mmshah

I know people do this independently, but as a solo female my parents are a bit paranoid. They just feel better with me going with a group since I'm alone. So out of respect even though I would rather plan an independent trip...

Here Re Few options. I'm hoping someone can look and see what they think. I'm focusing just on Norway and then hope to do a short leg on hurtigruten and see aleusund and roros on the way back, is roros worth it or is taking a day tour to Godoy worth it? I rather come back in the future to do other parts of the Scandinavia.


http://www.globusjourneys.com/tour/b...?content=price

http://authentic-scandinavia.com/variants/76#long

http://www.globusjourneys.com/tour/scenic-norway/zq/

menachem

Uhm, did you tell your parents that Norway is incredibly safe and has what can be called fierce equality between men and women?

You'll be perfectly OK there.

Both tours are very much packed, and cover insane distances daily, which means that you'll have almost no time to yourself, and you make very, very long days, rising early, getting to your bed late. And you get to see almost nothing, because you're driving everywhere, except the usual tourist spots. I've done your tour, in reverse, a few years back. I was glad when it was done. People even rebelled against the lack of "free time", for instance in Oslo, so we sort of wrested that from the hands of the tour guide. Wasn't easy.

The authentic scandinavia tour is a bit better than globus.

You can organise your entire tour yourself, maybe make use of hostels to meet people and mix that up with cabins on camp sites.

If you need assistance: ask here. It's already great that you're intending do use Hurtigruten. Assuming you use Tromsø as a departure point for that, the only thing you need to be sure of, in planning, is to get to a good location for connecting.

Apart from trains and flights, there's also a good network of Express Bus services, that will get you almost anywhere, even across Sognefjell if need be.

menachem

By the way, a few years back, I ran into Philip and Else, in Elveseter

http://www.norskwoodworks.com/oddens-rural-life-tours/

Oh, one other tip I have is do a summer course at a Community School and then capping that with a little Hurtigruten based excursion to Lofoten.

http://www.hogtun.no/in-english/courses-and-trips/

menachem

pps: all schools that offer courses:

http://www.folkehogskole.no/index.php?page_id=44

mmshah

Yeah. I have. Irritating. I did ecuador and though i had a private guide...i was fine even when on my own.

I think if i wasnt going alone they wouldnt have an issue. They arw also worried about racism...which i do understand but its not Russia and its likely way worse in the US. My impeession is Norway is very open. ?

Hmmm.. maybe if i had someone help arrange it. Well see. .in the end i have ti respect mom and dad.

Top things

Bergen
Alseusund
Fjords
A glacier...not necc to hike but to see
Stave Church

I dont want to rent a car. What stave churches would be easy to get to...im thinking classic wooden.

Whjch ate the fjords to see? Im a phorographer.

mmshah

I like the idea of a course but i only see year long courses?

hetismij2

You can see a stave church at the open air museum in Oslo.

If you can afford to do a round trip on the Hurtigruten, you can see Bergen before your travel, Alseund and Fjords, a glacier, Lofoten (on the return trip you get to see so much more as they go through at night on the way north). There are excursion options, some worth the money, some not, only you know what you can afford and want to do.
You could leave at Trondheim on the way south and get the train from there back to Oslo if that is where you have to fly home from.

jan47ete

Don't know how old you are but my husband is almost paranoid about security, being careful, etc, etc.and I am 69. Did Scandanavia last May for almost 3 weeks, very safe.

A mention: I went at the end of May and it stayed light until about 11pm, got dusky, never dark, so it would really give you time to plan your own trip. I visited places with closing times and did my strolling, visiting open area sites after that to really extend my day.

jan47ete

Just took at look at authentic-Scandinavian and concerned that they list arrival in Oslo (capital of Norway)??????

mmshah

Yeah late 30s. I'm going to go with this and go with independent maybe if. Have all transport etc arranged before. I get it. She's a mom! And there are some places I would agree with her. Scandinavia is one place I feel perfectly safe. My sister agrees with,me fully so maybe she can add in some reassurance. I'll make sure I get travel assurance. Both my sis and I agree the biggest worry would be getting injured just like here.

I'll post back when I have a plan to o get some advice. Def want to see a glacier...though I am doing Iceland as a stopover as that's how flights from Portland go. So in that case would a glacier be worth it or are they vastly different?

Lofoten is a biggie for me...which excursions for lofoten would be the ones to consider?

mmshah

Oh and I'm going in July...as a schoolteacher and and extended year this year due to snow not too much flexibility...but it's been a tough year so definitely treating myself on this vacation this year

menachem

mmshah, most Community Schools have summer courses, that range from sailing in Lofoten to hiking to learning Norwegian. I'll hunt some more for you.

Your list:

Bergen
Ålesund
Fjords
A glacier...not necc to hike but to see
Stave Church

Have a look at Fjord Tours:

https://www.norwaynutshell.com/?_ga=...358.1491046357

One that might tick a good many of your boxes is:

https://www.norwaynutshell.com/sogne...jord-bus-tour/

or, from Bergen

https://www.norwaynutshell.com/geira...in-a-nutshell/

I also want to say something about traveling by Hurtigruten for short stretches: as a foot passenger you can book a passage at any Hurtigruten port. Even if you have an overnight, you can camp out in the observation lounge, take out food from the cafe and no one will bother you. That's how many locals travel, for instance students from Tromsø university who travel in from further up north.

mmshah

Hmm. Interesting. On the website it requires a cabin. Would emailing them be the way to go in that case. Or is it different on the norweugian site? It would save me loads of money and give more flexibility.

mmshah

Also are there any local trips in lofoten. The two i found dont seem to have availubilty unless you had at least two people. Id love to spend more time up there but with no car i know it can be difficult from what i have read..which is why i am doing an excursion via hurtigrutenso i can at least get a look see


Folks here are so helpful i appreciate it. This is my first time planning a trip alone. Last time my friend i were planning Peru which was a lot easier...not as big!

menachem

On the Norwegian site you can book individual stretches. I believe that's possible on the english language site too.

I checked: on the global site, choose "port to port" for single stretches.

If you book Bergen - Ålesund for instance, you'll see that a cabin is optional if you open "cabin options". I've checked july: 107 euro.

I googled and found some tours. One photography tour, already booked for this year.

Lofoten is stunning. Even more than the fjords, imo.

menachem

re trips shorter than 24 hours that don't require a cabin.

you need to remember that Hurtigruten is public transport in Norway, so they can't force you to book a cabin on stretches shorter than 24 hours.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTo...rn_Norway.html