Hi. Yes, I have returned from the Smartours Scandinavia and St. Petersburg trip. We were there from June 9-25 and it was absolutely wonderful. It was our first time with Smartours and we were so impressed with them. Our tour director was outstanding and the local guides were excellent. The hotels (except for St. Petersburg) were very well located. The breakfasts (again except for St. Petersburg) were excellent and the few included meals were surprisingly good.

I did feel that we had enough time in Copenhagen. We had an included city tour the day we arrived, then a free day (there was an optional but we didn't go), and another day free until about 3:00. It was actually in Stockholm that I was wishing for just one more day. Other than that though, I think the itinerary was perfect.

There were 42 people on the Scandinavia part of the trip (one bus) and 17 of us went on to St. Petersburg. It was nice to have the smaller group there, although I have to say that the large group was never a problem.

Our weather was varied. It was cooler (high 50s, low to mid 60s) and drizzly on and off in Denmark and Norway, although it never rained enough to interfere with being outdoors. Once we got to Stockholm, the weather got gorgeous (sunny and mid 70s) and stayed that way for the rest of the trip.

I highly recommend this tour (with the St. Petersburg extension). I think it is an incredible value for what you get. And I was very happy to have them plan all the logistics of getting around to so many places. We travelled by boat, train, bus, and plane, and all our connections went very smoothly. We definitely plan to travel with Smartours again.

Please let me know if you have any more questions about the trip.

You might check out friendlyplanet.com. They offer the same tours as smartours.

Friendly Planet sells Smartours' tours. We had several people on our trip who had booked through Friendly Planet.

Jame,

Thank you for the information.

It sounds like the weather was cooler than expected. We are hoping to go the very end of August 2006, so I had better pack some warmer clothing than I had thought. I start planning early in case I don't like any of the tours and we go independently which requires a lot more time, however, this tour sounds just right. The 2006 information won't be available until Aug/Sept.

Good news about having enough time in Copenhagen. Did you remember any comments about the optional castle tour?

By any chance, did you do a trip report or list the sights you saw each day?

You're welcome. Our tour director told us that it was unseasonably cool in Denmark and Norway. It is usually in the mid-60s in June.

I think the people who did the optional castle tour in Denmark enjoyed it. We had decided we would rather have the extra time in Copenhagen.

I didn't post a trip report, but I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have about things we saw in any of the places we visited.