My Itinerary ... Thanks to YOU
Oct 10th, 2018, 10:24 PM
#1
Original Poster
My Itinerary ... Thanks to YOU
As some of you have already read, I learned (on very short notice) that I’d be working two days in Oslo. Well ... I wasn’t about to fly halfway around the world (from Hawaii) for only two days. Besides, I would need at least 4 or 5 days to adjust to the 12-hour time change and jet lag so that I could deliver 100%.
I had already spent time in Oslo, Bergen, several of the fjords and Molde, and had done NIN during previous trips. I’ve traveled quite a bit in Europe and wanted to go someplace I hadn’t visited. I considered adding Estonia, Tallin, Istanbul, Copenhagen, or maybe a Norwegian coastal cruise. Thanks to great advice from Gardyloo, Hetismij2, and Lofn, here’s my final itinerary.
10/21 we’ll fly Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu. Then (after a 2:20 layover) Japan Air to Narita (Tokyo).
We’ll arrive in Narita at our bed time. We’ll spend three nights at the Hedistar Hotel in Narita and will have two full days to sightsee. We chose this hotel because it is walking distance to the shrine, the park, and other attractions, and we figured we will want to be able to go back to the hotel and rest.
For our second day, we hired a private guide through Narita Rainbow Tours. With so little time, it seemed like the most stress-free way to tour Tokyo without having to worry about transportation from Narita to Tokyo. The guided tours left downtown Tokyo at 7 am, which would have required a 5 AM wake-up. They also included shopping which doesn’t interest us. The guide (whose English is impeccable) will meet us at our hotel and take us (by public transportation) to the Tokyo sights we’re most interested in.
From Tokyo/Narita we’ll fly Finnair to Bergen, Norway with a 1:40 minute layover in Helsinki. This segment was booked with AA FF miles: 35k for each of us.
We’ll overnight in Bergen at the First Marin Hotel. Late the following afternoon, we’ll be picked up at the hotel and transferred to Hurtigruten’s Kong Harald for the 7-day, northbound coastal voyage to Kirkenes. A chance of seeing the Northern Lights contributed to our decision to do the cruise. But we will be sailing the day after a full moon and that will reduce our chances. Still, the idea of sitting on deck and watching scenery go by seems like a perfect way to adjust to the time change and jet lag before I go to work.
A few hours after the ship docks, we’ll fly from Kirkenes to Oslo. I’ll have a day-and-a-half off to explore before I have to be brilliant.
After Oslo, I need to go to Nashville for work and family. I found an amazing deal on Norwegian Air, so we’ll fly nonstop from Oslo to Ft. Lauderdale. $162 pp!!! (Of course, that doesn’t include checked bags or meals.) We’ll overnight in FLL then take a nonstop flight on SW (using FF miles) to Nashville, where we’ll stay through Thanksgiving.
When we return to Kauai, we will have flown around the world (although I guess we’ll go over the pole, as opposed to literally going all around the world).
Three weeks after I get home to Kauai, I’ll fly back to Nashville. ARGGHH!!!
FYI, I do a lot of traveling, but I have NEVER had to work so hard or had to be so “creative” to get flights without nightmarish layovers and ridiculous prices. I used FF miles when one-way tickets were outrageously expensive. I’m guessing I spent more than 30 hours putting this together! It all fell in place when Gardyloo suggested I go through Tokyo instead of dealing with horrid connections through L.A.
Thank you all SO much! Aloha.
I had already spent time in Oslo, Bergen, several of the fjords and Molde, and had done NIN during previous trips. I’ve traveled quite a bit in Europe and wanted to go someplace I hadn’t visited. I considered adding Estonia, Tallin, Istanbul, Copenhagen, or maybe a Norwegian coastal cruise. Thanks to great advice from Gardyloo, Hetismij2, and Lofn, here’s my final itinerary.
10/21 we’ll fly Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu. Then (after a 2:20 layover) Japan Air to Narita (Tokyo).
We’ll arrive in Narita at our bed time. We’ll spend three nights at the Hedistar Hotel in Narita and will have two full days to sightsee. We chose this hotel because it is walking distance to the shrine, the park, and other attractions, and we figured we will want to be able to go back to the hotel and rest.
For our second day, we hired a private guide through Narita Rainbow Tours. With so little time, it seemed like the most stress-free way to tour Tokyo without having to worry about transportation from Narita to Tokyo. The guided tours left downtown Tokyo at 7 am, which would have required a 5 AM wake-up. They also included shopping which doesn’t interest us. The guide (whose English is impeccable) will meet us at our hotel and take us (by public transportation) to the Tokyo sights we’re most interested in.
From Tokyo/Narita we’ll fly Finnair to Bergen, Norway with a 1:40 minute layover in Helsinki. This segment was booked with AA FF miles: 35k for each of us.
We’ll overnight in Bergen at the First Marin Hotel. Late the following afternoon, we’ll be picked up at the hotel and transferred to Hurtigruten’s Kong Harald for the 7-day, northbound coastal voyage to Kirkenes. A chance of seeing the Northern Lights contributed to our decision to do the cruise. But we will be sailing the day after a full moon and that will reduce our chances. Still, the idea of sitting on deck and watching scenery go by seems like a perfect way to adjust to the time change and jet lag before I go to work.
A few hours after the ship docks, we’ll fly from Kirkenes to Oslo. I’ll have a day-and-a-half off to explore before I have to be brilliant.
After Oslo, I need to go to Nashville for work and family. I found an amazing deal on Norwegian Air, so we’ll fly nonstop from Oslo to Ft. Lauderdale. $162 pp!!! (Of course, that doesn’t include checked bags or meals.) We’ll overnight in FLL then take a nonstop flight on SW (using FF miles) to Nashville, where we’ll stay through Thanksgiving.
When we return to Kauai, we will have flown around the world (although I guess we’ll go over the pole, as opposed to literally going all around the world).
Three weeks after I get home to Kauai, I’ll fly back to Nashville. ARGGHH!!!
FYI, I do a lot of traveling, but I have NEVER had to work so hard or had to be so “creative” to get flights without nightmarish layovers and ridiculous prices. I used FF miles when one-way tickets were outrageously expensive. I’m guessing I spent more than 30 hours putting this together! It all fell in place when Gardyloo suggested I go through Tokyo instead of dealing with horrid connections through L.A.
Thank you all SO much! Aloha.
Oct 11th, 2018, 12:01 AM
#2
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That sounds an epic trip Songdoc! I hope you enjoy it, and the "green lady" dances for you. The first trip I made it was just past a full moon and we had a stunning show.
I don't envy you the jetlag or hours on planes but I do eny you your trip!
Go be brilliant and knock 'em dead in Oslo
.
I don't envy you the jetlag or hours on planes but I do eny you your trip!
Go be brilliant and knock 'em dead in Oslo
.
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