This tour has been declared a GO!

Join Piece of Ewe to knit under the bright summer sky in Norway! Our visit here will be during the longest summer days, with just an hour or two between dawn and dusk! This tour is situated on the Western side of Norway, with stays in some of its most scenic regions:

• 4 nights in Bergen's historic city center

• 1 night in Flåm with a relaxing sauna morning on the water

• 2 nights in rural fjordlands at a 19th century villa

• 2 nights on the island of Østeroy exploring wool & Viking traditions

Bergen

Bergen is the lovely little city that will bookend our journey in Norway. From our base in the center of Bergen's historic harbor, we will get our bearings on a walking tour with a local guide. There will be time to explore the picturesque side streets and boutique shops, and to pick up some local yarn of course! We will head up the funicular to Mount Fløyen for a chance to knit and look out on the beautiful views of the city.

Wool Traditions

We’ll begin our adventure with a visit to the most whimsical yarn shop we’ve ever visited, Hillesvåg Wool Mill. This wool mill is so quintessentially Norwegian that their website is wool.norway (in Norwegian, of course). Are these our people or what?! A ferry northward will transport us to the scenic wonders of the rural fjordlands. Relax during a two night stay at Skjerjehamn, a 19th century villa home that has transitioned beautifully into a unique hotel accommodation.

A journey back in time

We're off to visit our favorite Norwegian shepherdess Helene and her flock of heritage Norse sheep at Gripen Gard Farm for a natural-dyeing experience! From here we will head onward to the island of Osterøy. At the Osterøy Museum, in addition to a tour of their amazing textile collection, they will teach us how to weave the fabric for the Varafell - a shaggy wool cape they like to call "Viking Life Insurance"! The trip would not be complete without a jaunt to the local open air museum called Viking Village where we'll be immersed in Viking culture, covering everything from food to crafts!

Flåm

Now that we are fully versed in Viking culture, it is time for a bit more of the 21st century luxuries. Our final stop will be to the quaint village of Flåm. We'll settle in for the evening at our beautiful hotel situated just off the fjord. The following morning enjoy some sauna time before we take the scenic railway that leads down from the mountains to our final destination, our beloved Bergen.

This trip is brimming with culture, workshops, great food, and wool. Join us and Piece of Ewe for the experience of a lifetime!

To Register 

A Registration Form and a non-refundable $1000 deposit are required to join the trip. Once you submit your online registration and deposit payment is received, your spot on the tour is secure. See our Terms & Conditions HERE.

Have questions? Please contact us at info@rowantreetravel.com

This trip needs at least 14 participants in order to proceed (i.e. the trip is "guaranteed"). We strongly advise you to wait to purchase your flights until the trip is guaranteed by us to go forward. Unless otherwise stated, our regular Terms and Conditions apply to this trip and for any cancellations (click here to see our Terms and Conditions).

Tour Activity Level 

We would describe this trip as a Woolly Wander.

Mobility Comfort Level = Mobility Level 2+

Ability to manage your luggage on 2 trains by yourself; get in and out of a RIB boat; walking tour of 2-3 miles. There will be a limited amount of ground floor rooms and lifts will not always be available at some accommodations.

Review our Tour Activity and Mobility Comfort Levels here.

Travel Insurance Rowan Tree Travel highly recommends purchasing travel insurance. You may purchase through our preferred partner Arch RoamRight by clicking here or through your own provider.  (*Arch RoamRight is an affiliate of RTTF and we will receive a small commission for policies bought through the provided link.)

Arranging Your Flights In order to gather easily for the tour, we provide an arrival and departure "window" at a major transportation hub - typically an international airport at your destination country. Flights scheduled outside the provided windows may result in additional transportation costs and missed tour activities. For this reason, we greatly appreciate your cooperation in booking travel that accommodates our specifications. Please do not purchase airfare until the tour is guaranteed by RTTF to go forward.

Please Note the Following Rowan Tree Travel reserves the right to alter any part of this itinerary in order to address weather conditions, unforeseen circumstances or to improve the participant experience.

BERGEN

Welcome to Norway! Bergen is a beautiful city with a quaint historic harbor at its heart. Your guides will greet you at our home for the weekend, the Hanseatic Hotel, situated in the center of it all. We will have a relaxed afternoon to explore Bergen, a welcome dinner at one of the local charming restaurants and then off to bed for warm and woolly dreams!  

From our home base, we will be joined by a local guide and fellow knitter to get our bearings with a walking tour of Bergen, full to the brim with the city's history. There will be time to explore on your own before we pass out kits for our knit-along project and have some time to do what we all do best: sit & knit!

HEADING NORTH!

Before we depart for the fjords, we'll take a trip outside the city to pay a visit to the wondrous Hillesåg Wool Mill. This mill and yarn shop will have you feeling like a child in a candy store. With hundreds of colors on display and multiple bases of Norwegian yarn to choose from, you will easily be able to fill any gaps in your yarn stash wishlist while we're here! We'll take a tour of their mill which has been in use for over a hundred years before setting everyone free for a yarn shopping spree. Then it's on to the Textile Industry Museum for some more fiber history and time for lunch!

Our bus will return us to Bergen where we'll board the ferry and say toodle-oo for now to the city and set sail for the countryside. Perched at the edge of Sognefjord, the largest fjord in Norway, we will reach our picturesque hotel, Skjerjehamn. Originally a villa house built in the mid-19th century, this house-hotel retains its historic character and offers 360° views of the tranquil fjords and nature that surround it. We will have a pleasant day off the bus to relax and learn Norwegian colorwork in a workshop with Birger Berge, author of Nordic Knits. The only interruptions will be a fjord boat ride and breaks for excellent food and conversation! 

NORDIC FARMS & VIKING CHARMS

It's time to visit Helene with her flock of heritage Norse sheep at Gripen Gard Farm! Against the backdrop of her gorgeous farm, we will be introduced to natural dyeing techniques, meet the sheep that wander the hills, and be given a home-cooked lunch. It is safe to say that you all will be taken with Helene's charm, along with that of her sweet flock! We will continue through the fjordlands onto the island of Osterøy, our home for the next two nights.

The following day will be the next of our half-day workshops! In addition to a tour of the Osterøy Museum's amazing textile collection, they will teach us how to weave the fabric for the Varafell - a shaggy wool cape they like to call "Viking Life Insurance"! We'll stop by the Norlender Factory on our way back, which has been making Norwegian sweaters and knitwear for many decades, before returning to our beautiful hotel.  

VIKINGS, SAUNAS & RAILWAYS...OH MY!

Today we become immersed in Viking culture at the open air museum Viking Valley. This museum is full of traditional structures, re-enactors wearing period clothing and working with Viking-era tools. We will enjoy a cozy lunch here prepared by Vikings using some of the original ingredients from times gone by, as well as a private demonstration of Viking-era crafts! After you have physically pulled your fiber ambassador out from Viking Village (this was very difficult last year!) we will all board our bus and head to the stunning little fjord village of Flåm. We will get settled into the beautiful Fretheim Hotel with views out onto the fjord, and enjoy a leisurely dinner together.

The following morning will be spent in pure luxury, either in a sauna floating on the fjord, optional walks to the waterfall, visiting local artisan shops, or time to work on our knitting against the backdrop of the fjords! It's then time to make our way back to Bergen. We begin on the historic Flåm railway train, where picture-perfect views and perhaps a few surprises lurk around every turn. We'll enjoy lunch in between this journey and our more modern train ride that will drop us back into Bergen. Then to our hotel, which is conveniently located right across the street! Our final two nights will be spent at Villa Terminus, which is an exclusive-use villa perfectly situated in a cozy corner of Bergen. 

A FINAL HOORAH IN BERGEN

We're back in Bergen for one more day, and we are going to make the most of it! We'll start the day off with a final dose of Norwegian textile traditions, learning about the Bunad national dress from our very own Birger, who made his from scratch!

After that it's time to soak in the city from the top of Mount Fløyen via the historic funicular, for beautiful views over Bergen and the fjords beyond. There will be time to get a bite to eat at one of the mountain restaurants, explore the parks up here, and perhaps meet a troll or two! Use the late afternoon for some last-minute souvenir shopping or a few more rows of knitting before we have our farewell dinner all together. I don't want to say goodbye!

FAREWELL

Sadly it is time to bid a fond farewell to new friends and to our beloved Norway. Our consolation will be the newly acquired stash we're all bringing home with us! 

Sydney is a voracious knitter, designer, and knitwear historian. She has been knitting and studying fashion history for over fifteen years and recently turned her passions into a career at Squid's School of Vintage Knitting, an online school devoted to the education and love of historical knitwear. Her work in the knitting world is also supplemented by her academic background in film history, and she tries to combine the two as often as possible. In collaboration with Rowan Tree Travel, Sydney works to develop tours that have a historical or vintage bent, often with elaborately themed and niche activities! With over ten years of working in the fiber industry, Sydney continues to love meeting other knitters and sharing fiber experiences with them more than anything else. You can find her at patreon.com/squidschool or over on Instagram as @squidneyknits. 

Birger Berge is an avid knitter with great passion for knitting traditions, traditional techniques and anything fiber related. Birger gained traction in the knitting community from 2016 and forward though his Instagram account. Since then, Birger has published two books of his own and participated with patterns in several other book projects along with other designers. Birger is known for adapting traditional styles to modern knitwear and always looks to history for inspiration. As an educated historian, Birger is keenly aware of how important knitting has been for not only keeping warm, but also for a sense of identity and pride.