Where do I start? I’ve always wanted to see this remote part of Europe, my grandmother was born in Sweden so I’ve always been curious about “my people”. I’ve heard a lot about how happy Scandinavians are and how they like or don’t mind paying taxes for the government benefits they receive. This seems to have been confirmed by my guide on the tour, Gabriella, a terrific, passionate, and approachable RS guide. I’m sure he is proud of her.
I and 2 friends arrived 3 days early, the 2nd day we took the train to Uppsala, had lunch, shopped, and enjoyed the University town. The other 2 days, we went to Djurgarden, ABBA Museum, underwhelming, and saw the Saluhall, one of the best food courts in the world. Don’t miss this. One of my friends insisted on shopping everywhere. On my own, I would have seen the Drottningham Palace & the Nordic Museum. But, traveling with others, sometimes requires lots of compromise.
The tour: we had 22 people which is a good number in my opinion especially for eating in smaller restaurants that Rick likes. The weather was fantastic, coolish in the 60’s and in Norway colder in the mountains, 2 days there I had to wear my fleece jacket. Most of the women on the tour wore their fleece jackets everyday of the entire tour. Not me, I’m warm natured. Many days I only wore my ¾ length tops with my outer layer jacket (water resistant). We had rain and drizzle on the day in Kalmar which called for an umbrella. Many days we had brilliant blue skies except for 2 days in Bergen (& 2 days of blue skies, I had to stay an extra day because of a canceled KLM flight to AMS). Very windy in Copenhagen for 2 days and for 2 days on Aero Island.
The tour itinerary: Rick Steves designs his itineraries very carefully and this one is no exception. Every stop serves a purpose of introducing you to some important aspect of the country’s history, culture, etc. The local guides were excellent, the ones I especially liked were: Mia the guide for Kalmar Castle, she was young and very informative and engaging in her presentation and she was in costume which I liked. Excellent gift shop with quality items for sale.
I almost forgot to mention our visit to the Vasa Museum, Gabby did the tour of it and then our free time allowed us to linger in the museum. Extraordinary!
Special note about the local guides in Stockholm: It is a family affair!! Our guide for Gamla Stan, the Old Town, was Gabby’s father, forgive me, I have forgotten his name! We were so charmed by him and he promptly invited all 22 of us into his apartment in the Old Town. Gabby grew up here. We all gathered in his living room filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves and comfy sofas and chairs. They answered many of questions about life in Stockholm. Next day on our way out of town to Kalmar, we stopped at the Stockholm City Hall to meet our local guide, Ylva, who is Gabby’s mother! We learned about the history of it and the banquet for the Noble Prizes (physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, sciences) held here every December (the Noble Peace Prize is given in Oslo, Norway). Several tourmates visited the Oslo Peace Center in their free time and they enjoyed it. We toured the Munch Museum in Oslo in our free time and had an amazing lunch in the Museum Cafe, highly recommend the paintings and the food.