Has anyone traveled with Smartours to Scandinavia?
Oct 19th, 2001, 02:06 AM
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Has anyone traveled with Smartours to Scandinavia?
We are considering using Smartours next summer for a trip to Scandinavia. Has anyone travelled with them? Were you pleased with the location and quality of hotels? What about expertise of guides giving information? Would you use them again? Thanks for the info. Judy
Oct 19th, 2001, 04:28 AM
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Hi Judy. <BR>I'm Norwegian and know Norway Sweden and Denmark pretty well. I have no capacity to comment on Smartours compared to other of that kind, but I looked into their wbsite to get an impression. <BR>One thing strikes me: <BR>The travel is rushing beyond limits. Coming from NY, most likely you have not recovered from the jet lag until the morning you sail up the Oslo fjord. And at that time you are supposed to "have done" both Helsinki and Copenhagen. What a ridiculous waste of time. I can not talk on behalf of Helsinki, but even if the Copenhagen airport is close to city center, you'll have been there but not at all experienced what should be expected in a town like CPH. Your Copenhagen agenda i really think will be quite the counterpart to "Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen". <BR>Not a dime better in Oslo. Rush, rush instead of calming down, building a rational route to follow and hence getting a worthwhile and pleasant Oslo stay. And Bergen!!! Shamely short. <BR>Puuhhh. The company certainly does it's best, like others. But there must be some out there that have realized these rush problems and also constructed a more human and exciting group travel. If not, a thousand-dollar-business-idea is there to grasp. <BR>I stop now, in order not to be sued... <BR> <BR>And with all this said, Judy: Welcome to Scandinavia!! <BR> <BR>Bjorn, Oslo <BR>
Oct 19th, 2001, 04:52 AM
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One thing more - the CPH-Oslo ferry. <BR>The ship is fair, quite modern and qute comfortable. But (there always are some buts) during summer they all are kinda crowded. And the deck is divided with restaurants on the left hand side, pedestrians on the right(sorry: starboard). And that pedestrian area really is not for relaxing. And because of sailing north, the sunset experience will not be the very best. <BR>I hope Scandinavian Seaways do not read this. One trial will be enough.... <BR>Bjorn, Oslo
Oct 19th, 2001, 07:15 AM
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I am an independent traveler, have been to over 32 countries. Last year, I broke down and went on my first tour--the SmarTour to Vietnam/Cambodia. <BR> <BR>I had researched thoroughly how much it would cost me to take public transportation, stay in no-star hotels, eat in cheap places . . . it was within $100 of the price SmarTours offered with 5-star hotels, 6 internal flights, all meals (in great restaurants). And, our guides were wonderful. <BR> <BR>I was so pleased with the tour, the guides, and the other travelers that I booked another tour with them to India/Nepal . . . and it was just as great. <BR> <BR>I can't say enough good things about these trips. Most of the people on both trips were (many times) repeaters with ST. <BR> <BR>I still prefer to go independently but to some locales, it is just easier (and cheaper) to tour. <BR> <BR>Good luck and I hope you let us know what you decide. <BR> <BR>Sandy
Oct 19th, 2001, 07:29 AM
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Hi again <BR>Maybe we now will get an interesting discussion on how to get the best out of a travel? <BR>Individual vs package <BR>Semipackaged? Semiindividual? <BR>Stick to one operator vs many? <BR>etc <BR>etc <BR>In Scandinavia many operators offer high-quality group vacations. I believe these are far better knowledged than the all-in-one packages. <BR>Meaning: Try and get contact with these local operators. They for sure will arrange with airport/harbor pick-up and delivery, and the contents of the "local" arrangement for sure will be the very best. Then you are guaranteed supreme Swedish, Danish and whatever national exprtise when in that peculiar country.. <BR>Sorry, gotta run.... <BR>Bjorn, Oslo <BR>
Oct 19th, 2001, 07:35 AM
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Judy: You don't mention how much time you have for Scandinavia. We were there for 25vdays this last Summer (July). We got a lot of help from Bjorn, Kava and others. Scandinavia is so easy to travel. We woudn't consider a tour, but that is just us. It is also easy to drive which allows you to see so much more. <BR> <BR>I agree with Bjorn. Visits to Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen, etc., should be paced in a way that allows you to soak up the atmosphere of these great cities. Otherwise, you visit, but you don't experience. If you have any interest in doing your own tour and you give us just a little bit more info, we would be happy to try to help you. By the way, we are Senior Citizens.
Oct 19th, 2001, 09:59 AM
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Hi Bjorn. Our stay at Roisheim was totaly a result of your calling it to our attention. It was one of the highlights of our Scandinavian trip. Also, you helped guide us through the fjords (you and an associate of yours as I recall) so that we were able to see much of the area and stay in the neatest places. Thanks again. <BR> <BR>
Oct 19th, 2001, 12:15 PM
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I do not remember any associate, Joe. But I really do remember our conversation. We have to take it up again. <BR>However, on this thread the goal is to give Judy a good reason for making more Scandinavian research. <BR>Let's wish her welcome once more...., <BR>but in a relaxed way. <BR>Bjorn, Oslo
Oct 19th, 2001, 01:02 PM
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We have taken tours to China, Egypt and Alaska but for the majority of our trips have traveled independently. I usually do all the research and planning, which I enjoy. BUT my bad back and worse knees are getting really tired of schlepping around walking to trains, buses, etc. etc. So I've decided that every other year I'm going to be 'taken care of'. I am quite a value traveler and was impressed through my research of the quality of SmarTours. And Bjorn, I definitely have in mind a second trip in Norway going to the Lofoten Islands which will be done independently and leisurely. I forgot to add that we are going with friends who want to visit ST. Petersburg to visit a friend. I have gotten very interested in doing that as a post trip which SmarTours provides. And I would say that 17 days or so will be our maximum time (unless my husband loses his job which is a distinct possibility at this point) in which case we could take longer. I kind of liked this company because there are large blocks of time during the day for exploring on your own, and not many meals are provided. I have material from many many companies but wouldn't mind looking at any others you can mention, Bjorn! Thank all, Judy
Oct 19th, 2001, 04:00 PM
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A couple of years ago, my husband and I took SCANTOURS through Scandanavia. Be sure not to use them. They are just an agent for various tour companies over there. We ended up on a tour that changed groups of people every 5 days or so. English speaking people were in the minority in each group and we ended up having to be quiet about 3 hours a day while listening to Russian and Japanese. Make sure you are dealing with the actual tour company over there and not an agent here. Also make sure your tour is all English or you'll miss a lot and hate the enforced quiet time on the bus. <BR> <BR>Jeannette
Jun 7th, 2005, 07:17 PM
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I'm actually going on the Smartours trip to Scandinavia (and St. Petersburg) this month. Friends of my parents went on this tour last year and loved it. They said the itinerary was good, hotels well located, good amount of free time, and excellent local guides. I'm really looking foward to it.
Guess I'll have my own comments about it soon!
Jamie
Guess I'll have my own comments about it soon!
Jamie
Jun 14th, 2005, 06:03 AM
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We traveled with Smartours to Scandinavia in June 2001. I finally found a tour company with lots of sightseeing, hotels in town, few optionals, and most everything included. The tour is a little different now as they include Tallinn but I would highly recommend it as all but the Helsinki hotel are the same. We took the optionals to the glacier in Norway and the one in Denmark -both good. Be sure to see the Wasa Museum in Stockholm. I think Smartours give the best value for the money. We also went with them to Italy and met people who have done the China tour with them. We had traveled with another well-known company but the hotels were mainly out in the sticks and there were so many optionals that if you took them all it was over $500 each.
Let me know if you want more detail. June
Let me know if you want more detail. June
Jun 17th, 2005, 05:31 AM
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Hello June,
Thanks for responding. A couple of questions.
Did you have enough time in Copenhagen? None of the organized trips spend much time there and there seems to be so much to do. The tour does not allow participants to arrive a day or two earlier.
Were you just one bus and was it packed? I went with Smartours to Thailand and we were two loaded buses. Although we toured separately, loading and unloading was hectic, noisy and time consuming. However, my trip with them to the Adriatic countries was just fine. I'll ask ST about it, but wonder what your experience was.
What was your weather like in June? We are planning to go the last two weeks in June 2006. I want to get this somewhat settled because if we don't take the tour we'll go independently and that takes months of work.
Thanks so much for your help.
Thanks for responding. A couple of questions.
Did you have enough time in Copenhagen? None of the organized trips spend much time there and there seems to be so much to do. The tour does not allow participants to arrive a day or two earlier.
Were you just one bus and was it packed? I went with Smartours to Thailand and we were two loaded buses. Although we toured separately, loading and unloading was hectic, noisy and time consuming. However, my trip with them to the Adriatic countries was just fine. I'll ask ST about it, but wonder what your experience was.
What was your weather like in June? We are planning to go the last two weeks in June 2006. I want to get this somewhat settled because if we don't take the tour we'll go independently and that takes months of work.
Thanks so much for your help.
