Wonderful
Norway | Sep 21 - Sep 26, 2019

E
Eddie Y.
CA | Reviewed on Sep 30, 2019

Balestrand was wonderful, probably the highlight of our trip, especially the Fjord boat trip there and from. The hotel was also quite special

Flam was also wonderful as well, as was the train ride.

Given the objectives (truly scenic, awe-inspiring nature), I felt like we could have been guided differently.

The others were fine and reasonable for the price paid, but I have some feedback for the rest of the trip

1. Initially we had a day in Bergen set aside, which I changed and I was glad we did because Bergen while more enjoyable than your typical European city wasn't why we were in Norway

2. Tromso we knew was a risk given the low probability of seeing the Northern Lights, but I wish we had given a more thorough pros/cons discussion of going. We didn't see the lights, it was raining (none of which can be predicted), but I feel like we wasted a day a few thousand dollars on that decision. I would have rather spent another day in a city like Balestrand or Flam

Besides that, the packing guidance was less helpful as we were told to pack thermal underwear, jackets and clothing that took up a lot of room in the suitcase, and we ended up not needing because the Tromso bus was warm (where you spend the majority of the time on the tour) and they have thermal jackets, so I wish we were guided to pack differently.

The water bottle was unnecessary as well, more of a nice to have.

3. I wish there was more detail about the transportation (e.g., length of trip, where to sit on the train, boat, etc)

4. I wish we had more choices about the hotels. Balestrand and Flam hotels were very nice, but the Bergen hotel was not great and the Tromso hotel was terrible and dirty

5. I wish I had more flexibility to change the room bookings. I ended up needing an extra room, and it proved impossible to do through KimKim

Local specialist: Anuj Mahat
Jana
Jana Brehmer
Local specialist in France | Replied on Nov 07, 2019
Hi Eddie,
Thank you very much for your review. We appreciate the time you took to help us improve our service constantly.
We take your comment for hotel/ flexibility and roadbook into account and will review our partners and recommendation. We are very sorry for the inconvenience you had to face during your trip and the extra time you had to invest.
Regarding your stay in Tromso and the Northern Light excursion and after rereading your chat with the agent, it appears that the local expert...
Read more

Hi Eddie,
Thank you very much for your review. We appreciate the time you took to help us improve our service constantly.
We take your comment for hotel/ flexibility and roadbook into account and will review our partners and recommendation. We are very sorry for the inconvenience you had to face during your trip and the extra time you had to invest.
Regarding your stay in Tromso and the Northern Light excursion and after rereading your chat with the agent, it appears that the local expert indicated several times the unpredictable chances of seeing the Northern Lights and the recommendation of either skipping Tromso or staying at least 2 nights to have a bigger time window. We regret that the weather was not on your side that day.
Nevertheless, we are very happy you enjoyed the other parts of the trip and wish to welcome you soon again on one of our trips.
Best regards,
The Altai Norway Team