disneyphx
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2010
We had a wonderful ABD Norway trip in early July.
tufbuf has a great trip report with wonderful photos (that I read multiple times!) and I am not the family photographer, so this is simply some words only impressions. The only change I see from 2015 is the hotel in Oslo.
About us - It was me, DH and DD (11). We love to travel - this was my 5th ABD - but 6th for DH and DD who did one when I could not get away for work. We also cruise, do family trips with other companies and travel independently.
The group - Our group was 30 people, which the guides said was slightly smaller than usual. It was half adults and half 'kids' - ranging in age from 7-20, 4 of whom had just graduated from high school. Only one family was new to ABD. DD was excited as it was her first ABD where she was not the youngest!
The guides - Alyssa and Torgeir. What can I say - they were awesome. Oh my gosh, they reminded us of why we love ABD so much! They were funny, organized, engaging, thoughtful - truly the complete package! We returned to Norway on a cruise the week after our tour, and got to catch up with the guides again which was a lot of fun.
The activities - we had so much fun on this trip - I truly can't choose what my favorite thing was.....I know there is much discussion of the 'value' of ABD. On this trip, lots of places we went there were also folks on cruise ship tours. Without fail, what we were doing was 'more' than the cruise people, and in most (if not all) cases, was things you could not just show up yourself and do.
For example, at Lake Loen, we got to go 'fishing' or rowing etc and had a delicious lunch. The cruise tours had a photo stop and a quick 'coffee and waffles.'
The hotels - we stayed in the best hotels in each place, but only one hotel - Hotel Continental in Oslo - was truly outstanding.
The food - traditional Norwegian food is pretty basic - fish and potatoes - because that is what they could grow. The food was tasty and plentiful, and definitely local - not gourmet. Fish was always an option - but so were alternatives. Two nights were 'barbecues' at hotels which I did not much care for, but most others did. Two nights were 'on your own' - which was little odd as they were both in tiny towns with not a lot of choice.
The tour - this trip had a lot of bus time. This is one place where the guides shone - they were really thoughtful about sharing information about times and planning out activities - lots of fun games!
The weather - it was cool and cloudy most of the time. There were a couple of rainy days - I wish I had taken a better rainjacket. A lot of people bought jackets - they looked great quality and value - it just wasn't worth it for us here in the hot, dry desert.
The clothing - everything I read suggested layers, and I used every top layer I had......we all took light hiking shoes which we wore almost every day.
Overall, we loved this trip. I was concerned about the travel time but the guides made that fun.
Happy to answer any questions!
Michele
tufbuf has a great trip report with wonderful photos (that I read multiple times!) and I am not the family photographer, so this is simply some words only impressions. The only change I see from 2015 is the hotel in Oslo.
About us - It was me, DH and DD (11). We love to travel - this was my 5th ABD - but 6th for DH and DD who did one when I could not get away for work. We also cruise, do family trips with other companies and travel independently.
The group - Our group was 30 people, which the guides said was slightly smaller than usual. It was half adults and half 'kids' - ranging in age from 7-20, 4 of whom had just graduated from high school. Only one family was new to ABD. DD was excited as it was her first ABD where she was not the youngest!
The guides - Alyssa and Torgeir. What can I say - they were awesome. Oh my gosh, they reminded us of why we love ABD so much! They were funny, organized, engaging, thoughtful - truly the complete package! We returned to Norway on a cruise the week after our tour, and got to catch up with the guides again which was a lot of fun.
The activities - we had so much fun on this trip - I truly can't choose what my favorite thing was.....I know there is much discussion of the 'value' of ABD. On this trip, lots of places we went there were also folks on cruise ship tours. Without fail, what we were doing was 'more' than the cruise people, and in most (if not all) cases, was things you could not just show up yourself and do.
For example, at Lake Loen, we got to go 'fishing' or rowing etc and had a delicious lunch. The cruise tours had a photo stop and a quick 'coffee and waffles.'
The hotels - we stayed in the best hotels in each place, but only one hotel - Hotel Continental in Oslo - was truly outstanding.
The food - traditional Norwegian food is pretty basic - fish and potatoes - because that is what they could grow. The food was tasty and plentiful, and definitely local - not gourmet. Fish was always an option - but so were alternatives. Two nights were 'barbecues' at hotels which I did not much care for, but most others did. Two nights were 'on your own' - which was little odd as they were both in tiny towns with not a lot of choice.
The tour - this trip had a lot of bus time. This is one place where the guides shone - they were really thoughtful about sharing information about times and planning out activities - lots of fun games!
The weather - it was cool and cloudy most of the time. There were a couple of rainy days - I wish I had taken a better rainjacket. A lot of people bought jackets - they looked great quality and value - it just wasn't worth it for us here in the hot, dry desert.
The clothing - everything I read suggested layers, and I used every top layer I had......we all took light hiking shoes which we wore almost every day.
Overall, we loved this trip. I was concerned about the travel time but the guides made that fun.
Happy to answer any questions!
Michele
Thanks for sharing!
