. Prior to the trip start we walked extensively through the city and ended up at the Abba Museum. I'm not a huge fan and in fact only could tell you one song name, but this museum is really good. The collection is incredible, and the people of Sweden came through with an amazing assortment of things, such as the two vehicles that the band used on their first US tour. Just a couple of of beaters, but they save them! We also spent 5 hours at the Centralbadet, which is the Art Nuveau public bathhouse. The building is beautiful, and for the price of admission you get three hours inside the baths. If you get a spa treatment you get an extra hour, and we booked massages. We are regular massage goers, but their Swedish massage left me more relaxed than any prior massage. We also had lunch there, and had a delicious cold avocado soup, and if you eat there you get another hour added to your time there. Our tour director, Kees, was really good, and went out of his way to make the trip memorable and fun. Having said that, we did have one person (who was a solo traveler) on the trip experience a mental issue and Kees handled the situation beautifully, balancing the person's privacy with keeping the group informed. Thankfully, we had three others on the trip with bonified mental health credentials that jumped in to help. The person did make a recovery and one of their children flew out to get them diagnosed, and back home. HIs professionalism was extemporarily, and it was impressive. The pace of the trip was well considered, the stops were good, local guides excellent (as we've found with Collette). Norway was the hands down winner as far as scenery, the hotels and activities go. We also did the Iceland add on, and it was excellent, as was our tour manager. Beautiful country, great people. This was our second Collette tour (we did Japan and Korea in 2024, 5+ stars - DO THAT TRIP!!!) and we've talken tours with Tauck as well. Collette is doing very well when compared to Tauck, which is considerably more money. We'll likely continue to travel with both, but we really have enjoyed the Collette tours.

This was my first trip with Explore and it’s definitely whetted my appetite for more! A wonderful experience and so relaxing to take so many train and boat trips across the eight days without having any stress about tickets, connections, itineraries, etc etc. The leader was excellent and she held everything together completely calmly and knowledgeably.