This year, E.F. Educational Tours will sponsor seven South High students and four adults to take a trip to Scandinavia. The trip will last one week, with departures from Wichita on June 3, and a return to Kansas from Sweden on June 11.
On the way to Oslo, Norway, there will be two layovers. One will be in Atlanta and the other will be in Amsterdam. By the time travelers reach Norway, they will be seven hours ahead of Salina.
Once landed, the tour group will have a walking tour in Oslo, and visit the Vigeland Sculpture Park, which is home to over 200 sculptures. During the rest of the trip, visitors will take an overnight cruise to Copenhagen, Denmark. They will stop by the Little Mermaid Statue and go into the Elsinore-Kronborg Castle. Later, the group will make the venture to Stockholm, Sweden, where they’ll explore Granna, a village. While there, they will visit Drottningholm Palace, which is home to the current King of Sweden.
Though E.F Tours provides activities and places to visit while in these countries, there is down time allowed for the group to explore these communities on their own. It is encouraged that tourists find a local place to have lunch, and support town businesses.
For this international vacation, there are many questions on what to pack. Travelers will be carrying all their own luggage, so one small suitcase and one carry-on bag are ideal. For clothes, the Scandinavian region has cool summers, so light layers will do the trick. A good pair of comfortable shoes is needed as the tour requires a lot of walking.
The biggest thing a traveler needs to worry about is their money and personal documents. An ATM and debit card are necessary to get around the countries, and at least $50 cash converted to the currency used in the country is helpful. In all three countries, they use a variation of Krone. Norway has the Norwegian Krone, Denmark has the Danish Krone, and Sweden has the Swedish Krona. For documents, travelers should have three copies of their passport available. One accessible form of ID to E.F, one for a family member at home, and one to carry with you. Having a list of addresses of those at home to send postcards to is a fun way to stay connected with family with the time difference.
If you couldn’t make it to this year’s trip, there are still spots available in 2025 for Paris, Provence and Barcelona. And soon, enrollment will begin for the 2026 trip to the British Isles (Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and London). E.F. structures their payments to be affordable to students, and hope to see more sign up in the coming years.
