Grand Scandinavia Reviews

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Scandinavia. 50% of the group were Australian with the rest made up of people from New Zealand, USA and Canada. The tour guide was great and most of the accommodation was good. The temperature in June was cool to cold. Spring had arrived late and there was still plenty of snow around which afforded spectacular scenery.

A truly magnificent journey through Scandinavia. We had amazing weather. Perfect timing as summer was 3 weeks late in coming so had the added benefit of seeing heaps of snow, ice and then all the trees come into into leaf at the end of our tour. Accommodation better than we were lead to believe for that part of the world. Oslo the only one with read more sub standard accommodation. We were told all the Hotels in that city had very small rooms. Staff made up for it-they were great. If you want to cross the Arctic Circle, see the mid-night sun and go to the North Cape (top of Europe) this is the trip for you. And of course too see Santa in Lapland. Not forgetting the fjords and lakes. Amazing.

Wonderful tour of Scandinavia run by insight. Tour director Chad and driver Oleg were exceptional. It was just sight after sight with each day bringing something new. Not sure if all the extra tours were necessary. We did some but not all. Some may have just been time fillers.

Although it was summer (June) in Scandinavia it was still very cold and it snowed or sleeted several times. Don't bother heading to the Artic Circle or North Cape until much later in summer as you can't see much in the bad weather. The Insight coach and driver were great and the tour guide was good, but definitely a sales person when it came to optional read more extras - just do your own itinerary in the free time and you will get more out of the stops.

The standard of the hotels were disappointing when the tour was sold as providing a min 4 star, but most were 3 star with one or two even less. Be prepared for very basic cabins on the ferry to Helsinki. Stockholm was the highlight - very pretty city with lovely old town and easy to walk around. The Hilton Hotel in Stockholm was by far the best. If you are looking for a gastronomical experience on vacation, Scandinavia will somewhat disappoint - reindeer is worth trying and the salmon was also good, but the other white fish were bland. The other main stay of pork was nothing special. Potatoe is the main vegetable served so I really missed my greens. Norway is the most expensive of the Scandinavian countries so be prepared for the cost of food, wine and clothing to be double what you pay in Australia. Worth seeing Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, but I wouldn't bother going back.

Overall accommodation was very satisfactory. Some of the advertising was a little exaggerated re rooms and views. Tour director repeated her family details too often but otherwise did a very good job. Tipping should be included as an option in the cost of the tour. Bus driver was excellent. Views from some accommodation were alleys and back lanes. Nice read more balance with meal inclusions.

Disappointed that Global Journeys did not advise us that we could break our journey in Abu Dahbi at no additional flight cost. The Troll road excursion was in the tour bus and I question why this was an additional option tour to be paid for. Transfers were well organised. But beware this is a very expensive area to visit. Food and drink costs are well above sometimes 2 + the cost of what you would pay for in Australia. Overall a very enjoyable trip. Good to see that the composition of the travellers included a high number of Australians. Would recommend this tour to anyone

Overall we thought the tour was excellent, although we would have liked a bit more time in Sweden. Our Insight Coach Driver, Arpad, and Tour Director, Chad were excellent. We had a good mix of age groups and a variety of nationalities USA ( 5 different States), Canada, New Zealand, England, one from South Africa. and Australians from all States except read more Tasmania. The scenery was varied and enjoyable and Norway was stunning with the fjords. Although we rated the tour pace as excellent there are some big days and a number of one night stays due to the distances involved. North Cape as the most northern part of Europe was a highlight and we enjoyed excellent weather (only 2 days of rain and they were travel days). We also rated the accommodation as excellent however, this did vary given the location and size of some places however seemed to be generally the best available. We were well looked after.
Having followed the Insight Tour with a Cruise (and whilst this was also very good) the Insight Tour had some significant advantages in being able to visit places and highlights without the crowds.

Overall this was a wonderful trip. Hannah at Global Journeys was fantastic. She made everything easy. Insight were great to travel with. We had a wonderful tour director and all our fellow travellers were easy to be with. The quality of the hotels overall was good. This trip had everything we wanted in Scandinavia.

This trip was absolutely fantastic. A friend of mine had completed the tour a year before we did our trip, listening to her experiences I knew it was worth going. Our tour leader was the best, his knowledge was incredible. He clearly enjoys his job and meeting new people. I'd recommend this trip to everyone. Global Journeys made the trip from initial read more planning to the end so easy.

Our 20 day tour was full, not a spare seat on the coach which proved it's popularity. I enjoyed the quality of this tour as the accommodation was probably the best available in some of the more remote areas in Lapland. However, the rooms were not air-conditioned in these regions, therefore hot and stuffy, after all it was summer. Fortunately the fans read more provided some relief. This was my 2nd Insight Tour and I would recommend it to people who love crips, gorgeous scenery. But be aware of the long bus rides which are necessary in order to travel so far to reach the North Cape. It's a great way to experience Nordic life and I loved the optional tours to the Husky and reindeer farms.

A great trip, well organized and taken care off, a very alert guide and caring driver. This trip was different to me, as I am a very active person and most of my holidays include an activity like tramping or walking/running. As a group, we got on very well with each other and most of them had done other trips with Insight Vacations.

Need excursions that are a little more adventurous other than just evening meals. Something with a little involvement and energy. Most of the excursions were a quite boring as they mostly involved just watching or eating.

Excellent tour. Scandinavia spectacular. Tour guide-professional, excellent manager, excellent knowledge. Comfortable coach with excellent driver. Would thoroughly recommend this tour. Certainly exceeded our expectations. Would have given higher ratings but there is always room for improvement.

Our tour guide was excellent. She was always available and had a wonderful personality. She laughed a lot and this was so good when on a fairly long bus ride. Our driver was a quiet respectful young man whose driving ability was indeed remarkable. We always felt very safe even on those windy roads on high mountains. We happened to be in the front seat read more on our way to Geiranger, Norway. The accommodation was not great in several hotels, however this may be because of very little choice in some areas. On occasion we felt some had much better accommodation than others. My comment would be that accommodation, where possible, should be similar for all on the one tour and not some with suites and others with less than adequate accommodation. The tour content was excellent and we were 'blown away' by the amazing scenery. All in all a great experience and I would definitely recommend Insight. This was our 4th tour with them.

Well paced tour. Excellent Driver and Tour Leader who provided intelligent and relevant commentary. Very good value for money. The hotels were mostly very good although some hotels in Scandinavia seemed not to understand the concept of a twin room as opposed to a double room! All in all, highly recommended.

We wanted to experience the cold weather, snow and living in the Arctic and weren't disappointed. Everything went like clockwork. Tour director Chad Hartin and coach driver Oleg were excellent. We had good weather most days. Even when it was overcast it never rained heavily. The tour group were all very nice and we made new friends. Saw some wonderful read more sights, got up close to wildlife, reindeer, huskies. etc. We took all the extra excursions so it was very lively but we thoroughly enjoyed everything. Took lots of great photos too.

This was my first tour with Insight Vacations, certainly a pleasurable experience and I would recommend this tour to my friends.

Just wonderful! It was fantastic to travel with such an experienced driver and delightful tour guide. All activities and accommodations etc were very, very good.