ABBA blog

I am very happy to report that our first guided bus tour in the footsteps of ABBA, taking place 10–11 May, was a huge success. We all had a lot of fun as we boarded the bus and spent two days visiting a number of locations connected to ABBA. I'm obviously biased, as I was part of the team that arranged this venture, but as an ABBA fan I'm also able to see it from the outside. And with the locations we visited, the places we were able to gain access to – experiencing them from the inside – and the ABBA-related people we got to meet, this was a truly unique experience. We'll be doing it again on the weekend of 5–6 July: there are still tickets left, so I highly recommend that you book yours today!

You can only plan a venture like this up to a certain point. You can prepare the visits to the more than 30 locations on the tour, research the stories behind those locations, make sure that the schedule works and that you have good people to help you see the whole thing through: our driver Thomas, my fab assistant Elisabeth and the skilful photographer Urban, not to mention my co-conspirator Anders overseeing things in the background. But the tour only truly becomes a living, breathing thing with the aid of the participants who put their faith in us to deliver an exciting experience. We couldn't have wished for a better group on our "maiden voyage": there was plenty of laughter, but there was also stunned silence, some even shedding a tear or two from being overwhelmed by what they experienced.

I will confess that I had a warm, fuzzy feeling as I heard how the fans, many of whom had never met before, chatted away about all things ABBA: on the bus, while we were out on a walking part of the tour, and during lunch breaks. If this ABBA tour meant that fans really connected, and perhaps even struck up new friendships, then we couldn't have wished for a better outcome.

A personal note: I have researched ABBA's history for 35 years now, but I learned so many new things myself in preparing for this tour. Not least, going from place to place on a two-day excursion like this – looking up the houses where the ABBA members lived, the offices where they made their plans for conquering the world, the recording studios where they created more than half of their recorded output, plus a few unexpected locations I threw in to make the tour just a little more interesting – really gave you a feeling for what things were like for ABBA back then: it made Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida more three-dimensional to me.

I can't recommend this tour enough. Yes, again, I know I'm biased, but when even I – as one of the people who planned the venture – felt it was a revelation to actually go on the tour, thoroughly enjoying being part of a group where we all shared the experience, then we must have done something right. To quote one of our guests on the tour: "If you can go, go!!! You won’t regret it!!"

Book your tickets for the weekend of 5–6 July here.