Itinerary for visiting Norway, Sweden and Denmark in June 2025 from Dallas, Texas, USA

Renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another usually results in an extremely high surcharge--many hundreds of euros. That's probably not going to be a great idea, given how much ground you're trying to cover.

The train from Oslo to Bergen takes at least 6-1/2 hours, so I really don't think you're going to be able to see much of anything in Oslo on Day 2.

The Norway in a Nutshell route is a highly efficient way to see one of Norway's most fabulous fjords and travel from Oslo to Bergen at the same time. It makes for a long day, but it can be done in a day. Some people like to spend one night somewhere along the way, but it may not be easy to find lodgings at this point. These are the components of the classic Norway in a Nutshell trip:

• Mainline train Oslo to Myrdal
• Flamsbana train Myrdal to Flam (buy combined ticket Oslo to Flam from vy.no; pay with PayPal)
• Naeroyfjord ferry Flam to Gudvangen (buy from NorwaysBest.com or lustrabaatane.no)
• Scenic bus 950 from Gudvangen up to Voss (pay driver)
• Mainline train from Voss to Bergen (buy from vy.no)

The obvious places to spend the night are Flam (highly popular, quite possibly totally full), Gudvangen and Voss. Aurland, near Flam, could also work.

Wideroe Airlines has non-stop flights from Bergen to Alesund, but instead of traveling that way you might consider an overnight ferry. Hurtigruten sells point-to-point tickets for that trip, and Havila may also. When I took the trip in 2022, the ferry left Bergen around 8 PM and arrived in Alesund around 8 AM. My ship went right into the Geirangerfjord, so I was able stay on board until it returned to Alesund at the end of the day before resuming the trip north. Other folks like to see the Geirangerfjord both from the water and from a motor vehicle. Your idea of flying to Alesund might work better if you want to do that--but only if there's an early enough flight. (Check skyscanner.com for flight schedules, but buy from the airline.)

After a quick look I didn't find non-stop flights between Alesund and Stockholm; I'm afraid you'll need to change planes in Oslo.

In June it will be light very late so the 1623 train to Bergen. arrive 2317 is a viable train to see the scenery all the way.

The previous train (two hours earlier) also has a connection to Flam- long after the tourists (including most Norway in a Nutshell people) have gone for the day.

Although you miss the scenery, in terms of efficiency for a rushed Norway segment, there is a night train from Oslo to Bergen. I have used all 4 night train routes in Norway quite a lot (and the former Oslo to Flam night train) and they are very nice trains, and pretty economically priced.

The only problem with taking the Hurtigruten to Geiranger is that there isn't time to get off and explore the village, as it stops there for just 20 minutes. To do Geirangerfjord in a day and have time for the village and see the fjord from the water you probably need to do the bus to Hellesylt, ferry over, and ferry all the way back to Alesund- gives you about 3 hours there.

Otherwise maybe drive to/from Hellesylt and return ferry to Geiranger.

You'd have to see if there is a flight early enough to make that work. Either way it's pretty tight and not giving Alesund much time.

There may be another way out, over the Trollstigen road to Andalsnes and train to Oslo (so Alesund to Helleyslt to Geiranger to Andalsnes to Oslo) but timings would need to be checked.

Really the Norway segment would benefit from at least 2 more days.

Then fly or train to Stockholm- taking airport transfers and check in time into account there is little time difference between flying and the train.

Dallas to Scandinavia will be some kind of cultural shock I guess - in a positive way because very different and a lot to explore. Be aware of fresh air shock - for first two days most tourists are feeling tired; overwhelmed by impressions and fresh Nordic air.

Imo you really over-plan your trip. I know that Texas is huge but Scandinavia is it as well and the streets and rails are not as straight for hundreds of miles as you might know it. I visited Texas in 2015 - somehow greenhorn visits longhorns.

You picked three countries and I would reduce it to two: Denmark and Norway because beautiful Sweden is to me always the middle candidate in list of three for landscape and culture in all forms.

As travel planner (no agent) - depending how much money plays a role - I would change your trip significantly because the capitals are not the only highlight of these countries and you seem to miss a few.

Tip: let your family read Shakespeare's Hamlet before the trip and visit Kronborg castle as day trip. Use the ferry 20 minutes to visit Swedish Helsingborg on the other side.

I like your itinerary. I myself would plan more time in Stockholm than in Copenhagen, but that's an individual thing; we love Stockholm and found five days to not be sufficient for us.

I also understand the idea of spending additional time in Norway, but after the train ride from Oslo to Bergen we had kind of overdosed on spectacular scenery. But I certainly would like to return to Bergen someday, as we saw it only late at night from the taxi windows. It's beautiful at night.

Are we missing any must-see places?

Many, but with limited time you have to make choices.

Best way to travel from Stockholm to Copenhagen?

Train

Day 8: Day trip to Tyresta National Park, return to Stockholm

Any special reason for a day in Tyresta?

Day 9: Uppsala & Gripsholm Castle, return to Stockholm

Visiting Uppsala and Gripsholm the same day is not realistic.

There may be another way out, over the Trollstigen road to Andalsnes
and train to Oslo (so Alesund to Helleyslt to Geiranger to Andalsnes
to Oslo) but timings would need to be checked.

That is a very good idea, the train from Åndalsnes to Oslo is very scenic.

Then fly or train to Stockholm- taking airport transfers and check in
time into account there is little time difference between flying and
the train.

The train takes more or less the same time as flying between Oslo and Stockholm, but the train is cheaper and a lot more comfortable. So an easy choice in my opinion.

Thank you all for your responses and suggestions. We have decided to cut down our itinerary to only visit Norway and Denmark so that we can enjoy the trip without rushing to cover lot of places in the 14 days time period.
Here is our plan :

June 2nd
Arrive in Oslo, Norway

June 11 or 12
Arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark

June 16th.
Depart from Copenhagen, Denmark

Looking for some recommendation to visit Norway starting from Oslo on June 2nd. Also looking for some recommendations to travel to Copenhagen on June 11th or 12th from Bergen or near by.