EXAMPLE 2014 ITINERARY

NOTICE THE "B, L, D" INFORMATION FOR EACH DAY. This indicates whether Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner is included for that day

2014 TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:

• • Marching in Trondheim's Syttende Mai parade on the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Norwegian Constitution.
• • Attending a special service at Nidaros Cathedral to which the Royal Family has been invited (restricted to 20 seats).
  
• • Custom tour of Nidaros Cathedral including parts many Norwegians do not see.
• • Custom tour of the State Archives by the past President of DIS-Norge.
• • Touring venues in Trondheim and Trøndelag fylke (county).

THE TOUR INCLUDES:
• 10 nights hotel lodging including a Scandinavian breakfast buffet every morning
• 10 dinners or evening meals. The "Evening meal at the hotel" listed on the daily itinerary (below) is a light evening buffet the Clarion Hotel Bakeriet offers to its guests.  The buffet includes soup, salad, warm and cold dishes. Other included dinners listed  in the itinerary are at restaurants.
• 3 lunches
• Tour manager during the entire trip
• Transportation according to the itinerary
• City tour of Trondheim with a local guide
• Entrance to Sverresborg folkemuseum
• Boat trip and entrance to Munkholmen

AIRFARE:
Airfare is not included in the tour price. For assistance regarding booking airfare, please contact your favorite travel agent.

 ITINERARY CHANGES:
  *Changes to this itinerary will primarily be for the purpose of expanding the details listed or possible switching individual days within the itinerary to accommodate venue and guest speaker availability.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Depart from your home city.

Thursday, May 15
Arrive Trondheim Airport Værnes. Transfer to the Clarion Hotel Bakeriet. Free time to explore the city on your own.  Nearby suggestions: 1. If a Hurtigruten ship is in port you are a short walk from the hotel across a bridge to the Hurtigruten dock, take a few pictures and return to the hotel.   2. Walk across the pedestrian bridge to Solsiden Shopping Center open from 9-9. There are shops, light dining choices, and a Vinmonopolet if you would like to pick up a beverage for your room. Those with a little more energy after a long flight might want to continue on from Solsiden along Nedre Bakkelandet to Den Gamle Bybro, cross the bridge, take some photos, and return along Kjøpmannsgata as you circle this portion of Nidelven (The Nid River). Evening meal at the hotel.

Transportation from the airport to the hotel is not included DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS on how to make that journey will be provided.  The airport shuttle buses (Flybussen) cost about $10 (65NOK) for seniors and about $20 (130NOK) for adults and leave as frequently as every 15 minutes during the day.
D

Friday May 16
We start our first day in Trondheim with a city tour by a local guide. After our city tour we visit Sverresborg, the 3rd largest cultural history museum in Norway. The first building placed at Sverresborg came from an island owned at one time by an ancestor of a Trønderlag of America member traveling with us on this tour. Sverresborg was Norway’s “Museum of the year" in 2005 and is an open air museum with over 80 historical buildings, several indoor exhibitions, and two restaurants. Lunch is on your own at the museum. We return from Sverresborg and complete our day with preparations for our participation in tomorrow’s Syttende Mai Citizens parade. Evening meal at the hotel
B, D

Saturday May 17
SYTTENDE MAI IN NORWAY!
This is a special day and our major activity is the Syttende Mai parade and associated activities: We march as a group in Trondheim’s Syttende Mai Citizens Parade on the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Norwegian constitution  on May 17, 1814.  Several of us have invited our friends and relatives in the area to march with us in the parade – you can too! We participate in other Syttende Mai activities in Trondheim. Dinner at a restaurant.
B, D

Sunday May 18
Day off. Explore Trondheim on your own or meet relatives. Evening meal at the hotel.
B, D

Monday May 19
Our morning includes a tour of the  Statsarkivet i Trondheim (the state archive for Møre og Romsdal, Sør-Trøndelag, Nord-Trøndelag og Nordland) by Finn Karlsen, Past President of DIS-Norge (all of Norway) and DIS-Norge-Trøndelag. Those wishing to work on their genealogy may stay at the archives to continue their research and return to the hotel on their own. Those interested in this research were invited to prepare questions for the archives in advance to make their time there more efficient. Evening meal at the hotel.
B, D

Tuesday May 20
The significant activity for the day for some of our travelers is the National Jubileum Service at 4:30PM in Nidaros Cathedral. Representatives from the Royal Family have been invited to this service. Those travelers allocated our limited number of assigned seats in the cathedral will be taken to the cathedral by our bus which will return to take them back to the hotel. 

Our morning activity, for all travelers, includes a trip to Munkholmen, a small island in Trondheimfjord.  Munkholmen (monk’s island) has served as a place of execution, a monastery, a fortress, prison, and a World War II anti-aircraft gun station. Today, it is a popular tourist attraction and recreation site.

We return to the hotel for those who are attending the Nidaros service this afternoon to have time to prepare. Evening meal at the hotel.
B, D

Wednesday May 21
Today we journey into Nord-Trøndelag  with a “day trip” to Steinvikholmen, the island castle fortress of  Norway's last Catholic archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson.  It was the most powerful fortification in Norway when it was built. At one point the shrine of St. Olav was held there. We continue on to Stiklestad, the battlefield where  King Olaf II of Norway is slain.  He later is canonized and is then “Olaf den hellige” (Olaf the holy – St. Olaf).  Our journey also includes a stop at Tautra, the location of a new Cistercian monastery, founded by nuns from the Mississippi Abbey in Iowa.  Time permitting, we stop at the location of Norway´s oldest court, Frostating, at Tinghaugen, close to the medieval church at Logtun. The site of the Frosta Ting (court) is located on a nearby hillside. Before our return, time permitting, we stop at a ”hytte” by a fjord.
Lunch en route. Evening meal at the hotel after return to Trondheim.
B, L, D

Thursday May 22
Our morning includes a special tour of Nidaros Cathedral for Trønderlag of America by Professor Øystein Ekroll, a Norwegian archaeologist and researcher. Currently Associate Professor at the Nidaros Cathedral Restoration Workshop, Professor Ekroll specializes in building archeology and has worked with conservation of stone buildings and ruins throughout Norway.  He has contributed to the development of the museum in the Archbishop's Palace in Trondheim and participated in a number of excavations in Norway and Greece.

After our special tour of Nidaros we have an included lunch at Tyholttårnet (a tower with a rotating restaurant with very good view of Trondheim and the Trondheim Fjord).

Our last stop before heading back to the hotel is at Kristiansten fortress, a fort was built after the great city fire in 1681. While the interior of the fort is not available in May, you can enjoy a spectacular view over Trondheim and its surroundings, the fjord and the mountains. And then those wanting a little exercise can walk down the hill to Bakkelandet and Den Gamle Bybro for a stroll back to the hotel. Evening meal at the hotel.
B, L, D

Friday May 23
Trondheim, Rennebu, Oppdal, Tynset, Røros: We leave our “home base” in Trondheim, check out of the Clarion Hotel Bakeriet in the morning and drive to Rennebu, our guide’s (Erling Hansen’s) Norwegian home. After a visit to the Rennebu Church from 1672, one of only four remaining Y-shaped churches in Norway, we visit a Sami family and enjoy a provided lunch including reindeer meat. We continue our drive via Oppdal and Tynset arriving at the town of Røros, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stay overnight in Røros and continue our exploration there in the morning. Dinner in Røros.
B, L, D

Saturday May 24
Røros, Selbu, Tydal, Stjørdal: We start our day with a tour of Røros and learn the history of mining in the city and spend some time on our own exploring the town. We leave Røros and drive north to Selbu, home of the famous knitting pattern “Selburosa. After a stop at the Selbu Knitting Museum and a chance to stop in the Husflid (shop) there , we continue on to our hotel near the airport in the afternoon. Our evening is our farewell dinner at the hotel and time to start packing for our return to our home cities
B, D

Sunday May 25
Return from Trondheim Airport Værnes to your home base or continue your journeys in this part of the world.
B