Nordic Trip with 5 young kids

I would keep this question either in the Norway or the Denmark Forum, but not in both. It will get too confusing with people not knowing what was said in the other thread . . .

We just aren't sure what's truly realistic. Is flying into Bergen,
doing Norway in a Nutshell to Oslo, somehow seeing Gothenburg,
Legoland, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and perhaps Astrid Lindgren's World
all doable or is that way too much?

If you have 4-5 weeks that is certainly doable and not too much. You can probably add some more stops as well. Where is your closest major airport? Do you have easy access to Bergen?

Should we scrap Norway for this trip and focus on just Denmark and
Sweden? It appears Sweden has stricter entry rules right now so we
were considering flying into Norway or Denmark since we aren't all
vaccinated.

I assume it's the children that are unvaccinated? Then it shouldn't be a problem if they are that young.

We were planning to take a high speed train from Cophenhagen to
Puttengarten (?) Germany and then either taking the train to Zurich or
flying?

Puttgarden? The trains from Denmark don't stop there anymore but Puttgarden can be reached by ferry from Denmark. But why are you considering Puttgarden? It is not the most popular place for tourists.

Badger - My cousin said there was a high speed train that got on a ferry to cross the canal between Denmark and Puttengarden so that's why we considered it - not as a stop per say but just as an entry point into Germany to continue our route to Zurich. To answer the other question - the children and one adult aren't vaccinated. Our closest major airport is Raleigh, NC - there seems to be an easy flight to either Bergen or Oslo with only one layover in Iceland. It's a cheaper flight than a similar route into Copenhagen but a week sooner which makes our vacation 5 weeks instead of 4 if we go to Norway. This is my first post to the Rick Steves Travel Forum so if there is an easier way to directly reply or tag the person to whom I'm replying please let me know:)

Kim - I wasn't sure if everyone saw all forums at all times - I'm new here! Thanks for the tip!

The best way to see Norway and the amazing Fjords is on a cruise, consider taking one that includes Flam, Geiranger, Alesund, Stavanger and Bergen. You can do Norway in Nutshell in conjunction with the cruise.

If you don't wish to take a cruise, be careful with the weather, when we did our cruise in late June, we were told that a snow storm had come before we arrived and that the roads were blocked for several days. That was in early June.

Norway is by far the most scenic of the three countries. We do love all three and have been to Denmark three times. You can stay in Copenhagen and take day trips via tours. Also, you can take the train to Stockholm and spend some days there.

Scandinavia is wonderful and the people are great, however it is very expensive. I remember getting a beer in Bergen, Norway that cost the equivalent of $10 US and later on that trip in Portugal paying about $1 US for a similar size beer.

My cousin said there was a high speed train that got on a ferry to
cross the canal between Denmark and Puttengarden so that's why we
considered it.

In that case your cousin has outdated information. The trains were rerouted via Jutland as the ferry route is being replaced by a tunnel under the strait.

To answer the other question - the children and one adult aren't
vaccinated.

While there is no way to tell what the rules will look like in June, the unvaccinated adult really should get vaccinated. Travelling is not as easy as it was before the pandemic, and being unvaccinated makes it much more difficult. E.g. at the moment, unvaccinated persons entering Germany from Denmark need to quarantine for 14 days.

Our closest major airport is Raleigh, NC - there seems to be an easy
flight to either Bergen or Oslo with only one layover in Iceland. It's
a cheaper flight than a similar route into Copenhagen but a week
sooner which makes our vacation 5 weeks instead of 4 if we go to
Norway.

Starting in Bergen makes a lot of sense, and 28 days will still allow you to see a lot. In my opinion the logical order would be Bergen-Oslo-Gothenburg-Stockholm-Astrid Lindgrens Värld-Copenhagen-Legoland. Which would still allow you to add a few more stops if you want to, or spend more than 4 days in a place. A night or two in Hamburg is not a bad idea. Or maybe a canal cruise between Gothenburg and Stockholm?

Some park/outside activities the kids may enjoy:

In Oslo:
-Vigeland Park: Kids can run around for a few hours, climb around; there's a playground. Don't know about the facilities though (convenient changing place/bathrooms?). It's a sculpture park, so many adults there when my wife and I visited, but I think the kids would enjoy (a lot of "fun" sculptures).
-The Oslo Opera House: Actually, the roof of the opera house. I wish I could have played here when I was a kid.
-Norsk Folkemuseum: (See below)

On/near the fjords: The Flamsbana train, out of Flam, part of Norway in a Nutshell. Kids should love it. Can also take long ferry to/from Bergen to get here. Maybe could do a train/Flamsbana/ferry loop from a Bergen base. It would be a long day for the kids, but you would end with at least 2 hrs either on the train or on a ferry, where some could sleep.

In Stockholm:
-Skansen: Both the Norsk Folkemuseum and Skansen are open-air museums with historic village buildings relocated from around the country. Demonstrations of farming crafts. We visited Skansen only. Saw folk-dance show. Skansen has farm animals, and other non-domesticated animals, a plus for you. Skansen is located on a large island in the harbor, all park-like, with other museums and family attractions.
-Vasa museum: Our favorite museum on our Copenhagen/Norway/Sweden trip. Vasa is a 17th-century ship that went down in the harbor and was raised in the 1960s. Amazing restoration/reconstruction. Might be more suited to older kids (8-14?, and especially adults), but this was fascinating. At least do some research on it to see if it's suitable.

Don't know how you plan on getting around, but from Copenhagen to Oslo we took the DFDS overnight cruise/ferry. We're not cruise people, but this was a fun/different experience that also provided transportation across the North Sea and one night lodging. We didn't see anyone with young kids, though.

Good luck!

RS, of course, is a fan of some of the Danish islands (Aero). Might be nice with the kids for a few days before or after Legoland.

That is a good summary by Bruce and I especially agree about the Vasa museum, great place both for children and adults.

In Copenhagen a fun place for the children (and adults) is Tivoli Gardens. It’s an in the city low key family gathering place with historical significance. I had absolutely no plans to visit there but it was near my hotel and entry was free with use of the Copenhagen City Card. It was a relaxing break from high paced sightseeing. Depending on how long you’re in the greater Copenhagen area it may be worth researching the options available with the card for free or reduced entry into museums, attractions, transportation, boat rides, etc. At least that was the case a couple years ago. I visited Denmark, Norway and Sweden and had an exciting time.