For travelers who feel more comfortable if everything is prearranged -- hotels, transportation, sightseeing excursions, luggage handling, tips, taxes, and even meals -- a package tour is the obvious choice, and it may even help save money.
From the U.S. -- One of the best tour operators to Norway is ScanAm World Tours (tel. 800/545-2204; www.scanamtours.com). Its best and most highly sought-after itinerary is its Norway in a Nutshell Fjord Tours. These tours, which average around $350 per person from May to September, take 2 days and 1 night. They include a tour of the famous Flåm Mountain Railroad and a 2-hour cruise on the Aurland Fjord and the Naeroy Fjord. Tours are operated from Oslo to Bergen or vice versa. The company also operates many other tours, the most useful being the 9-day, 8-night tour of Oslo and Bergen, plus the fjord country, for those wanting to cover just the highlights of Norway. Prices include only land and begin at $1,370 per person.
Grand Circle Travel (tel. 800/959-0405; www.gct.com) offers 17-day tours of the Norwegian fjords and Lapland, with carefully chosen hotels and big Norwegian breakfasts. Highlights of this tour are Bergen, Trondheim, the Lofoten Islands, and Geirangerfjord.
Other reliable tour operators include Scantours, Inc., 3439 Wade St., Los Angeles, CA 90006 (tel. 800/223-7226 or 310/636-4656; www.scantours.com). Surprisingly, the major carrier to Norway, SAS, does not offer tours to Norway. Although American Express (tel. 800/335-3342) also doesn't itself offer package deals to Norway, Amex agents can customize a special package just for you. For holiday tours and packages, turn to Icelandair (tel. 800/223-5500) and see what deals are being offered at the time of your visit.
From the U.K. -- The oldest travel agency in Britain, Cox & Kings, Gordon House 10, Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1PH (tel. 020/7873-5000; www.coxandkings.co.uk), was established in 1758. Today the company specializes in unusual, if pricey, holidays. Its offerings in Norway include cruises through the spectacular fjords and waterways, bus and rail tours through sites of historic and aesthetic interest, and visits to the region's best-known handcraft centers, Viking burial sites, and historic churches. The company's staff is noted for its focus on tours of ecological and environmental interest.
