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Denmark/Norway vs Sweden/Finland for first Nordic trip

Posted by (Seattle) on

Hi there - I’m planning a 2 week trip for my family to the Nordic region in August 2025. We live in Seattle. I have studied Rick Steve’s recommended itineraries (https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/scandinavia-itinerary) and read a lot of posts on this forum. We’d love to see it all but we tend to like a slower pace, so I’m thinking we should probably minimize the number of places we try to visit. Maybe 2-3 cities, 4 max.

I’m torn between focusing on Denmark/Norway vs Sweden/Finland. Or actually trying to fit it all in. Curious about anyone’s opinion given the following:

  • Cheapest flights from Seattle seem to be on SAS to Copenhagen, and/or home via Oslo. So that would need to be our start/end point, which makes a Denmark/Norway focus make the most sense. But I suspect that might always be the case and I do want to see Sweden/Finland at some point
  • We want to take trains/ferries/cruises around, ideally no car and no additional flights.
  • We are very into culture/art/history/food. We like to look at the outdoors but not really get out into it. We enjoy cities.
  • Where we live we are surrounded by mountains/ocean/trees. So on the one hand—that’s what we love! On the other hand, it might be good to diversify a bit. When I was in Oslo/Stavanger for work, the landscape was gorgeous but very familiar. But maybe Sweden/Finland would be too?
  • We have 4 kids (ages 10-18) so accommodations can be a bit tricky and I feel like we tend to have better luck in the bigger cities vs smaller ones
  • We could do longer than 2 weeks but we find we’re kinda maxed at that point and just want to go home
  • I could see us doing a part 2 in August 2026 …

Thanks for any advice!

Updated 12/27/24: Replaced “Scandinavia” with “Nordic”.

Posted by
3605 posts

Finnair has nonstop flights between Seattle and Helsinki. From Helsinki you can take a direct 2h ferry to Tallinn for the day https://www.directferries.com/.
I don’t see direct overnight trains allowing you to reserve a cabin with beds between Stockholm and Oslo. This is a 5h 30m journey meaning you will lose a day traveling between the two cities. I suggest not visiting four countries in Aug.

Posted by
8 posts

@MaryPat - thanks for the tip re Finnair, lack of sleeper train options, and not squeezing in 4 countries! I would absolutely love to visit Tallinn.

@MarkK - Bergen is very enticing. Thanks for the mention of the other places to check out and often used connections. And very good point on the difference in season amongst the countries in August. I would love to go in June/July but it just isn't in the cards this year. Hamburg and northern Germany are definitely on the list to visit at some point too!

Thanks again.

Posted by
7762 posts

No, you won't be able to see it all in two weeks. Don't underestimate the area, while sparsely populated it is a couple of large countries. To compare with the western US, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark have total area larger than Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California combined. So you need to make some choices.

If you're looking for a visit to Scandinavia, keep in mind that Finland is not part of Scandinavia. Although that doesn't mean it's not worth visiting. Copenhagen is a good starting point for a visit to the area and a popular route for two weeks starting in Copenhagen is Copenhagen-Stockholm-Oslo-Bergen. But if you're not that interested in the mountains then maybe it's worth focusing more on the cities. In my opinion the two "best" cities in the area are Stockholm and Copenhagen.

So for a trip focused on culture/art/history/food, cities and a bit of the outdoors, I would not suggest choosing between Denmark/Norway vs Sweden/Finland. I would instead suggest Sweden and Denmark. For two weeks starting and ending in Copenhagen, a nice route can be Copenhagen-Kalmar-Visby-Stockholm-Gothenburg-Copenhagen.

Posted by
3546 posts

I would agree with Badger. Land in Denmark, if that's the best flight, then train up through Sweden. I haven't been since 2015, but there was also a night train from Stockholm up to Luleå. I loved Umeå and Eksjö, but that's me. Stockholm is great, but there are so many lovely places...and the coast is beautiful. I managed fine with trains and buses. The buses to small towns require a little more planning. Swedes love their outdoor activities year round, which works great for me. It seems to me there were ferries to Finland from the northern cities. Leave Norway for another trip...from Denmark as well.

Posted by
8 posts

@Badger - ack, I am cringing. Replaced “Scandinavia” with “Nordic” in my original post.

@Badger and @Wray - I thought about it this morning and decided to just focus on Denmark (Copenhagen) and Sweden (Stockholm), and then I came back on to say so and there your posts were, confirming that might be a good plan. Norway can be our Part 2. (I might squeeze Helsinki in too … mulling.) Thanks for the route suggestions, that is perfect.

@MarkK - greatly appreciate the welcome and I will absolutely post details after the trip.

Thanks again, we’re very excited. I will follow up to say how it went.

Posted by
7762 posts

Don't worry, you're not the first one to make that mistake. But I do my best to try to educate people!

That sounds like a good plan! But with two weeks you have time to see a lot more than just Copenhagen and Stockholm and I'd suggest adding a few more stops. Or at least plan some day trips. I agree with Wray that Umeå and Eksjö both are lovely, although Umeå is a bit north and takes a bit of time to reach.

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