| Day 1 - Thursday, July 31
Departure from USA (D on board)
Today, depart from O’Hare International Airport to Stockholm, Sweden. Or request international departure from the city of your choice, dependent upon availability.
Day 2 - Friday, August 1
Arrival in Stockholm (B on board, D)
Arrive in Stockholm. Enjoy a get-acquainted tour of Stockholm before checking in to your hotel. Afternoon is free to explore this wonderful city. Of interest on your own: Gamla Stan (Old Town), the royal palace, many museums and shopping. Dinner and overnight at Clarion Collection Hotel
Tapto.
Day 3 - Saturday, August 2
Stockholm - Archipelago - Blidö - Yxlan - Furusund
- Norrtälje (B, D)
This morning a boat tour of the beautiful Stockholm Archipelago takes you to the island of Blidö. Enjoy free time and a visit to the Blidö Church then board the ferry and do a bit of island-hopping, visiting Yxlan and Furusund. Rejoin your bus and travel the winding road to Norrtälje for dinner and overnight.
Day 4 - Sunday, August 3
Norrtälje - Åland - Norrtälje (B, D)
Today you are off to Kapellskär to cruise on the Baltic Sea to Mariehamn on the Finnish island of Åland. Take a tour of this island city and surrounding countryside before returning to Norrtälje. Enjoy a delicious smorgasbord dinner on board the boat before arriving back at Kapellskär. Overnight in Norrtälje.
Day 5 - Monday, August 4
Norrtälje - Uppsala - Sala - Avesta - Stora
Tuna - Leksand (B, D)
Drive to the university town of Uppsala to visit the magnificent Uppsala Cathedral, and Gamla Uppsala, where gods, kings, artisans and ordinary folk from the Iron Age are given new life. In the small town of Sala visit the Sala Silver Mine, founded in 1512. At Avesta stop to see the world’s largest Dala horse standing 43 three feet tall. Continue to Leksand for dinner and overnight.
Day 6 - Tuesday, August 5
Leksand - Nusnäs - Rättvik - Sundborn - Leksand
(B, D)
This morning at Nusnäs enjoy a demonstration of the production of Sweden’s famous Dala horses at Nils Olssons Hemslöjd. Drive to Rättvik to visit the beautiful 12th century church surrounded by hundreds of tiny “houses” once used to stable horses during the long church services. Continue to Sundborn to tour the home and studio of world renowned artist Carl Larsson. This evening enjoy a dinner cruise on beautiful Lake Siljan aboard the M/S Gustaf Vasa. Overnight in
Leksand.
Day 7 - Wednesday, August 6
Leksand - Ludvika - Filipstad - Karlstad
(B, D)
Depart Leksand heading south out of Dalarna. Make a stop for a coffee break at the “Konditori” in Ludvika before continuing to Filipstad to visit the John Ericsson burial site in Filipstad. Continue to Karlstad, for dinner and overnight.
Day 8 - Thursday, August 7
Karlstad - Göta Canal - Töreboda - Karlsborg
(B, D)
Today enjoy a leisurely cruise to Töreboda on the famous Göta Canal, which connects Stockholm on the east coast and Gothenburg on the west coast. In the late afternoon drive to Karlsborg on the shores Lake Vättern, for dinner and overnight.
Day 9 - Friday, August 8
Karlsborg - Tiveden - Motala - Linköping
(B, D)
Today drive through the awesome old-growth Tiveden National Forest before swinging down the other side of Lake Vättern to Motala. Take a look at another section of the Göta Canal before traveling to Linköping to visit Gamla Linköping, the Old Town of Linköping. Dinner and overnight in Linköping.
Day 10, Saturday, August 9
Linköping - Bergs Slussar - Göta Canal - Huskvarna
- Eksjö (B, L, D)
Today take a relaxing trip on the Göta Canal, from Bergs Slussar to Borensberg, enjoy a delicious lunch on board before disembarking at Borensberg. Continue to Huskvarna to visit the Huskvarna museum. In late afternoon motor to the town of Eksjö for dinner and overnight.
Day 11, Sunday, August 10
Eksjö - Bråbo (B, D)
This morning enjoy a walking tour of Eksjö Old Town. The buildings in the old town are today one of Sweden´s best examples of a well-preserved 15th century wooden town and are a unique cultural treasure. This afternoon drive to the old farming area of Sweden known as the Bråbo Heritage Area. There are 14 villages in this unique area that have preserved the farmland and the landscape the way it was started thousands of years ago when clearings were burnt and the soil was fertilized by the ashes. The Bråbo area is the largest of its kind in the Nordic Countries. In Bråbo enjoy a genuine farm dinner with local residents. Overnight with farm families in and around Bråbo.
Day 12 - Monday, August 11
Bråbo - Kalmar - “Crystal Kingdom” - Karlshamn
- Kristianstad (B)
Depart Bråbo traveling to Kalmar on the Baltic Sea. Tour centuries old Kalmar Castle before continuing to the Crystal Kingdom and the crystal factories of Orrefors and Kosta Boda. At Karlshamn in the province of Blekinge stop at the “Emigrant Statute” dedicated to Karl-Oskar and Kristina, from the Vilhelm Moberg Emigrants books. Drive to Kristianstad for overnight. Dinner on your own in
Kristianstad.
Day 13 - Tuesday, August 12
Kristianstad - Lund - Copenhagen (B)
Continue in the province of Skåne to the12th century university town of Lund for a brief stop at the Lund Cathedral. Drive through the city of Malmö and over the Öresunds Bridge to Copenhagen for your flight home to Chicago this afternoon.
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