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Advice on Scandinavia Itinerary with Young Kids

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Our family of 4 (2 parents, a 4 year old and a 1.5 year old) will be vacationing in Scandinavia in late August. Would appreciate any thoughts on the rough itinerary I’ve put together. I’ve priced out/researched each transportation leg but nothing is booked yet so open to suggested changes or thoughts on other can’t miss sights/activities (both kid and adult oriented)! We will probably stay in air B&Bs but would also appreciate any suggestions of particular neighborhoods to focus on, or alternately any family friendly hotels you’d recommend in each location.

Days 1-4 Copenhagen (arriving at ~10 Am on day 1)
Must dos: Tivoli Gardens, Rosenburg Castle, National Museum, Christianburg Palace, Canal boat tour, Tovernhallen market
• Possible day trip to either Kronborg Castle or Frederiksborg Palace
Any suggestions on which of these two would be better?

Day 5-9 Stockholm (train from Copenhagen to Stockholm morning of day 5, arriving mid-afternoon )
• Must dos: Skansen Museum, Vasa Museum, Junibacken Museum, Swedish history museum, Royal Palace
• Possible daytrip to Sigtuna and/or Drottningholm Palace

Day 9-12 Helsinki (overnight Ferry from Stockholm arriving in Helsinki morning of day 10)
• Must dos: Suomenlinna Island
• Possible daytrip to Tallin, Estonia (via Ferry) Realize this would be a long day but leaning towards doing it, particularly as we don’t have many other must-sees in Helsinki

Day 12-14 Bergen (direct flight from Helsinki to Bergen afternoon of Day 12)
• Must dos: Funicular Ride, Bryggen

Days 14-17 Oslo
• “Norway in a Nutshell” Tour on Day 14 (departing Bergen ~8:30 Am and arriving in Oslo ~10:30 PM)
A little concerned about this being a very long day for the kids, but given that we’re not looking to add on any hiking type excursions not sure it makes sense to break it up with an overnight somewhere and figure they can always sleep on portions of the train ride. Welcome any alternative suggestions though!

• Must dos in Oslo: Norwegian Folk Museum, Akershus Fortress
Any other suggestions for Oslo?

Day 17 depart Oslo to return home, via Air

*A few things to note: We have travelled pretty extensively with our kids and they are generally pretty easy going and good travelers (for their ages). We usually aim to do just a couple of sights per day, at least one of which is kid oriented, and plan in a decent amount of down-time or will trade off with one parent taking the kids while the other visits a less kid-friendly museum/sight we’d like to see. We generally prefer cities to nature-focused vacations and are not big on hiking/biking etc, but definitely do want to see some of the natural landscape- particularly in Norway.

Posted by
1322 posts

Days 1-4 Copenhagen (arriving at ~10 Am on day 1)

You may add Amalienborg (where the queen lives), Kongens Have (Kings Garden) just next to Rosenborg Castle/Palace (nice for some down time. You can sit on the lawn and relax), maybe Bakken (as a contrast to Tivoli)

I recommend Kronborg for the link to Hamlet.

Posted by
12172 posts

My 2 cents:

I was really happy with the Copenhagen card because it included transportation and admissions all over northern Zealand.

If possible stay near Kongens Nytorv. It's much nicer, cleaner and quieter at the top end of the pedestrian mall. To get there, take the metro from the airport. It's maybe 15 minutes. The train to the center of town takes at least 20.

I didn't think much of Tivoli. Worth seeing but not worth skipping something else for. Your four year old might enjoy it. You pay to get in, then pay for everything once you're inside. When I was growing up I went to Disneyland all the time (only about an hour and a half from home). Much later they opened Legoland and it seemed expensive and boring. After seeing Tivoli, my thought was Danish kids are definitely not overstimulated. I went to a recommended restaurant in Tivoli that did have the best herring I'd ever tasted as part of a Smorrebrot plate for four. I can't remember the name but it translates to Ditch (because it was built in a ditch).

Rosenborg is really nice and not very big so it won't take forever. The crown jewels are in the basement and treated as a separate place. I also really liked the National Museum (great for bronze age Viking items), the canal tour, and the Glyptotech (if nothing else for the indoor gardens). I went in the substructure of Amalienborg palace, it was so so. I watched the changing of the guard but didn't go inside because it didn't really interest me.

We went to Kronenborg castle (then took a "private train", also covered by Copenhagen Card to a beach on the north coast). I think the kids would enjoy the Casemates. You can take a flashlight or buy one from a vending machine (about 5 euros) and there are clues painted on the walls that you only see when you shine the light on them. Fredericksborg was difficult to get to because of track maintenance so it'll be first on the list next time I visit.

I think you should consider Roskilde. The cathedral has the remains of Kings going back to Harold Blue Tooth (died 987 AD). The viking ship museum has some Viking ships but is a great open air museum where they build ships in the traditional way. You learn a lot about their equipment, tools and technique. You can row a boat, built on site. Inside you can put on some armor with a shield and an ax for a selfie. Again all covered by the Copenhagen card (except I think you pay to row a boat).

Stockholm:

Disappointed with Skansen. I expected the workers to be like Williamsburg, VA but they were just dressed up not really educated about life in old Sweden. Loved Vasa, by far our favorite thing in Stockholm. I also liked wandering Gamla Stan. The archipelago coming out of Stockholm was worth seeing. Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki use small ferries to hop around, IMO they're a highlight.

Helsinki:

Suomenlinna Island was a favorite. I also liked wandering around in the center. Other than that, it's pretty new and I prefer old/history.

Oslo:

Favorite thing was the sculpture garden Vigeland Park and just walking the Royal Mile, walking on the opera house and the Akershus grounds. The Viking Ship museum is different from the one in Roskilde. I saw both and I don't think one is a replacement for the other.

Posted by
5835 posts

Any other suggestions for Oslo?

I would add the Fram Museum and the Viking Ship Museum to the Bygdøy penninsula Folk Museum visit. They are a short walk from each other. Take the ferry next to the Fram back to the pier near City Hall.
https://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/boroughs/bygdoy/

Vigeland/Frognaer Sculpture Park. Amazing sculputres and a lot of grass to run around.
https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=181601

Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Ski Museum. Fantastic view of the Oslo fjord from the jump tower.
https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=496475

Resistance Museum. A must see.
https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=181474

A good read in prepartion for visiting the resistance and Holmenkollen ski museums:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/487441.Assault_In_Norway

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