Hi Everyone:
Just wanted to get ideas for a trip for 2 adults (mid 50s) with no kids to both Copenhagen and Stockholm. Would most likely be in early September. How long do you recommend in each city and any easy day trips you recommend? We like historic sites, small towns, great restaurants, but not huge museum fans (I get bored easily).
Also what's best way to get between the 2? Copilot suggested train. We have taken many trains in Europe over the years.
Thanks
Chris
I think both cities are worth a minimum of three days plus time for any day trips you take.
Add a day to Copenhagen for a day trip to Roskilde.
Add a day to Stockholm for a day trip to Uppsala. And add another day for a boat ride through the archipelago.
Check https://www.sj.se/en/ for the express train that connects the 2 cities in about 5-6 hours.
Thank you Lane. Appreciate the suggestions. Much appreciated. Since we are flexible on length we can add extra day or so to both cities.
I visited Copenhagen in September 2024 and loved it. I was there 4 days but would have stayed longer if I could.
I really enjoyed 2 (half) day trips (1 hour by train) from Copenhagen:
- Hillerød to visit Frederiksborg Castle and explore the village town
- Helsingør and explored the old town and Kronborg Castle (some people take a ferry and pop into Sweden for a few hours but I skipped it).
One of them was on a Sunday and most of the shops were closed, but was still fun to stroll around these small villages.
Edited to add: After returning to Copenhagen from Helsingor, I decided on a last minute visit to Christianborg slot and it was better than I thought. Not a massive museum, and you get to see interesting rooms. Make sure to look at schedule and book a time for the royal stables.
I was in Stockholm for a long layover (only had one day) and I need to return as so much to explore! Once you finalize your dates, book a tour of City Hall as it sells out fast. Fascinating building and the tour was great. You won't be able to go to tower at the top as they close starting September 1.
Thank you JoyNYC. Appreciate it. Great info. Yeah we hate to rush so I would rather stay an extra day too long then cut it short when I travel.
Regards
Chris
Thank you for the question, Chris! I will bookmark your post. I am planning to take the RS Belgium/Holland tour next year and thought it would be a good chance to head to Denmark & Sweden afterwards. I haven’t been to Copenhagen & Hillerød since 1975 and barely scratched the surface of Sweden.
For my upcoming trip in May, I will have 4 nights Copenhagen, 5 nights Stockholm and 4 more nights Copenhagen. I will be taking the train. Just bought my train tickets last week. Flying in and out of Copenhagen as i can get a nonstop flight from there to and from Chicago.
Keep an eye out for my trip report in early June. I’ll provide details on what I see and do in both cities.
Thank you Jean and Carrie. Yes I will definitely keep an eye out for your trip report
I will be flying in and out of Newark so Ill check direct flights.
Chris
When I traveled to Scandinavia, I was flying from SFO and on Delta it had a connection in the US.
But I was able to place my itinerary in a way that I arrived on a city and departed from another. And it actually came out cheaper for me to leave from Stockholm than from Copenhagen, even though I arrived in Copenhagen.
I got separate tickets on local Scandinavia airline from Copenhagen to Bergen (Norway), and from Bergen to Stockholm.
Can't wait to return to Sweden with extra time. It was just one day there, but I made the best of it with the City Hall tour, visiting Vasa museum and exploring Gamla Stan.
We went to Copenhagen and Stockholm in June 2024 - we spent five nights in Copenhagen and 4 nights in Stockholm. We are in our 40s with no kids. We took the train to Stockholm from Copenhagen - it was not a direct train as we had to connect in Lund.
In Copenhagen, we enjoyed our morning bike tour with Bike Mike - it is a mostly flat ride with quite a few stops and a great way to see the city, especially one that has a huge bike culture. Also, would recommend a boat tour (we did one with Hey Captain!), Christiansborg Palace, taking a day trip to go to Fredericksborg Castle (easy train ride from Copenhagen), and the Museum of Danish Resistance (I know you said you aren't big museum people, but this one is done so well).
As for restaurants and bars in Copenhagen, we really enjoyed Warpigs, Lidkoeb (cocktail bar), Ruby (cocktail bar), Restaurant Barr, Baest (great pizza; definitely make reservations - we saw people get turned away), and if you want a total splurge dining experience, The Alchemist is incredibly memorable and a delight.
In Stockholm, highly recommend doing the tour of City Hall, visit the Royal Palace, Vasa Museum (it's not an overwhelming museum experience and really interesting), and a walking tour of Gamla Stan (booked through stockholmfreetour.com). We also did a boat cruise with Stromma one afternoon. We went to Skansen after the Vasa Museum since they are close to each other, but personally it was not our jam.
As for food and drinks, we liked A Bar Called Gemma (recommend reservations - we saw people get turned away), Lucy's Flower Shop (great cocktails), Omnipollus Hatt (casual restaurant with great pizza), Portal (one of my favorite meals of our trip), and Beirut Cafe.
Have fun planning!
Thank you Melissa. Great trip report. This will help my wife and I big time. Much appreciated. I will be planning a similar amount of time in each city so this helps. I'm good with switching trains I have done that before in various European cities. Thanks for heads up.
Also love food recommendations wherever we travel to.
Much appreciated
Regards
Chris
For small towns there is Dragør outside Copenhagen and Sigtuna outside Stockholm.
We were there last July. We ended up spending 6 nights in Copenhagen (5 is enough) and 4 in Stockholm (5 would have been better). Get the Copenhagen Card in Copenhagen (well worth it). Do NOT get the Stockholm card.
Day 1 - arrival and city walk (round tower and canal tour). Dinner at Host (it was expensive and weird).
Day 2 - Kastellet Park (really lovely), National Museum, and Christiansborg Palace (if you book lunch in the palace restaurant, you skip the line going to the top of the tower - plus its a good lunch). Dinner at Rufino Osteria (Italian - but really good).
Day 3 - side trip to Hillerod and Helsingor for their castles. Could have spent more time at Frediksborg in Hillerod. Dinner at Iluka (like Host, it was Michelin starred and not worth it - we've learned our lesson).
Day 4 - Side trip to Roskilde (your Copenhagen card pays for the train and the sites). Viking ship museum and Cathedral. Book a trip on a replica viking ship. Dinner at Tivoli Gardens (we didn't ride rides but it was fun to walk around).
Day 5 - Rosenborg Palace / Changing of the Guard (skip it unless a royal is in town) / Reffen. Dinner at Karla's (good)
Day 6 - Laundry and shopping. Lunch at Cafe Sorgenfri was really really good. Nr.30 for dinner was good but pricey.
Day 7 - flew to Bergen
Day 8 - Bergen
Day 9 - Norway in a Nutshell - overnight in Flam
Day 10 - Dalen
Day 11 - Dalen
Day 12 - Flew to Stockholm
Day 13 - Drottningsholm Palace (HIGHLY recommended) - we beat the crowd by taking the train there and the ferry back. Afternoon was in Gamala Stan
Day 14 - after visiting the history museum in the morning we met up with old friends who drove us to Sigtuna. This is also highly recommended.
Day 15 - Vasa Museum (HIGHLY recomeneded), ABBA museum (for my wife...) and Skansen (HIGHLY recommended).
Day 16 - flew home.
We could have easily added a day or two to Stockholm. I would have loved an archipelago cruise or a visit to Upsala. As for transit - the "default" is a long train ride. The ride would be relaxing and scenic, I expect, but we found flying cheaper and faster.
Have fun...
Thank you EC Barger:
Fabulous trip report and very helpful information. I was thinking 5 nights in each city so your insight is awesome.
Much appreciated
Chris and Linda
Hi there. Agreed, at least 4 days in Copenhagen & 5 in Stockholm would be ideal. Early September the weather should still be great! Here's a TR for Stockholm. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/2-day-stockholm-trip. If you go to the Vasa museum on Djurgården, adding Skansen (outdoor museum with old buildings) which is nearby is really fun.
We live in Uppsala so it's an easy day trip, but just wanted to spend more time there. (Uppsala makes a great day trip too, have fika (high tea) at Güntherska, see the cathedral, walk through the Botanic Gardens, there's a cool outdoor cafe there, Cafe Victoria, perhaps get out of town to Gamla Uppsala (about a 15 min taxi ride or there's a bus.) Hope you have a great trip!
Thank you Sandancisco. Sounds great.
Yes we will probably do 5 nights in each city
Chris
