I'm planning a 14-day trip (exclude 2-day travel) to Scandinavia with hubby and our 7 years old son next summer. This will be our inaugural trip to this region. I've traveled to other parts of Europe numerous times, but am completely unfamiliar with Scandinavia (language, culture, food, etc), except that these countries have high standards of living and are more expensive than other European countries. I am excited about the trip and I have lots of questions. Seeking advice on all or any of the following -
First, a bit about us - prefer a mixture of cultural and natural sightseeings. Love the outdoors, but not hardcore.
1) Tentative schedule - is this doable? did I allocate reasonable amount of time to cover these cities? do I need to cut or add or change cities?
Copenhagen 4 nights/4 days (including one day to Odense and Aero).
Stockholm 3 nights/3.5 days, night ferry to Helsinki.
Helsinki 1 day with same evening flight into Oslo.
Oslo 3 nights/2 days.
Norway in a Nutshell 2 days.
Bergen 2 nights/ 1 day.
2) Do I need to book all major transportation (e.g. train/ferry rides) in advance? if so, how early for summer travels?
3) I put down flying from Helsinki to Oslo to save time, but can change this to train. If flying, which regional airlines to look?
4) Is it still easy to take direct train from one country to another with the current border controls? Or is it better to fly instead?
5) How early do I need to book Norway in a Nutshell? And how does it work exactly? From what I've read it sounds like a series of transportation that will get you from Oslo to Bergen (or vice versa) and along the way there are amazing views. I'd like to stay overnight in Flam, I've read about two-day NiN, but not sure how it works.
6) What is the best way to handle currencies between these countries? I think only Finland uses Euro. Do I just do ATM cash and then convert the leftover in next country?
7) Does anyone know if Uber made its way to Scandinavia yet?
Thank you for your time and advice.
Lily