Testimonials

  • We LOVED our trip to Scandinavia this summer! Each country had its own flavor and culture. Christine planned it all for us without a hitch going from Helsinki to Stockholm to Norway and ending our all-too- short stay in Copenhagen.

    Our favorite place to visit was Norway - probably because of a last-minute decision to include the Opera Farm which is a beautifully restored old farm house, barn and related buildings run by Steinar and Yngve who were the most dedicated of hosts for our two-day stay. They were our tour guides and scouted out specific places that would be of interest and they cooked the most fabulous meals for us. Most importantly, they invited us into their world and exposed us in ways that we could not only appreciate but also fall in love with them and their surroundings. If you go there, you may be lucky enough to experience an opera in their renovated 120-seat opera barn. But even without the opera, it is well worth a visit!

    Sue Pucker
    Boston MA USA

  • How fortunate we were to find you, Christine. Our time in Norway was wonderful and your attention to detail helped make it that way. You were able to match us perfectly with experiences you knew we'd enjoy. My personal favorite was the Findebotten Guesthouse. What an amazing place! Natt is a talented chef and did wonders with Thomas' fresh picked berries and mountain trout. They were able to answer so many of our questions about Norway as well. The haunted bedroom in the Hotel Union Oye was another unique experience. You certainly have my highest recommendation. Thank you.

    Jayne Milanovich
    Virginia

  • Christine did a FANTASTIC job on our Norway excursion. She found great guides, who helped search out our family in Norway and Took us to many interesting areas in Bergen, Oslo and Kristiansand. I would recommend her to anyone looking to travel to Norway.

    Scott Schaar
    North Dakota, USA

  • Thank you for helping us plan a perfect trip which was better than our high expectations. Your personal attention from the first contact through the end of the trip was great. We enjoyed your visit to our hotel the first day to cover details and thank you for driving us to the rental car agency to pick up our car. Your choice of hotels was superb. The Travel Designer listens to your desires and plans a trip which fulfills all of your fantasies. We had a wonderful time in Norway.

    Robert Milanovich
    USA

  • Thank you, thank you Christine for all you did to help us plan such a wonderful two plus weeks in Norway. Our hotels, B & B's and cruises were perfect.

    Our unique experinces far north of the Arctic Circle in Kongsfjord at Ase Winsent lovly B & B was magical. There we fishied and went on a wonderful King Crab Safari savoring every bite of our catch whcih was beautiful prepared by Ase and her family.

    Our three days with Sven Engholm and his huskies were wonderful. Living and being involved in the training of his fifty plus dogs was an unforgetable and amazing experience. Crystal and her crew provided gourmet healthy meals and were delightful people.

    From Oslo, to Bergen, to Alesund, to Trondheim to the Barents Sea there was not one experience we would have changed. You did a fantastic job and we consider you a dear and talented friend.

    Dick and Judy Wainwright

    Richard Wainwright
    Scituate, Massachusetts USA

  • Nuestro viaje fue increíble. Quedamos enamorados de Noruega y con muchas ganas de regresar, gracias a todas las recomendaciones y sugerencias para las rutas y ciudades que visitar que nos dio Christine ....
    Conocimos rincones que nunca hubiéramos pensado y nuestros recorridos fueron espectaculares!! Justo como lo solicitamos, tu servicio cumplió con nuestras expectativas al 100% Los hoteles fueron únicos y su ubicación inmejorable!! Ojala que algún día no muy lejano regresemos con toda la familia, para conocer la parte norte, que seguramente es igual de espectacular Si alguien quisiera contactarme para comentarle sobre el servicio de The Travel Designer, este es mi correo: dinalo@prodigy.net.mx

    Dinorah Aviles de Alonso con familia.
    Mexico

  • Exploring our Norwegian Heritage could not have been more incredible than with the Travel Designer. This was the first time that we brought our boys, age 12 and 14, to Europe and they have not been able to stop talking about the experience. The Travel Designer does not package a trip, it truly DESIGNS the trip to meet your personality and needs. Every detail was carefully planned, presented and delivered with a personal touch that is rarely found in the travel industry today. Our guides were locals who were born and raised in Norway so "living the culture and experience" would have been an understatement. And in the end, we were lucky enough to meet Christine who we would now have to consider a part of our "Norwegian" family. We look forward to our next trip and would use no one else to plan it!

    The Dwyer Family
    Chicago

  • Regarding the trip in general, your company provided excellent service. The itinerary was just perfect for us, offering a good and “up-close” overview of the Fjord regions of Norway with a variety of very nice accommodations. The Continental Hotel in Oslo was outstanding in all regards. Bergen was lovely and we were particularly pleased by our dinner experience at Cornelia. Froys Hus in Fresvik was perfect for us. Liv and Geoff are wonderful hosts and enjoyable people. They have clearly put a lot of love and attention into building their guesthouse and their accommodations. Liv’s cooking was excellent as was the local hiking. The hotel Union Oye was another high point for us. We loved the grandeur of the old building, the location and the period themed motif. Hotel Brosundet was equally excellent. It was Cheryl’s favorite because of the innovative architecture in our room. Someone had saved old wooden beams from the warehouse and created an intricate open-beam structure as part of our room’s ceiling. Also, the staff here went out of their way to help us on many occasions such as with dining on our arrival. In total it was a wonderful trip and a perfect anniversary “adventure”. We loved your country and hope we get the opportunity to travel there again in the future. Thanks so much for all your help in making this great experience possible. All reservations worked as planned and we truly enjoyed your personal contact, both in person and by email. Although we fortunately never had to call your 24-hour number it was reassuring to know that the assistance was available. We would be happy to recommend your services to anyone.

    Steve and Cheryl Rockwood
    USA

  • Christine, at The Travel Designer, was beyond helpful designing our trip to Norway, dotting every “i”, crossing every “t”, and never wavering from her constant positive attitude. I have traveled quite a bit and I have never encountered someone as helpful as Christine. I recommend her services with the highest of accolades! Our trip was difficult to arrange because there were five of us heading in two different directions, with very different needs. There were probably hundreds of emails. She answered them all and she arranged every detail humanly possible (many of which I hadn’t even considered!). All five of us were fully satisfied and we are now filled with memories of a lifetime. Thank you, Christine!

    Eileen T. Kross
    Miami, Florida

  • Where does one begin? There are not enough words to express the pleasure and rewards of this trip that began with a promise to my Grandma and turned into her gift to me and my family that are so distant from our roots in this far off place of Hitra Island.
    We owe you our thanks for your efforts in making arrangements and putting us in contract with those extraordinary people that gave us the foundation of understanding and appreciation of Norway, its history and traditions, and its people - - - the Yngve, Steinar, Endre and Ellen. We, however, take all the credit for the most important person that made this trip so memorable: YOU.

    David and Phyllis Rothman
    USA

  • Avabo de regresar de unas maravillosas vacaciones en Noruega del norte, y gracias a Christine y su equipo fue una experiencia maravillosa ... cada detalle planeado de manera perfecta. La comida, las actividades, pero sobretodo el alojamiento, en especial Engholm Lodge y el hotel de hielo "the igloo hotel". era como estar dentro de un sueño del cual fue muy dificil despertar para regresar a trabajar.
    Definitivamente la mejor manera de planear unas vacaciones a traves de Noruega!
    Mil gracias Christine.
    Feb 6-13. 2011

    Itzel Baez
    Puebla, Mexico

  • I just came back from a wonderful week in northern Norway, thanks to Christine and her team was a wonderful experience, the timing, the food but above all the accomodation specially the Engholm Lodge and the ice hotel. Honestly the way she planned every single detail was perfect! The best way to plan a journey through Norway!
    Thanks Christine!

    Itzel Baez
    Puebla, Mexico

  • My husband and I recently booked a five day trip to Norway on short notice. Wanting to make the most of our time, we asked a few Scandinavian friends to recommend a travel agent and wound up working with Christine. She planned the most incredible adventure for us! She listened to the kind of experience we hoped to have and found the perfect places for us to stay (which we would never have been able to find by ourselves online) - including two insanely wonderful nights at the gorgeous Lyngen Lodge in Northern Norway. In addition, the activities she booked for us were well organized. When a flight got canceled due to weather (we were there in January), she was quick to respond and made sure we were well looked after. Having her on our side was fantastic.

    Now we just have to figure out a way to get back to Norway!

    Thanks for your help! It was an unforgettable trip.

    Alice Mount
    Palo Alto, CA

  • I am a an independent travel consultant and have been in the travel business for 15 years. In all of my years in travel, never have I worked with such an amazing company! Christine is a rare jewel who absolutely knows her stuff!

    Christine has put together the most amazing Scandinavian tour for my clients (mother and son). Christine is so amazing, in fact, that my client's husband and her other son became quite jealous of her trip so they are now going as well!!! The entire family is now going, and it is because of Christine!

    I can not thank you enough. I will NEVER use anyone for Scandinavia except for Christine!

    Helena Iorio
    Boston, MA

  • We were very happy with the level of attention and detail that was put into making our visit to Norway a very memorable two weeks. Good advice, great flexibility, and a willingness to make every aspect perfect. We will look forward to working with The Travel Designer again in the future. Top notch.. Five Star..

    Mark & Suzanne Knudsen
    Stockton, NJ USA

  • Our trip was perfectly arranged. Everything we needed, tickets, directions, reservations, were all included in a package. Accommodations were exquisite and very easy to access.
    The Findebotten farm was of course the highlight. Incredible scenery, wonderful people, and exceptional cuisine prepared by Alexander....a truly gifted individual. He prepared a
    special birthday dinner with a cake and vegetarian meals for my daughter. The ride to the farm on the RIB boat was nothing short of spectacular. Our only regret was too little time in
    Bergen. On another trip I would swap one of the two nights in Balenstrad, which was wonderful, for an additional night in Bergen. Norway as we were able to see it was the most
    beautiful unspoiled landscape ever. Christine did an outstanding job making everything easy. I would highly recommend it.

    Patrick Chitwood and family

  • We agree that it was one of the best holidays ever and this really was entirely due to your 'Norway Unpolished 'aims as set out in the publicity leaflet. Away from the jostling crowds and other tourists being herded about, we were able to soak in the atmosphere around us as we sped through wonderful scenery in some lovely company.

    How could we ever forget the arrival at Findebotten! The surprise appearance of the champagne to celebrate your birthday as we prepared to land at the farm was another lasting memory. That really was such a special place, managed by some really special people. We loved that experience. Turid and Ingebrigt and Alexander were all so kind - lovely, lovely people! We were amused at the contrasting experiences available in that tiny fjord. We had it to ourselves, yet for others it is the venue for floating musical events.

    All the connections worked out perfectly. The fast ferry sped to Flam in glorious sunshine and we witnessed a ferry coupling to transfer passengers mid fjord! We enjoyed the Flam railway even although the experience at the waterfall was rather surreal! Then it was a slow trip back to' reality'- to the frenetic pace of life in Bergen.

    All in all we had a wonderful five days in Norway. We were glad we stumbled across your website. This experience has spoiled us for settling for anything else. To have had everything so well thought out, organised and, most importantly personal, made all the difference. We have advised other members of the family to contact you should they ever want to visit Bergen.

    Heather and Peter Swinson

  • My brother and found The Travel Designer on the internet and were intrigued at the idea of having a customized vacation. We were interested in Kayaking, Paragliding, Hiking, and skydiving. Christine was very diligent with making sure our requests were honored. We were met with great guides who provided exceptional services.The activities that were planned were spectacular and we have great video and film footage to savor the moments all courtesy of the Travel Designer. I was very pleased with our main guide, Lars. He was an excellent travel guide and his knowledge about the country and lifestyle was very informative. Traveling with him felt like traveling with a friend. My brother and I will be grateful for the memories created by The Travel Designer. I definitely give two thumbs up!

    Diva Nagula

 

 

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