Norway and Sweden

• Itinerary
• Prices & Information
• Gallery

Day 1 – Depart the United States

Board your overnight flight to Sweden’s capital, Stockholm. Your R&J Tour Director is there to assist you throughout your trip.

Day 2 – Home to Stockholm

Arrive in Stockholm and enjoy a sightseeing tour. We’ll visit the famous City Hall, with it’s elegant Golden Hall, site of the Nobel Prize Banquet. Visit the fascinating Vasa Ship Museum home to the Vasa Ship which sank in the Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage more than 300 years ago. Evening dinner will be served at your hotel.

Included Meals: Dinner 

Hotel: Elite Palace Hotel 

Day 3 – Stockholm

After breakfast, we’ll visit the old university town of Uppsala with its impressive Uppsala Cathedral and Uppsala University, the oldest in Sweden. With its gothic revival appearance, the Uppsala Cathedral is very commanding, especially since it is the tallest church in Scandinavia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Sweden and the final resting place of many famous Swedes, such as Dag Hammarskjold. The tomb of Linnaeus, the botanist, is also located here. The Cathedral also houses the relics of St. Erik, the patron saint of Sweden. Then make a stop in the picturesque old town of Sigtuna. The idyllic town with its narrow main street that is said to follow its original route of 950 years ago is known as the oldest street in Sweden. The layers of each here have furnished the archeologists with a wealth of finds, from which they have reconstructed the life of various centuries. You will have the opportunity to visit the Sigtuna Museum where you can see several of these artifacts. The rest of the afternoon free at leisure. Evening dinner will be served at your hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner 

Day 4 – Stockholm

After breakfast we will travel to the island of Drottningholm via ferry. While on the island enjoy a visit to the former Royal summer residence of Drottningholm Palace, which is today home to the Swedish Royal Family. The palace has magnificent rooms dating back to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and a beautiful baroque park. After our tour, enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. In the evening, enjoy dinner at your hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner 

Day 5 – Stockholm to Tallberg

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel before we travel to Tallberg. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant along the way. Upon arrival in Tallberg, enjoy the rest of the day free at leisure. Dinner is served at the hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Hotel: Dalecelia Hotel or similar 

Day 6 – Tallberg to Oslo

After breakfast at the hotel, we depart for Oslo. Enjoy a stop for a group lunch at a local restaurant en route. Upon arrival in Oslo visit the Holmenkollen Ski Jump Museum. Continue to your hotel for check in. The rest of the day is free at leisure with dinner and overnight at your hotel in Oslo.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Hotel: Thon Hotel Opera 

Day 7 – Oslo

Enjoy breakfast served at your hotel. A half day sightseeing tour of Oslo is then planned. You will visit the Viking Ship Museum, where the 1000 year old ships and artifacts from the the Viking era make history come alive. Here you will also discover an impressive collection of ornate sledges and carriages, and a variety of tools and artifacts of the Viking era. You will also have the opportunity to visit the Fram Museum and Frognar Park with the Vigeland Sculpture Park for some free time. Evening dinner will be served at the hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner 

Day 8 – Oslo to Lillehammer

Breakfast is served at the hotel, then we travel to Lillehammer with a stop en route to enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. Upon arriving Lillehammer you will enjoy a visit to Maihaugen and the Olympic Village. Lillehammer, the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics, is a charming resort town nestled in the Gudbrandsdal Valley. Your tour will end at your hotel with the rest of the day free at leisure. Dinner and overnight at the Rica Victoria Hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hotel: Rica Victoria Hotel

Day 9 – Lillehammer to Geiranger

Breakfast at the hotel. Then we depart for the 12th century Lom Stave Church, a triple nave stave church that uses free standing inner columns to support a raised section in the ceiling of the main nave. Then we continue to Geiranger via the Dalsnibba road (weather permitting). Take in the breathtaking hillsides of our scenic drive. Our accommodations this evening have been carefully chosen by R&J Tours as the spectacular Union Hotel is nestled into the most incredible scenery that is world renowned for its majestic mountains, deep fjords, glaciers, and waterfalls. This first-class hotel has traditions dating back to 1981. Dinner will be served in this gorgeous setting! Our rooms offer great views of the fjord!

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Union Hotel

Day 10 – Geiranger to Briksdal to Loen

Breakfast at the hotel. Then we board our ferry for a fascinating cruise along the Geiranger Fjord with its sheer rock walls and numerous waterfalls, like the Seven Sisters, the Suitor, and the Bridal Veil waterfalls. Our ferry ends in the fjord village of Hellesylt. Next we will experience by open car the huge Briksdal Glacier that forms part of the Jostedal Glacier National Park. Briksdal Glacier is an arm off the largest glacier in northern Europe. This wild glacier slope plunges from a height of almost 4,000 feet down to the lush, narrow Briksdalen valley. Our destination this evening is Loen, home to some of the oldest farms in Norway. Check-in and enjoy dinner at Alexandra Hotel, where our fjord view rooms will offer stunning views of Nordfjord.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Alexandra Hotel

Day 11 – Loen to Balestrand

Breakfast at the hotel. The view out your window today is captivating as we travel over the Gauler Mountains to Balestrand. Balestrand became popular early due to the interest of artists, whose paintings of the scenery around Balestrand inspired visitors. The afternoon is free to explore this charming village, with a population on a little over 1,000. R&J Tours has chosen Kviknes Hotel, which has belonged to the Kvikne family for more than 130 years, as our accommodations tonight. Kviknes Hotel’s historic elegance right beside the Sognefjord make it one of the most distinctive hotels in Scandinavia. We will have dinner here and enjoy our fjord view rooms.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Kviknes Hotel

Day 12 – Balestrand to Voss to Lofthus

After breakfast we will enjoy a lovely scenic transfer to Lofthus passing through the Norwegian countryside by rail and ferry. We start by taking a ferry from Balestrand – Flaam. Enjoy time for lunch in Flaam village before we board the Flaam Railway to Myrdal, ascending more than 2,900 feet in less than one hour. Enjoy the breathtaking view of the Flaam Valley and the thundering sound of waterfalls. Continue by train to Voss, where our coach will pick us up and continue to Lofthus. Our magnificent journey will end in the fjord village of Lofthus. R&J Tours has chosen one of the best hotels in Norway, perfectly set on the fjord with snow-capped mountains as a back drop. Evening dinner will be served at the hotel. Once again, fjord view rooms fully allow us to experience our breathtaking atmosphere!

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

Hotel: Ullensvang Hotel

Day 13 – Lofthus to Steinstoe to Bergen

Breakfast at hotel. We’ll depart by ferry on the Hardanger Fjord to the fjord village of Kvanndal. Here we’ll board our coach and motor through charming villages, along the shores of the fjord with mountains looming. Visit the Steinstoe Farm and meet the family of one of the largest fruit farms in the area. Coffee and cakes are at the farm to enjoy. Soak in spectacular scenery as we continue to Bergen. Stop at the breathtaking 100-foot waterfall on the Fosselva River before we arrive in Bergen. Our lovely hotel offers a grand location on the Bryggen and within walking distance to the fish markets!

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hotel: Marin Hotel

Day 14 – Bergen

Breakfast is served at the hotel. Today we explore Bergen, Norway’s second largest city with a lovely location set on the water. First drive past Bergen’s colorful Fish & Flower Market and continue to the world famous monument to medieval life and trade, the old warehouses of the Hanseatic period in the 14th and 15th centuries, today called Bryggen or the Quay. The old wooden warehouses, long and narrow, jammed so closely against each other that air and daylight can enter only through tiny slits, are both picturesque and a working model of life in bygone times. They are still used for storage, offices and you will also find a number of stores and art and craft centers. Then see the Haakonshallen, the medieval Viking Hall built in 1261 as a royal ceremony hall for the crowning of King Magnus. Continue past the St Mary’s Church, the oldest building in Bergen. Finally we visit Troldhaugen, the home of the world known composer Edvard Grieg, situated in a beautiful surrounding overlooking the Nordaas Lake. Grieg composed many of his best known works here, and he and his wife are also buried here. Grieg’s studio, his piano, his notes is all to be seen. The rest of your day is free to explore. Perhaps take an optional trip with the cable car to Mount Floyen for a breathtaking view of this seafaring town.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 15 – Bergen to Home

Breakfast is served at the hotel. Fly home with wonderful memories of Norway & Sweden.

Included Meals: Breakfast