Compare Best of Norway by Globus vs Dancing after the storm end St. Petersburg by Europamundo Vacations

Day 1: ARRIVE IN OSLO, NORWAY

Welcome to Norway! At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director and travel companions for a welcome dinner at your hotel. (Dinner)

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Day 2: OSLO

A Walk in the Park OSLO Guided sightseeing includes a walk through Frogner Park and a visit to City Hall. (Breakfast)

TOUR HIGHLIGHT
ART & ARCHITECTURE Frogner Park contains over 200 sculptures in granite, bronze, and wrought iron, along with fountains and bridges comprising the life’s work of legendary sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Visit the stately Oslo City Hall, with its red-brick architecture, soaring towers, and 49 bells. Here, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony takes place each year.

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Day 3: OSLO–BORGUND–FLAM

Portals to Heaven BORGUND Visit the stave church. (Breakfast,Dinner)
196mi/ 315km

TOUR HIGHLIGHT
ART & ARCHITECTURE The stavchurches are Norway's most important contribution to world architecture and Norway's oldest preserved timber buildings. One of the most famous and distinctive is Borgund’s.—built around 1180—is dedicated to the Apostle Andrew. Some of the finest features are the lavishly carved portals and the roof carvings of dragons' heads.

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Day 4: FLAM–MYRDAL–VOSS–HARDANGERFJORD

Deep Blue Beauty FLAM [LF] Ride the spectacular Flåm train (Breakfast,Dinner)
127 mi / 205km

LOCAL FAVORITE
PICTURE PERFECT Get on board Norway's world-famous Flåm train, a journey past deep ravines, cascading waterfalls, snow-capped peaks, and more on one of the world's steepest standard-gauge railway lines

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Day 5: HARDANGERFJORD–STEINSDALSFOSSEN–BERGEN

Roaring Waters & A Royal Retreat STEINSDALSFOSSEN Marvel at the spectacular waterfall. (Breakfast)
115mi/ 185km

TOUR HIGHLIGHT
NATURAL WONDERS Visit the favorite retreat of Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany at Steinsdalsfossen. It’s believed the emperor frequenty visited the beautiful setting and its falls each summer between 1889 and the start of World War I in 1914.

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Day 6: BERGEN

Coastal Charisma BERGEN Orientation drive includes Bryggen, the Hanseatic Wharf, the harbor, and the Fish Market. Farewell dinner (Breakfast,Dinner)

TOUR HIGHLIGHT
PICTURE PERFECT Beautiful Bergen paints the shoreline with different hues of its wooden houses along the old wharf on Norway’s southwestern coast. Often called the “Fjord Capital of Norway,” Bergen will charm you with its quaint charisma and the breathtaking natural wonder between the seven mountains.

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Day 7: BERGEN

Safe travels until we meet again! Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning. (Breakfast)

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Day 1: Copenhagen

Today’s Highlights: Arrival. Transfer to the hotel. Welcome to Europe!!!. On arrival at the airport we shall be waiting to transfer you to the hotel. You can enjoy free time until your tour starts, information about the meeting place and start time can be found on the information boards in the hotel reception area.

Day 2: Copenhagen - Odense - Arhus

Today’s Highlights: Visit of Copenhagen, pleasant scenery in southern Denmark. In the morning we enjoy a comprehensive tour of the Danish capital with a local guide. Copenhagen is the largest Scandinavian city, and full of contrasts, the popular Tivoli, Christiansborg Palace, the terraces of Nyhavn, and The Little Mermaid. In the afternoon we travel to Jutland, passing through pleasant scenery on our way. En route we take a 20km bridge over the sea and stop at Odense, where we can visit its gothic cathedral and the house of Andersen. We continue on to Aarhus and our accommodation.

Day 3: Arhus - Kristiansand Ferry - Kristiansand - Stavanger

Today´S Highlights: Norwegian coastline. We will travel to Hirtshals, where we will take a ferry crossing the North Sea to Norway. A three-hour voyage to Kristiansand. We will continue along Norway’s southern coastline and enjoy its stunning landscapes. Next stop Stavanger, a small picturesque town that has an active port by the fjord. Note: Ferry operation hours vary depending on the months. Sometimes it is normally reserved to have lunch on the boat.

Day 4: Stavanger - Bergen

Today´S Highlights: beautiful fjord and sea landscapes. Funicular trip to mount Floyen. Upon leaving the city, we will stop at the ‘Swords in Rock’ monument, where we will be reminded of the Vikings, before continuing the very beautiful scenic tour. We follow the route going through tunnels, bridges and travel some stretches by boat to go along the fjord coast of Norway. One of its undersea tunnels is the deepest one in the world. This stage gets more relaxed and spectacular with its two boat trips. We will arrive in Bergen at lunch time. We take a funicular trip to Mount Fløyen which offers amazing views of the town and Bergen fjord. There will be some leisure time later to enjoy the capitol city of fjords.

Day 5: Bergen - Oslo

Today´S Highlights: Spectacular scenery of mountains and fjords. Cruise. More fantastic landscapes today, images of Norway’s interior region fjords, glaciers, lakes and forests. We will travel to Sognefjord, Norway’s largest fjord. Prior to arrival, we will stop at the beautiful Tvindefossen waterfall. We will take a magnificent cruise between the cities of Gudvangen and Flam; enjoy stunning landscapes during this two-hour voyage. We continue our journey crossing magnificent snow-covered landscapes. We travel through Lærdal Tunnel, one of the longest in the world. Next, a visit to Borgund’s 12th century wooden church (entrance included) which is considered Norway’s best-preserved medieval church. We arrive in Oslo with free time to check out its port, main streets, and the artworks at Frognerparken.

Day 6: Oslo - Orebro- Stockholm

Today´S Highlights: impressive scenery with mountains, forests and lakes. We will spend some time in Oslo before departing for Sweden. Enjoy landscapes with forests and lakes. Next stop in Orebro, a town next to a beautiful lake with a castle and charming historic center. Time for stroll and to take lunch. Continuing to Stockholm, arriving in the evening.

Day 7: Stockholm

Today´S Highlights: Stockholm sightseeing. Today we make a panoramic tour of this very beautiful capital city built on 13 islands joined together. We will see the Gamla Stand or the “City between the Bridges”, the old quarter of the city, full of life where there are many monumental buildings such as the Nobel Museum, alongside the main square of Stortorget, which pays tribute to the winners of the Nobel Prizes, the Cathedral and the Royal Palace. Whenever possible, we will enjoy a pretty view from the Fjällgatan viewpoint. Then leisure time. We recommend visiting the museums and parks. Optionally, we suggest a visit to the City Hall and to the Vasa museum-ship.

Day 8: Stockholm - Stockholm-Turku Ferry

Today’s Highlights: Ferry to Finland. Enjoy a free day of leisure in Stockholm. In the evening we will board a modern ferry traveling overnight to Finland, where accommodation will be in double cabins with private bathrooms.

Day 9: Stockholm-Turku Ferry - Naantali - Helsinki

Today’s Highlights: Forests, lakes, pleasant landscapes. As we arrive to Finland, we recommend that you go to the ship’s deck for sunrise, enjoy mesmerizing landscapes from the sea as we sail along Aland Islands, hundreds of islands covered by forests. We disembark the ferry and have time to walk around Turku, a city with a very strong Swedish influence. We continue our journey to the neighbouring city of Naantali, a very picturesque town with wooden houses next to the sea. We travel on until we arrive in Helsinki, reaching at lunchtime. In the afternoon enjoy leisure time, you will be able to explore the city, with its old market, buildings with Russian influence and churches.

Day 10: Helsinki - Helsinki-Tallinn Ferry - Tallinn

Today’s Highlights: Stage by the sea with beautiful landscapes on the way out of Helsinki. We enjoy a boat trip to Suomenlinna Islands, a group of islands where we can witness a great fortress that used to protect the sea entry to the city, it has been declared World Heritage. Take time to walk around, it is possible to cross the islands through small pedestrian bridges. Later we will board a ferry to Estonia. The ferry trip will be around 2 hours 30 minutes. During the departure from Helsinki you have great views of the surrounding islands. On to Tallinn!

Day 11: Tallinn

Today’s Highlights: city tour of Tallinn. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia is a wonderful city with a well-conserved medieval centre. We will enjoy a comprehensive tour of the city, its walls, churches, squares, and its medieval streets filled with tourist attractions. An afternoon at leisure.

Day 12: Tallinn - Narva - St. Petersburg

Today’s Highlight: From Estonia to Russia. Today we leave Estonia and travel to Russia. We stop in Narva with time to see the impressive fortress by the river, on the border between the two countries. Border procedures (which can sometimes take time), then we will take our included lunch once in Russia. We make our way to St Petersburg, arriving and going to the hotel.

Day 13: St. Petersburg

Today’s Highlight: Panoramic visit of St. Petersburg. Catherine Palace. With a local guide we begin the panoramic visit of this beautiful city crossed by the Neva River and built on 40 islands. St Petersburg is the second most important city in Russia and capital of the Russian Empire. This imperial city reveals the history of the Russian tsars through its museums, palaces, and architectural wealth. The visit includes the Peter and Paul Fortress (entrance included), origin of the city. The city is surrounded by numerous palaces. We take an excursion, with a guide and tickets, to the Catherine Palace which is located 25km from St Petersburg. It was the Tzars summer Rococo residence. Note: Depending on availability, Peterhof Palace may be visited instead of Catherine Palace. The Peterhof Palace, with very similar characteristics, was also a former residence of tsars.

Day 14: St. Petersburg

Today’s Highlight: Hermitage Museum. Today we have a visit to the Hermitage Museum, a fantastic art museum located in the building that was the Tsars’ Winter Palace (visit with guide and tickets). Enjoy a free afternoon at leisure.

Day 15: St. Petersburg

After breakfast, transfer to the airport and end of our services.