WELCOME TO OSLO!

Arrive by 10 am at Oslo Airport and check into the centrally located Scandic Hotel Holberg. In the afternoon, we'll venture towards Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Peoples Museum) with plenty of exhibits of Norwegian textile traditions, as well as opportunities to see demonstrations of these traditions, such as spinning. We will also do a small yarn crawl, including Pickles, a modern yarn store in one of the most trendy and relaxed neighborhoods in Oslo. In the evening we'll meet for our first dinner as a group at our favorite farm to table restaurant. Get ready for Norwegian food of high quality with a contemporary feel. 

ALL ABOARD THE TRAIN TO RØROS!

Røros is a former mining town high up in the Norwegian mountains! The train ride takes us though the central eastern landscapes of Norway, offering great views of rolling hills, large valleys, deep forests and wide rivers. Keep your eyes on the landscape, you might just spot an elk or a wolf from your window! We will have our lunch on the train before an afternoon arrival in Røros and check in at an authentic Røros hotel. We will then proceed to do a short tour of the the small city, with its quaint old wooden houses, a picturesque high street and a beautiful cathedral situated at its very center. We will finish at our hotel for dinner.

RØROS TWEED & ONTO SELBU

The day will start at Røros Tweed, a weaving mill and spinnery, that will offer us a guided tour at their facilities. This is a great way to see a Norwegian textile industry that finds inspiration in traditional methods and patterns. They also have a great factory shop where you can get beautiful items such as cozy blankets and pillows.

After the tour, we will board the bus for Selbu. This small village outside Trondheim is where a certain quintessential Norwegian knitting tradition was created - you guessed it - the Selbu mitten! We will visit the small museum that showcases this tradition with a local guide. We'll have lunch there before boarding the bus to visit Selbu Spinnery, a small mill specializing in - amongst other things - yarn for Selbu mittens!

After this, we'll venture on to Trondheim, the most important ecclesiastical city of Norway, check in at the hotel, and head to dinner at a fabulous restaurant named after a Norwegian fable creature, taking traditional food to a new level.

EXPLORING TRONDHEIM

After an indulgent breakfast at the hotel, we will head over to Nidaros Cathedral for a guided tour through the stunning gothic cathedral, the largest in Northern Europe. The tour will also give us the opportunity to marvel at the Norwegian crown jewels, displayed at the premises. The church has been used for royal coronations and blessings for hundreds of years. After the tour, we will head out for lunch. The afternoon will be yours to explore the city on your own or with other members of the group.

A DAY AT SEA

Today our journey will continue at sea! After breakfast at the hotel we will board the express boat service from Trondheim to Ringholmen. Nestled off the coast of Tustna, near Kristiansund, Ringholmen is a delightful small islet offering cozy accommodations, a delightful restaurant, and a serene seascape. Originally a historic fishing hub for clipfish, Ringholmen’s old processing house has been thoughtfully transformed into a welcoming hotel and restaurant, preserving its traditional character while offering modern comforts and local cuisine. We’ll have dinner in the restaurant and perhaps a dive in the Norwegian Sea from the floating sauna? 

AT RINGHOLMEN

We'll have a relaxing day today, going out to explore the islet and old coastal culture. We also have a mini mitten workshop, picking up our needles inspired from the Selbu Bygdemuseum that we visited earlier. As a break from the hard work of mitten knitting, we'll have a thrilling RIB boat ride through Norway’s raw and unforgettable coastal landscapes! With Smøla’s spectacular archipelago and the historic island of Grip as the nearest neighbor, you’ll enjoy a journey packed with action and scenery—best experienced from the sea.

ONTO ÅNDALSNES

After a short ferry ride from Ringholmen, we will take a stunning bus ride over the Atlantic Road, a famed stretch of road stretched out over many tiny islands at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. We will stop for a lunch at Bjartmars favorittkro, before we head on to Åndalsnes. Upon arrival in Åndalsnes, we will settle at a beautiful wooden hotel nestled into the steep slopes of the valley. At the hotel we'll be getting a visit from the northernmost vineyard in the world, before we enjoy our dinner together and some relaxing knitting. 

ÅNDALSNES

In Åndalsnes, we will visit Rauma yarn, the second largest yarn mill in Norway, with their stunning array of high quality wool in all colors imaginable. We will have a tour of the mill before heading to the factory shop. We will spend a little time in the city center for some shopping. A short bus ride will deliver us to the gondola that will take us to the top of the mountain with stunning views of the landscape! We'll have a drink there before returning to the hotel for dinner.

BJØRKE & ÅLESUND

If you thought that you had seen spectacular views, you have even more to look forward to. A bus ride will take us from Åndalsnes via Bjørke to Ålesund. Along the way we will visit Hjørundfjordstrikk, an old farm that knit designers have made into a hub for local knitting. We will have a lecture on how they transform traditional patterns into modern designs. We will also have the opportunity to shop local yarns and take in the stunning scenery.

When we arrive in Ålesund we'll check into the charming Hotel Brosundet, nestled by the sea in the very center of town. You'll have time to roam the beautiful streets of this charming town, famed for its beautiful Art Nouveau architecture. While here, we’ll take a short hike up to Mount Aksla for stunning views of the city before returning to the hotel for dinner, relaxation and knitting. 

ÅLESUND

Today, you can choose to enjoy some last minute shopping in Ålesund, or take a walk with us up to Mount Aksla for a stunning look at the city and the surrounding scenery. Later on we'll enjoy a boat cruise together to the inner fjords, knitting through even more stunning scenery and enjoying some great food.

We'll have a final dinner together tonight, before we head to the airport the next morning.

DEPARTURE

Time to say our goodbyes. A bus ride will take us to Ålesund airport Vigra, connecting us to Oslo and the flights home. 

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.

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.