This tour offers you the very far North of Scandinavia including the Sami village of Karasjok, the North Cape as well as the fantastical and beautiful Lofoten Islands.If you travel during the summer months you may also experience the Midnight Sun. In addition to all this you will travel through the Finnish Lakelands and explore the Finnish and Swedish Capital cities, Helsinki and Stockholm.

Individual arrival at your hotel in Helsinki. At 16.00hrs you will meet your tour escort for a short panoramic tour of the Finnish Capital including The Senate Square and the Market Place. In the evening the tour escort will give a brief introduction to the tour. Overnight.

After breakfast you will head towards The Finnish Lakelands. We have a stop at the Iittala Glassworks, where you can see production of the famous glassware as well as have then a chance to shop. You will stop in Tampere for a walk around and continue to Jyväskylä, a town famous for its modern architecture by Alvar Aalto. Dinner and overnight at Hotel Laajavuori, situated in beautiful lakeside surroundings.

After breakfast you continue the tour through majestic forests, along beautiful lakes and rolling hills. Finland is the seventh largest country in Europe and 2/3 of the country is forest. You will pass through many small towns and when you reach Kemi by the seaside you will follow the river of Kemijokki to Rovaniemi, the administrative centre of Finnish Lapland. Rovaniemi is also a centre for outdoor activities, in particularly in winter time, offering husky safaris, snow scooter safaris and other adventures. Dinner and overnight.

Buffet breakfast. Your journey to the North Cape starts with a visit to Santa Claus Village, which is situated by the Arctic Polar Circle. After this the tour heads into the vast Finnish forests. The overnight stop is in Saariselkä, near Nature reserves and in a beautiful natural setting. Dinner and overnight.

Day 5 Thursday
North Cape

Buffet breakfast. You continue near the Lake Inari and enter into Norway. You stop in Karasjok, the cultural centre of the Norwegian Lapps, where you visit the Lappish Cultural centre, Sapmi. After this a traditional lunch is served in a Lappish "lavvu" and then you continue to North Cape, the most Northerly point on the European mainland. After checking in to the hotel you will have dinner at the North Cape Centre, where you can admire the view of the Norwegian Sea, the icy water separating you from the North Pole. After midnight and a ceremony where you receive a certificate confirming your visit to the North Cape, you head back to the hotel. Overnight.

Buffet breakfast. You start a bit later than usual after the late night and continue to the charming fishing town of Hammerfest. Continue to Alta, where you visit the Rock Carvings, which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Dinner and overnight.

Buffet breakfast. Today is a long but also enjoyable day since you travel along the Norwegian Coast to Tromsö. Late afternoon arrival to the University Town of Tromsö, which has been a base for many Polar expeditions through the years. Dinner and overnight.

Buffet breakfast. At around midday you leave Tromsö and travel through the beautiful Senja area. Senja is Norway´s second largest island with a unique pine forest and interesting scenery. If there is time, you will Visit the old restored fishing village of Hamn i Senja before catching the ferry from Gryllefjord to Andenes on the Vesterålen islands. Dinner and overnight.

Buffet breakfast. Another beautiful day travelling across the island of Andöya to Sortland and to Stokmarknes, the birth place of the famous Coastal Steamer Company, Hurtigruten. Here you will visit the Hurtigruten Museum, full of interesting details about the coastal communities in North Norway and the link between them. Catch another ferry to the Islands of Lofoten and to Kabelvåg, the oldest fishing village in Lofoten, where you stay for dinner and overnight.

Buffet breakfast. A day for an excursion around part of the breathtaking Lofoten Islands, including Svolvaer, the biggest town in Lofoten. You will visit Henningsvaer, a favourite place for artists of all kind, where you can enjoy the handicrafts. You will visit the Viking Museum Lofotr and later head North from the Lofoten Islands to Vesterålen and to Harstad. Here you stay for dinner and overnight.

Day 11 Wednesday
Kiruna

Buffet breakfast. Continue through Narvik and then turn East into Sweden, crossing the mountainous area of Sweden near the highest mountain of Kebnekajse. Here you can find resorts offering skiing possibilities until mid-June. You skirt the big lake of Torneträsk and arrive at Jukkasjärvi in the late afternoon. In this small Sami settlement you will be able to visit the Ice Gallery with Ice sculptures- even in the summer! You continue on to Kiruna, an important mining town with a "frontier" feeling to it, surrounded by vast areas of wilderness. Dinner and overnight in Kiruna.

Buffet breakfast. Today you head South towards the Gulf of Bothnia, the strip of land nearest to the sea being the only really fertile area of Northern Sweden. The first stop is Luleå, a university town and an important harbour. You pay a visit to Gammelstad Church Town, a remarkable example of the traditional church town of northern Scandinavia. It is unique in its kind and is featured on the UNESCO list of World Heritage. You then continue along the Baltic Coast via Piteå and Skellefteå to Umeå, "the town of the birches". Umeå has a young population and is a thriving city. Dinner and overnight in Umeå.

Buffet breakfast. Today you travel through the High Coast area. High Coast is the only hilly area around the Baltic Sea and it has now been included on UNESCO´s World Heritage List for its unique geological and biological features resulting from the geological process of land lift. The area along the coast is also scattered with saw mills, a heritage from the days when the timber was sent down the rivers from the big forests. The area near Sundsvall has many factories and there is also a big harbour. You travel along the coast through towns and villages, past factories and, leaving the mountains and forests behind, you enter the fertile area of Mid-Sweden. Arrival and overnight in Stockholm.

Buffet breakfast. In the morning a city tour shows you some of the beauty of this city built on 14 islands with bridges and viewpoints giving an enchating feeling of space and light. You will walk around the charming Old Town with its narrow cobbled streets, passing The Royal Palace as well as the Great Church, where the present King and Queen were married in 1976. The afternoon is free for other excursions or visits to the City Hall, the Wasa Museum or a tour to Uppsala and Sigtuna. Overnight.

Buffet breakfast. Today it is time to say good bye to Scandinavia after this extensive tour of the most Northerly part of Europe!

July 1, 08, 15, 22, 29

August 5, 12, 

Rates include:

• Accommodation in room with shower/wc at indicated hotels or similar
• Buffet breakfast daily
• 12 meals according to itinerary
• Private coach  according to itinerary
• Excursions, transfers and entries as per programme.
• English speaking tour escort from Dorothy Tours throughout the whole tour
• Tour is conducted in English and Spanish
• English speaking local guide for city tour in Stockholm
• Luggage handling of one piece of luggage per person at hotels.
• Dorothy Tours limits passenger luggage transportation to 1 piece of luggage normal size (i.e max cms 60x80x35 or max inches 23,5x31,5x13,8) per person. Should this be exceeded Dorothy Tours will have to charge an additional EUR 50 per piece of luggage per tour. (this excludes hand luggage).

Important notice: