Mark and I were fortunate to explore the beautiful Northern countries in late August. After repositioning to Boston for one night, we flew to Oslo, Norway, to kick off our adventure. We spent just one night in Oslo but managed to visit the Munch Museum (home to The Scream) and the stunning Opera House. From there, we began the Norway in a Nutshell tour, which combined trains, ferries, and buses. We spent three days in the breathtaking fjords, concluding with two nights in Bergen.

Highlights of the trip included:

• Experiencing Norway’s majestic landscapes, including its iconic waterfalls

• A boat tour through the fjords to one of the most magical places I’ve ever seen

• A cider tour, complete with lunch and cider tasting

• Several scenic hikes

• Visits to charming churches

• Sampling traditional Norwegian foods like reindeer sausage and salmon soup

• A walking tour of Bergen, which was filled with history and charm

Norway is such a beautiful country, and I’m already dreaming of returning to explore the northern part next time.

From there, we flew to Helsinki, which we found to be a charming city.Helsinki’s beautiful landscaping and vibrant city life made for an unforgettable experience. We toured the city, with a highlight being a visit to the incredible new library (definitely worth Googling!). We also took a day trip to Estonia, where we explored a fortress and Bastian tunnels. Serendipitously, we stumbled upon a Banksy art exhibit, which I loved.

One of the most memorable experiences in Helsinki was visiting a traditional Finnish sauna. It was incredibly hot, but it was followed by a refreshing dip in the Baltic Sea. The sauna is a central part of Finnish culture—there are 3.3 million saunas for just 5.5 million people!

Next, we took an overnight cruise to Stockholm.This was a great and easy way to travel. We spent our final three nights in Stockholm, where we visited several world-class museums like the Nobel Museum, the Vasa Museum, and the ABBA Museum—each was fascinating. We also went on a Viking walking tour, which offered great insights into Sweden’s history, and had a delicious meal at a Viking-inspired restaurant. A must-see was City Hall, where the Nobel Prize banquet is held. One of our favorite aspects of Stockholm was their impressive transportation system, with stunning art in all the subway stations.

How We Did It:

• MCI-Boston: Southwest, 10.7k points plus $5.60 for one ticket; Mark flew free with his companion pass, just paying $5.60 in taxes.

• Boston-Oslo: Booked through Flying Blue, business class on Air France. Tickets were 50k points each, but with a transfer bonus, it was only 39k points plus $241.30 each.

• Bergen-Helsinki: Paid $140 each for the flight on Finnair.

• Helsinki-Stockholm: We booked a one-night cruise through GetYourGuide for $220 total.

• Stockholm-Atlanta: Booked on Flying Blue Premium Economy for 39.5k points each, but with a transfer bonus, it ended up being 30k points plus $230 each.

• Atlanta-MCI: Flew Southwest for 9k points plus $5.60. Mark flew free, just paying $5.60 in taxes.

Accommodations:

We stayed 13 nights in total and got 10 of them for free.

• In Boston, we used a free night certificate at the Hyatt Regency Harbor.

• In Oslo, Bergen, and Helsinki, we stayed in Choice Hotels for six nights (all lovely properties with incredible breakfasts included) for a total of 146k Choice Privileges points.

• I opened a Citi Strata card and earned a 60k bonus, which equated to 120k choice points, which helped cover the cost of the hotels. I also purchased the additional points (about 25k) I needed for about $130. Had we paid cash for the hotels, it would have been over $1,700.

• In Stockholm, we stayed at the Hyatt Story for only 5k points per night, a great redemption at 0.025 cents per point.

• We paid cash for our stays in the fjord area: one night in Flam for $450 and two nights in Dragsvik for $500.

All in all, it was an unforgettable trip, and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring this part of the world!