Scandinavia 1998

Scandinavia 1998

Following are pictures of my 1998 tour of Scandinavia. This tour followed the route on the map at the right. This was a group tour, run by Rick Steves Europe through the Back Door (this is the same Rick Steves who writes travel books and does TV shows you may have seen on PBS or the Travel Channel).

Another tour member has also published some pictures, with better descriptions than what I've had time to put together. See also:

Barbara's Page

To start the show, click here:

or click any subject (picture or place name) on the map.

For a more descriptive version, see my country pages:

This was my first "group" tour, I've always traveled independently before. This time I went with a Rick Steves group. I've been following Rick's advice from his books and TV shows since my first trip to Europe in 1991. I'd already visited many places he'd recommended, and stayed in a number of his recommended hotels, so I had a good idea I'd like his style of travel, and I wasn't disappointed.

So what's the difference between group and independent travel? I've done well with both. I used to not like the idea of tour groups, and didn't always like them when they brought a crowd of people into whatever I was visiting, but now that I've experienced one from the inside, I did like the experience.

I always thought I could make better use of my time independently, but the tour group made good use of my time too. Independently, I can decide exactly what I want to see and how long I want to stay. Occasionally the group tour may not do exactly what I would have chosen, but its time was well planned and not much time was wasted. By careful planning, I didn't waste much time independently either, but the advance planning took quite a bit of time. Although I try to make good use of my time independently, time is inevitably wasted occasionally trying to find my way or locating a hotel, etc.; which doesn't generally happen with a group.

The group tour also had one other advantage I hadn't really considered, a group of new friends with the same interests to explore with. The other members of the tour were all very nice people and a pleasure to travel with, and the guide also added a lot to the experience with excellent explanations, advice, and logistics handling along the way.

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