Scandinavia
For more general FAQ's try the FAQ's page on my European Discovery tour.
Optionals Accommodations Food Stuff to bring Laundry $$$$
Carlsberg Brewery: Maybe – It’s a self guided tour of the Brewery, it has some interesting things in it. You get two free beers. Everyone had a nice time doing this, but there are other things to do in Copenhagen too.
Stockholm Town Hall: Maybe - The building is interesting, it’s a nice tour. Everyone I spoke to enjoyed this, I liked the tour.
Fenix Bar Dinner: NO – It’s expensive and the food isn’t very good, you could do better on your own. If you don’t like herring (they serveed 4 or 5 types) definitely don’t go. The herring looking gross and the rest of the food was average. To top if off they served canned fruit for dessert, our super cook made better desserts.
Stockholm Ice Bar: Yes – This is not an official optional but is organized by many of the Tour Managers. We did this on our own and I thought it was pretty cool, though a bit expensive. If you haven’t been to an Ice Bar it’s a cool experience.
Holmenkollen Ski Jump: Yes – You get a great view of the Oslo, you can see the Ski Museum, and go on a ski jump simulator. If you didn’t go then you had to wait for everyone else since we stopped here on the way to Oslo. Skiing and other snow sports are HUGE in Norway, so this is a bit of there culture.
Olympic Bobsled Ride: Yes – This was a lot of fun to do as an individual and as a group activity. It’s the equivalent of a good rollercoaster, so not too crazy for people who are scared of rollercoaster. Everyone had fun doing this.
Geiranger Fjord Cruise: MUST – The fjord is absolutely gorgeous, and fjords in general are one of the reasons you go to Norway.
Pizza & Ten-Pin Bowling: Yes – Yes, it is a bit expensive, but it was a good time. Bowling apparently is expensive in Trondheim. The pizza is ok and it’s bowling, but it’s a good group activity and there isn’t a real lot going on in town in the evening anyway. Everyone had fun on this optional.
Svartisen Glacier & Picnic Lunch: MUST – Another reason to go to Norway - to see a glacier.
Nordkapp Experience: MUST – You can’t go to Hammerfest and not go see the midnight sun at Nordkapp. The cost of the optional covers admission and the local driver to take you back and forth.
Rosie McGee’s Pub Dinner: Maybe – No one on my tour did this since it’s expensive, but it’s the last night of tour so if everyone was doing it I would have done it.
Optionals Accommodations Food Stuff to bring Laundry $$$$
The hostels and campsites are generally very good on this tour, with typically 3 or 4 to a room. We had 5 couples so there were 2 rooms/cabins with 2 couples each and 1 room/cabin with a single couple – full size beds were rare, and the couples took turns getting their own room.
With the exception of 1 campsite all campsites and hostels had community bathrooms; sometimes there was a line for the shower in the morning or evening. The cabins were clean and most campsites had great views of mountains or lakes. In 2 places the cabins were really small, but the rest had decent space or were roomy. The campsites created a great environment for the tour, making it easy to get together. A couple had fire pits for bonfires. Yes, you do need a sleeping bag for this tour. While some cabins either come with linen or linen can be rented, many do not supply linen. If you continue on to Russia your sleeping bag can be stored under the bus as sleeping bags are not needed for the Russian portion of the trip.
The hostels were ok. Copenhagen and Helsinki were nice, but Trondheim was a bit dodgy, probably since it’s the only hostel in Trondheim. But all rooms are 4 share with only people from the tour in your room. If you’re staying extra nights in Copenhagen I wouldn’t recommend the hostel that Contiki uses because it is outside the city and there are nice ones in the city, a more convenient option.
The hostels in Trondheim and Helsinki were in the city and you could walk to and from at night. The hostel in Copenhagen and the campsite in Stockholm were outside the cities, but within a cab ride (maybe a train too) if you wanted to stay out at night. The campsite they used in Oslo was an hour from the city. The rest of the places we stayed didn’t have much of a town nearby so there wasn’t really anywhere to go.
Optionals Accommodations Food Stuff to bring Laundry $$$$
On this tour you have a super cook who makes your included meals, which you may have to help out with, nothing major just cutting up veggies or something easy like that. The breakfasts were awesome. There was usually a hot food: eggs or pancakes in some form; yogurt, 2 or 3 types of cereal, fruit. Dinners tended to be a bit bland (they were serving 45 people and their tastes), but pretty good considering they were made in a tent. We had spaghetti, tacos, pork, chicken and some type of veggie. There was always a starter (soup or salad) or dessert, sometimes both.
Optionals Accommodations Food Stuff to bring Laundry $$$$
Anything I wish I had brought/ glad I brought?
Condiments, like mustard or mayo. We often got lunch at the grocery store and I didn’t really enjoy making a sandwich since I didn’t have any condiments.
Hiking type shoe or boot. They are good for keeping your feet dry in the rain, and we encountered quite a bit of rain or just wet damp ground. They are also good for the glacier hike, I was soooo glad I had a hiking type shoe. They gave me better grip walking and kept my feet dry. A lot of people also went for hikes or walks during free time, which they would be handy for.
Fleece/Sweatshirt and/or heavy jacket. It is not terribly warm in Scandinavia. Granted I went in the beginning of the season (late May), but I don’t think it ever gets that warm North of the Arctic Circle. I was surprised that people did not have anything warm to wear – some people ended up having to buy stuff.
Optionals Accommodations Food Stuff to bring Laundry $$$$
Were there laundry facilities on the tour?
Yes, though our TM downplayed them so I may have missed some that actually existed. Oslo apparently had washers, but no dryers. Andalsnes had 2 washers and 2 of the slowest dryers every made. Hammerfest had 2 or 3 washers and dryers. I heard there were washers and dryers in Rovaneimmi too.
Optionals Accommodations Food Stuff to bring Laundry $$$$
Is Scandinavia really expensive? Yes and no. Yes, it is generally expensive, but you can do things affordably too, that was one of the nice things about frequently stopping at grocery stores instead of traditional rest stops – you could eat cheaper. You also spend quite a few days in the middle of nowhere and there isn’t really much to spend money on. Here is an idea of the cost of some of the things I bought:
Denmark
6 Dkr for a Carlsburg pin
2 Dkr for entry to the inside outside church
40 Dkr for my lego police man
66 Dkr for all you can eat pizza
10 Dkr for a McDonalds Cheeseburger
Sweden
60 Skr for entry to Nobel Museum
Lunch: 75 Skr for salad and pasta, 20 Skr for a soda
80 Skr for entry to the Vasa (40Skr with International Student ID Card)
25 Skr for a Vasa pin
19.80 Skr for a bottle of Smirnoff Ice
100 Skr for a Swedish Viking hat (childrens gift)
15.90 Skr for Apple Juice
12.03 Skr for Banana (17.90 Skr per KG)
5.58 Skr for Apples (17.90 Skr per KG)
Norway
50 Nkr for Ski jump simulator
21 Nkr for 2 bottles of water
35 Nkr for 30 minutes of internet
20 Nkr for ferry
69 Nkr for a burger, soda and fries
116 Nkr for a hardcover book about Norway
24 Nkr for a pastry
336 Nkr for Norway Sweatshirt
23.50 Nkr for 2 postcards and a stamp to US
60 Nkr for a glass of wine at a bar
18 Nkr for bad beer at the same bar
16 Nkr for ice cream bar
33 Nkr for hotdog
31 Nkr for Ice Cream
40 Nkr for Landry
482 Nkr for souvenirs in Nordkapp - a t-shirt, certificate, some postcards, stamps, key chain, pin, softcover book, and ornament
4.42 Nkr for Banana in Geiranger
10.80 Nkr for Apple Juice in Geiranger
8.50 Nkr for bread or pastry in Geiranger
25 Nkr for 5 postcards in Geiranger
119 Nkr for hardcover childrens book in Geiranger
30 Nkr for pin in Holmenkollen
24 Nkr for 3 postcards in Holmenkollen
55 Nkr for softcover book about Holmenkollen
Finland
25 Euro set of 5 postcard photos with Santa
14 Euro for 3 postcards and stamps
7 Euro for a Cheeseburger
2 Euro for a soda
