Grand Scandinavia Reviews

We had 29 on our tour and we all got along. Quite often we would pair up with other couple to sit with at breakfast or dinner. We had a lot of fun with the other guests and everyone had a good sense of humour including our tour guide, Maja and the driver Laszlo. We had unseasonal warm weather in Copenhagen, Stockholm and most of Finland until we got ...read more to the Arctic Circle. We saw some amazing things and the scenery was breathtaking. Well worth it.

We have just completed the 20 day Grand Scandinavia tour with Insight Vacations which departed Copenhagen on 13th Aug 2023 and ended in Oslo on 1st Sep 2023. It was an amazing trip with a good mix of everything in it. Be prepared with a good pair of walking shoes - but well worth it. The weather was great with some rain on only one day. It's still summer ...read more up there so don't overdo it with the woolies. The hotels were of a high standard and very comfortable except for the Hilton Stockholm. The included meals were good as well. The Optional Extras were good as well and well worth it. Some did not happen due to logistical issues but was not the end of the world as there were plenty of other things to gawk at. Overall a great trip and definitely a MUST DO.

We found Georgie at Global Journeys excellent. Very helpful and quick to respond to any concerns. We would not hesitate to book with her and Global Journeys again. We had a fabulous trip to Scandinavia with Insight Vacations. The beautiful warm to hot weather seems to follow us where ever we went. Our accommodation was excellent even though the ...read more rooms were quite hot due to the unusually warm weather.

Our guide Lena was well organised, very approachable, helpful and knowlegeable. Lasro our driver was just amazing and was always neat and well groomed. We had a small group of 23. Australians, Canadians and Americans. Couples friends and singles all very nice and punctual. The only negative was the onboard seat rotation which we thought could of been better enforced.

My tour through Scandinavia was more than I expected. It was very well run by a talented, professional guide who seemed to gain an understanding of what every participant wanted to see, do or know on the tour and sought to point these points of interests out to each individual which personalised our experiences. The itinerary was excellent, and whilst ...read more some days were long driving journeys, we were kept entertained by documentaries or movies relevant to where we were going or the culture we were visiting.

The Tour Director Zsofia Ferencz and Driver Bert were both excellent and professional in every way possible. Even through times of difficulty, when our coach windscreen was broken from a rock from another vehicle and the tour director sustained a head injury, Zsofia was more concerned about her passengers than herself even though she was the only one ...read more injured. Bert's excellent driving skill saved us from further injury. We got through it and completed the holiday with great success.

There were long distances between overnight stays with many short breaks in between. Could have spent more time in Copenhagen and Stockholm and less in Finland which was very flat and less interesting, but Norway was spectacular in scenery and breathtaking in beauty.

The highlight for my wife and myself was Geiranger, with giant mountains and fjords and waterfalls which never seem to end. Oslo is an interesting city with lots to see and a great atmosphere with varying architecture. All in all, the holiday was fast paced and scenic but too many one night stops.

Far too little time in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. 2 and 1/2 days of wasted time driving with little stops coming south along western Norway coast. Best experiences above Arctic Circle. Too many optional excursions when some of these should have been included in the tour price.

We had a great time on the Grand Scandinavia trip with Insight Vacations. The highlight was Geiranger, Norway. Possibly the most beautiful place on earth with its spectacular fjords and waterfalls. We had first class hotels all the way and were touring with a fun group of like- minded travellers from Australia, USA, Canada, and the Philippines. This ...read more was our third trip with Insight vacations and we will definitely be looking at Insight for our next trip. Thanks Yvonne at Global Journeys for organising our booking once again and for your patience in responding to our never ending questions! We'll be in touch again when planning our next adventure.

Thanks Juliet for helping us book our Grand Scandinavia tour with Insight Vacations at such a great price. Our tour guide Maja was excellent, so knowledgeable about everywhere we went. The local guides were also great and we all loved the bus driver Arpad. It was amazing how he maneuvered the bus around the hairpin bends. The scenery was amazing and ...read more it was great being able to sit back and look out the window rather than driving ourselves.

Hannah Campbell managed our booking at short notice, it is our 4th tour booked with Hannah & Global Journeys. Well done yet again. It was a busy tour, travelling over 5800klm, long days of driving, early starts, and one night stop overs, some places with little to do or see there. For example there wasn’t a lot of choice when we had to find our own ...read more dinner in Narvik, there were only two restaurants an Asian and an Italian Pizza Parlour!

Our wonderful friendly driver Joseph kept us safe, especially on some scary fjord roads. Lena our Tour Director was knowledgeable of all the 4 countries we visited, and kept the tour on time. The Baltic Cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki through the archipelago was spectacular, but do question the brochures description of “High class sea-view cabin”. It was in fact a small cabin with bunks; it was a commercial ferry so extremely busy. The larger city hotels were adequate, linen and beds were of a good standard and some rooms offered robes and slippers. Although the quality of the bath towels in some of the hotels was most disappointing. I questioned one city hotel at the lack of soap; to be informed they had run out!!! As we travelled north the hotels became pretty basic, some double rooms plus luggage left little room to move around. Others lacked a safe, or tea/coffee facilities, which would have been welcomed after a long day of travelling. Another problem was the concept of a shower over the bath, difficult for older people.

Hotel breakfasts and dinners were varied, with something for everyone. When three or more coach tours were booked in at the same hotel, meal times often became a ‘bun fight’. I did not pay Insight prices to stand in a queue with an empty plate, only to then have to search for a vacant table. Alcoholic drinks i.e. beer in the hotel bars were very expensive. Believe discrimination was shown to coach tour guests, over regular guests. Especially in The Union Hotel at Geiranger, where guests were told they could not drink a cup of tea on the terrace, as it was for hotel guest only!!

The Geiranger Fjord is magnificent, with the Union Hotel built above the lake. Be prepared if you need to go down to the harbour to catch a cruise boat or do some shopping, you can walk down the roadway which extremely narrow and busy, or attempt the steel stairway. The Danish and Swedish optional dinners were acceptable but nothing out of the ordinary, the Russian dinner was very good. We had to leave the venues soon after dinner, leaving little time for a chat or to get to know other guests. The visit to the North Cape to view the midnight sun was totally disappointing, owing to the inclement weather which set in earlier in the day, and therefore should have been cancelled.

Favourite Included Experiences: Puijo Tower, Alaskan Husky farm with dinner, Viking Ship Museum, Geiranger Fjord, and Santa Claus Village. Favourite Optional Experiences: The Arctic Experience – Arctic Cruise, Fjord St Dalsnibba, Wilderness River Adventure, Vasa Galleon, Traditional Lapland Dinner and Reindeer Farm. Took 10 of 15 Optional Experiences, this cost Euro 1186 which exchanged to approx $3000!! So be prepared for this on top of the tour price. Scandinavia was an incredible tour, but also worked out very expensive.

There was more travel involved than I expected and was quite tired by the end. This probably was because it was the last of three tours I booked. I would have allowed for a break between Switzerland and Scandinavia if I had known or looked for a shorter tour.

Apart from that it was interesting. Found Finland intriguing and of course Geiranger Fiord ...read more was spectacular. The tour Director Chad Hardwick and driver Gabor were of the highest standard. Accommodation varied in quality from poor (Fru haugans Hotel, Mosjoen) where once again the single travelers were allocated the old small rooms, to excellent. Generally the further North the lower the standard. Once again the lack of blackout curtains was very inconvenient as we were in full daylight 24 hours in the North.

This tour covers Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The brochure paints an exciting tour with really enjoyable optional experiences. So we were a little let down with what actually occurred. There is a lot of time spent on travelling to places. On a number of days you left at eight o'clock and did not arrive at the next place until after five. This ...read more was due to the 70-80km speed limit, driver rest periods and the winding roads. When arrived at our destination we wanted to unwind over drinks but the cost was exorbitant (AUD$18 for a small beer). The quality of the hotels varied a great deal depending on what town you staying at. Meals were generally buffet style with ample selection of dishes.

The optional experiences were costly for what actually occurred. The railway journey from Sweden sounded good but all you did was catch a normal passenger train from a nearby station and travel back down the hillside. We opted out of doing the traditional dinners after the Danish dinner as we found the quality of the food was not great. The overnight cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki was okay, The cruise is actually on a car ferry and the cabins were just adequate.The scenery was excellent and you saw many many fjords.

I would be glad to book with Global Journeys in the future as it is hassle free and helpful. Our Insight tour was very good. The accomodation and inclusions of the tour were of a high standard.

Fantastic tour. Some long driving days but we'll worth it. Spectacular scenery throughout the tour. Hassle free Insight tours take care of everything. Good time to tour Scandinavia. August not as busy as June and July. Booked three tours with Global Journeys. Made process easy and always professional.

Arrive day or two prior to start of Tour so you can enjoy the wonderful city of Copenhagen as the Tour itself doesn't provide much time to enjoy the city. The itinerary itself was good. Some of the additional excursions whilst sounding interesting were disappointing. I did many of them but not the dinners. Accommodation was ok the Scanic hotel group ...read more had lousy pillows! I pre-booked into the Radisson Blu Scandinavia in Copenhagen and discovered the tour used a lower grade hotel room than I had booked privately. Included meals were adequate. The scenery and the experiences were wonderful in some instances giving me whiplash switching between sides to see the next wonder.

Spent a couple of weeks in London after our lovely but busy Scandinavia tour - every day a new experience. Fantastic scenery particularly Norway. Lots of different side trips, some better than others. We took all the side trips as we feel we might miss out on something special and this is more than often the case. Our guide Zsofi Ferencz was attentive ...read more and very informative.

Weather this time of the year almost perfect, although fog appeared early in the day when we were to see the midnight sun at North Cape but we made the most of it - just unfortunate but otherwise weather was great. Our highlight of course was Geiranger area and the Troll's Road - absolutely breathtaking area. Don't miss it if you have the opportunity. As the tour proceeds north from Helsinki the accommodation is not as good as Insight Vacations normally provides (this is at least our 3rd tour with Insight Vacations) but this is to be expected in this area, but always the best available in each town.

The Insight Vacations coaches are always very very comfortable and this was no exception and of course the driver was extremely competent as some of the roads can be quite difficult. Now we are looking for our next tour with Insight Vacations - just have to decide which one to choose.

This tour, particularly within the Arctic Circle, was a wonderful experience. The pristine scenery in northern Finland and Norway was a particular feature. Other memorable experiences were the visit to Santa's village in Rovaniemi, the nature zoo in the same location, experiencing the midnight sun at North Cape, the optional bird safari cruise off the ...read more north of Norway and the wilderness boat ride on one of the main salmon fishing rivers.

There were a few downsides however. This tour travelled 5500 kms and there were many very tiring days with early starts and lengthy coach travel, as well as numerous one night stays. This is hard to avoid with the current tour structure but could be reduced if the tour were to focus on northern Scandinavia. Rather than starting in Copenhagen, travelljng to Stockholm and then ferrying to Helsinki, perhaps the tour could commence in Helsinki (or even Rovaniemi) and finish in Oslo. Insight has another two tours that focus on Southern Scandinavia and this option is also available with other tour companies, so foussing on the Arctic Circle area would allow this tour to have reduced coach travel time and more multi-night stays.

The tour director and driver, as with our previous Insight tours, were very good. This was the first time we had used the Global Journeys booking process and it was excellent. The online updating and the personal agent communication all contributed to a seamless and very efficient process which we would gladly use again. The only matter we were concerned about was whether the tour documents would arrive in time or whether they could get lost in the mail but everything arrived in full and on time.

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 ...read morescenery.

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.