Where to be and when
Day 1 is arrival, settling in, and our first evening together at the Welcome Dinner. Your welcome email confirms the exact details — here's the general shape of the day.
🕔 First group meeting
Please meet in the lobby, ready to leave, at 5:15 PM. We'll then depart together for our Welcome Dinner at Vækst.
Before then is usually arrival and settle-in time — check in (or store bags if you're early), freshen up, and get your bearings at your own pace.
🏨 Hotel check-in
We're based at the AC Hotel Bella Sky Copenhagen in Ørestad — the twin towers on the Copenhagen skyline.
Check-in is typically after 3:00 PM. If you arrive earlier, reception can usually store your main luggage until your room is ready, so it helps to keep essentials in a small day bag.
✈️ Airport transfers and arrivals
Trafalgar offers complimentary Day 1 airport transfers at set times. Please check your joining documents and welcome email for the exact timings and where to meet.
After collecting your luggage and exiting the baggage collection area, please make your way into the Arrivals Hall. The meeting point is to your right, near the Caffeine café and 7-Eleven.
Complimentary transfers run at set times and cannot be held — if you miss yours, official taxis from Copenhagen Airport are easy to find and the hotel is straightforward to reach.
If you have a private transfer booked through Trafalgar, the details and instructions will be in your joining documents.
🧭 Arrival note
Keep your hotel address, booking details, passport and phone easily accessible on travel day.
If your arrival timing changes significantly, contact the support number in your official documents as soon as possible.
What stays with you
One habit makes travel days much easier: keep the important things in your day bag, not your main suitcase.
🛂 Passport & travel documents
Know where your passport is at all times, and keep it with you — not packed in your main suitcase — on days when we have a ferry crossing or cross a border.
It is also good habit to carry some form of ID on your person day to day: passport, national ID card or driving licence all work.
✅ Day bag essentials
Your main suitcase goes into the coach hold on travel days and may not be accessible until you reach the hotel. Keep anything you might need during the day with you:
- Glasses, contact lenses or hearing aids
- Medication and prescription items
- Phone, charger and any cables
- Cards, cash and travel money
- A warm layer and waterproof — useful every single day on this route, Arctic Circle included
A useful rule: if you would miss it for a few hours, it belongs in your day bag.
Before you pack
These are the details that tend to make the biggest practical difference — especially on a route this long.
👟 Walking shoes
Cobblestones in Copenhagen, old town streets in Stockholm and Trondheim, uneven Arctic viewpoints, and Lofoten hiking trails if you choose them. Comfortable, well-worn shoes make a genuine difference across the whole tour.
If you are unsure which pair to bring, bring your most comfortable ones.
🌦️ Weather and layers
This route covers more climate variety than any other tour I lead: mild city days in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki, then noticeably cooler, windier conditions across the Arctic Circle, the North Cape, Tromsø and the Lofoten Islands.
A waterproof jacket you trust, a warm mid-layer and comfortable shoes will do most of the heavy lifting. Forecasts are useful but treat them as a guide rather than a guarantee.
– a favourite saying across the Nordics
🔌 Power adapters
Four countries, three plug standards to know about. Denmark uses Type K (Type C also fits). Sweden, Finland and Norway all use Type F/Schuko (Type C fits here too). A universal travel adapter is the simplest option for the whole tour.
🧳 Packing
Pack for usefulness rather than volume. This is a one-way tour with regular hotel changes, so lighter luggage is noticeably easier to live with.
We use audio listening devices on walking tours — disposable wired headphones are provided. These are not Bluetooth, so wireless earbuds will not connect. You are welcome to bring your own wired pair if you prefer.
The rhythm of it
From Copenhagen to Stockholm, an overnight ferry to Helsinki, north through Finnish Lapland and the Arctic Circle to the North Cape, across to Tromsø and the Lofoten Islands, then south again through Trondheim and the fjords to Oslo. Twenty days, and barely a quiet one.
Some days are about the journey itself. Watching the landscape change as we cross borders and coastlines — Nordic capitals giving way to Arctic tundra, and then the fjords opening up around you as we push south again.
Other days are about history and culture. What the North Cape means to those who make the journey there. Why Lofoten's fishing villages look the way they do. What Geirangerfjord actually took to carve. Learning it on the ground, with people who know the stories, changes how it stays with you.
This is our biggest route in Scandinavia — the pace moves, and that is part of what makes it feel so full. There will be some longer travel days, especially in the far north, but most people settle into the rhythm surprisingly quickly.
I'll always let you know what's coming up, what to bring for the day, and anything worth knowing before we set off.
🚌 On the coach
Seat rotation happens daily, and I'll explain the system clearly on Day One.
Snacks are absolutely fine. Just avoid hot food, hot drinks and anything likely to melt, spill or perfume the entire coach by lunchtime. Please keep your seat area tidy — it's a shared space and it makes a real difference to everyone's day.
On the days we take a ferry — the overnight sailing to Helsinki, and the shorter local crossings later in Norway — keep a day bag with anything you need, and a layer handy for time on deck.
Seatbelts on whenever you are seated — it's a simple habit that matters.
🏨 Hotels vary
Across a route spanning four countries, hotels range from modern city properties to characterful regional stays. Air conditioning is not universal, particularly in northern and mountain-region hotels — if your room feels warm, reception can usually help.
Keep your passport, cards and valuables secure and close to you, particularly around transport hubs, ferries and busier city centres. A small bag that stays close to your body is worth considering on busier sightseeing days.
🚗 Our Driver
Our Driver covers real distance on this route — Arctic roads, ferry loadings and mountain passes all take genuine skill and concentration.
By the end of the tour, most groups have a real appreciation for just how much goes into it.
⏰ Tour timings & inclusions
Our days run to a schedule. Being ready on time — for departures, meals and activities — keeps things on track for everyone in the group.
I'll always let you know what's coming up and what to be prepared for. All we ask is that you're there on time, ready to go.
I use WhatsApp for simple reminders and day-to-day updates while we are travelling. It is optional, but it usually makes the small daily details easier.
- 1Download and set up WhatsApp before you travel if you do not already use it. Download WhatsApp
- 2Save my number — it is in your welcome email, or use the WhatsApp link at the top of this page.
- 3Send me a message with your name so I know you are set up.
If you'd rather not use WhatsApp, that's fine — everything important will still reach you.
A few practical things for later
You do not need to make all of these decisions before we meet. They become much easier once you can see the pace of the tour and what suits you.
⭐ Optional experiences
In my experience, the optionals are often what people remember most. Meeting reindeer at a family farm on the Arctic Circle. A husky visit and homemade cake around the fire near Alta. An Arctic cruise past nesting seabirds off Honningsvåg. Tasting Arctic king crab in a remote fishing village. The Viking Museum Lofotr, complete with the world's biggest Viking longhouse. Sailing the Geirangerfjord beneath the Seven Sisters waterfalls. The Fram and Kon-Tiki ships in Oslo. These aren't things that are easy to arrange yourself on a schedule that moves quickly through this much of the Arctic and Scandinavia — on this tour, they're ready to go, transport and entry included, perfectly timed within the day.
I'll walk you through everything as we go. My honest advice? Do them. I've been travelling most of my life, and the times I've passed on something — thinking it was too expensive, or I'd come back another day — those are the ones I still think about. And on a route this far north, you may genuinely not pass this way again.
💳 Money & cards
Four currencies on this route: Denmark uses Danish Krone (DKK), Sweden uses Swedish Krona (SEK), Finland uses the Euro (EUR), and Norway uses Norwegian Krone (NOK).
Cards are widely accepted and generally the preferred way to pay — a Chip and PIN card is worth having, since cash isn't always accepted. Small amounts of local cash are still handy for the odd smaller purchase or gratuity.
💶 Gratuities
When you're out during free time, if the service is good — tip. A little local currency at the end of a good meal is always appreciated.
On the tour itself, porterage and restaurant tips on included meals are already taken care of. Tips for your Travel Director and Driver are separate unless you've pre-paid through Trafalgar. Local Specialists — the guides who join us in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo and elsewhere — are separate again. Good ones are hard to find, and a small tip at the end of their time with the group is customary and well received.
Guidance on suggested amounts is in your Trafalgar documents, and you can always ask me on tour. This does not need to be solved on the first morning.
Questions before we begin?
Save my contact now, and keep your official joining instructions somewhere easy to find. That is enough for the moment.
Damian Watson
Travel Director · Trafalgar
Phone / WhatsApp
WhatsApp is usually the easiest way to reach me during the trip.
Urgent before departure?
Before the tour begins, I may occasionally be travelling or finishing another tour, but I will always get back to you as soon as I can.
For anything time-sensitive before Day 1, Trafalgar's European Guest Services team is there to help: [email protected] or +44 207 620 8900.
Once we are together, things usually become much more straightforward day to day.
Final note
Copenhagen to Oslo, by way of the Arctic Circle, the North Cape and the Lofoten Islands — there's a huge amount of Scandinavia and the far north ahead of us, and I'm looking forward to every part of it. See you in Copenhagen.