KimKim and our trip review.
Norway
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Jun 23 - Jun 30, 2025
KimKim Feedback
Working with KimKim really helped me with getting ideas and plans for transitioning to one town to the next on our trip to Norway with 7 people. It was extremely helpful to have someone figuring out the tickets, times, locations, etc. for the hotels, drop off and pickups, activities, etc. My only recommendation is to verify the links you include in the itinerary. A few of the links did not work so I'm glad I verified and asked the questions before we left.
Here are a few reviews of the things we did.
Oslo
• We had a pickup scheduled from the airport to our first hotel in Oslo, but the driver cancelled. I contacted KimKim and they quickly arranged a different ride.
• The Grand Hotel Oslo was beautiful! We loved the rooms and the morning breakfast was amazing. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, even stopped by the hotel as we were there. The location was perfect for seeing all the common sights in Oslo.
• The 3 hour Private City Walk was okay. We ended up taking a ferry to the Fram museum. The guide was excellent at providing us with some background and history regarding the Fram. It was very interesting, and the museum was excellent and I highly recommend it. Once we were at the Fram, we wanted to stay there and look around but our time with the guide was up so she left and we stayed at the museum. I’m just not sure if the guide was really that useful, but without her we may not have attended the museum so we are thankful for that. The time may have been better spend walking around Oslo and getting the history and background about the palace, opera house, etc. from the guide and then doing the Fram on our own.
• We took scooters to the Mathallen Food Court which we all really enjoyed. We also shopped around that area which had lots of unique boutiques and secondhand stores. Very fun to see a variety in shopping areas. Downtown Oslo has lots of “chain” stores, but since we are not from Norway, they were all fairly new to us as well. Very fun shopping.
Stavanger
• Took the train to Stavanger. The train was fabulous - quiet and a great way to see the scenery.
• The second hotel, Scandic Stavanger Park, was fine. Not bad, not great – very standard. It was on a very busy street, so it was loud when the windows were open which we did because our room was hot. I personally would not recommend this hotel.
• The kids did the hike to Pulpit Rock which became the highlight of the entire trip.
• I loved looking at Old Stavanger and the buildings, as well as shopping around Ovre Holmegate in all the boutiques. I love to shop and look at goods so this was excellent for me.
• My husband and I went to the Petroleum Museum also – which I highly recommend. It was very well done and informative.
• The art all around the city is very fun. It would be fun to do a “scavenger hunt” for the art.
• Several of the hotels allowed umbrella checkout. We didn’t use it because we had raincoats, but I thought it was a great thing and worth mentioning to people you are planning trips for.
Bergen
• Took a Fjordline “ferry” to Bergen. This was more like a cruise ship. Very comfortable and beautiful. We loved this way of traveling. Highly recommend.
• The hotel, Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, was very nice and in a very central location. The only drawback is that there is a nightclub right by it, so it got loud at night.
• We did the Fjord Cruise & Seafood Dining Experience. I would not recommend this. It was fine, but our service was extremely slow and the food was okay. Not worth the money or time in my opinion.
• The Norway in a Nutshell was a great way to see a lot of things in a short time, but there was very little time to explore the places that we visited. We would barely get off the boat/train/bus and would have to get in line to catch the next boat/train/bus. It would be nice to have 1-2 hours at each stop.
• We did love seeing the fjords and mountains as we traveled. Stunning views!!!
• In hindsight, we should have stayed in Flam or Voss a few nights. My kids love “doing” things like hiking/biking and there were lots of opportunities for this in those smaller villages.
• The Catch and Cook Fishing Excursion was fun. It was rainy, but they had tons of clothes to outfit all of us so we were not miserable. My husband and sons are avid fisherman so to them it was a bit “touristy” and not real fishing, but it was an activity versus more sight-seeing so they liked it because we were doing something. We did catch some fish and enjoyed the cooking of it. Our guide, Iris, was great. I would recommend as an activity to do with the understanding that this is not for the serious fisherman.
• The Fløibanen funicular was good. Excellent views of Bergen, and a fun park. We could not get into the restaurant because we did not have a reservation so I would recommend this as something to consider to your clients when doing this activity.
• One activity we looked up and did on or own was the “Magic Ice” bar. I heard it was a bit gimmicky and expensive – which it was – but fun to experience and see it nonetheless.
All in all – it was an excellent trip. I loved seeing all that we did. Knowing what I know now, I should have done more activities versus sightseeing, but now I know for our next trip.
The kimkim app was very helpful to have all our tickets and information in one spot. I hope you continue to use and improve it.
Thank you!
Hotel Reviews
This hotel is beautiful and is in a great location to the central Oslo. The breakfast buffet was amazing and become a food highlight of the trip. I highly recommend this hotel.
Nice hotel and excellent location to Bergen,
This hotel is fine, but I would not recommend. It was on a busy street so it was loud in our room. Our room was on the top floor and it got hot. They brought us a fan, which helped, but we could not adjust the temperature. The breakfast was included and was very good.
Activity Reviews
The kids in our group did this activity and it was their absolute favorite.
The 3 hour Private City Walk was okay. We ended up taking a ferry to the Fram museum. The guide was excellent at providing us with some background and history regarding the Fram. It was very interesting, and the museum was excellent and I highly recommend it. Once we were at the Fram, we wanted to stay there and look around but our time with the guide was up so she left and we stayed at the museum. I’m just not sure if the guide was really that useful, but without her we may not have attended the museum so we are thankful for that. The time may have been better spent walking around Oslo and getting the history and background about the palace, opera house, etc. from the guide and then doing the Fram on our own.
Fun to see and experience some food.
