hello! I plan on visiting Scandinavia the last week of June. Would really appreciate your advise on how to best allocate my time there! My initial plan is:
NYC to Copenhagen, stay 1 or 2 nights?
Train to Stockholm, stay 3 or 4 nights? May include day trip to Sigtuna if worth it?
Flight to Olso, one night in Olso
Norway in a nutshell, sleep in Flam
One night in Bergen, or two?
Bergen to NYC for end of the trip.
Would love to hear back from the forum, thanks!!!
Cynthia
Copenhagen in my opinion is worth at least two full days considering that you will be recovering from a transatlantic flight. My flights from the west coast are overnight flights and I don't get much if any sleep.
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/denmark/copenhagen
No experience with Sweden,
Oslo is worth at least a full day and if you want to enjoy Oslo instead of running through it, two days would let you enjoy the Bygdøy museums and sites. Its easy to walk around the outdoor folk museum for a couple of hours and there's the Viking Ship, Fram and more museums on the Bygdøy peninsula. Take the harbor ferry to or from Bygdøy. Roam the Vigeland sculpture park. Ride the T-1 T-bane metro up to the Holmenkollen ski jump and museum and view the city from the ski jump tower. And there are art museums if that's your thing and the Resistance museum is a must not miss.
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/norway/oslo
One night in Bergen could work if you depart Flam early and get to Bergen by noon or so, but planning for two nights (full day) in Bergen would be less frantic.
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/norway/bergen
If you are time constrained, consider doing Sweden during another trip, or skip Copenhagen and just do Sweden and Southern Norway.
I agree with trying to equalize your time in the big cities, as well as taking the longest trip that you can. One night can be fine for seeing a small town, but will really feel incomplete in a city with more to see and more local transport logistics.
There is much more to do in Copenhagen, in my experience, than any other Scandinavian city (second is Stockholm). When I toured the area, I flew in and out of Copenhagen and spent three nights at each end. I still had sights left over I would have liked to have seen if I had more time. Oslo can been seen in one day, Flam and Bergen are smaller.
"There is much more to do in Copenhagen, in my experience, than any other Scandinavian city (second is Stockholm)." My opinion is the reverse with Stockholm offering much more tourist attractions than Copenhagen, and I love Copenhagen.
Thank you everyone for your responses. You helped me get a better idea of what I'd like to do.
I do have another question for you though: would last week of August to first week in Sept be a good time to take this trip considering a) weather, b) crowds and c) availability (ferries, trains, etc).
Thanks again forum!! :-)
