Excellent hotel choices and great drivers.
Norway
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Aug 28 - Sep 13, 2025
The planning process with Anders was great. The hotels selected in each city were in the best locations. The rooms we were given often were not top rate and when I asked for a different room, e.g., with a view or a larger room, upon checking our booking the hotels were unable to accomodate us. Our driver in Norway, Lene, was fantastic. She planned our days well and went out of her way to help the Hernas members of our threesome find their ancestral home towns. All of our other drivers and guides were top flight. Our only issue was that it took several tries to convince Anders that only Deborah and I were travelling to Finland. Even when he finally adjusted the room bookings, he did not adjust other reservations like the ferry to Estonia. Fenne straightened things out while we were there.
Hotel Review
Great location in the heart of the city. Our room was tiny, the only one of the floor that had a former office divided into two rooms.
Activity Reviews
Lene was fantastic, not just this day but for the whole time we were with her in Norway. On this day, she exerted her "site location" skills from the movie industry to help locate the villages where Deborah and Pat's ancestors once lived.
This was not a worthwhile cruise in our view.
Although I was a bit skeptical about this going into it, the experience was really fun. The owner walked us through a tasting of ciders and then paired them excellent food choices. I was not a cider drinker before this, but I have gained a whole new appreciation for the genre.
The trip to get there takes you out of your way to the fjord itself. The view from there is spectacular overall, but the Geiranger Fjord is but a speck in the distance.
The Fjord itself is spectacular and the cruise well paced to allow you to enjoy the waterfalls and other sights.
This was a highlight tour while we were in Finland. Porvoo is a quaint waterfront city with an old shopping district. We also enjoyed the Sibelius monument and the rock church in Helsinki. Our guide, George, was very knowledgeable and kept us entertained the whole day. The only reservation we had was that he insisted on telling us about sauna even after we told him we have one in our home in California. I didn't need to be sold on sauna.
Tallinn was wonderful. It has a great old walled city with lots to see. Our guide was very knowledgeable about it and made it a fun day.
Hi Bob,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback! I’m really glad to hear you enjoyed your trip through Norway and Finland — and I couldn’t agree more, Lene is truly fantastic and will be thrilled to hear your kind words.
I’m also happy to hear the cider tasting in Balestrand converted you into a cider fan — that one tends to surprise people! 😊
Wishing you, Deborah, and Pat all the best on your future travels — and if Scandinavia ever calls again, we’d love to help plan your next adventure.
Warm regards,
Anders