Day 1 - Depart 1500hrs from Newcastle on the overnight DFDS sailing to Kristiansand.
Day 2 - Arrive in Kristiansand at 0900hrs – 1000hrs.
Drive the coastal
road to Porsgrunds porcelain factory for a guided tour (not included). Continue
to your hotel.
Day 3 - Vrådal
Today is at leisure in resort. Take a walk
around the lake, visit the Softestad Silversmith, where you can see how they
make the jewellery and spoons that are still used for traditional costume and
weddings. It is possible to take a horse and carriage ride or rent a boat on
the lake. This evening the hotel will be showing the “Heroes of the Telemark”,
in preparation for the tour tomorrow.
Please note: the Softestad Silversmith workshop must be pre-booked for groups.
The shop however and Christmas loft are open without pre-booking.
Day 4 - Hardangervidda,
Vemork Industrial Museum & Heddal Stave Church
Travel
to Rauland and then drive over a section of Europe’s largest mountain plateau,
the Hardangervidda, (Norway’s largest National Park) to Vemork. Take a
guided tour of the museum, which explains how the Rjukan waterfall that used
to tumble into the ravine was instead channelled via huge tubes into turbines
in order to create energy and heavy water. Here you will also learn the story
of the Heroes of the Telemark. There is a restaurant where you can take lunch
before driving back via the scenic road past Mount Gausta and to the Heddal Stave
Church. This is the largest of the few remaining wooden stave churches, all of
which were built in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Day 5 - Western Telemark
This circular
tour starts with a visit to the Grimdalen Museum in Skafsa, the region’s
largest open-air museum, with exhibitions of folklore arts and crafts. There
is also a stave church to visit. After lunch visit the Ski Adventure Centre,
where you learn about how the sport began and became the most popular winter
activity in the world.
Day 6 - Telemark Canal
Today enjoy a fabulous day on a
boat along the Telemark Canal. The most interesting and scenic section is
from Kviteseid to Ulefoss, a journey that includes a transition up 30 metres
through a series of locks, the manual process for which remains unchanged for
more than 100 years. Absorb the stunning scenery as you cruise through lakes,
pine forests and past such sights as quaint villages with majestic mountains
in the distance.
Day 7 - Depart the hotel for Kristiansand where there will be free time before your ship departs at 1800hrs. Alternatively why not visit the groundbreaking Dyreparken zoo, where you get the impression that the animals roam free, while you still observe them relatively closely. Take a journey through rain forest and wild open terrain alike, observing wolves, monkeys and even a rare red panda.
Day 8 - Arrive in Newcastle at 1000hrs and continue the journey home.