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VOYAGE TO THE FJORDS – FROM VIKINGS TO FOREST INDUSTRIES
Post-congress tour to mid Sweden and southern Norway
Period: June 29 – July 4
*Dates and schedules are subject to change.
**Trip confirmation requires a minimum of 20 participants.
This tour leaves from Stockholm and stops in Karlstad, known as the capital of the “Paper province”. We continue to Norway where the programme includes a visit to beautiful the Yre Hvaler National Park, Fredriksten Fortress, Borregaard biorefinery and Splitkon, a production facility for massive wooden houses. This south-eastern area of Norway hosts several historic sites from the Viking Age. The trip will go along the Oslo Fjord and continue to Oslo, where a range of museums and cultural institutions await.
Experience Hjälmare canal >
Excursions with the steamship s/s Gerda >
Visiting Arboga >
Visiting Karlstad >
The Ytre Hvaler National park in Skjærhalden >
Boat tour Fredrikstad, Norway – Strømstad, Sweden >
Visit to Fredriksten >
Guided tour to Midgard viking center >
Visit Oscarsborg fortress >
Kleivstua hotel >
Visit to Hardraade Viking Ship Association >
FORESTRY HIGHLIGHTS IN NORWAY
Visiting the Biorefinery in Borregaard, Sarpsborg >
Visit massive wooden house production at Splitkon >
Visit to Treklyngen industrial park >
Oslo municipality >
FORESTRY HIGHLIGHTS IN SWEDEN
Visit to Ekopark Färna – Sveaskog >
Visit to Setra Skinnskatteberg >
Visit to Billerud Gruvön >

Experience Hjälmare Canal, Sweden’s oldest artificial waterway
This is a 13 kilometres long canal that connects Lake Hjälmaren with Lake Mälaren in Sweden. The canal was taken into use in 1639, aimed to transport iron from the Central Swedish Mining District to Stockholm and further abroad.

Excursions with the steamship s/s Gerda, charming and experienced lady
This charming old steam launch Gerda was built in 1865 and usually chugs along Eskilstunaån (the Eskilstuna River) during the summer.

Visiting Arboga and its medieval characters
Guided tour in Arboga, beautiful and charming town in Västmanland with its well-preserved medieval character. The ancient cobblestones of Västerlånggatan (the riverside street, lined with period wooden houses) have been trodden by the feet of many locals and travellers throughout the ages. The town holds a prominent position in Swedish medieval history, and the country’s first parliament (riksdag) was held here in 1435. Today, Arboga is a quiet town with a population of around 12,000.
An exciting period in Arboga’s history was when the Franciscan monks settled here during the 13th century; Gråbröderna (the grey brotherhood), as there were called, were known for participating in communities which they thought had the potential to expand and develop. There are many stories of an old network of underground passages in which the monks could move around the town in secret. The monks stayed in Arboga until the 16th century, when King Gustav Vasa broke with the Roman Catholic Church, took over all the monasteries and drove the monks out of Sweden.
Arboga was an influential town during the Middle Ages; the Arboga River gave the town a trade route to Stockholm and the rest of the world. Unfortunately the trade route was discontinued after construction was completed on the Hjälmarkanal (Hjälmar Canal).

Karlstad, city and capital of Värmland län (county), southwest-central Sweden, on the island of Tingvalla and on the northern shore of Lake Vänern, at the mouth of the river Klarälven.
Originally called Tingvalla after the ting, or meetings of the legislature, that were held there, it was renamed in honour of Charles IX, who chartered it in 1584. It was made a cathedral city in 1645 and the seat of the county government in 1779. In 1905 it was the site of negotiations ending the union of Sweden and Norway.
Karlstad is built on the river delta where Sweden’s longest river, Klarälven, runs into Sweden’s largest lake, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.
Karlstad’s industry is based largely on forest products and heavy machinery. Connected with the ocean via Gothenburg and the North Sea, it has a large export-import trade.

Ytre Hvaler National Park in Skjærhalden
is one of the most important areas for outdoor life in the Oslofjorden.
Ytre Hvaler National Park comprises 354 km2 of coastline and skerries, and is the first marine national park in Norway. As much as 96% of the national park is under water. Dipping cliffs, kelp forests, eelgrass beds and corals are just a few examples of environments that hide beneath the sea surface. The coral reef at Tisler is one of the largest in Europe.

There are several beaches nearby Skjærhalden with the environmental certification Blue Flag, an international environmental certification of beaches and marinas. We have possibility to take a bath, sunbathing, or just relaxing.

Boat tour Fredrikstad, Norway – Strømstad, Sweden
Exploring the beautiful National Park by boat, and learning about the protected forests in it.

Visit (dinner and overnight) at
Fredriksten, Norway’s largest, most important, and most venerable border fortress
Many also find it one of the most magnificent in Europe, majestically located above Halden. It offers a fantastic view of the town and the fjord, and far into what once was enemy territory.

The Viking Age is here! Guided tour to Midgard viking center
with focus on Viking history and wooden use throughout Norwegian history (lafting, stave churches, massive wood buildings etc.) The construction technique lafting was the dominating way of building wooden houses from the Viking Age to the 19th century.
We visit the thrilling Viking playground with exciting activities for both young and old, join the housewife by the fireplace in the Viking Hall and have a cup of coffee in our café overlooking the majestic Borre Mounds.

Visit (dinner and overnight) at
Oscarsborg fortress
Oslo fjord, a fortress with historical significance from World War 2. An inmate temporarily halted the German advance towards Oslo. This gave the Royal Family, the Government and large parts of the Storting the time they needed to get to safety. The German battleship Blücher was sunk 9 th April 1940.

We stay at historical Kleivstua hotel
(built around 1807) which also offers rich opportunities for experiencing nature, sports and cultural activities. With the entire Krokskogen forest on our doorstep, the place is a fantastic starting point for cycling and walking. Kleivstua is beautifully located on top of Sørkleiva.
In Kleivstua’s kitchen local ingredients are transformed into a mix of good, Norwegian food tradition and international cuisine. The local ingredients from the Ringerike region are used, like Ringerike potatoes and Ringerike peas; and game, mushrooms, and berries from Krokskogen forest.

Visit to Hardraade Viking Ship Association
They are building a full-scale Viking ship, which will sail on Tyrifjorden. The ship is built in the traditional way, using authentic materials as was done in the Viking Age, as far as practically possible.

Visiting the Biorefinery Borregaard, Sarpsborg
One of the worlds most advanced and sustainable biorefinery. By utilizing different components of wood, they produce environmentally friendly biochemicals that can replace oil-based products. These products are used worldwide.
Borregaard is the only supplier of vanillin from PEFC certified wood. Did you know that the vanilla taste in ice cream might come from Norwegian forests?

Visit Massive woodenhouse production at Splitkon
Splitkon is a production facility for cross-laminated timber panels (CLT) and glulam beams. Splitkon is the only industrial producer of CLT panels at this scale in Norway.
Annually, they use 60 000 cubic meters solid-sawn PEFC-certified timber boards from Norway. Sustainable forestry and increased use of wood products in the building industry is a vital part of reaching the world’s climate goals.

Visit to Treklyngen industrial park
Treklyngen is an industrial park on the site of a former paper mill. The owner, Viken Skog, is a Norwegian forest owner group.
Treklyngen strategy is to attract and facilitate the construction of wood-based industries within biofuels, materials and renewable energy. Treklyngen search for solutions where bi-products and residues from one plant can become feedstock for its neighbor.

Treklyngen has projects at various stages of development:
- The owner, Viken Skog, and Billerud are planning for a BCTMP wood pulp plant.
- Biojet is planning a full-scale biofuel plant, that convert forestry and wood-based construction waste into lower-emissions biofuel and biofuel components.
- Vow Green Metals is a bio carbon plant, currently under construction.

Visit to Ekopark Färna – the landscape of the aspen forest
In Ekopark Färna, you can hike through magical, block-rich spruce forests or paddle along a sparkling water system. The area’s greatest natural value is the many aspens, from young trees to centuries-old giants. They have survived here thanks to recurring fires, floods and large temperature changes in the block lands.
Careful conservation work
Thanks to long-term and careful work with nature conservation in Ekopark Färna, you will find all known species of woodpecker in the ecopark, except the white-backed one. But we are convinced that it is also on its way. When we started our work, only a quarter of the forest was deciduous, today it is every other tree. Deciduous forest is necessary to create diversity and richness of lichens, flowers and fungi. And then, of course, there are insects that, among other things, birds love.
Lush landscape
Aspen is a master at coping with this kind of disturbance and is therefore not outcompeted by spruce. In the leafy landscape, a variety of beautiful and endangered species thrive. For their sake, Sveaskog works intensively to preserve aspen forests and open cultural lands.
The large and sometimes hundred-year-old aspens have a rough bark that suits many different lichens. The unusual jelly lichens have perhaps one of the country’s best growing places in Färna. The old deciduous trees mean that other rare species also thrive here, such as the aspen butterfly and the folding tick.

Visit to Setra Skinnskatteberg – Smart solutions for sustainable construction
Setra is one of Sweden’s largest wood industry companies. In our facilities, we refine forest raw materials into climate-friendly, highly refined products such as glulam, planed wood, components and Cross laminated timer/CLT for construction and housing on a global market.
Our timber originates from responsibly managed forests in some of the world’s best softwood raw material areas. We also sell bioproducts such as bark, chips and shavings to the paper and pulp industry as well as for energy production.
Setra has eight production sites around Sweden, seven sawmills and a processing unit where we produce glulam, components and CLT. In addition, there is a planing mill in Great Britain that is operated by the company Setra Wood Products.

Visit to Billerud Gruvön
The production unit Gruvön, nineteen miles west of Karlstad in Värmland, is a world-leading manufacturer of fluting (New Billerud Flute®, the world’s strongest semi-chemical fluting), liners, kraft paper, sack paper, formable paper (FibreForm®), liquid packaging board and cup stock intended for users with very high demands on efficient, creative and functional packaging solutions. Gruvön also produce market pulp.
The fluting (the wavy layer of corrugated board) is used for fragile and heavy industrial products as well as for food packaging. The liner is used as a surface layer in packaging for luxury, beauty and fashion products as well as for food and groceries. The kraft paper is used for a variety of industrial and medical applications as well as for dry foods such as flour, sugar, pasta and grains. The sack paper is used for industrial packaging such as cement bags or for consumer products such as animal feed. The formable paper opens up opportunities for new design and packaging solutions in a variety of applications including mugs, bags, cards, cartonboards, shaped containers and trays. The liquid packaging board is used as packaging for milk, juice, yogurt and other liquid foods.