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Are sandals acceptable in Scandinavia?

On the Scandinavian tour this summer and was wondering if Keen and Teva type sandals are acceptable for men to wear in most places like restaurants and museums.

Posted by
4180 posts

Sandals are scandals in Scandinavia!

lol just kidding 😉

Posted by
6970 posts

Few people will actually care, but you will probably look out of place.

Posted by
4183 posts

And, depending on where you go, your feet may be cold, not to mention get wet. It will definitely not be warm.

I was on the Best of Scandinavia in 14 Days tour, June 10-23, 2018. It was cold and rainy and there was snow in some of the places we went. I was very glad to have layers, a quilted jacket and a rain jacket, as well as my trusty Sockwell compression socks and light weight, mid-height ankle hiking boots.

There were some Canadians on our tour who wore shorts and Birkenstocks without socks the whole time. Tough people!

According to the itinerary map, the tour has changed a bit. But where it was coldest was from Oslo to Bergen and especially overnight in the Norwegian Mountains. The lodgings were lovely but chilly so people were clustered around the roaring fireplaces. My room was quite cold and I had to have someone come turn on the radiator.

Copenhagen was also surprisingly cold with wind-tunnel like conditions between buildings when we were coming back from a great dinner one evening.

The whole tour, the bus made stops along the way for various reasons, so you want to be sure-footed and warm when getting out, walking around and and getting back in. One memorable roadside potty stop was for a nice, but unheated toilet facility, with a metal toilet. I was glad I wasn’t the first to use it. 😁

Posted by
471 posts

Last month, I actually bought a pair of Ecco hiking/walking sandals while in Sweden. It's not really my favorite look but I was having issues with my big toe. I felt like if I didn't get some kind of open-toed walking shoe, my foot was going to explode. There were several days when it was too cold and rainy to wear them but the others gave my toe a break. I saw some Swedes with Crocs so I think you can do no wrong. ; )

Posted by
5507 posts

My Swedish male friends wear sandals with socks. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Plus no one cares.