Itinerary Help with Sweden and Finland

My only experience is with Sweden. I recently returned from this type of journey going as far north as Umeä, Vasterbotten and as far south as Eksjö, Småland. I did not rent a car as I was traveling alone, and the trains and buses were quite convenient. I flew in and out of Stockholm. Fortunately, I met lovely people who brought me to the farms, etc. where my ancestors lived. Once I just hired a taxi for a few hours to get slightly out of town to a site ( I made a deal and hired it during their non busy hours) For Stockholm to Lulea, I would suggest flying as it is pretty inexpensive on SAS. It is a short flight, but a long day by train. I had initially planned to train up to Umeä from Stockholm, which is south of Lulea, during the day, but work on the tracks cancelled my train. So instead, I flew, which I think was better in the end. Missed the landscape, but had more time in the Umea area. Once in Lulea, you might decide if you want to rent a car to travel to Pajala and Jokkmokk as there are two of you or just rent when you get to each town if you are visiting villages outside of the town...assuming they have a car rental agency. I took the overnight train with a private compartment back to Stockholm, but you might look into flying from Lulea down to Helsinki and then rent a car again. I will say if there is nothing in-between these towns that you particularly want to see, you might want to rent a car just when you get to each town, because the public transportation is relaxing and easy, and that way you can both enjoy the scenery, but I love trains. I'd compare prices to decide if you want to return to Stockholm at the end or fly out of Helsinki. I had an amazing time and wish the same for you! Oh, I'm 61, active, and I spent less than I budgeted. Wray

I also can only respond to our experience in Sweden. We flew into Stockholm (saw the city) and then took the train to Norkkoping. Once there, we got a rental car. We were wanting to travel south to Smaland where my ancestors had come from. Without the car we would not have been able to get back into the forest where their home had been. On our first trip there, we did take the train all the way from Stockholm to Kalmar which was quite nice, but the car was essential for us to get to where we needed to.

"Should we fly and out of Stockholm? "

Since you want to see Finland and Sweden, you should fly into Helsinki and out of Stockholm (or Kiruna if you don't want to get all the way back to Stockholm from Pajala and Lulea, which I see are quite far north in Sweden). To find these kinds of flights, use the "multi city" option on Kayak, SAS, etc.

Between Helsinki and Stockholm, you can fly or take an overnight boat (almost like a cruise). For other connections between the countries, look into flying. When I flew SAS in 2003, they had a deal where you could add segments in Scandinavia to your trans-Atlantic ticket for not much money. I don't know if they still do that, but there are now budget airlines flying within Scandinavia that should make it inexpensive (one of the few inexpensive things in that region of the world).

For Stockholm and Helsinki, Rick Steves Scandinavia will have lots of useful information, including money-saving tips. You'll need to supplement with other books for your ancestral villages.