Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

Stockholm/Helsinki/Tallinn or More Time in Norway?

Posted by (Cartersville, GA, USA) on

Happy Tuesday!

We are finalizing our plans for our trip to Scandinavia this summer. We know for certain we are flying into Copenhagen and out of Amsterdam. We have two itinerary ideas on the table and are hoping to get some input on each or both of them! One plan has us moving from Copenhagen onto Stockholm, then to Helsinki, Tallinn, on to Oslo for 2 nights, then Bergen for two nights (no nights in Amsterdam, we are just flying home from there). The other plan would omit Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallinn and we would add those extra nights (4) on to Norway. We know there is a lot of movement within these itineraries, and we are comfortable with that, we are well traveled :) What I am mostly curious about is whether 4 days in Norway is enough or should we scrap Stockholm/Helsinki/Tallinn and add more days to Norway.

I could see us making a return trip just to explore more in depth Norway, Faroe Islands, Lofoten, etc...I don't think even if we added the 4 nights we would be able to give these places what they deserve, but I could be wrong!! What interests me about Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallinn is that I don't foresee a return trip for these three places anywhere in the near or not-so-near future, and so it would be nice to see them while it is convenient, but I certainly don't want to get to Norway and wish I had spent more days there instead. I have never been to any of these places (other than Copenhagen), so I welcome any and all helpful suggestions :)

Thank you!!

Posted by
6971 posts

You don't mention how long the trip is. But it sounds like around 8 days, is that correct? Also, what are you looking for? Cities? History? Nature? Hiking? Museums? Culture?

Posted by
50 posts

We have 12 days on the ground. For sure spending 2-3 in Copenhagen on the front end. We are interested in all of the things, but even though I love hiking, I am afraid that is probably not going to be in the cards for this trip as my 6 year old is not interested :)

If I had to narrow on two interests, I'd say Cities and Nature, which is why this decision is proving to be difficult for us!

Posted by
2775 posts

I would not skip Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallinn. They are all fabulous cities! I was not that crazy about Oslo and thus I think two nights is enough. I loved Bergen, but it is small and two nights is adequate.

Posted by
6971 posts

12 nights is certainly better than 8, but I still think you are trying to to a lot in 12 days. 9-10 gives you on average 2 days per city if you choose the Stockholm-Helsingfors-Tallinn route, and not a lot of time for the Norwegian nature. Doable with overnight trains and ferries, but still too rushed for me. If you are comfortable with that, it could be an option but my suggestion is to skip Helsinki to get a bit more time in the other cities. The drawback is that you have very little time for the Norwegian nature apart from the Norway in a Nutshell tour.

Skipping Tallinn and Stockholm as well would give you more time to see Norway. And if you want a taste of Sweden as well you could add a night or two in Gothenburg on the way from Copenhagen to Oslo.

Posted by
50 posts

Thank you all for your suggestions! We both really want to visit Stockholm and Tallinn, and so we have decided to cut back on Oslo and skip Helsinki. You just can't do it all, although we very much would like to be able to visit all the places. I wish we could swing a few extra nights!! One day, I am hopeful to return and visit the Faroe Islands and Lofoten!

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.