Many people planning on visiting the Nordic region want to use a tour operator. Not only does it make everything easier logistically, but it also makes it possible to make the most of the time you have to spare to dedicate to these countries.
Scandinavia Private Tours is one of these services. It promises to whisk you off into a winter wonderland, providing you with ample opportunities to view stunning landscapes and make the most of your time in the region.
But is this service any good or should you use a different one? That’s the purpose of this review. We look at what we liked, and what we didn’t, before summing up in our final verdict at the end where you’ll find out whether this service is right for you.
Who Is Scandinavia Private Tours’ Ideal Customer?
You’re probably an ideal customer for Scandinavia Private Tours if any of the following apply to you:
- You have a large budget but not much time for admin and logistics
- You want someone else to take care of all the planning and travel for you
- You expect a premium experience with plenty of options
- You want to customize your visit to go to places that are a bit off the beaten track
- You need extras, like restaurant bookings, included in the upfront fee
Usually, this service isn’t for backpackers looking to cut costs. However, you can use it as a luxury portion of an adventure trip if that’s what you want.
What We Liked
So, what did we like about Scandinavia Private Tours? And would we actually recommend it to people?
VIP Experience
The thing we liked the most about Scandinavia Private Tours (and the part of the service that most people really rave about) is the VIP experience. You can go on one of these tours and really have people working to enhance the experience for you around the clock.
For example, you’re not just taken on a pre-packaged tour where everything is laid out for you. It’s not just a set itinerary with some minor tweaks here and these to simulate customization. Instead, you’re in the driver’s seat, and you get to decide what you see.
Now, of course, if you want the operator to do this work for you, then they can. The female-led team can absolutely create plans on your behalf. But if there are specific things you want to see or places you want to go on the map, then that’s your prerogative.
True Driver-Guide Model
Scandinavia Private Tours also operates what it calls a true “driver-guide” model. This means that the guide on your trips is also the driver, which just makes everything so much more flexible. Fewer people to organize means less hassle and waiting around for conventional drivers who have to find parking spaces or drive around endlessly, waiting for you to finish.
When you think about this advantage in more detail, it really starts to make a lot of sense. Most private tours have a separate bus driver, and a lot of what you do has to work around them.
Covers The Entirety Of The Nordic World
You’ll also notice that Scandinavia Private Tours also covers the whole of the Nordic world. That means you’re not just isolated or contained to a specific region, like Denmark and Sweden. You can go thousands of miles to the coast of Greenland or explore the interior of Iceland, one of the world’s last true wildernesses.
Furthermore, Scandinavia Private Tours are obsessed with getting you as close as possible to hard-to-reach places. It wants customers to be able to experience the region at its very best, which is something that came across strongly in our experience.
Exclusive Experiences
Then, there are the exclusive experiences. These are activities that Scandinavia Private Tours arranges personally on your behalf that you normally wouldn’t be able to have. For example, it might arrange an after-hours museum tour for you, or take you to a special icefjord that only a few outsiders ever go to each year.
It was these little touches that we found the most special. We knew that using this tour operator meant that we could do things that other people simply couldn’t.
Good Ratings And Reputation
Finally, we noticed that Scandinavia Private Tours had some of the best ratings for tour operators out there. It wasn’t just us having a good time, but almost everyone using the service, including independent reviewers on platforms like TrustPilot.
Minor Cons
We didn’t really find any major drawbacks or dealbreakers with Scandinavia Private Tours during our experience. However, there were a couple of things that were perhaps slight drawbacks worth considering.
One thing we noticed was the lack of certifications or green carbon offset programs. A lot of high-end and premium providers have these, so that might be something worth considering.
Also, many of the tours were for quite lengthy periods, sometimes up to a month or more. This type of travel is the most immersive and we can understand why Scandinavia Private Tours wants to do it, but it means that people who have less time can’t just grab a three-day guided break.
Finally, Greenland and remote itineraries aren’t always guaranteed. Because of the weather, they can’t be.
That’s not a significant problem most of the time, though. As long as you travel in the right seasons, you can reduce the risk of being disappointed.
Final Verdict: Is It Worth It?
If you’re looking for a luxury, boutique private tour experience (especially with a group of friends), then Scandinavia Private Tours is probably one of your best options. It’s a five-star service provider in our books because of the customization options and the executive-class Mercedes transportation. When you use this service, you can avoid wasting time and really get to the core of what you want to do and avoid all of the hassle that’s usually associated with going anywhere new, especially the cold far north.
