Upon landing at Copenhagen Airport, make your way to the baggage claim area and collect your luggage. Proceed to the arrival hall, where you will be greeted by your tour guide and/or driver. You will then transfer to your hotel for dinner, followed by a visit to the glittering lights and enchanting atmosphere of the world-famous Tivoli Gardens. Enjoy a restful overnight at your hotel in Copenhagen.

After breakfast we will enjoy a guided tour of Copenhagen; See the statue of Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid gazing wistfully across the harbor, followed by a visit inside the Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Government, to marvel at the opulent interior. Celebrate Mass at Saint Ansgar’s Cathedral. Saint Ansgar is known for his missionary activities in Scandinavia, bringing the message of Christ to the people of these lands. The day will come to a close with dinner and an overnight at your hotel in Copenhagen.

This morning following breakfast we travel to Roskilde, where we will visit the Cathedral. It is the earliest major ecclesiastical building made of brick in northern Europe and an outstanding example of a Cathedral complex. It is especially noteworthy for successive architectural styles used in the ancillary chapels and porches added over many centuries, during which it has served as the mausoleum of the Danish royal family. While in Roskilde we also visit the fascinating Viking Ship Museum and enjoy a cruise on Roskilde Fjord including tea and coffee, Danish pastries, and cheese. We will have a light lunch at leisure in Roskilde before continuing our journey to Odense. While in Odense we will visit the Hans Christian Andersen Childhood Home, followed by a visit to Funen Village, an open-air museum where you will experience the village as it was at the time of Hans Christian Andersen. With living history, activities, and theatre performances you can enjoy the atmosphere of an afternoon in 18th century countryside of Denmark. We will continue across the island of Funen to Jutland, the main peninsula of Denmark. The day will come to a close with dinner and an overnight in your hotel in the region of Vejle.

(Overnight ferry departs Hirtshals, Denmark arrives Bergen, Norway)

After breakfast we head into the heart of Jutland to visit the Fyrkat Viking Centre, with the historic Fyrkat Ring Fort and Viking Farmstead, which provides a variety of activities, such as Viking clothing, wool work, bread making, forging and archery. The Ring Fort was erected in 980 during the reign of Harold Bluetooth, a Danish Viking King. Fyrkat consisted of 16 bow-sided long houses. They are today indicated by slabs of white stone. One house has been reconstructed outside the fort, built out of oak. After free time for lunch, we will continue our journey to northern Jutland to visit Børglum Abbey, first established on the site of a Viking palace in around 1060 as an episcopal residence. In the 12th century, at the request of Archbishop Eskil, the Premonstratensian Order settled here and became the headquarters for its monasteries in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. We arrive this evening at the port of Hirtshals for our overnight ferry crossing to Bergen, in Norway, arriving the following day. The day will end with dinner and an overnight cabin accommodation on board the ferry.

After disembarking the ferry we meet our friendly Norwegian guide and enjoy lunch at leisure in a local restaurant before starting our guided tour of Bergen. We will explore Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an important part of the city, where strolling through its narrow alleyways and overhanging galleries will be like stepping back in time to a bygone era. The tour includes a ride on the Fløibanen funicular for wonderful panoramic views. This evening we celebrate Mass at the Church of Saint Paulin Bergen, and the day will come to a close with dinner and overnight in your hotel in Bergen.

After breakfast, we will enjoy a scenic journey through the fjordlands of Norway and, while on our way to Hardangerfjord, we will make a stop at Fantoft Stave Church. This reconstructed stave church, originally built in Fortun in Sogn around the year 1150, was threatened by demolition until it was bought by Consul Fredrik Georg Gade, who had it moved piece by piece to Fantoft in 1883. Outside the church stands a stone cross from Tjora in Sola. We will then continue to the shore of Hardangerfjord. There you will have free time for lunch while admiring the beauty of the surrounding scenery: steep mountain slopes plunging into the clear water that shimmers with reflections of little houses, forests, and fruit orchards. After lunch we will drive along the winding shoreline road until we reach Eidfjordthen. We will continue to Måbødalen for a wonderful view of Norway’s most famous waterfall, Vøringsfossen, with a vertical drop of 145 meters and a total fall of 182 meters. We return to Eidfjord for a visit to the Hardangervidda Nature Centre, where you’ll see an exciting panoramic film by Ivo Caprino and learn more about Norwegian fjords, mountains, and waterfalls. You will then check into your hotel for a delicious dinner and a restful overnight.

After breakfast, our journey east toward Oslo will take us through the scenic landscapes of Hardangervidda National Park, which also spans the Hardanger mountain plateau. Continue south to visit the Heddal Stave Church. This triple-nave stave church is Norway’s largest and was constructed at the beginning of the 13th century. After the reformation the church was in very poor condition, so a restoration took place during 1849-1851. However, because the restorers lacked the knowledge and skills required for a proper repair, there was another restoration in the 1950s, which revealed the interior has markings from the period after the Lutheran Reformation in 1536-1537. Following lunch, we enjoy a leisurely drive through the countryside, passing by the northern shore of Inner Oslo fjord until we reach Oslo, the capital city of Norway. The day will come to a close with dinner and an overnight in your hotel in Oslo.

This morning following breakfast, we will be shown the spires of Oslo and tell the story of Blanche of Namur, who arrived there in 1374 to become the consort monarch of King Magnus VII of Norway. You will hear about Saint Bridget of Sweden, who served as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Blanche before leaving for Rome in 1349. The royal couple made large donations to Saint Bridget’s planned Vadstena Abbey. We will then visit Frogner Park, the world’s largest sculpture park for a single artist. The park houses controversial works by Gustav Vigeland, featuring more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite, and wrought iron. After lunch will enjoy a guided tour of Akershus Fortress, founded in 1299 during the reign of King Håkon V. The medieval castle had a strategic location at the end of the headland and withstood several sieges throughout the ages. King Christian IV (1588-1648) had the castle modernized and converted into the Renaissance royal residence that you see today. We will end the day with an evening Mass at Saint Olav’s Cathedral in Oslo, a delicious dinner, and a restful overnight at your hotel in Oslo.

After breakfast we check out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for our flight back home, saying farewell to our Viking friends.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.