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barrysharp
01-25-2003, 06:40 PM
My wife has been researching cost of hotels/hostels/B&Bs in Sweden and Norway and the range seems to be from USD$100 to USD$200 per night, and don't include breakfast.

We are starting to think that the OSD Tours are a good choice from a cost perspective as they not only include accommodation but also many of the meals as well.

What have others found wrt to DYI arrangements vs. OSD Tour prices?

Note that we've restricted our research to just Sweden and Norway.

Incidentally, I read/heard that overnight parking at hotels in Sweden can be from $15-$20.

As a tourist is local hotel room tax imposed or waived and is there a VAT tax in Sweden and/or Norway?

Low Tide
01-25-2003, 09:17 PM
Hang i there Barry, I'll get you a couple of websites from my wife's research in the next day or so. She found some recommended places for under $100. Plus, when you stay a few minutes outside of the city at a B&B and take the public transport- parking is often free. Hotels in the winter are not cheap, B&B's are certainly cheaper than the Hotel's from what I have read- althoug limited at this point. Information does seem to me to be a little harder to grasp than for some of the other northern European countries... let's reach out there and work on this answer...

First: use the resource here! Let's hear from some of our past OSD forum readers some RECOMMENDATIONS! It would be great to get some first-hand descriptions. Coastal could collect some of the recommendations and put up a little OSD HOW TO Guide for future users. WE can do our part and gather digital photos, names, info, prices.... that would be a great service for a forum like this. What do you think? Eh?

I still am likely to side against the OSD tours- just out of the notion that most pre-planned excursions are overpriced and too touristy.

Last- on the VAT.  Sorry mate, your paying VAT for all services.  Purchases over about $50 (roughly) you can get a receipt- refunded at the tax refund window when you leave the country. (for a small fee- about $5)

purush
01-25-2003, 09:17 PM
Barry

$100-$200 is very much the standard rate in Sweden.  In major places there might be Best Western, where a room could
for $80 or so.   I guess the OSD rates might be good if you follow the tour they suggest.  

Bed&Breakfasts are few and far in between.  However, Sweden has its solution called Vandrarhem -- which are like youth hostels.   Even they could cost around USD50/night.      Check out www.svif.se.  But be prepared for very minimal services!

Hope that helps.
regards
Purush

Low Tide
01-25-2003, 09:22 PM
Here's a couple that I found in the notes. You probably saw them, but these were two sites recommeded by a friend of mine in Uppsala:

http://www.gosweden.org/start/main/accomodation.html

http://www.bba.nu/

Prices are quite good, not cheap, but good value.  And- THANKS for the post on the Hostels!

barrysharp
01-25-2003, 09:54 PM
I should clarify some -- we aren't too upset about the $100-$200 per night but rather what the meal expenses are likely to run to. What is the general range for eating out?

Let's say hotel is $150/night/double and $100/day/double for food. That makes it $250/day or $1750 for a week. Are these numbers reasonable for budget purposes.

We were in Denmark a number of years ago (Copenhagen) and I recall paying $150 for a meal for two of us -- without wine/drink!

In 2001 we were in Amsterdam and prices were very reasonable for hotels and food.

Big
01-25-2003, 11:15 PM
Get a copy of Europe Through the Back Door - Scandinavia (http://ricksteves.com/books/scan.htm) for an excellent overview of things to do and reasonable places to stay. The website is full of good travel advice.

Our experience was that even when places did not include breakfast, there were plenty of excellent bakeries available. For dinner, you can get by quite cheaply in cafeterias if you avoid alcohol. You don't go there for dining although they do have good desserts. Lodging prices were similar to the U.S. but the places were cleaner.

coastal
01-25-2003, 11:22 PM
Sounds like a great idea Low Tide in terms of building an OSD handbook type resource.

You guys have seen rkestner's write up and photos, right? The most comprehensive write up on OSD I've seen yet:

Here's his thread introducing and discussing his work: http://xc70.com/cgi-bin....kestner (http://xc70.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=774;hl=rkestner)

Then the complete write up:
http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2a093/

And some more photos here: http://xc70.com/pics/thumbnails.php?album=22

I should contact him to see if it'd be ok if we republished his work in the newly proposed OSD resource section http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

barrysharp
01-25-2003, 11:27 PM
Big:

Thanks for that Rick Steves ref -- his place in Edmonds it just a bit more than a stone's throw away from where I live -- how could I have ignored his site/books. He's also quite cost conscious and practical about many things.

The bakery idea is an excellent one -- bread, ham, cheese and pickles -- will give my second seat integrated Thermal cooler box a workout http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif and if weather permitting the rear picnic table and cushions

Mr_Westlake
01-26-2003, 05:27 AM
You could All find some useful info here:

http://www.giscan.com/uk/

http://www.visitnorway.com/

http://www.hotellsverige.se/en_index.php

http://www.visitsweden.com

Cheers    http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

bavioder
01-27-2003, 10:45 AM
I found the meal prices in the range of $60-$80 for two in stockholm.  A good place to dine is Ikea.  Pretty good menu and reasonable prices.  They're all over the place.   As for parking, generally most places in the city center will require you pay for parking.  We chose to stay on the outskirts of town and drive in or use mass transit.  We mixed in Formule1 stays in between hotels which really helped lower the cost of the trip.  The rate is normally $30 a night.   There are three in Sweden.  Jonkoping, Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Gregg
01-28-2003, 12:33 PM
Hello
We did the osd last August and followed Rick Steves Scandinavia best places to see and had a great trip.
In Bergen  we could not find a place to stay, Tourist information told us of a great hotel on the out skirts of Bergen
named Solstrand Fjord Hotel.  It was the vaction place for the BergenTI worker. This place was fantastic with a beautiful view of the Fjords right on the water with a park like grounds(nice to get away from the downtown for a day).  The hotel was in Os and was a highlight for our family. If you see Oslo the Vigeland Sculpture Park is fantastic. Our travel agent had us stay in downtown Oslo which we found very hard to drive our car in(we fired our agent and just looked for places on our own after she failed to book us hotels with parking and did ok finding places for the rest of our trip). Stay on the outskirts of Oslo, I think Rick Steves also says this. Have a great trip.

rkestner
02-04-2003, 02:54 PM
barry,
first, let me say again how much i envy you and yours!  good luck on your adventure.

second, i chose www.virtualtourist.com for the report on my osd experience because i think it has great, REAL info from REAL folks about travel issues.  i would certainly recommend you visit their site and search for sweden.

third, we stayed at the Formule 1 hotels a number of times during our september 02 tour of the continent.  we did not mind going down the hall to the toilet or the shower for the substantial savings.  we spotted a Formule 1 in Gothenborg and will use it on our next osd trip.

fourth, we went when the weather was still good and took camping gear.  we decided taking the tent and other gear was unnecessary since most of the great camping places rented caravans(trailers) or bungalows, complete with linens, kitchen gear, etc. for very, very reasonable prices.  additionally, the folks in the camping places were very,very friendly and hospitable.  we had hoped to visit Tanumshede and the camping place, with bungalows, but just didn't make it after deciding to spend more time in gothenborg.

fifth,  the hotel prices and meal expenses you quoted seem in line for sweden for that time of the year and the level of comfort you are probably looking for.  

sixth,  i don't remember the name of the ship, but there is a ship in the harbor at gothenborg, near the 'lipstick' tower/building, that has an onboard hotel and restaurant.  we priced it and it was comparable to the radisson/less expensive.  we hope to stay there also next time.

lastly, we used the osd/volvo name everywhere we went to inquire about discounts.  on some occasions, we were offered the 'corporate' rates at substantial savings.  using the fdc arrangements for ferries also saves money courtesy of volvo.

hope this is helpful.  feel free to email me if i can be of any assistance whatsoever.

barrysharp
02-04-2003, 08:24 PM
rkestner:

Thanks very much for sharing all your good info. My travel plans have changed some and my wife and I have agreed it would be good to make the car pickup, factory tour and Sweden/Norway trip a father/son event http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif My son is thrilled with the idea as well. Neither of us have visited Sweden or Norway before but have travelled extensively throughout most the rest of Europe. With this change of plan my son and I can rough it a bit and save on certain things that my wife would otherwise not want to do. The Formulae 1 places look very reasonable prices and a short walk to the Loos and Showers is no problem for us, and that means we can devote more $$$s to other things http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif such as food & wine etc.

It seems that Formulae 1 places don't exist in Norway though -- so will figure on some other places.

Anyhows, you have given me a great start so now it's some serious internet browsing to see what I can put together.

Thanks again.

Low Tide
02-05-2003, 10:23 AM
Just an FYI: The 2003 FjordNorway discount card is now good year around. Prices remain VERY reasonable and at all levels of comfort.