NORD DMC

Our family of 4 (parents and 2 boys ages 9 and 7) had a terrific week in Norway. We covered a lot of ground and saw many sights. Starting our trip with the floating sauna in the Oslo harbor was a great first day activity when we were fighting jet lag. My husband and I both jumped right into the frigid water from the diving board. Woke us right up! The next day we really enjoyed seeing the colorful summer cottages and hiking through the harbor islands with Astrid.
Then the Norway in a Nutshell tour was breathtaking in terms of the Flam railway through the mountains and fjord cruise.
I was also particularly intrigued when the train stopped in Finse, a polar wonderland for skiing and expedition training not accessible by road. I’ll have to come back to Finse and get off the train the next time. So unique.
We enjoyed learning about the city of Bergen with Chao and then taking the funicular to the top to take in the views. The next day, the helicopter ride was just incredible. Our pilot was Jan Gunnar. Flying over the tops of the mountain peaks, seeing the remote cabins above the treeline, and viewing a glacier was just spectacular and so special.
We then spent a few days in Tromsø, which we loved. The dogsled ride and the Sami reindeer experience were really fun and full of learning. I have a son who has a fear of dogs but the dogsled was organized well and he managed to warm up to the dogs enough to pet a few of them, which was a real breakthrough. We also enjoyed Polaria, the aquarium, where we saw the seal feeding, and the troll museum, which highly entertaining for young boys. The city itself is stunningly beautiful and we felt like we were in a winter wonderland in late April. One day we got 4 inches of snow. Our hotel, the Scandic Ishavshotel, was right on the harbor and we spent hours watching boats go by. We would have loved to do some ski touring or snowmobiling outside the city in the surrounding mountains, but we ran out of time. We all agreed we need to come back!

We all loved many things about our trip and wished we had more than just a week in Norway. Everything was so delightful - the people, the culture, the food, the experiences. We came home changed and enlightened by the experience, with many new ideas to pursue. Our first night home we cooked Norwegian fish soup!

Traveling in Norway with kids this age was no problem at all. We had virtually zero language barriers because English is so widely spoken, and Norwegians are particularly friendly to children. We even got invited into the old fire station in Bergen so our kids could see them preparing the antique first engines for National Day coming up. So cool! We would highly recommend this trip.

Mar did a great job listening and then setting up the perfect itinerary.
The activities and hotels were all wonderful.
We will definitely use Kimkim again for trips that require local knowledge.

Hotel Reviews

DFDS overnight cruise

Room was nice and a good location on the ship

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Karl Johan Hotel

Oslo

Great location, clean and modern.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Flåm Marina

Flåm

Absolutely the best location on the waterfront. The only downside was that our room had an interior bedroom. With no windows and no ventilation, the room was too warm. Restaurant was nice. The included breakfast was great. We had a nice dinner there as well

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms need ventilation. Some of the furnishings were a little dated.

Clarion Hotel Admiral

Bergen

Great location The breakfast and dinner was outstanding.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Our dinner waiter was wonderful and I interesting to talk to.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Overnight Cruise

Bergen

Room was on the small side. The angle of the wall made it very difficult for a tall person to move around.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Nærøyfjord Cruise by Electric Boat (one way)

Gudvangen

Norsk Folkemuseum - The Open Air Museum (museum tickets included)

Oslo

Viking Day in Gudvangen

Gudvangen

Great, authentic feeling experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Past & Present City Walk

Bergen

Wonderful, knowledgable guide

Fløibanen Funicular Experience (tickets included)

Bergen

Thank you Mar for the amazing adventure to Norway. We explored Oslo, then headed into the fjords and stayed in Flam and Balestrand. Hiking the fjords was a dream. Our final destination was Bergan. The city was a dream. The funicular above the city is a must do. We will certainly use KimKim again to plan our next adventure.

This is our third trip with Kimkim. We absolutely had a wonderful time traveling by car in Norway. We couldn’t have done it without our Kimkim consultant, Kadri, booking agent, Fenne, and 24/7 assistance agent, David. It was a beautifully smooth operation they run as a team. Kadri listened to what we wanted: slower pace, and accommodations (boutique hotel, cottage or cabin) with beautiful views and balcony or deck when possible. She met our wish to perfection! You cannot imagine how much we enjoyed staying at each hotel, cottage or cabin with absolutely gorgeous views!! Fenne did all the bookings perfectly (which is not as easy as you think based on our experience), and she was always quick to communicate with us like Kadri. Lastly, but not least, David. We knew that there are a team of people on the other side of WhatsApp messages and calls, but we happened to get help from David most of the time. Norway is a large country with so many roads and ferries. There were some road closures as well due to snow David was always there to help us navigate our way. Just for a few of many examples, we once changed our itinerary at the last moment by going to Kvitnes to stay over night, rather than driving to Hennningsvaer directly as originally planned. We thought we just had to plug in the driving route with google maps, but it showed 2 ferry rides. So, we talked to David and he found a solution by plugging in 2 towns in between, that made it shorter routes without ferry rides. We couldn’t have done it, but he could do it quickly with his local knowledge. When our flight was delayed, he informed the hotel of our late arrival as well as arranging for our dinner. We loved the seamless team efforts to make our Norway experience just so superb beyond our imagination! Thank you for everything. We loved our Norway trip and will cherish the beautiful memory forever.

The private city OSLO walk with Bjorn our tour guide, was amazing. His in-depth knowledge of not only of the Oslo architecture, but of all Norway kept us intrigued for the entire walk. He is so easy to talk to and learn all aspects of Norwegian customs and traditions. It was a little disappointing that the Oslo Street food tour was cancelled. We were delighted with almost every aspect of the itinerary provided by Kimkim, including all of the hotel accommodations, the cruises, and transfers. In hindsight, we wished Kinkim could have provided more information on the public transportation bus and subway routes around Oslo as we had to rely on the more-expensive Uber services to get to the various scheduled activities. Also, in hindsight, we wish Kinkim offered a walking tour of Bergen as well. The weather was perfect: 40 - 50 degrees with sunny sky's. Otherwise, we were most pleased with our trip and look forward to working with your expert specialists the next time we travel.

kimkim organized a memorable Norway experience for my teen and me. So many great moments to highlight, from snowshoeing above Aurlandsfjord with our wonderful guide Irvin, to exploring the same fjord in a small boat, to discovering Oslo by bike with our very knowledgeable guide Patrick, to snowmobiling above the 69th parallel north near Tromsø in a small group. Our only regret is not spending more than a week in such a mindblowingly beautiful country.