ABD Norway trip

[Momtomouselover]

Our family is considering a trip to Norway (and maybe Copenhagen, and Stockholm but we will add that separately). Anyways, I'm having a difficult time planning a good route through Norway on my own so am considering an ABD tour. I have never taken an ABD tour nor do we typically use tours. My husband worries about how many people are on them, do they feel rushed/crowded, are the hotels good, the guides? We have taken one tour in our past and it was a National Geographic small boat tour and loved it but other than that we tend to plan on our own. Norway though seems large and the areas that we would like to see are hard to get to and keeping our 11 year old entertained as well sounds good. OK....with all that said can anyone tell me about how large the ABD groups are? Any specific reviews about the Norway one such as quality of where you visit, guides, over/underscheduled? Can I get vegetarian options for two of our party?

I know I asked a lot but any help/advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

[OKW Lover]

ABD trips are typically in the 20-40 person range. Small enough to get personal attention from the guides. We have done 6 ABD trips so far but not the one you are considering. On the ones we've done the hotels are all very nice. The guides have been really good Disney-types. Really good with people (of all ages) and the tours are planed out to be comprehensive but not over-scheduled.

 

[carpenta]

ABD is very good about dietary needs. Always have an option for vegetarians. Hotels are 3 - 4 star and centrally located. I've done four trips and they usually average 32 or so. Never felt rushed and there is some "down time" to do on your own. If you wish to opt out of something scheduled they will accommodate if it doesn't't mess up the daily schedule. We have done Nat. Geo also and they are very similar atmosphere IMO.

 

[Calfan]

I believe the stated maximum for ABD trips is 44 guests, with 2 guides. That being said, I did the Baltics cruise add-on ABD in 2015, and we had 49 people in our group. That was way too large, IMO, and affected how much we were able to see. There are still a couple of ABD trips on my future to-do list, but we have started to veer away from ABD toward companies that offer a smaller group experience, like NatGeo, Thomson Family Adventures and Austin Adventures. However, of those three, I think NatGeo might be the only company to offer a Norway trip. We've enjoyed our 3 ABDs, aside from the size of the last trip (the first two had 34 guests (Scotland) and 42 guests (Central Europe), respectively).

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Ditto Calfan! (And don't get me started on that 49...!)

 

[Cheremarie]

Shoot that is disappointing to hear. I always imagined that it would be much smaller groups.

 

[Calfan]

Shoot that is disappointing to hear. I always imagined that it would be much smaller groups.

If a smaller group is something you are looking for, you might want to check out the Other Options thread in this forum. Here's a link:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/other-options.3474662/

Thomson Family Adventures limits their family trips to around 20 (we had 10 on our China trip). Austin Adventures limits theirs to 18 (with 3 guides!). I haven't done a NatGeo family trip yet, but I believe their max is 25. I've done 2 NatGeo hiking trips, and those max out at 16 (we had 14 on my first trip and 10 on my second).