After eight years of organizing the RHLS Easter trip abroad with over 275 travelers, this year's trip will mark a departure in both location, size, and focus.  Rather than being a large-scale, organized tour, this adventure - Springtime in Scandinavia - will be targeted toward independent travelers open to fun and exploration.  As a small group of no more than 24 people, we will be taking advantage of smaller, boutique hotels and utilizing trains and ferries as our main method of transportation.  While I will have suggestions and plans for sites to see and restaurants to try, the individuals or families traveling will have much more independence in how they will spend their time.

This year's trip is tentatively scheduled for March 31 - April 13, 2012.  We will begin in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and explore the fourteen islands that comprise the city.  Optional daytrips will include the island of Gotland and the city of Uppsala.  We will then fly to the city of Kiruna, located above the Arctic Circle, to spend two days in the legendary Ice Hotel.  From riding dogsleds to seeing the Northern Lights, we will be visiting an area of the world that few have ventured, and which has earned its place on the "1,000 Places to Visit Before You Die" list.  Our first night will include a stay in the hotel made entirely out of ice and the second night in the "warm" hotel (for those wishing to be "warm" both nights, you can stay in the heated hotel for the two nights).  For the even more adventurous, the hotel can arrange guided wilderness and reindeer tours.  Following Kiruna, we will be flying south to Gothenburg, for Easter weekend, and the site Sweden's most dramatic coastline.  The rugged Danish seaside will be our next stop in the town of Helsingør, site of the castle that inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet.  Finally, we will finish the trip in Copenhagen, known as the "Queen of the Sea" because of its palaces, parks, and cobblestone streets. 

          The Easter trips are open to all students in the middle school, their parents, their siblings (ten years and older), and anyone who has previously traveled with us.  Since this trip will be more independent in nature, solo travelers will need to be sixteen years or older and have previously traveled with me.  Because of the limited size of the group and the importance of securing air and hotel reservations, trip participants will need to pay a non-refundable deposit with their registration form (see attached instructions).  The 24 spaces will be filled based on the date of the receipt of this registration and deposit.

Springtime in Scandinavia 2012 Itinerary (PDF 282 KB)
Trip Registration Form (PDF 316 KB)
Scandinavia Trip Meeting Topics and Schedule (PDF 236 KB)

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