Hello! I just started planning to travel Norway (Oslo, Bergen) and Denmark (Copenhagen) in late July for 8 or 9 days (i.e., July 21-28 or 29) with my mom who is 72 years old. I would very much like to get your advice about the travel itinerary. Since I am flying from London (for business trip) and my final destination is Boston, I found multi-city airfare such as Boston to London (direct) and Copenhagen to Boston (1 layover) to be relatively reasonable. However, when it comes to travel those Scandinavian countries, what route/itinerary would you recommend? For example, London to Oslo (air), Oslo to Bergen (train; nutshell?), and Bergen to Copenhagen (air or ship?) make sense? Would including Stockholm be helpful for the route? Can you also recommend the days to spend at each city? Driving is not an option for us but train, ship, and air would work. Any tips or advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!
Posted by
Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico
1924 posts
You don't have a lot of time for this itinerary, but I think you can do something like this:
Day 1 fly London to Bergen
Day 2 Bergen
Day 3 Norway in a Nutshell to Oslo
Day 4 Oslo
Day 5 Oslo, then overnight ferry to Copenhagen
Day 6-8 in Copenhagen
If you can swing a ninth day, I would plan an overnight in Flam or elsewhere along the NiN route, as otherwise it's a long and exhausting day of travel. You don't say how hardy your mother is, or if she is also going to be in London with you, but I assume she won't have to overcome jetlag; still, at her age, Day 3 could be a bit much, so I hope you can add that ninth day.
Posted by
Glostrup, Denmark
1386 posts
Day 5 Oslo, then overnight ferry to Copenhagen
I support that :-) Look in https://www.dfdsseaways.com/
Posted by
OP
23 posts
Thank you both very much for your suggestions. It is very helpful. My mother has diabetes and her knees are not that strong, so it has to be light... I thought 8 days would be good enough but will certainly make it to 9 days. Many thanks!
Posted by
Yorkshire
1339 posts
Definitely do the train journey from Oslo to Bergen if you can. It is however quite long - three to four hours as I recall, we did it last year catching the train from Oslo around midday - but incredibly scenic as it gets to the highest point. We had amazingly good weather and at the top there were glaciers and a lot of snow, even mid June.
In Bergen its worth taking the funicular up to the top of Mount Floyen if the weather is kind (nice little strolls at the top and great views) and both Oslo and Bergen we found very 'walkable' - worth having a stroll round Bergen's 'Bryggen' too. We arrived late (flight delayed) into Oslo and left the following day, which was a Sunday, so couldn't get to to the Fram and Longboat museums as they were closed/ferries not running, but I would think they are worth visiting (I intend to return someday to actually do them!). There's also an Edvard Munch Gallery on the outskirts of Oslo that we didn't get to see either.
However, given that in June it barely gets dark at all at night you can wander about the streets until quite late and see the harbour, the Palace etc., in Oslo, which is what we did. The 'not getting dark in summer' does mess with your perception of time a bit, but it does give you more time to get out and have a look around. And other than shoe leather it costs nothing - everything else will make your eyes water!
Hope you have a good trip!
Ian