Can you connect the dots? Have 10-14 days for Scandanavia (start Barcelona, finish Strasbourg)

The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is closed until 2026 or 2027. There are some Viking-related exhibits at the Historical Museum, but I'm remembering things like jewelry rather than bulky ships.

Is this trip planned for summer 2024? If so, you need to figure out your fjord time ASAP because lodging is extremely limited in that area. The easiest way to see some fabulous fjord scenery is to take the Norway-in-a-Nutshell route between Oslo and Bergen (or vice versa). That can be done in one day if you just blast right through, watching the scenery from a moving vehicle. Alternatively, you can spend one or more nights in the area (Flam, Aurland, Gudvangen, Voss being the most likely places unless you want to rent a car and stay in Balestrand on the north side of the Sognefjord). That's where the problem comes in--finding a room or rooms. A look at booking.com will give you an idea of what might be available, though the (few) hotels in the area don't necessarily list all their rooms there; you may find additional options--possibly at a slightly lower rate--by seeking out the hotels' own websites.

Voss isn't located on the fjord but is known for having some active-sport options available. I don't know anything about those, or how easy it would be to reach the venues if you didn't have a rental car. I think lodging might be somewhat easier to find in Voss than in the fjord-side towns.

Bergen is a charming city and worth a couple of days. Like Oslo, there are some hiking opportunities nearby. There are flights to Bergen from quite a few European cities, including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Brussels.

My experience sleeping on night ferries has been fine; I've done it at least six times (four times in northern Europe in the last two years). I'd happily use night ferries to maximize daytime sightseeing opportunities.
My experience sleeping on night trains is a completely different story, though I did better at that when I was younger. I'd be cautious about committing to two overnight trains when you haven't had the experience before; it might be quite difficult for one or more of you to sleep on a train. And berths in real sleeping compartments (as opposed to the padded ledges in couchette cars) are rather expensive.

You're trying to squeeze a lot into 10-14 days; I hope you can make it closer to 14. I haven't been to Copenhagen since 1972 so won't comment on how much time you might want to spend there, but I can't imagine fewer than 4 nights in Stockholm if you also want to see Uppsala. Stockholm is a really lovely city that's great for just being in, aside from its museums.

acraven gave an excellent answer.

I just want to put in my suggetions of flying to Stockholm, train to Copenhagen, overnight ferry to Oslo, Norway in a Nutshell to Bergen, fly Bergen to ....Paris CDG.

Yes Paris. From CDG you can get to Strasbourg in about 2 hours by train. There are direct trains from CDG to Strasbourg with no changes. From Amsterdam it's as little as just over 6 hours with changes and those trains change in Paris.

You can get a nonstop flight to Paris or Amsterdam. Flights to Brussels or Luxembourg are with changes from Bergen.

That's a tricky question. But the most important thing to know is when this trip is, it's really hard to give any suggestions without knowing if it is a trip in July or October.

Is there no way you can rearrange this trip? Stopping in Strasbourg between Scandinavia and Barcelona makes more sense.

And where does Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels or Luxembourg fit into the itinerary? Trying to visit all the places in a sensible geographical order is usually a good idea.

Thank you all so much!!

We are going this summer so I’ll focus on lodging in fjord post haste. The Viking Ship Museum fact is very helpful as I was debating “which “ Viking sites would be best, that removes an option.

I can’t change the Strasbourg date, it’s dependent upon other factors and schedules.

The Bergen to CDG flight is brilliant! Thank you! That also focuses me a bit on where to add days.

Very much appreciated!

PS, great thoughts on the sleeping trains! I’ll skip!

Pity that you can't change the order, but it is what it is.

There is no really perfect logical route, but several possible options. Don't be too focused on Vueling as the airline, SAS also have good connections between Barcelona and Scandinavia and in the summer you might find some options on Norwegian also. There might be direct flights between Barcelona and Bergen in the summer, in which case I'd suggest that you start in Bergen, continue via the fjords to Oslo and then the train to Stockholm. From Stockholm then take the train to Copenhagen and finally continue to Jutland as you last stops in Scandinavia. From Jutland you can take the train to France, if your destination actually is Colmar I'd suggest the overnight train from Hamburg to Basel.

Thank you ALL for your thoughts and generosity.

Your inputs really helped me work through the main issue, which is not enough time and trying to do too much. That seems to be a common thread with international travel!

In any case, I've decided to shelf the Scandinavian trip, since we are flying into Iceland from Colorado (direct flight), so instead of only a few days in Iceland and squeezing in Denmark and Norway (I first gave up the idea of going to Sweden), we are going to extend our stay in Iceland! It makes a much cleaner trip.

I'm bummed to miss Scandinavia this year, but I think it would be a better trip with just my husband and I, sans kids, in a few years!

Thank you again!