About

Norwegian Heritage Travel

Norwegian Heritage Travel offers a unique travel opportunity for individuals, families, and groups who wish to explore the beautiful country of Norway. We will put together a travel itinerary to Norway tailored just for you. 

We are experts in Norwegian genealogy research and will not only find your roots in Norway, but also customize a travel package for you.  You will experience and explore your roots along with other fascinating and historic places in Norway.

Owner - David Olson

David Olson grew up in North Dakota and has a double major in Norwegian and Geography from the University of North Dakota.  David has lived in Norway and speaks, writes, and reads Norwegian fluently, and has done genealogy research for 25 years.  Having explored “every little fjord and farm of Norway” through all modes of travel thinkable (bicycle, car, bus, train, boat, skis, plane), David has the knowledge to design a travel package especially for you.

Heritage Travel

Heritage Travel

The goal of Norwegian Heritage Travel is to give each customer that one of a kind experience of visiting the areas where their ancestors lived. If you are traveling independently to Norway, we can make all your travel arrangements. If you are taking a group tour and would like to spend extra days before or after, we can help arrange an unforgettable heritage trip.

Norwegian Heritage Travel will combine genealogy research with heritage travel to offer a wonderful package. We will work closely with you to plan itineraries that include transportation, accommodations, and activities. The owner, David, typically travels with all customers. If not, a guide will be hired from Norway.

You can expect to visit family farms and even those long lost relatives you might have in Norway. We make the contacts and set up all the visits after working closely with you. Customers have been able to visit relatives, farm houses their grandparents were born in, and churches where their forefathers were baptized, confirmed, and married.

We know how to find your family roots

Genealogy Research

Through the use of an array of American, Canadian, and Norwegian resources, we are able to do any type of genealogy research. All we need to get started are a name and some dates, and we will be able to locate in Norway where your ancestors lived. We will also work to obtain any other family history information that you wish, including such items as Norwegian census and church records, emigration and immigration records, family trees and much more.

Family research may be combined with a heritage trip to Norway where wonderful memories will be made.

Sample Resources

Sample Resources that may be used and can be translated include:

Bygdeboks – Local Norwegian community and farm books with a wealth of genealogical information and family history.  Here is a link to the Ostby South, Pers farm in Trysil, Norway and a translation.

Norwegian Census Records – Census records in Norway include valuable genealogical information.  Here is a link to the 1865 Census for Ostby South, Pers farm.

Norwegian Church Records – Church records in Norway can be used to determine birth place, birth names, parents, and more.  They can also be used to determine which place or farm your ancestors lived before emigrating.  Here is a link to the baptism record for Martin Engebretson Ostby of Trysil, Norway.

Immigrant Ship Records – On what ship and date did your ancestors immigrate.  Here is a link to the Martin Ostby family ship record arriving in Boston, MA.

Norwegian Heritage Travel

Some Fun Facts about Norway

Fun Facts

4,642,526
Americans with Norwegian Roots
125,020
Total Area - square miles
1882
Peak Immigration - US

Costs/Conditions

Heritage Travel

Because of the nature of custom itineraries, the prices will differ with each individual package. We will work closely with you to stay within your budget.  Please contact Norwegian Heritage Travel for more information.

After an itinerary and cost is agreed upon, we will send an invoice for 20% of the total cost so that bookings can be made. This deposit is non-refundable. The balance payment is due 30 days prior to departure.

Cancellations must be received in writing. For cancellations 30 days prior to departure for Norway, a full refund minus deposit will be given. For cancellations after 30 days to departure, a 50% refund will be given.

Items not included in our prices are visa and passport fees and travel and accident insurance.

Genealogy Research

An hourly fee will be charged for research.  An estimate of hours will be given beforehand.

If the information is not found, there will be no charge. That is our guarantee.

Contact

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    Please call or email for more information or to ask any questions. We are very happy to help and always eager to talk about Norway.



    Norwegian Heritage Travel

    6834 147th Ave NE, Grafton, ND 58237, USA
    701-885-5273
    david@nhtrav.com

    Testimonials

    Per Odd SmelhusGenealogist and Municipality Leader

    Highly Recommend Services

    I have known Mr. David Olson for many, many years and have found him to be a trustworthy, knowledgeable, serious person. He has traveled all over Norway, lived here for periods of time, and speaks Norwegian fluently. His knowledge and interest in genealogy is remarkable and I would highly recommend his services at Heritage Travel Business.

    Susan Skjarstad Malinowski

    Remarkable Heritage Trip 2023

    My husband and I had a remarkable heritage trip to Norway with David Olsen. He guided us from Trondheim to the Lofoten Islands showing us the path of my ancestors from the south to the north. We came to an understanding of the life of the people. He was able to locate the farm my grandfather and his father worked on, as well as the churches where they were baptized, married and were buried. We met cousins that had not shown up in my research. I was very touched to walk on the ground of my ancestors.  I will never forget this experience.

    Liane Jensen

    Trip of Lifetime

    We just returned from a trip to Norway planned by David Olson of Norwegian Heritage Tours. It was the trip of a lifetime! Not only did we see breathtaking scenery, but we met, stayed with and shared meals with a number of our distant relatives! What a gift! David worked with us to plan the itinerary, made changes when we requested to see certain places or do specific things and showed concern about our comfort and satisfaction all through the process. He made contact with our Norwegian relatives and set up our many visits, giving us lots of family background information. We saw the birthplaces, the churches attended and homes lived in by our Great Grandparents and their parents before them, prior to emigrating to the United States. David is sincere, reliable and responsive. He acted as our driver, interpreter and guide and his passion for Norway shows through in all he does! We highly recommend Norwegian Heritage Tours and David Olson as your personal guide through Norway.
    Mark and Liane Holt Jensen, Farmington Hills, MI
    Gregg and Susan Holt Lawrence, Elko, NV

    Derek BlestrudMeteorologist

    Very Thankful

    The services that David provides are top notch and unsurpassed for someone looking to explore their Norwegian roots. Not only did he locate all of the old farmsteads from which my ancestors immigrated to America from, but was able to guide us to their exact locations and introduce me to my Norwegian relatives. It was also very reassuring to have him travel with us and be our translator the few times that we needed help communicating with those who did not speak English. I’m very thankful for the services that he provided. I would have never found my Norwegian relatives without him! – Derek

    Norman and Connie Berg

    An Amazing Experience

    I was searching for information on my Norwegian roots using the traditional online sources and getting nowhere. David was recommended to me by a friend and the results were amazing. In short order, David uncovered a wealth of information for us. He discovered that my grandfather had changed his name from Sand to Berg (i.e. the name of the farm they lived on) when he immigrated to the USA. He located second cousins in Norway that I never knew I had. We added two days to our planned group tour of Norway so we could learn more about our roots. David put together a detailed trip agenda and had us picked up at the airport. We spent the next two days visiting the family farms, churches where grandparents were baptized and confirmed while getting to know our new cousins from Norway.David had arranged for local guides that could translate which was great. Those two days were the highlight of our trip to Norway.
    Norman and Connie Berg