Scandinavia Itinerary

Here's my suggested itinerary. Dates are for where you'll sleep that night.

8/15 arrive CPH, train to Aero
8/16 Aero
8/17 train to Copenhagen
8/18 Copenhagen
8/19 Copenhagen
8/20 Copenhagen
8/21 train to Stockholm
8/22 Stockholm
8/23 Stockholm
8/24 Stockholm
8/25 train to Oslo
8/26 Oslo
8/27 Oslo
8/28 NiN to Flam
8/29 Finish NiN to Bergen
8/30 Bergen
8/31 fly to CPH

If you start your trip in Copenhagen, you can get to Aeroskobing in less than four hours by taking the train to Svendborg, then the ferry from Svendborg to Aeroskobing. Reverse this for the return trip to Copenhagen. A high-speed 5.5-hour train can get you from Copenhagen to Stockholm for the concert. You may need to first train from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden and then transfer to continue by train to Stockholm.
Stockholm to Oslo S station takes 5.5 hours on a high-speed train.
Then you can take the scenic Bergensbanen train line in 5.5 hours from Oslo S to Myrdal for the start of the NIN tour. Overnight in Flam or Aurlandsvangen. (It’s not too early to book accommodations now as they do sell out months in advance). Following the boat trip on the Naeroyfjord , you can continue by bus from Gudvangen to Vossvangen (“Voss”) and complete the journey to Bergen in 1.5 hours from Voss.
Fly from Bergen to CPH for your return flight home.
I highly recommend a day trip to historic Roskilde where the Viking Ship museum is located along with the Cathedral where all the monarchs of Denmark are interred. Roskilde is only a 25-minute train ride from Copenhagen Centraal station.
www.Vy.no/en is the Norwegian national train company’s website where you can reserve train tix up to 60 days in advance. Only this website will sell domestic train tix for Norway. The site also sells bus tickets.
www.dsb.dk/en is the Danish National train company website.
www.Bahn.de/en has train schedules as does www.TheTrainline.com
www.sj.se/en is the website of Sweden’s national train company.
www.Skyscanner.com has air fares and schedules.

Thanks so much for the replies so far! Super helpful! :)

Would you recommend including Aero in this itinerary or skip it in favor of a different location more directly on the route?

Hi star7781, I would definitely recommend visiting Roskilde for a day and skip tiny Aeroskobing due to time constraints.
The National Museum of Denmark in København has an incredible wing with Viking artifacts, jewelry and the largest Viking ship anywhere on display.
Have a great trip!

Thank you - I definitely would like to visit Roskilde!

I don't think you need a full day for Roskilde. Personally, I was underwhelmed by the Viking ship museum there, but I know I'm very much an outlier on that opinion. Nevertheless, you can visit the museum and the cathedral there in the morning and be back in Copenhagen by lunchtime.

Aero is delightful, but it does take a bit of time to get there and back, which is why I suggested trying to go directly when you arrive, since you'll already be fatigued from you travels. Start fresh with a day to kick back and enjoy the ambience of Aeroskobing, and then when you get back to Copenhagen, you will be ready to go.

Thanks for your thoughts! Aero takes a bit longer to get to than I was initially thinking, but your thoughts about going right away definitely make sense! Another thought is that we could go to Billund and visit Legoland. My son will be 12 but still likes Lego quite a bit, but we have been to Legoland in Florida so I'm not sure if it's similar. I would say the Florida one was definitely geared towards younger kids so it may be less interesting for my kids (but they love theme parks in general).

Or we could see less in Denmark and do overnight ferries to/from Helsink for a few days? My husband would probably love that option!

Look into getting the Copenhagen “Discover” Card as it gives free entry not only to Copenhagen museums, Tivoli Gardens, Rosenborg castle, Canal Boat Tours, transportation to/from CPH Airport and public transit— it also serves as your roundtrip train tix from Copenhagen to Roskilde and Helsingor ( the castle from “Hamlet”) along with a zillion other attractions.
It can save you both money and time because you don’t have to buy individual train, tram, or bus tickets and you don’t waste time in lines waiting to buy admission tickets. And, two kids are included for free with an adult Copenhagen Card.

www.Copenhagencard.com

Sounds great, thanks!

2.5 weeks might sound like a lot of time, but there is a lot to see in Scandinavia and don't underestimate the distances involved. Ærø has its charm, I'm not denying that. But compared to the amount of attention it gets on this site I'd say it's overrated.

If you want to see a bit more of Denmark, one option could be to travel Copenhagen-Stockholm-Oslo-Bergen and then take the ferry to Hirtshals in Denmark and see a bit of Jutland, including maybe Legoland, before ending up in Copenhagen again for the trip home.

Ok, thanks for your input. I was wondering if that ferry might work! I'll check it out!

I think your timing isn't quite ideal for the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. Badger probably knows for sure, but sunset is a lot earlier in late August than in late June, and a very big selling point of that ferry is the fabulous views of the Stockholm Archipelago. The ferry departs at 8 PM, I believe, and the best views don't show up immediately. So the sightseeing aspect of the ferry is lower in late August. The overnight ferry experience is an interesting one, however; I bet your children would get a kick out of it.

I spent about 4 days in Helsinki in 2022 and returned for 4 more days in 2023 because there were still things I wanted to see--plus I really liked the Art Nouveau architecture. However, for me Helsinki has less of a "wow" factor than your other options (and less than Tallinn). Since your time is somewhat limited and the territory you're trying to cover is large, I'd recommend not including Helsinki on this trip.

You're not in a time crunch now, but at least two transportation components of the NiN trip can sell out (the Flamsbana and the train between Oslo and Myrdal), and Oslo-Myrdal fares will increase as the travel date approaches. I suspect fares for the international ferries you might want to take could also be variable. I know the Stockholm-Turku fares more than doubled before I got around to buying my ticket.

Lodging costs in this area are fairly high. You can often save 5% or so at chain hotels by joining their affinity group and booking on the corporate website. As already noted, Flam (especially) and Aurland book up fast. I'd research options for activities in that area carefully before planning more than a one-night stay, because the cities (including Bergen) have a lot to see. Weather in western Norway can be rainy, and there aren't a lot of indoor sights to enjoy around Flam if you are unlucky.

Thank you, that's extremely helpful! I mentioned Billund to my husband and he thought our son would really like that so we're leaning that way! Do you have the names of any of the hotel chains? Or any other cheaper accommodation recommendations? We're more budget travelers so I try to keep prices as low as possible! Thanks!

I use booking.com for initial lodging research. Many of the chain hotels will show up there, though likely at a higher rate; with chains you will usually save money by booking directly. (There are occasional exceptions, which I suspect are sometimes the result of careless data entry by the hotel itself.) The filters and reviews on booking.com are very handy.

Some of the chains in the Scandinavian/Nordic/Baltic countries include CityBox (one of the least expensive chains; not much service staff), Strawberry (weird name, formerly Nordic Choice; includes Comfort, Quality and Clarion hotels), Thon, Moxy, Scandic, Magic and Ibis. I'm sure there are others.

Read reviews or ask here when you have narrowed down your possibilities. There is considerable demand for less expensive hotels in the high-cost countries, and one way to meet that demand is to offer less service. You may find hotels with no reception staff, hotels that don't service your room more frequently than once every three days (or possibly even once a week). I stayed at a place in Norway that had no way to store my luggage until check-in time (a first-ever experience for me in a hotel). Those were not issues for me, because I was saving money. They might be for you. Be sure you know what compromises you are settling for. You're unlikely to run into significant cleanliness or maintenance issues in these chain hotels, but again, read the reviews.

In addition to the above options, you'll run into some chains with names you recognize--Hilton, Radisson, etc. Best Western deserves a special mention because the BW hotels in Europe are not cookie-cutter places; they just use the name for marketing purposes. I always look for the least expensive option in a decent location that meets my (limited) basic needs. I've ended up in at least two Best Westerns and one Holiday Inn. Use the filters on booking.com and keep an open mind.

I don't mean to suggest there's anything wrong with non-chain hotels. I've stayed in plenty, but in Scandinavia and Finland, it seemed I could generally do better, price-wise, with a chain hotel after joining the affinity group.

Thank you so much for your thorough reply! I like to start with Booking as well! I'll check out those chains! And those are exactly my criteria when searching for hotels - least expensive with all my needs in a location I want to be in! I usually sort by price for just that purpose! We are almost always willing to give up services to get a cheaper hotel so that's no issue for us at all!

I think I'm starting to get a sense of an itinerary that will work! I am thinking:

Copenhagen - 3 nights
Billund - 2 nights (might switch these around or if there's a better location nearby, I'm open to opinions!)
Stockholm - 3 nights
Oslo - 3 nights
Flam or Aurland area - 2 nights
Bergen - 3 nights
Copenhagen - 1 night before flight out

Does this seem reasonable? Anything I should tweak?

Thanks again for the help everyone!

Stockholm is a place I'd want more than 3 nights, but I realize your time is limited. Stockholm is a lot more spread out than Oslo, and I'd say Stockholm has more to see. (I can't compare it to Copenhagen.)

Have you figured out what you want to do while you're in Flam or Aurland? Flam is a plain little town in a spectacular setting--unless there's a monster cruise ship in port, which there often is. You can make the NiN trip in a single day, so I'd only stay 2 nights in Flam if I needed to for a specific reason. Actually, I did spend two nights in Flam, because it was the only way I could see the Borgund stave church by public transportation. I probably wouldn't have done it if I hadn't managed to snag a little room (private with bath) at the Campground and Hostel. It cost me about $100 a night, I think. A hotel room would have been more than double that.

In Flam I'd like to see the Borgand Stave church, do the zipline and bike ride, possibly the Stegastein viewpoint, and the viking village in Gundvagen (probably on the way to Bergen).

Thanks for the info on Stockholm, I'll look at what we actually want to do there and see if it makes more sense to stay another night there.

Oslo is home to the “Norsk Folkemuseum” or Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. It’s an open-air museum with a collection of 160 historic buildings from throughout Norway and it includes a wooden Stave Church moved here from Gol. The GOL STAVE CHURCH was built around 1200. In case you don’t make it to the Borgund Stave Church— the Gol Stave church seen here is similar as they both were built about the same time.
Since Oslo is now predominantly a modern city, the Norsk Folkmuseum is one place where you can see buildings of all types that preserve Norway’s historic architecture.
“AKERSHUS FESTNING,” or Akershus Fortress, is a historic walled fort and castle directly on Oslo’s waterfront. It’s free to visit this historic fortress which still is a military base today.

Nearby is the “National Museum” which has a room filled with the artwork of EDVARD MUNCH that the artist himself selected as his best artworks—including several versions of his most famous painting, “THE SCREAM.”
Among the most remarkable pieces in the National Museum in Oslo is a Viking tapestry called the BALDISHOL TAPESTRY. It was created sometime between 1040 and 1190. . The tapestry was discovered under the floorboards of a church in 1879 and is so well-preserved that it looks like it was just completed last month rather than almost a millennium ago.
Admission to the National Museum is free for anyone under 18.

In Oslo there's also the new MUNCH, a museum dedicated to the work of Edvard Munch. Vigeland Sculpture Park is a good place to see outdoor art.