Arrive in Copenhagen, a compact capital shaped by sea trade, civic planning and Danish design. Meet your Travel Director and fellow small group travelers over dinner and drinks to get to know the group and your journey ahead. Later, you’ll visit Tivoli Gardens by night. Opened in 1843, it remains one of Europe’s oldest amusement parks, set around gardens, pavilions and performance venues, with illuminated walkways and classic rides still woven into the original plan.
Explore Copenhagen with your Local Specialist, who will set the city’s royal, political and harbor districts in context as you view the Little Mermaid, Christiansborg Palace, Rosenborg Castle, Amalienborg Palace, and Nyhavn. In the afternoon you’ll have time at leisure to explore further, perhaps visiting a museum, browsing design shops or following the waterfront on foot or by bicycle. Perhaps join an Optional Experience into the countryside north of the city to discover the castles of North Zealand, where royal residences and coastal landscapes show a different side of Denmark.
Travel into Sweden and on to Gothenburg, a harbor city shaped by North Sea trade and 17th-century fortifications. Here, join a walking tour that brings together local food traditions and the city’s trading history, from a fish bun lunch at Feskekörka to sweet tastings in the market hall with your Local Specialist. The rest of the day is at leisure; explore the Haga district’s wooden houses, visit an art or maritime museum or spend longer by the harbor.
Travel through Sweden’s lake district, following the shores of Lake Vättern towards Stockholm. You’ll pause above the town of Gränna at Grännaberget cafe for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, meeting Mattias at his family-run 18th-century cafe. Here you’ll take part in fika, the Swedish custom of pausing for coffee and something sweet, with pastries from local farms and producers. Continue to Stockholm, Sweden’s Baltic capital spread across 14 islands with a preserved medieval center on Gamla Stan.
Explore Stockholm with your Local Specialist, moving between the medieval streets of Gamla Stan and the city’s later civic districts. You’ll see Stockholm Cathedral and visit City Hall to view the Blue Hall, where the Nobel Banquet is held, and the Golden Hall lined with mosaics. The rest of the day is at leisure. Perhaps visit the Vasa Museum or Skansen on Djurgården, take a harbor boat tour or spend longer exploring Gamla Stan’s side streets and viewpoints.
Travel north to Uppsala, a historic university city and former religious center. You’ll meet local storyteller Hans Odoo to hear how Carl Linnaeus used his garden here as a living laboratory, arranging plants by species and origin and shaping modern botany. Continue through Sweden’s lake and forest landscapes to Falun, where your day ends with a Farm-to-Table dinner at a local restaurant focused on regional produce and seasonal dishes.
Visit the Falun copper mine and pit, a historic industrial site that shaped Sweden’s economy for centuries. Travel onwards towards Mora, following the shores of Lake Siljan, then continue through the Dalarna landscape to Sälen, where your Travel Director will lead an orientation of this key alpine resort area. Cross into Norway, passing Hamar on the shores of Lake Mjøsa, one of the country’s largest lakes. Arrive in Lillehammer and join your Travel Director for an orientation that links the main street, traditional wooden buildings and Olympic venues with the wider Gudbrandsdalen valley.
Travel through Gudbrandsdalen, often associated with the Peer Gynt legends, following valley and mountain scenery towards the inner fjords. Pause at Lom to view its stave church, a 12th-century wooden structure dating from around 1158 that illustrates medieval Norwegian timber construction and church life in the high valleys. Continue across the mountain roads to Geiranger, a fjord village noted for its steep slopes and waterfalls, where you’ll stay for the next two nights.
Spend a free day in Geiranger. You could follow marked paths to viewpoints above the village and along the fjord, join a boat trip or kayak outing on Geirangerfjord, or visit the Norwegian Fjord Center to see how farms and routes developed on the steep slopes. You can also choose an Optional Experience that drives the Trollstigen mountain road, known for its engineered hairpin bends, waterfalls and viewing platforms.
Start the day with a cruise along Geirangerfjord, as you sail past steep rock walls, waterfalls and former farmsteads in this UNESCO-listed fjord landscape. Travel by road towards Fjærland and pause at Bøyabreen glacier for a photo stop at one of the most accessible arms of the Jostedalsbreen icefield. Explore Fjærland with your choice. Choose between visiting the Norwegian Glacier Museum, a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience focused on glacier science and climate, or join a walk with your Local Specialist to hear about life between fjord and glacier. Continue to your fjord hotel in Leikanger for dinner featuring fresh, locally sourced produce.
Cross Sognefjord and follow the valley to Flåm to board the Flåm Railway, climbing from the fjord to the mountain plateau on one of the world’s steepest standard-gauge lines. Travel on to Voss to visit Finnegarden Farm, where glacial soils, a cool inland climate and long summer days support orchards that supply distinctive juices and ciders. Your day ends in Bergen, a former Hanseatic trading port marked by its harbor warehouses and surrounding hills at the edge of Norway’s main fjord region.
Explore Bergen with your Local Specialist, taking in the fish market, Haakon’s Hall and the timber warehouses of Bryggen that reflect the city’s Hanseatic past. With your small group, you’ll move between the harbor and surrounding streets to see how the city sits between sea and hills. The rest of the day is at leisure; perhaps walk the lanes of Bryggen and the Nordnes peninsula, visit the aquarium or spend time in the city’s shops and galleries. You may choose an Optional Experience to visit the KODE art museums before taking the Fløibanen funicular up Mount Floyen to take in the view over Bergen and the surrounding fjords.
Travel from Bergen to Oslo across southern Norway, following a route that moves from fjord inlets and islands to high plateaus and inland valleys. You’ll cross Hardangervidda, one of Europe’s largest mountain plateaus, with open moorland, scattered lakes and distant peaks, then descend past rivers and waterfalls that feed Norway’s hydropower system. Forests, farmland and small towns around the Oslofjord basin signal the approach to the capital, where your day ends with an evening at leisure; perhaps walk along the Aker Brygge and Tjuvholmen waterfront, see the angles of the Oslo Opera House from the harbor or spend time on Karl Johans gate between the station and the Royal Palace.
Explore Oslo with your Local Specialist, taking in the Royal Palace, Akershus Castle and the sculptures in Frogner Park that make up Gustav Vigeland’s large-scale outdoor installation. Move down to the harbor to see the Opera House and the regenerated Bjørvika neighborhood, where new cultural buildings and waterfront promenades reshape the former docks. The rest of the day is at leisure; perhaps return to Karl Johans gate or the Aker Brygge area for last souvenirs or a final walk by the water. This evening, join your small group and Travel Director for dinner to mark the end of your journey through Scandinavia.
Your journey through Scandinavia comes to an end in Oslo, say goodbye to your small group and Travel Director before your onward travel.
