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Scandinavian Itinerary Help

Posted by (Düsseldorf, Germany) on

My wife and I are planning a trip to Scandinavia this August for 8-9 days (with one of those being our arrival day). Below is a really rough itinerary of what we’re thinking as well as some questions. My initial thoughts are that this itinerary is a bit too aggressive, but I’m open to any kind of feedback on if we’re budgeting the right amount of time for different locations or if there’s anything else that we should consider seeing, as well as any general advice/tips/thoughts.

  1. Arrive in Stockholm hopefully in the morning or around lunchtime.
  2. Full day in Stockholm
  3. Early plane/train to Oslo
  4. "Norway in a Nutshell" to Bergen
  5. Rent a car in Bergen and drive to Balestrand (hoping to stay at the Kviknes hotel)
  6. Full day in Balestrand seeing the nearby Stave Church, glacier and/or fjord cruise
  7. Return to Bergen
  8. Fly to Copenhagen from Bergen
  9. Full day in Copenhagen
  10. Fly home

Questions:

  • #1 priority is seeing the fjords in Norway, and it seems like we definitely want to do at least the first two train legs of the “Norway in a Nutshell” route. However, we’d also like to spend a day or two around the Sognefjord (likely in Balestrand and ideally getting to rent a car so that we can drive the Aurlandsfjellet “Snow Road” and see the Stegastein overlook) vs. just zipping through in one day.
  • Is the driving around there worth either A) renting a car in Flam or Voss and then driving to Bergen after spending two days in the area, or B) taking the full “Nutshell” route to Bergen then renting a car and driving back towards Balestrand the next day before eventually returning to Bergen a few days later? Or would we be better off connecting to Balestrand from Flam via boat and skipping the driving all together?
  • We'd also like to visit Stockholm and Copenhagen if possible, but are we squeezing too much in by trying to hit all 3 countries? If so, would it be worth sacrificing time in/around the fjords in order to have more time in Stockholm and Copenhagen?
  • I was intrigued by getting to see the Atlantic Ocean Road in Norway, but I wasn't sure if it's worth taking an additional 1-2 days to see it based on our limited time.

Thank you in advance for any/all help and sorry for such a long-winded post!

Posted by
252 posts

Have I done such a packed trip? Yes. But I was/am a solo traveller. I'd recommend cutting Copenhagen so it is not so packed and also to avoid fights due to being tired/unexpected delays. You would not believe all the fights I see while travelling solo.

I personnally prefer Stockholm if you are wondering why cutting Copenhagen. So much to do in Stockholm and I find it more attractive of a city than Copenhagen.

I am not sure where you are flying from but Norwegian Airlines (LOVE them) has great prices for all 3 of these cities!

Bon voyage!

Posted by
1878 posts

I agree with Val about doing too much without enough time. 1 1/2 days in Stockholm or Copenhagen isn't nearly enough to do anything but the very basics. I loved both Stockholm and Copenhagen, but you should seriously consider cutting one of them.

As for the NiN, did you consider doing a modified version that will take you from Oslo to Balestrand? Then you could stay your two nights at the Kviknes Hotel and continue to Bergen on the express boat. You can rent a car for the day in Balestrand (check out http://leigebil.no/) and go exploring. That might make more sense than heading directly to Bergen and then to Balestrand and back.

Posted by
4535 posts

I agree with the others to cut either Stockholm or Copenhagen and give yourself an extra day at least in the remainder and leave plenty of time for your priority of Norway. As to which of those two to cut, that is a toss-up based on personal preferences. I love Stockholm personally and can easily fill several days there. But Copenhagen has much to offer too and you won't be disappointed with either if the weather is nice.

I haven't been to Norway and so can't comment. I can say that you need to fly between the major destinations (like Stockholm to Oslo). Also, when planning, keep in mind that you'll lose 4-6 hours easily on transit days with check out, getting to and from airports or rental facilities, travel time itself and getting oriented with your new city etc...

Posted by
13 posts

Thank you so much to everyone for the replies and advice! Based on everybody's feedback, I think we'll definitely plan on seeing just one of Stockholm and Copenhagen, and not try to squeeze both in. Lane, thank you for the advice regarding renting a car in Balestrand. I'd been searching to for car rental companies in that area, but had not see that one, so thanks for uncovering that gem for us. That may provide us with a much more efficient trip than going to Bergen before going back to Balestrand.

Thanks again for the help!

Posted by
2758 posts

If you decide to drop Copenhagen (which I recommend; it's nice, but Stockholm is fabulous!), you should probably fly from Stockholm to Bergen and then make your way back to Oslo via Balestrand. You won't be able to get a flight to the US from Bergen, but you can from Oslo. Make sure to spend a full day in Bergen - it's a really neat town. I liked it much better than Oslo. Ideally, you should also have a full day in Oslo because there are some worthwhile sights.

Posted by
8299 posts

We returned 9/10/2016 from a Scandinavian trip. We flew into Copenhagen, spent 3 days and took a 9 day cruise to Germany, Tallin, St. Petersburg (2 days), Helsinki, Stockholm and back into Copenhagen.

After 1 night, we took a $67 flight on Norwegian Air Shuttle over to Oslo for a day.

We got on the Norway in a Nutshell train for 5 hours, and then took a 1 hour mountain train down into the fjords. There we caught a fast ferry for about 5 hours to Bergen. Honestly, the 1 hour train ride down the mountain was our favorite part of the trip. The boat ride to Bergen was okay, but the fjords were not the knock dead beautiful scenery I was expecting. We would have been happy to have taken the mountain train back up the mountain and another train into Bergen.
But we really liked our two days in Bergen, as the people there are very hospitable and very beautiful.

The highlight of our trip was taking a private tour of St. Petersburg for two absolutely incredible days

If you want your best bang for your buck, I suggest taking a Scandinavian cruise. Scandinavia is extremely expensive to travel on the ground. For example, 2 burgers, fries and Cokes at TGI Fridays in Oslo--$60.

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