Scandinavia Car rental - pick up Copenhagen drop off Bergen

What I saw on expedia shows Avis will allow a Copenhagen pick up and Bergen drop off

The Avis site indicates one needs to call them to complete the reservation

I just went to the autoeurope.com website, and plugged in your info for early June and got results for Hertz, Avis, Europcar and Sixt. Only problem is the drop off fee in each case well over $1,000.

Why not take the ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo or fly. Then rent the car in Norway or use trains.

It looks like Avis allows this. Which companies have you checked?
Another questions is your proposed route. Are you sure picking up in Copenhagen and dropping of in Bergen is the smartest way to go?

3 tips:

1. Scandinavian capitals are not car-friendly. Therefore I suggest to rent the car at the morning you want to leave Copenhagen and to drop as first to-do in Bergen.
2. "Study" terms and conditions before booking the rental car: Some rental car companies exclude the usage of ferries. There is a longer route you can drive that without using ferries but likely you want to have some freedom of choice.
3. If you want to travel for longer time around Norwegian fjords and fjells I recommend the full insurance including tyres and windows. Narrow streets in fjord land, sometimes with stuff on the streets after strong winds or heavy showers.

If you tell us more about date and duration of travel and your interests we can help with some suggestions. Especially Norway has some beauties in the south below Hardangervidda. I really do not know why they defined Jæren as a scenic route. Tried to discover it twice but I really do not get it.

If you want to experience huge sandy North Sea beaches I recommend the coast south of Hirtshals which is Jutland's main port for car ferries to Norway.

Hello, thanks for the replies. We enjoy having a car a driving and exploring. My plan is to use Rick's 3 week plan by car (in my case narrowing it down to 2 weeks). Below is the itinerary.

Date City
Thurs May 30 Travel Day to Copenhagen
Fri May 31 Copenhagen
Sat June 1 Copenhagen
Sun June 2 Copenhagen
Mon June 3 Copenhagen to Vaxjo
Tues June 4 Vaxjo to Kalmar
Wed June 5 Kalmar to Stockholm
Thurs June 6 Stockholm
Fri June 7 Stockholm
Sat June 8 Stockholm to Oslo
Sun June 9 Oslo
Mon June 10 Oslo
Tues June 11 Oslo to Lil
Wed June 12 Lil to Aurland
Thurs June 13 Aurland
Fri June 14 Balestrand to Bergen
Sat June 15 Bergen
Sun June 16 Travel Day Home

Looks good to me. It's more driving than I would enjoy, but it seems like you enjoy driving more than I do. Note that major roads in Norway tend to be small outside the larger city regions.

Also, using a car within Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo is really not advisable, and it's unnecessary and a pain to navigate and find parking.

To be honest I don’t think Ricks proposed itinerary makes much sende to do by car. Off all the places until Oslo, you can just as well do it by train cheaper and easier. My main advice would be that if a place is served by reasonable train connections, that should be you main mode of getting from A to B. You can also rent a car for a few days and explore a smaller area by car. Then do your long distance, Inter city travel by train.
A car is usefull for seeing the countryside and places that arent served by trains. Think about where on this route where that applies?

I agree with Morten, train makes more sense on this trip. Not only because it reduces one way car rental fees. But, if you rent a car, make sure you know how to pay the Norwegian road tolls. Ask the car rental company about that.

But with a fortnight in Scandinavia, the initerary look a bit strange to me. What's the idea behind staying one night in Växjö and one in Kalmar? I know Rick tells you to see Kalmar, but there are much better places to stop along the way in my opinion. I'd recommend a night or two on Gotland instead.

And, as others have said. Driving in the capitals is not a pleasant experience. Park the car somewhere and use public transport to get around.

I rented a car for a couple of days while in Oslo in May. Left and re-entered the city a few times over the two days. The rental car was equipped with an "autopass" toll tag which was automatically tapped with each reentry (drivers are charged entering the city, not leaving it). The rental car company charged my credit card a few days later for the tolls I incurred. I think I paid around $20 in tolls for my in-and-around trips.

The autopass website indicated there's a multilateral agreement with Sweden, Denmark and Austria - "Easygo". The rental car office in Copenhagen will undoubtedly be familiar with it.

If you're staying in downtown Oslo and intend to keep the car the entire time, I would encourage you to find a long-term parking lot which might offer a lower daily rate than what I used. I left my car at a parking deck adjacent to the hotel and the Oslo S train station for one overnight - and it was very expensive.

Seven out of fourteen of your days are in capital cities. Cars are impediments in these cities. Use local transport [buses, subways, etc] or taxis and save time, money, and bother. Use intercity trains when appropriate. Use rental cars for rural sightseeing.
As an example, consider Oslo to Bergen. The train is wonderful and you can arrange for a side-trip to Flam on a train that is considered world-class for viewing. Another alternative is to take local ferries from Flam to other villages in the fjord, or a bigger ferry all the way to Bergen. Seeing Fjords from the water is breath-taking. In this area a car is second class.