I’m delighted — and somewhat surprised — to announce that I’ll be taking my next tour group to Europe in June 2024.
Somewhat surprised? Let me explain.
For a while now, I’ve been talking with my mom about the possibility of traveling together in Sweden, the land of her immigrant ancestors. As we brainstormed, that turned into a full Scandinavian tour, roughly following an Oslo-to-Stockholm-to- Copenhagen path. By the time I saw Mom and Dad this past June to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, we had picked dates for June 2024.
But as I started to fill in the details over the summer and imagined all that we could see in just nine days, I got excited enough that I asked Mom if she’d willing to let me open this private tour to the public.
So with her blessing, I’m happy to present Scandinavia: Past and Present, scheduled for June 2024 and now taking applications.
You can find the full details — including the tour application — in the brochure. But here let me talk through our itinerary. If you get to the end and want to join us, I’ll explain what you need to do.
Part One: Oslo
Arrive by the evening of Tuesday, June 11, 2024
How — and when — you get to Norway is up to you, but this is the first of three nights’ accommodations in Oslo that are included in the cost of the tour. We’ll start our travels together tomorrow morning, meeting in the hotel lobby around 9am.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
To help us get our bearings, a local guide will take us on a walking tour of the city’s center, starting near the train station and cathedral. Then you’re free to spend the afternoon visiting sites like the National Museum, Akershus Fortress and its WWII museum, the Nobel Peace Center, and Vigeland Park’s sculpture garden. Tonight we’ll compare first impressions of Norway’s largest city at our first group supper together.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Wrap up the Norwegian stage of our tour by choosing your own adventure. You can join me on a morning cruise around the Oslofjord, then spend the afternoon at the city’s open-air folk museum, near museums dedicated to Norwegian explorers like Roald Amundsen and Thor Heyerdahl. Or if you’d like to strike out on your own, you can arrange for day trips to other parts of the country.
Part Two: Stockholm
Friday, June 14, 2024
A transition day as we journey from the capital of Norway to the capital of Sweden via a comfortable motorcoach. We’ll use my family history to introduce the theme of emigration from Sweden to the United States and take breaks in towns near the country’s largest lake, Vänern.
Saturday, June 15, 2024
We’ll start by touring Stockholm’s distinctive city hall (home of the Nobel Prize banquet) and watching the daily military parade at the Royal Palace. Then you can use Stockholm’s “hop on-hop off” boats to explore the islands that make up the “Venice of the North.” I’ll plan to spend my afternoon on Djurgården, home to the historic Skansen open-air folk museum and the Vasa Museum, featuring a preserved 17th century ship.
Sunday, June 16, 2024
As in Oslo, take your last full day in Stockholm to choose your own adventure. I’ll offer an optional morning walking tour of Swedish religious history (yes, including sites related to Sweden’s mid-19th century Pietist revival), culminating in worship at the English-speaking Immanuel Church, then head west of town for an afternoon at Drottningholm Palace, home of the Swedish royal family. Others may want to take a day trip to the university town of Uppsala, or go on a three-hour cruise of the Stockholm Archipelago.
Part Three: Småland and Copenhagen
Monday, June 17, 2024
To get a taste of Scandinavia beyond the capital cities, we’ll take a motorcoach tour of the southern province of Småland, home to the emigrants of Vilhelm Moberg’s novels and 200,000 other Swedes who relocated to North America. As we head south, we’ll see Kalmar Castle, then visit the glassworks of Kosta Boda before spending the night in Växjö.
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Before leaving Växjö, we’ll visit that town’s distinctive cathedral — featuring modern glass sculptures — and Småland Museum, with its House of Emigrants. Just before we leave Sweden and enter Denmark, we’ll see the 900-year old cathedral of Lund.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
We’ll conclude our group tour with a full day in Copenhagen that mirrors our first day in Oslo: a morning walking tour with a local guide to get oriented to the center of the city; an afternoon available for you to pick from sites like Tivoli Gardens, the National Museum, the Christiansborg and Amalienborg palaces, and Copenhagen’s ultra-modern opera house; and finally, a farewell dinner together.
Even more than usual, I’ve designed this tour to allow for individual flexibility. While the price ($2,300) includes multiple group components, most days leave plenty of time for everyone to go off on their own. As always, I’ve left airfare up to you, in part so that you have the option to arrive early (to see more of Norway before we start our Oslo leg) or stay late (to see other parts of Denmark, or to head elsewhere in Europe). And because I always aim for travel to be educational, not just tourism, I’ll offer pre-trip classes, narration during our motorcoach trips, and suggestions for further study. Plus you’re always welcome to join me as I visit museums and other historic sites on free afternoons.
If you’re intrigued and available, read the rest of the brochure, then fill out the application at the end of that booklet and mail it to me with your deposit check. (Don’t delay too long: through some advance publicity, our roster is already over half full!)
Whether you share my desire to explore an ancestral homeland, want to learn a different chapter in European history, or just want to visit three of the world’s most appealing cities, I hope to hear from many of you! Among other things, tours like this give me a unique opportunity to get to know readers in person.
The Pietist Schoolman 