14-night Sweden itinerary help, please

Hi there, yes this is too much if you want to stop a few nights along the way. Packing & unpacking versus hanging out is not very rewarding. What exactly are your interests? I would allocate 4-5 nights just to Stockholm. Had you considered flying into CPH & out of Stockholm or vice versa so you don't have to backtrack? Once you determine your route, I'd look into trains and buses first. And learn what the sign is for a speed camera and slow down to the legal speed! Ha. Also get some help reading the parking signs - They're complicated. If there's no sign, it means you CAN'T park, not that you can! Be sure your rental car has one of those quirky little signs where you move the dials to the time you've parked, that way they know how long you've been there.

I would be very surprised if you don't find vegetarian dishes in all but the smallest towns. And would cut back on a few places & absolutely add Visby!! (You can fly there or take a ferry from the mainland.) It's lovely, different, many large church ruins in town & one of the complete walled mediaeval cities in Europe. Now I'm going to ADD another - a quick train trip from Stockholm, or 20 minutes by train from ARN, a day here in Uppsala, gorgeous university town with a 450+ year cathedral, THE best fika (another subject entirely), Gustaviarum, 1600's science institute made into a small museum, castle with great view on the hill, & Gamla Uppsala, about a 15-minute drive outside of town with (pre) Viking graves, a small interesting museum about the era, and ancient church.

Carlos has written a lot about his adventures in Sweden, if you use his name to search his posts, here's a fun start - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/my-expat-experience-in-sweden-so-far. Good luck with your planning!

Thank you for your input, Sandancisco, and for giving me the little push I needed to streamline our trip. I think I'm going to take out the northern areas of Sunne, Lake Siljan area and Fallun, especially since I'd like to add Visby. I will look into trains, but the little bit of research I did led me to believe it would be less expensive to rent a car than take the trains. If we stay in one place for several days, could we just rent a car from a Circle K when we're ready to head somewhere else? Are one-way rentals allowed, or do we need to bring the car back to the place we rented from? As for our interests, we enjoy exploring cities, but we also enjoy nature, wildlife and the countryside and know that only staying in a capital city doesn't give the full picture of a country. We are not opposed to a little serendipity. Unfortunately, our flights are booked in and out of ARN already. I had to make a decision a while ago because I wanted to avoid higher prices due to the skyrocketing fuel prices. Thank you also for pointing me toward Carlos's posts. We need all the insight from others we can get!

Great I'm glad I could help. If we stay in one place for several days, could we just rent a car from a Circle K when we're ready to head somewhere else? Are one-way rentals allowed, or do we need to bring the car back to the place we rented from? Sorry, I really have no idea. I wonder if the train is really more expensive than driving, have you looked at Swedish 'petrol' (gas or diesel) prices?

The roads are not US highways, no matter what Google says. (I drive a LOT in California, rarely here unless a local jaunt.) I've not been to Malmo, but the train between Uppsala & Stockholm is very reasonably priced. Many forum posters use https://www.seat61.com/, though it may be out of date. Here's an excellent trip report for Stockholm as well as experience on the train between Copenhagen and Stockholm. My last TR is buried at the bottom. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/spring-in-copenhagen-and-now-stockholm.

Thank you for thoughts on driving in Sweden. Upon further research, including asking AI for some ideas, we are thinking of flying between some destinations in Sweden & Copenhagen, as it appears to save time and is a comparable price to the train. Our updated itinerary (still planning and not set in stone yet) is: 3-4 nights in Stockholm, fly to Visby, 1-3 nights in Visby, fly to Copenhagen, 1 night in Copenhagen, evening train to Lund, 1 night in Lund, train to Gothenburg, 3 nights in Gothenburg, fly to ARN. I suppose we could take the train between Gothenburg and Stockholm, and have a chance to see the middle of the country through the train window. We have a couple nights left...maybe train to Uppsala and a night there, then back to ARN? Our flight leaves ARN at 11:30am, so maybe we'll stay at a hotel nearby the night before our flight?

3-4 nights in Stockholm, fly to Visby, 1-3 nights in Visby, fly to Copenhagen, 1 night in Copenhagen, evening train to Lund, 1 night in Lund, train to Gothenburg, 3 nights in Gothenburg, fly to ARN.

Have you already purchased a round-trip flight to Stockholm? It would save you time if you flew into Copenhagen and home from Stockholm (or vice-versa).

While flghts may look like they save you time or money, that is not always the case, You need to factor in the hassle of air travel which includes the time and cost of getting to airports outside of the city center, arriving at the airport 2 hours before departure, and dealing with flight cancellations and delays. Personally, if a train trip is under 6 hours I choose it over a flight. Even a 1 hour flight takes at least 4 hours of travel time when you look at it end to end.

Between Stockholm and Visby, I’d choose to take the ferry rather than a flight; you get some nice views and it is a pleasant way to travel. I’d also make sure you can find accommodation on Visby. July is a very popular time. If you can’t visit Visby, you might consider taking a day trip out of Stockholm to one of the islands in the archipelago.

Between Gothenburg and Stockholm, I’d also choose to take the train over a flight. The direct train is only about 4.5 hours.

1 night in Copenhagen is too little time given the time it will take to get there.

p.s. Sorry, just saw that you have already booked a round trip flight to Stockholm so ignore my comment on that.

I think I may be confused about your plans. Are you thinking of a trip that's basically all-Sweden except for one night in Copenhagen? I wouldn't do that--way too much travel time for way too little benefit. Sweden is a huge country and can easily consume a lot more than 2 weeks, even if you don't go too far north.

Edited to add: Laura's right about lodging in Visby. The first thing to do is avoid trying to go on a weekend. That will make it a bit more likely you'll be able to find a place to sleep. You haven't mentioned any particular budget concerns, and I guess in the case of this trip, time is more valuable than money. Still, I'll mention that I managed to spend just one night in Visby but have 30 hours there. In that time I was able to walk (I think) every single street in the medieval city. It would have been nice to have some additional time, but I wasn't going to rent a car, so I wasn't expecting to see anything else on Gotland. I took ferries between Oskarshamn and Visby. With your itinerary, the port in Nynashamn might well make more sense; I ended up spending two nights in Nynashamn, so it's questionable whether I actually saved any money with my scheduling.

Thank you, Laura and acraven, for your thoughts. I really do appreciate the different viewpoints from people who've been there. The trip started out as a Sweden-only trip, but Copenhagen was added because...well, we're there, and who knows if we'll ever be back. Also, my partner wants to see Gothenburg. Personally, I'd rather see the Dalarna County area, but Visby is kind of a stand-in for that. Is taking the 3.25 hour ferry trip to Visby really better than a 1 hr flight? I still need to find out how to get to the ferry dock from Stockholm. Midweek flights from Visby to Copenhagen are cheap.

3-4 nights in Stockholm, fly to Visby, 1-3 nights in Visby, fly to
Copenhagen, 1 night in Copenhagen, evening train to Lund, 1 night in
Lund, train to Gothenburg, 3 nights in Gothenburg, fly to ARN. Maybe
train to Uppsala then a night there & back to ARN.

Whew, OK, this is looking much better than driving! Public transportation between CPH & downtown is excellent, easy & cheap. We loved the Phoenix Hotel but it's closer to the harbor, though nothing is far from anything else. Since you have such a busy trip planned, I would take a day away from Gothenburg & add it to Copenhagen, it really is a delightful city.

ARN is literally half way between Stockholm & Uppsala. So you can hop on the Arlanda Express (18 minutes) into downtown Stockholm from ARN when you arrive from the US. I would look into hotels in Stockholm asap, BHotel (Best Western) Esplanade (well recommended on the Forum) or the more expensive Raddison Strand are both on the water.

As for your last night, you can stay in Uppsala. It's also only a 20+ minute train ride to ARN, including the 5 minute walk next door to the train station. (Download the SJ app so you can buy your tickets on line.) We prefer the Radisson Blu literally next door to the Uppsala train station.

All of your flights except RT to the USA are inside Schengen, so they're treated like domestic flights, you go through security, no immigration. You only really need to be at the airport 1.5 hours ahead to be safe. While the ferry to Visby would be more scenic, from Stockholm central station it's approximately 4 hours (ferry terminal is ~34 minutes away in Nynashamm.)

Thanks to Sandancisco for kindly mentioning my Sweden expat posts, even if it’s been a few years now. I also commend the OP for wanting to explore Sweden beyond Stockholm, it’s a shame so many just fly into/out of Stockholm and don’t give the rest of the country a second thought.

I’ve driven extensively around southern Sweden (including many of the places already mentioned), and from my experience, renting a car is the best way to see the country beyond the major cities/towns. While the train network is solid between hubs like Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö, from my personal experience a lot of what makes Sweden special is found off the main routes.

There are countless off the beaten path places that are outstanding, wooden churches, Bronze Age standing stones, small historic towns, scenic castles, and countryside areas that you simply don’t come across unless you have the flexibility of a car. Many of these aren’t practical to reach via public transport, or at least not without a lot of extra time and coordination. That said you may need a mix of transportation to achieve all your goals for this trip. Some initial thoughts based on what’s been discussed:

With 14 nights I think you can explore a good chunk of Southern Sweden, maybe with a dash of Copenhagen, but it can start getting tight. I have not done all of this at once though, but I see the main areas of interest:

• Malmö, Copenhagen (as a potential day trip from Malmö or vice versa), Lund, Ystad
• Kalmar, Oskarshamn (ferry to Visby), Gotland (Visby)
• Stockholm, Uppsala
• Road trip from Stockholm to Gothenburg (I think this would be the best place to use a car), I envision the focus being Skaraborg which is the isthmus between the Vänern and Vättern lakes - https://www.swedentips.se/vastergotland/skaraborg/

With each of these bullets I think you’d want 4-5 nights. Theoretically you could string together all these places and make a reverse “C” starting in Malmö and ending in Gothenburg, but that may be more like 20 nights.

Welcome back Carlos! I so enjoyed (silently) following your Swedish expat adventures. So great to hear from you.

it’s a shame so many just fly into/out of Stockholm and don’t give the
rest of the country a second thought.

If you can convince my employer to give me more time off of work, I will happily explore more. :-) I’m headed to Copenhagen and Stockholm in a few weeks and unfortunately that is all I have time for.

Apologies Carrie, I forget how little vacation companies in the USA give to their employees! I will say you can always drop Copenhagen, and combine Stockholm with Gotland/Visby haha ;-) this is what I did - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-stockholm-gotland-sweden-aug-2024

Thank you so much for your thoughts and ideas, Carlos! Is it possible to do a one-way car rental? Would you use the Circle K stations for this? I am now thinking several days in Stockholm, ferry to Visby from Nynäshamn, Visby, fly to Copenhagen, then train to Gothenburg and back to Stockholm. Was convinced to go from Copenhagen to Gothenburg to Stockholm by train (rather than by plane) but can be convinced to drive! In one of your trip reports you talked about driving through forest for 2 hours, and that sounds magical to me.

Carlos- I had read your TR when it came out the first time, but re-reading it was fun, thanks!

OP, I found several one way car rental links for Gothenburg. I used 4 days in early July from Gothenburg to Södertälje, which is just SW of Stockholm. I'm not a fan of 3rd party consolidators, but it does show that you can rent a car one way. (Suggest you read the fine print, be careful you choose the correct drop off.) https://www.kayak.com/cars/Gothenburg,Sweden-c56272/Sodertalje,Sweden-c23129/2026-07-05/2026-07-08?ucs=1j8v5da&sort=rank_a

Much easier to drop off outside Stockholm and take the train so you avoid driving through crowded roads. You can take the train to the Stockholm central station & onto Uppsala if that's where you're heading. (1 hour 8 minute train ride on Google.) Hope that helps!

Is it possible to do a one-way car rental? Would you use the Circle K stations for this? I am now thinking several days in Stockholm, ferry to Visby from Nynäshamn, Visby, fly to Copenhagen, then train to Gothenburg and back to Stockholm. Was convinced to go from Copenhagen to Gothenburg to Stockholm by train (rather than by plane) but can be convinced to drive! In one of your trip reports you talked about driving through forest for 2 hours, and that sounds magical to me.

Yep, totally possible to do a one-way car rental with the bigger agencies, which is what I've usually done at airports in Sweden, Sixt has been a good option for me. The one time I rented a car from a gas station was from a OKQ8 in Gotland, which we used to drive around the island for the day, we returned it to the same station after hours as there was a key box.

The "forest for 2 hours" is if you would drive from Malmö to Jönköping, it's heavily forested with not a lot of settlements, I recall this was one of the parts of Sweden most depopulated with 19th century immigration. If you went from Copenhagen to Gothenburg to Stockholm by car, you would start out with rolling farmland similar to Pennsylvania, before hugging the jagged forested coastline all the way to Gothenburg. Then you turn inland towards Stockholm and that will take quite a bit of time so you might need a halfway stop in between. This subsequent area is a mix of forest, pastures, but also has many lakes and even some small mountains, including the Vänern and Vättern which are the 2 largest lakes in the EU.

Here is a taste of interesting sites you can find along the way:
Läckö Castle - https://www.lackoslott.se/en/
Karlsborg - https://visitvattern.com/cities-and-places/karlsborg
Varnhem Abbey - https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/skara/varnhem-abbey
Habo Painted Church - https://www.spottinghistory.com/view/2054/habo-church/

Carlos- I had read your TR when it came out the first time, but re-reading it was fun, thanks!

Glad it still provides value!

BTW, if you do drop your car off in Södertälje, Mariefred & it's amazing castle isn't far away. I wrote about it here. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/sweden/drottingholm-or-gripsholm