Time to go from /Ero to Copenhagen Central station

Hi,

2.5 hours from Svendborg to Copenhagen is a fair estimate if you drive with no breaks. It gives you about 20 minutes for traffic, which should be okay at that time of day. But you know, there are never any guarantees when it comes to traffic.

It looks like you have optimised the timings, which can be a good time saver when everything goes the way they are supposed to. But it also sounds stressful, because what if you are delayed at some point along the way? Your margin for delays will be very slim, especially since you also have to drop off the car somewhere.

If it was me, I would play it safe and pick a later departure from Copenhagen. With Swedish long distance trains, if you miss your train you can not just hop on the next one. You will need a new ticket, which can be very expensive if bought on the day - there is a risk the next train will be sold out when purchasing last minute tickets.

I have heard some people sometimes try covering themselves by buying a cheap non-refundable ticket for the train they hope to get and refundable ticket for a later train. That strategy sounds cumbersome in my ears though, and I'm no expert in SJ's ticket refund rules, so you will have to check it out.

Return the car at the airport and not in central Copenhagen. It will probably save you a bit of time not having to drive to the city centre, and it will most likely save you a bit of stress. And almost all trains to Sweden stop at the airport so you can board the train there. You can also consider returning the car in Odense and continue by train.

I would try to aim for the 13:59 since that is a high speed train, the 14:14 is a Intercity.

hope to be on the road by 11:00am ... Do you think we can comfortably make the 1st train at 13:59 or should go to the 14:14 or go even later??

No. Take an earlier ferry if you want to catch one these trains. Here.com (maps for the professional car navigation systems) give around 3 hrs driving time and they have real good and realistic data.

Three additional thoughts:

1) I also recommend to check if you can return the car in Odense.

2) Even in a hurry do not make the mistake not to check the hand-over protocol on car return. Make photos in- and outside and get sure that the protocol contains nothing that is not there. This can become very expensive.

3) Another point: some car rental companies do not allow to take ferries with their car. To be on the safe side check if this is allowed in your car rental agreement.

Wow, so glad that I posted this question as I had no idea about the rental car company not allowing the car on a ferry. In fact, Auto Europe states "Vehicles may not travel on ferries and/or to Island locations without pre-approval from Auto Europe" I will see if I can get a pre-approval and if not, I can keep it in the Svendborg parking lot. I assume this parking lot would be fine for 2 days. We will take our luggage and bags on the ferry.

There is an option to take an 8:30 ferry so we are doing that. There is not a train in Odense to Copenhagen - Stockholm.

We will shoot for the faster train at 13:59

Thank you everybody!

There are plenty of trains between Odense and Copenhagen. Usually 3 trains an hour. There are just no direct trains Odense - Stockholm, which means you would have to change trains in Copenhagen.

If you end up having the car parked in Svendborg, I would recommend returning it sooner. Because there are trains from Svendborg (in walking distance from the ferry) to Odense. So essentially you can do the entire trip from Svenborg to Stockholm by train, instead of having to pay to rent a car that just waits for you in a parking lot while you are on Ærø.

Which site do you suggest for trains? I have tried using https://www.dsb.dk/en/ but there are so many stops listed that it is hard to figure out which ones to take and it is not very user friendly. A map would help

If you are trying to buy a domestic ticket:

That is exactly the website you should choose, but you can also use DSB's app if you prefer.

• Svendborg St. = Svendborg Station
• Odense St. = Odense Station
• København H = Copenhagen Central Station

If you are trying to buy an international ticket:

You have to get a little further into the website https://www.dsb.dk/en/train-ticket-to-europe/
Don't know if this is cheaper than buying a domestic DSB ticket to Copenhagen + an SJ ticket to Stockholm. You can price it out for your specific departure. If you buy two separate tickets, you run the risks involved with self connecting - so may be worth it to get a through ticket all the way Svendborg-Stockholm even if it costs a little extra.