Discover Scandinavia in the Midwest

Tour / Price Includes

• 11 nights accommodations, 3 star or comparable hotels, double occupancy
• Daily breakfast [B], 2 lunches [L] and 8 dinners [D]
• 1st-class touring coach
• Visits to Norsk Høstfest, Minnesota Capitol, Old Muskego Church, Norskedalen Nature and Interpretive Center, Vesterheim Museum, Runestone Museum, ND Heritage Center, Ironwold, Gammelgarden, Swedish Institute, James J. Hill House, Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center, Ft. Abraham Lincoln, Custer House, "On-A-Slant" Village and the Mall of America
• Dinner cruise on the Mississippi River
• Luggage handling at hotels for 1 suitcase
• Tour Director for Days 1—12
• Tour information kit including Brekke Tours flight bag, luggage tags and document holder

Please read the Terms and Conditions for this tour carefully before registering.

Attend the Norsk Høstfest in Minot, the largest Norwegian-ethnic event in the world! Travel to select Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic and Finnish settlements of Minnesota and North Dakota. Learn how the Scandinavians have maintained their culture and impacted their communities. Meet the local people and enjoy the friendly hospitality of Mid-America's heartland. Itinerary includes Fargo, Grand Forks, Bemidji, Duluth and Minneapolis/St. Paul!

Tour Dates

September 22 - October 3, 2010

Tour Prices

• Tour Price: $1695
  (Services begin and end in Minneapolis/St. Paul)
• Single Supplement $535

Tour Itinerary

• Day 1: [Meal: D] Minneapolis/St. Paul | Arrive in Minneapolis/ St. Paul per independent arrangements. (airport shuttle or long-term parking available through hotel). Welcome dinner. Overnight at Holiday Inn Express, Bloomington, MN.
• Day 2: [Meal: B, L] Minneapolis/St. Paul - Lacrosse, WI | Visit the Minnesota State Capitol building featuring one of the world’s tallest unsupported marble domes. See the statue of Knute Nelson, a Norwegian immigrant and noted politician who was the first Governor of Minnesota. Visit the home of the late Great Northern Railroad baron James H. Hill at the family’s mansion in St. Paul. Enjoy lunch at Luther Seminary cafeteria prior to touring Old Muskego Church, the first church built by Norwegian immigrants to America in 1844. Cross over the river used by early Native Americans and explorers and proceed to LaCrosse, WI. Overnight at the Best Western Midway Hotel.
• Day 3: [Meal: B, D] LaCrosse, WI—Coon Valley, WI—Decorah, IA | Visit Norskedalen Nature and Interpretive Center, with its carefully preserved collection of original log and stone buildings crafted by the Scandinavian immigrant settlers in the latter half of the 1800's. Located on 400 acres of scenic valley along Poplar Creek, enjoy Norskedalen's collection of Norwegian, as well as Native American, artifacts. Return to LaCrosse and relax with a dinner cruise on the Mississippi River. Overnight at the Best Western Midway Hotel.
• Day 4: [Meal: B, D] Decorah, IA—Mankato, MN | Drive through the rolling hills of southern Minnesota and into Decorah, IA, known for its Norwegian beginnings. Tour Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, home to 16 historic buildings, demonstrating the home life, agriculture practices, and lumber occupation of the early settlers. Drive through the Amish country as we continue through southern Minnesota to Mankato. Dinner. Overnight at the Country Inn and Suites.
• Day 5: [Meal: B, D] Mankato, MN—Alexandria, MN—Fargo, ND | Drive to New Ulm, MN. Learn about the first attacks on Norwegian settlers in the US-Dakota War. Continue to Alexandria, MN and visit the Runestone Museum home of a mysterious Viking-era artifact dated 1362. Continue to Fargo, ND, situated in the rich Red River Valley of the North, location of the most productive farmland in the nation. Dinner. Overnight at Expressway Inn and Suites.
• Day 6: [Meal: B, D] Fargo, ND—Bismarck, ND | Tour the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center in Moorhead, MN. View the remarkable Viking-style ship, which sailed to Norway in 1982, and the hand-built replica of the Hopperstad Stave Church. Continue to Bismarck, ND with a stop in Jamestown, ND to see the world’s largest buffalo statue and the roaming buffalo herd at the Pioneer Village. Dinner. Overnight at the Expressway Inn and Suites in Bismarck.
• Day 7: [Meal: B] Bismarck, ND | Tour the North Dakota Heritage Center and view exhibits illustrating the unique history and settlement of North Dakota from pre-historic times to the present. Drive across the Missouri River to Ft. Abraham Lincoln. Tour the historic Custer House where General George Custer headquartered prior to his “last stand”. View the reconstructed earth lodges while learning about the life of the Mandan Indians in the 1600 and 1700’s at “On-A-Slant” Indian Village. Time for shopping and dinner on own. Overnight at the Expressway Inn and Suites in Bismarck.
• Day 8: [Meal: B] Bismarck, ND—Minot, ND—Grand Forks, ND | We depart early for Minot, ND to attend a full day at America’s largest Scandinavian festival, Norsk Høstfest. Enjoy the variety of entertainers, ethnic foods and products of various Scandinavian artisans and vendors. Attend the headliner concert. After a busy day of activities, relax in the motor coach as we drive east and return to the Red River Valley. Overnight in Grand Forks, ND at the Hilton Garden Inn.
• Day 9: [Meal: B, L, D] Grand Forks, ND—Park Rapids, MN—Bemidji, MN | Learn about efforts of the “Nordic Initiative” committee, directed at preservation and strengthening of Scandinavian heritage in the U.S. Depart for “lake country” as we head east to visit Itasca Park, one of the nation's most traveled state parks, with its 32,000 acres of virgin timber. Box lunch provided on the bus. Proceed to Bemidji, MN, home of the mythical Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox. Dinner. Overnight at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel.
• Day 10: [Meal: B, D] Bemidji, MN—Chisholm, MN—Duluth, MN | Depart for Chisholm, MN, located at the geographic center of the largest depository of iron ore in the world, the Mesabi Iron Range. Tour Minnesota Discovery Center Museum (formerly Ironworld), a 33,000 square-foot facility that houses artifacts, examines mining methods and explores regional geology. Continue to Duluth, the picturesque harbor city on the shore of Lake Superior, largest of the Great Lakes chain. These five lakes form the largest group of freshwater lakes on earth. Enjoy a tour of the harbor and dock area, including the famous Aerial Lift Bridge and Canal Park with its many unique shops. Dinner. Overnight at the Radisson Hotel overlooking the Duluth Harbor.
• Day 11: [Meal: B, D] Duluth, MN—Minneapolis, MN | Enjoy breakfast in the revolving restaurant overlooking the harbor atop our hotel. Continue south to visit commemorative sites around Chisago City, Lindstrom, and Taylor Falls where Swedish settlers built communities in the 1800’s. Stop at Gammelgarden, the only open-air museum in the US devoted to Swedish immigration, where local heritage has been preserved in original farm buildings, equipment, and home items. Continue to Minneapolis. Visit the Swedish Institute, located in the 33 room ornate Turnblad mansion. Enjoy a farewell Swedish dinner and entertainment. Overnight at the Radisson Mall of America Hotel.
• Day 12: [Meal: B] Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN—Depart | Tour ends following breakfast at the hotel. Complimentary shuttle service available to airport.