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Itinerary help and advice needed for 15-16 days in Scandinavia and Amsterdam

Posted by on

My best friend and I are planning a trip to Northern Europe for April, 2017. We found extremely reasonable roundtrip airfare to Copenhagen and we plan on starting our trip there.

We figured 4 days in Copenhagen, 3-4 days in Stockholm, a day in Bergen or Oslo, 1-2 days for Norway-In-A-Nutshell and the rest in Amsterdam about 4 days.

My main questions are how best to travel between these countries/cities, and in what order? I know that there are overnight ferries that might help, but perhaps flying will make the most sense?

I know April isn't peak season for Scandinavian travel but will there still be enough to do/open attractions? (i.e. Norway in a nutshell)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :-) thanks!

Posted by
5837 posts

...April isn't peak season for Scandinavian travel....

I don't know about Denmark or Sweden but Easter Week 15 (actually starting with Saturday 15 April and continuing through Monday 17 April) is a big Norwegian travel week. Norway celebrates Easter Thursday (13 April), Easter Friday and Monday after Easter (17 April) are "red letter" holidays. Norwegians will start traveling to mountain locations starting Saturday before Easter Week, using the Monday after Easter to travel home. Trains will be packed the weekend before Easter Sunday. In contrast, Oslo will be empty from Easter Thursday and even restaurant service will be limited because of staff on holiday.

PS I would suggest at least one full day in Oslo, two being better and a full day in Bergen.

Posted by
3645 posts

I second the suggestion to spend a full day in Bergen. After Norway in a Nutshell, we stayed the night. Next day we did a walking tour, which, as I recall, was arranged through the TI Office. The tour was very worthwhile. We spent the night, and flew back to Copenhagen (we were doing a house exchange there) the next morning. I'd give Oslo a full day, as well. I'd give Stockholm 3 rather than 4 days. I found it underwhelming, but others have liked it a lot.

Why don't you play around with itineraries on skyscanner or kayak until you find the best* loop that includes the cities you've named? Keep in mind that N in a N can be done in either direction.
*best being a combination of good prices and reasonable amounts of time

Posted by
16895 posts

I would take the fast train from Copenhagen to Stockholm, then fly from Stockholm to Bergen, Nutshell/train to Oslo, and fly from Oslo to Amsterdam. Direct flights can cost only $50-75 one way if booked in advance, per www.skyscanner.com. Train ticket discounts available starting a couple of months ahead at www.sj.se.

Posted by
7175 posts

I would go further than Laura above and also suggest taking the train from Stockholm to Oslo, allowing time to see more of Scandinavia at ground level.
Train from Copenhagen to Stockholm (about 5 hours)
Train from Stockholm to Oslo (also about 5 hours)
Norway-In-A-Nutshell from Oslo to Bergen
Fly from Bergen to Amsterdam

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