Norway Summer Family Vacation in 10 Days

First, do not send me a water bottle; I have more than enough. Overall, we had a great trip to Norway, with a good balance between time in the cities of Stavanger, Bergen, and Oslo, and rural retreats. We stayed in fine old hotels in magnificent settings on the Geiranger and Lustra fjords. We reveled in a quieter pace, with more time to enjoy nature. Our agent selected terrific hotels in each setting and, during the trip, was attentive to our needs and responsive when some minor problems arose.

The four of us really enjoyed the trip Zicasso's tour planner created for us. She was responsive and quick to reply to our questions, including while on the trip. We visited Bergen, Odda, Trolltunga, Aurland, Ålesund, and Oslo. Our highlights were Trolltunga and Aurland. We would have gladly traded an extra day at Aurland and skipped the Flåm railroad, as that was too touristy for our taste, but we can only say that after having been there.

Zicasso’s travel specialist was outstanding and helpful through the whole process. The trip met all of our needs. It was well planned out and hit the highlights of each city (Oslo to Flåm to Bergen).

The accommodations in each location were outstanding and when we had a question, we got prompt responses. From our hotel in Oslo (centrally located, quaint and small boutique) to the waterside hotel in Flåm with epic views and a great restaurant, to our hotel in Bergen overlooking the Brygge UNESCO site and 1,000km to the Floibergen, the rooms were clean, comfortable, and really great.

The walking tours in Oslo and Bergen were great. The air, train, and bus transits were smooth (after a first-day Oslo arrival snafu, which was not the travel company’s problem, but which was resolved effectively by the travel specialist) throughout the entire trip.

The recommendations for activities (not included) were great, with the highlights being the Oslo Cultural Museum. I took hundreds of photos and came home with countless great memories.

Thank you for putting together a great trip to Norway.

It was terrific. It exceeded expectations.

Our hotel in Aurland was the best, as we had so much contact with local people. Our tour of Laerdal and the Borgund Stave Church could not have gone better, as our guide was the former mayor of Laerdal, who was helping out a friend. It ended up being one of the best travel days of our lives. We totally hit it off with him and have a friend for life. My husband is half Norwegian and he was incredible helping us piece together his history, and has promised to help find the original family farm somewhere in the Hallingdal Valley. He even helped Rick find "lefse" like his grandmother makes by contacting a baker he knows, who went to work making "lefse" that he dropped off for us the next day. We learned so much about Norway, its people, history, schools, social services. It was tremendous.

Our hotel in Aurland was accommodating, beautiful and restful. We did not meet the our travel specialists and had only passing conversations with them, but all of the employees were beyond gracious. The food was exceptional and the service was terrific.

We lucked out with gorgeous weather. Our only hitch was the service-industry strike happening in Norway. It affected our stay in Oslo a bit and also in Bergen. Although the strike had settled by the time we arrived in Bergen, their restaurant was still not open. Both hotels did serve us great breakfasts and helped us with our questions.

I appreciated Zicasso’s travel specialist's attention to detail and help in planning this trip. She listened to my requests and questions, especially about budget. The results were that she crafted an itinerary we won't forget. I'm so glad I listened to her about our hotel in Aurland. She said it was exceptional and it was. I just wish we could have added another day in Bergen, but our time constraints did not allow that.

I would not hesitate to use this travel company to plan another trip to Norway. Who knows? We might be going back to meet my husband's relatives on the original family farm.

Our trip was great. We sincerely appreciated the knowledgeable and personable travel guides in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Bergen. I do not remember the name of our food tour guide in Oslo, but she was also an interesting and competent guide. The drivers were all on time and much appreciated.

Zicasso’s travel specialist did an excellent job planning our trip to Norway, and I would recommend her for her exceptional planning and prompt responsiveness.

The choice of cities was great and more than met our expectations. The hotels were fantastic in location, uniqueness, and amenities. The booked activities were fantastic, especially the RIB boat tour in Balestrand. Geirangerfjord is a must-see and was the highlight of our trip.

The only reason I am giving four instead of five stars is because I felt there could have been more attention paid to details. Two of the restaurant recommendations in Ålesund were permanently closed! But my biggest gripe was based on my high expectations set from the prior two travel agents I had worked with through Zicasso for trips to Japan and Italy. I expected a well-organized, easy-to-navigate, user-friendly itinerary. I prefer an itinerary (ideally a mailed, color, printed document in a spiral bound booklet, but I would accept a single PDF file just as well) where all the information for each day is included in that day's itinerary, i.e., Day X should have the city description and suggestions for things to do, the hotel descriptions for that stay, tickets for the activities or travel on Day X, transport confirmations, activity confirmations, and restaurant recommendations all under that same day, instead of tickets, instructions for the transportation, food recommendations, etc., sent in a dozen separate PDF files. My suggestion would make each day's itinerary entirely complete and independent from the other days, without the client having to page back and forth everyday to get the tickets and food recommendations, and where to go, etc.