by train to the midnight sun

Our tour begins at the St Pancras train station in London mid-Morning for our Eurostar journey to Koln via Brussels. Koln, Germany is a popular tourist destination with it’s magnificent Cathedral next door to the Hauptbahnhof in the center of the city. Overnight stay in Koln.

🍽 none

Half-way across Europe before supper! Leaving Koln this morning we travel via Hamburg and are due to arrive in København, Denmark by early evening.

🍽 breakfast

A day sightseeing in København, the capital of Denmark. Today the cultural option will be a tour of København with an Englishspeaking, with a professional Guide. This will end on the waterfront where the group will embark for a boat trip round the harborr. There will also be time to see the famous statue of the Little Mermaid who sits on a rock out in the middle of the bay. . After lunch (own expense), the group will go to Helsinger by rail to visit the imposing Elsinore Castle where most of the action in Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” is set. Meanwhile, the Rail Enthusiasts will visit the National Railway Museum, at Odense, where it is hoped there will be a train giving rides on the former harbor branch; and then to the Danish Tramways Museum where some trams should be in operation on a long running line laid on the trackbed of an old industrial railway.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

The things one lives to see! Nowadays one can get from Denmark to Sweden without having to take a boat, and we will go by train from København to Malmö across the extraordinary 10 mile Öresund link. It’s often called a bridge but, on an island in the middle, the enormous bridge ends and the train dives down into a tunnel. We carry on past Malmö and up the West coast of Sweden, through Göteborg, seat of a venerable university, where we will pause for a tour of the city’s extensive tram network in historic vehicles specially chartered from the local tramways preservation society. After a couple of hours, the tram will take us back to the station and we will continue our train journey, crossing into southern Norway, where we will spend two nights in Oslo.

🍽 breakfast

A day sightseeing in Oslo, the capital of Norway. The Cultural Option will consist of a tour of the center, with an English-speaking professional Guide. After lunch (own expense), the group will be taken for a ride on the Ljabru tram, a modern vehicle with large windows and a scenic route overlooking the Bay and the Port. The railfan group will take a train out into the country and go for a ride on the standard-gauge Krøderbanen preserved railway, whose beautiful varnished teak end- balcony carriages are normally steam-hauled by a handsome tender engine of a very Scandinavian appearance. Oslo has many quality restaurants and this evening is free for you to choose the type and location for your own Dinner.

🍽 breakfast

Today we continue our train journey northwards, an eight-hour journey from Oslo to Trondheim, but which we will break in Hamar in order to visit the Norwegian National Rail Museum.Here it is hoped a 750mm gauge loco will be giving rides.. Hotel check-in and overnight stay

🍽 breakfast, dinner

Sightseeing day in Trondheim, home of the world’s most northerly Gothic Cathedral. The city is also the home of the Norwegian Crown Jewels and has some splendid historical sights. There are also ferry links to some of the outer islands - if you fancy a short cruise! During the day, a trip will be organized on what is often called the most northerly operating tram route which climbs across the face of the escarpment which hangs over the city, giving some fine views.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

Today the romance of our journey really begins! We take the daytime Trondheim-Bodø service, north, during which we will cross the Arctic Circle; it won’t get dark tonight! The line is not electrified and we will be hauled by a big diesel, one of the few which Norway possesses. There is a café on the train, and proper carriages where the seats are lined up with the windows and you can watch in comfort as some end-of-the-world type scenery glides past. Overnight in Bodø.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

Bodø is the northern railhead of the Norwegian system (the Railway never got to Narvik). Narvik, which is in Norway, is an important port which played a vital rôle in the Second World War, but it is only connected to the Swedish rail network. We will leave Narvik by train, but today we will arrive there by bus (bit of an anti-climax, really, but what can one do?). Afternoon of free time in Narvik. There are interesting museums to visit, with exhibits related to the iron ore mining industry and the construction of the railway, or the part played by Narvik in the Second World War, while the railway enthusiasts will want to be at the station to see the huge double twin-unit locomotives working the heavy iron-ore trains. Dedicated skiers in the group might think of going up to Riksgransen, the ski resort on the Swedish border: as the sun doesn’t set, in the summer, the facilities stay open 24 hours a day and you can ski all through what we would call the night. Overnight in Narvik.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

Free morning and then the return journey starts, all the way from Lapland to London by train! We will leave Narvik on Train 93, the overnight to Stockholm which departs mid-afternoon.

🍽 breakfast

The overnight train arrives in Stockholm early morning. On the train, Breakfast packs are available to us before we arrive. The hotel is situated across the road from the station and luggage can be left there until check-in. For those who are interested, the Swedish National Railway Museum is at Gavle and so we retrace our steps by train for a visit. Transfer to and from the Museum when we arrive at Gavle is by historic railcar.

Those staying in Stockholm have free time for their own exploration (guidebook provided). Several steam ships operate around Stockholm, possibilities are a trip to Vaxholm or the archipelago, or to the royal palace at Drottningholm. Overnight in Stockholm for two nights.

🍽 breakfast

The steamship ‘Mariefred’ (yes, it really is steam powered!) will take us for an island-studied voyage down the coast (lunch included) to, appropriately enough, Mariefred, for a ride on the 600mm narrow gauge Östra Södermanlands Järnväg. The ÖSlJ sends a steam train down the HarborBranch to meet the ship. Here you can get a shot which includes them both-steamship and steam train- making it one of the must-get photos of the trip. From the other end of the ÖSlJ, there are regular trains back to Stockholm and people can return at their leisure, when they’ve ready.

🍽 breakfast, lunch

Today we will have a Free morning in Stockholm; there is so much to do and see. But here are some suggestions: you could go for a 2-hour city tour by boat, along the canals and round some of the islands, though you won’t see them all as there are said to be 24,000 of them; or go to the Wasa Museum and see the sixteenth century warship they famously dug out of the mud of the harbor, a Scandinavian Mary Rose. The Swedes, being very nostalgic, a tram route has been allowed to survive which is worked with historic vehicles, each one a museum piece. Meanwhile, train enthusiasts might want to ride the 891mm narrow gauge suburban railways. Leaving Stockholm at 3.20pm we travel south to the delightful city of Malmö for our overnight stay.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

Today is free for your own exploration of Malmö. Alternatively trains leave every 30 minutes to the beautiful town of Ystad - famous because of the TV detective “Kurt Wallander”, played by Kenneth Branagh. Leaving Malmö early afternoon we head south via Kobenhavn to Hamburg for our overnight stay. Refreshments are available on the train before we arrive in Hamburg at 8pm. Farewell dinner at the hotel.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

We travel back to the UK on the route Hamburg - Köln - Brussels - London St.Pancras (arriving in the evening). End of tour upon arrival back in London

🍽 breakfast