We have 16 days total (including arrival and return day) and I am thinking will follow close the RS itinerary minus Finland and Tallinn because I don't think I will have enough time. I think I have an idea of the places we want to go, but having a hard time selecting from where to where.
1. Arriving in Copenhagen 3 days
2. Ero and Arhus 2 days each (what to do first). Here is where my confusion starts. Do I have to go back to Copenhagen to go to Stockholm, or head to Norway? What is most efficient timewise? Not renting a car, only public transportation.
3. Stockholm 3 days
4. Oslo 2 days
5. Fjords/Bergen 2 days
I think I have 2 days left, not sure where or if it will be spent on the road. I understand from Oslo to Stockholm or the other way around there is a 5.5 hrs. train.
I am open for suggestions/recommendations.
Planning to leave 07/31 and I need to start booking reservations. Thanks!
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
1790 posts
Anyone on the Forum will tell you to measure your trip in nights, not days. This way, there is no confusion about which day you're talking about, where you're staying, etc.
I think it would take you most of a day to get to Æro from Copenhagen without a car. Same with getting from Æro to Aarhus. I'm not saying it's not possible, but I would look at that very closely.
It looks like you could fly to Stockholm from Billund, which is about 2 hours by train from Aarhus. I didn't see any direct flights from Aarhus to Stockholm.
These train rides are 5-6 hours long, so take that into consideration when you say you're only going to stay 2 nights in Oslo. That gives you one full day to see a LOT of sights in a big city. With only two weeks, I think you're trying to see too much.
Posted by
Washington DC
30577 posts
I agree with G3rryCee. Trying to replicate a tour itinerary when you're depending on public transportation is likely to result in a lot of time spent sitting on trains, buses and ferries and not much time for sightseeing with your feet on the ground.
I'm guessing your 3 days in Copenhagen start with your arrival day after an overnight flight. Unless you're traveling business class or are a really great sleeper, you may be severely sleep-deprived and jetlagged that day. You may well not be fully back to normal even on the next day, which would mean not a lot of quality time in Copenhagen. And then you have a lot of other days with lengthy travel. Think about how few days you're going to be able to spend fully in your base city, as opposed to packing up and traveling to your next stop.
I have never tried to connect Denmark to Norway or Sweden, so I cannot tell you the best routing via public transportation. I do know Bergen has flights to quite a lot of places; that might be useful for you.
Posted by
Denmark
276 posts
I would visit Ærø first, then Aarhus. That makes your onwards journey ever so slightly easier. You can look up how long it will take by public transport on journeyplanner.dk. You can type in Ærøskøbing Havn, if you want the harbour in Ærøskøbing as your origin/destination.
I am tempted to say there is an abundance of ways continue on your onwards journey from Aarhus. As the others have mentioned, if time efficiency is the key factor, you should fly.
There are direct flights:
- From Billund Airport to Stockholm with SAS, to Oslo with SAS and Norwegian and to Bergen with Norwegian
- From Aarhus Airport to Oslo with SAS
- From Aalborg Airport to Oslo with SAS
If there's a reasonable way for you to do it, I'd suggest you fly to either Stockholm or Bergen and then complete the rest of your journey by land/rail.
There are dedicated airport buses from Aarhus to both Aarhus Airport and Billund Airport. Aalborg Airport is a little further afield, but there are direct trains, and if you buy early the train ticket can (but are not guaranteed to be) cheaper than the tickets for the dedicated airport buses.
I concur with acraven. If I were you, I'd look at where travel days essentially eat up your time and add an extra day for the relevant destinations, so you're not 'just' spending 2 weeks speed running through Scandinavia.
Posted by
Chicagoland
2205 posts
Rick's itinerary isn't easy to duplicate in his condensed time frame do to travel logistics. We spent 2½ weeks just in Norway and didn't see everything.
How do you plan to get from Oslo to Bergen?
If you're using public transportation the extremely scenic journey following the Norway in a Nutshell route will take one very long , but beautiful day.
If you spend a night enroute you could visit Stegastein Viewpoint which is a great compliment to the Naeroyfjord cruise from Flåm to Gudvangen. Or you could go kayaking or hiking.
And Bergen could easily use another day or two.
Posted by
9950 posts
Looks good, but I think your plan focuses too much on the large cities and not enough on the amazing fjords.
We have been to all three countries and by far the most enjoyable trip was the cruise from Copenhagen to coastal Norway, where we visited six amazing port, most with awesome fjords, all the way to the North Cape.
You are planning 2 days in Bergen, which is a nice city to visit, we have been there, but it wasn't the best port we visited with a fjord.
Geirangerfjord was the best fjord we visited on our cruise. Others were Flam, Alesund and a couple of others that I can't remember.
Stockholm, don't miss the Vasa Museum, it is amazing.
Also, the Viking Museum outside of Copenhagen is great.