Brekke Tours strives to strengthen cultural, as well as ethnic ties between North
America and Scandinavia/Europe by creating meaningful travel experiences. Since
1956, our dedicated and knowledgeable staff has worked to achieve this goal by assisting
clients with making connections to ancestral ties, offering an array of enriching
experiences while traveling and providing the level of customer service our clients
have come to expect from Brekke Tours. To learn more about Brekke Tours, the services
we provide or to review some of our client testimonials, please visit our website
at www.BrekkeTours.com.
Your Scandinavian Specialist...
Brekke Tours
802 N. 43rd St.
Grand Forks, ND 58203
Phone: 701-772-8999 * 1-800-437-5302
Fax: 701-780-9352
Email: tours@brekketours.com
www.brekketours.com
Reservation hours:
Monday – Friday: 9:00am-5:00pm
(Central Standard Time)
Brekke Tours History
Brekke Tours traces its origin to the late 1950's when Arne Brekke, a student from
Norway, worked his way through graduate school in America by conducting summer tours
in Europe.
In 1967 Arne Brekke organized the first charter flight from Fargo, North Dakota
to Oslo, Norway, for the Sons of Norway. With the onset of public charters in 1982,
the market expanded and flights were opened to the general public. Mpls/St.Paul
served as a base for the charters, and a large number of Scandinavian-Americans
from the Midwest, as well as the western states, joined our flights. In addition,
transportation was provided westbound for affinity groups originating in Scandinavia.
In recent years, charters have been offered on a limited basis due to lower airfares
and greater flexibility provided by scheduled service.
In addition to providing independent travelers to Scandinavia with numerous travel
options, Brekke also offers a variety of escorted tour packages. Brekke Tours is
currently serving as a tour operator and destination specialist to Scandinavia.
After designing our own itineraries, we package and market our product on a national
basis. The diverse tour itineraries encompassing Norway include visits to areas
(i.e. Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim, the Valdres Valley, etc.) which are not
always presented in other tour programs.
In cooperation with local Norwegian cultural directors, persons engaged in emigration
research, and organizations promoting Norwegian-American relations, Brekke Tours
annually features one or more heritage tours to various regions of Norway. Heritage
tours have been offered to Møre / Romsdal, Telemark, Hardanger, Hallingdal Rogaland,
Numedal, Trøndelag, and Gudbrandsdal and are now being offered on an annual basis
to Sogn, Voss, and Valdres.
Brekke Tours has extensive information on all aspects of Norway: the location of
all farms; detailed information on the 448 municipalities (herreds- and bykommuner);
current information on persons employed in the municipalities, i.e. mayors and cultural
directors; current phone and fax guides; encyclopedias; and access to the latest
genealogical information. Brekke Tours makes extensive use of the Scandinavian languages,
especially Norwegian & Icelandic, and is thus able to convey information that is
generally not available in English. With a varied assortment of English language
brochures on numerous regions and hotels in Norway, we are also able to provide
clients with detailed information on specific areas of interest.
With extensive experience in group travel, knowledge of the Scandinavian languages
and people, Brekke Tours receives numerous inquiries for assistance in designing
tour itineraries for organizations, families and group leaders. Brekke Tours also
designs tours in the Midwest and the United States for Scandinavians and other interested
groups.
Based on the company's close ties to Norway, we are pleased to combine our love
of travel, our enthusiasm for Scandinavia and the Midwest, with our work. We truly
enjoy sharing the information, experience and wisdom we have gathered through the
years as a tour operator. We would be happy to assist with travel arrangements here
at home in the Midwest or to our favorite corner of the world - Scandinavia. For
further information contact...your Scandinavian travel specialist!