Honeymoon Itinerary Help - Scandinavia and Northern Europe

Are you taking the train when you travel from Bergen to Oslo? Traveling across Norway is beautiful. There is a train (with a bus and a boat too) that goes across this beautiful country and it is an amazing travel day. It takes a bit of planning, but it is worth it.
If I remember correctly, it is a train from Bergen to Voss, then a bus to Gudvangen, then a boat from Gudvangen to Flam, then a train from Flam to Oslo (with a switch to a different train, possibly in Myrdal).

We were in Denmark and Norway this past September/October, kind-of a 24th honeymoon :) . Over a few weeks, we used Norwegian Air to get from Copenhagen to Trondheim, Trondheim to Bergen, Bergen to Oslo, and Oslo to Copenhagen for a couple more nights before our flight home. Fast, cheap, and we were promptly in our next destination to continue the trip.

If I see your itinerary correctly, you’ll be in Bergen on Aug. 24, a Saturday. The seafood market at the harbor will be especially full of vendors - good time to go there. Norwegians are serious about coffee. Be sure to visit the Solberg & Hansen shop in the Mathallen food hall, next to a stunning waterfall in Oslo. I brought some bags of whole beans home from there. Espresso House, a chain, is good. There’s a particularly nice, convenient one just across from Oslo’s Domkirke church, on Torggata Street.

My first and biggest criticism is the cities are not in a logical order. It would make a lot more sense to start in Munich and then travel to Paris, Amsterdam, Hamburg and so on. The same in the end, flying home from Bergen makes a lot more sense. It's also a very fast paced trip, so I hope you are fine with that.

And planning day trips to the Black Forest from Munich is optimistic, it's over 200 km from Munich and probably at least around 3 hours one way, depending on exactly where you want to go. If the forest is important, add a night in e.g. Karlsruhe on the way.

You also mention that you like "small fairy-tale-esque towns and villages", but you're only stopping in major cities. Are you planning day trips or stops along the way?

Over a few weeks, we used Norwegian Air to get from Copenhagen to
Trondheim, Trondheim to Bergen, Bergen to Oslo, and Oslo to Copenhagen
for a couple more nights before our flight home. Fast, cheap, and we
were promptly in our next destination to continue the trip.

But you missed the amazing scenery inbetween those cities.

Espresso House, a chain, is good.

Strongly disagree. It's a bland and boring chain.

Have you already booked the Paris portion of your trip? Assuming you’re traveling this year, this itinerary puts you in Paris during the Olympics…if that’s part of the plan and you have tickets, I’m super jealous! But if not, you’ll probably find it very hard to book a hotel & prices for everything will be through the roof. You might consider skipping Paris this trip and allocating those days for more time exploring small towns in Germany instead.

Is this for 2024? If so, you are arriving in Paris near the end of the Olympics, not a time I personally would want to visit unless it was to see the Olympics. If you haven't bought plane tickets yet you might be shocked by the prices for that time of year. If you've already purchased tickets, that would be helpful for folks to know so they can offer advice that fits your situation.

I agree with others that the logistical order doesn't make sense. Paris and Munich are outliers for the rest of a northern Europe trip. Berlin might be a better alternative and ticks some of the boxes for your interests (but it's still out of the way). If you want to do the scenic Norway in a Nutshell route from Oslo to Bergen (or the reverse) as suggested above, make sure you buy the train tickets for it as soon as they open for purchase, that route in summer is very popular and does sell out on some days. I've also flown on Norwegian Airlines between Copenhagen/Bergen Oslo/Copenhagen and it was easy and inexpensive.

I agree that the order doesn't make sense. I would also consider cutting something. Paris to Munich is a long way, and then backtracking to Amsterdam? Only one night in Hamburg--while I agree that it is not to be missed, this is missing it. If you aren't going to see much of Hamburg, why not skip it (and you shouldn't skip it, but then again, I live here for a reason ;) )?

Honestly, Paris and Munich are your outliers. Is there a reason for including one or both? You might consider substituting Brussels / Bruges / Ghent for Munich as the Paris-Belgium-Netherlands route makes more sense. Or break up the Munich days across other parts of the trip (1 night in Bergen, 1 in Hamburg--feels rushed). Or skip Paris, especially with the Olympics, and fly to Munich to start. Or to Frankfurt and travel up the Rhein for wine and scenery before heading to Amsterdam and/or Hamburg. Each would allow a less bouncy and more relaxed itinerary.

Hi tmarts,

Coming from my personal experience, do you already have flight reservations which may be forcing a start and end location? That would impact the advice, I'd imagine.

If you mapped it out with a map logically, but the flights/trains etc don't line up, then you're going to have to do a lot of re-figuring or your budget will be making up for it! Again, from personal experience, I've made the mistake of determining what looks (visually) logical, not what the transportation industry is set up to accommodate.

Happy Anniversary by the way!

But you missed the amazing scenery inbetween those cities.

To the contrary, we had longer than three nights, each, in Denmark and Norway, unlike the OP’s current itinerary. With just one night in Bergen and two in Oslo, time is of the essence, and much exploring south or east of Bergen, or venturing very far outside of Oslo won’t provide much return for the effort or cost. Scenery whizzing by, through the window of. train, isn’t as rewarding as being able to take one’s time, as we did, driving through many parts of Norway, stopping frequently, and hiking many trails over three weeks. The OP should fly to maximize the limited available time.

Some scenery from the plane, by the way, was truly stunning. There are advantages to a window seat.

Strongly disagree. It's a bland and boring chain

That would be Starbucks. Espresso House is OK for a chain. The location I mentioned, in downtown Oslo, was the perfect place that morning in late September.

If you need to be back in Amsterdam (obligations-wise, etc) after being in southern Germany, Munich, you're spending too many hours and days zipping back and forth, Paris-Munich, then Munich-Amsterdam, not only tiresome but chewing up you travel days.

If it has to be that way due obligations and the schedules of others, then I would do one of those legs at night, either Paris-Munich or Munich-Amsterdam. Take the night train, if that option fits into your travel style.

Not a bad plan, but I would eliminate Munich and Hamburg and spend more time in Norway.

A great option is to take a cruise of Norway to the North Cape. We did a wonderful one on Royal Caribbean that visited six ports with fantastic fjords.

Travel through Scandinavia is really, really expensive.

We found it much more efficient (and cheaper) to catch a cruise ship going to all the major cities. Unfortunately, St. Petersburg is now being bypassed.

We caught a budget airline flight from Copenhagen over to Oslo and took the Norway in a Nutshell train/fast ferry trip out to Bergen. And we flew home from Bergen making connections in Oslo.