We have flown SAS to the Nordic countries a number of times. SAS'
European hub is Copenhagen (CPH) making a CPH multi-city stop over
easy with essentially no added airfare cost. SAS serves Oslo and
Bergen and other Nordic cities.
SAS have three hubs, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. And their routes cover most of northern Europe, and is decent even in other parts of Europe.
if you start the NiN from Oslo and end in Bergen, you could check into
returning from Bergen. For example: Stop over in Copenhagen then CPH
to Stockholm. Land Stockholm to Oslo. NiN Oslo to Bergen. Return
flight to states from Bergen.
As I mentioned, fly to Stockholm. Take the train to Copenhagen, overnight ferry to Oslo and NiN to Bergen, fly home from Bergen.
This is fantastic advice! I have never flown SAS (live in Atlanta, so
pretty exclusively Delta patrons), but for this trip it makes
financial sense to book from JFK. I will check SAS.
For flights to Northern Europe, SAS is a great choice. They use Newark however for their New York flights, but they have direct flights from Newark to both Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. And they code share with some US airlines so you can probably book a ticket from Atlanta with them.
We were thinking we might enjoy the overnight train back to Oslo, but
I haven't researched it at all, so it might not be that enjoyable of
an experience. If that winds up being the case, a flight home from
Bergen might be in order.
From Bergen to Oslo you should consider the day train as the views are stunning. If you do that, fly home from Oslo instead.
I see that Rick recommends an overnight boat to Helsinki. We have
enough time, but my gut tells me that this is a bit much for us with
our two kiddos. Any thoughts on adding that excursion? Obviously it's
tempting to check another country off the list, and who knows if we
will ever make a trip that will make sense with Finland again.
It's hard to judge what's too much for you and your kids, but why not? Tallinn is also a good option for an overnight cruise. The cruises are extremely cheap and pretty nice, the views of the cities from the water and the cruise through the archipelago are also not bad.