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Thoughts on Scandinavian Rail Pass

Posted by (Jasper) on

'm going to Stockholm and Copenhagen in a few weeks and am trying to decide if the Scandinavian Rail Pass is worth purchasing.

I just returned from Switzerland where I had the Swiss Flex Pass and really enjoyed being able to get on any train and ride anywhere in the country without advance reservations. My reason for doing so was as much to enjoy the scenery as anything, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Given that purpose, the pass saved me a bunch over the prices I would have paid had I purchased tickets as I went. Granted, Scandinavia doesn't have the alps, but there are a number of distant cities that might be interesting to visit, plus the Scandinavian pass provides a discount for ferries to Helsinki and Tallinn.

I have been to both Stockholm and Copenhagen before so I've seen the major city sights but haven't ventured too far into the countryside, and am thinking the Rail Pass would be the most economical way to do that. I've also got plenty of time - 2 weeks in each city - to get out and about.

Thoughts on that? Pros and cons?

Posted by
971 posts

There is no definitive answer to your question, it depends on the specific journeys you plan to do and if you are willing to buy non refundable tickets in advance. The train bible The man in seat 61 has a good beginners guide to rail passes https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm

Train tickets can be very cheap if you buy them in advance and are willing to commit to specific dates and times, especially on journeys with the Swedish railways (they also handle the trips from Copenhagen to Stockholm and between Oslo and Stockholm). In Sweden you also have to consider that you need to buy reservations on top of the Rail Pass, whereas you don't need seat reservations on Danish trains.

The only way to know if the pass is worth it is to compare the price of the pass (including reservation fees) with the prices on the journeys you plan to make on the countries railway sites. www.dsb.dk for Denmark, www.sj.se for Sweden and www.nsb.no for Norway.

Posted by
162 posts

I'm familiar with Seat 61, which convinced me to buy the Swiss Flex Pass but with that I didn't have to have reservations, so I had a lot of flexibility. I've always been an advance point to point purchaser, and will still make some of those, but have decided the Scandinavian Pass will me get to some of the far reaches of the region.

So I decided to buy the pass for really long journeys and will get PtP for shorter ones. Thanks for the input.

Posted by
971 posts

I'm still not sure that the pass will be cheaper than point to point bought in advance, even on the longer journeys, but it depends on the specific trips you plan to make. The pass does however offer more flexibility, so if that's a priority for your then go for the pass.
Also if you plan on doing day trips from the cities, you should look into the different city passes, such as the Copenhagen Card or the Stockholm pass. I know the Copenhagen card includes free public transport within the greater Copenhagen area, which is worth while if you plan to do the typical day trips to Helsingør, Roskilde and Frederiksborg Castle. For public transport in Denmark use www.rejseplanen.dk to plan your journeys.

Posted by
16895 posts

Extra days on the pass get cheaper as you add more, ranging from 37-27 per day for a single adult. But of course the jump from 5 days to 8 days may mean there's not an exact fit. As you probably know, the ferries and other discounted services don't require using a counted travel day.

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