One Month Scandinavia Itinerary

Overall not a bad plan, but there are some things I would do different.

You are reducing Denmark and Sweden to Copenhagen and Stockholm. I hope you at least plan to do some day trips, but there are many other places to see in both countries.

For the Bergen to Oslo portion, you can either take the train direct or do some version of the Norway in a Nutshell-trip, in which case you might want to spend a night somewhere along the way (e.g. Flåm).

Four nights in Helsinki might be a bit too much. And you might want to consider staying in Tallinn instead and do a day trip to Finland. Or split the time between the cities. Anyway, do not reduce Tallinn to just a day trip. A day trip to Turku can be nice but would not be a top priority for me. But if you're going there, make it your last day in Finland, bring your bags and take the ferry from Turku to Stockholm in the evening. Saves you a bit of backtracking and travel time, but on the other hand doesn't give you the same views of the Stockholm archipelago unless you are an early morning person.

Even if it splits your stay in Stockholm you might want to consider this itinerary from day 13:

Train Oslo to Stockholm
Stay in Stockholm
Ferry from Stockholm to Tallinn
Stay in Tallinn
Ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki
Stay in Helsinki
Train to Turku, spend the day there and then ferry back to Stockholm.

Spending two nights on the Baltic sea ferries can save a bit of money.

But don't wait too late to buy the ferry tickets. For one thing, all the cabins may be booked up. For another, the fare may be a lot higher than it would have been if the tickets were purchased earlier.

I agree with Badger's comments, especially concerning Turku and Tallinn. I found things of interest in Turku, but I think it has considerably less pizzazz than Bergen and Gothenburg, just for two examples.

But don't wait too late to buy the ferry tickets.

The same is true for train tickets.

Thank you both for the input. I'm definitely planning day trips from all the major cities. I like being able to post up in one place for several days instead of spending more day dedicated to travel. I didn't totally love the idea of being in Helsinki for that many days so I will look at splitting my time. That's a good idea.

Thank you and happy travels!

I love your itinerary. I have not been to Turku, so I can’t comment on that. I did Tallinn on an overnight ferry from Stockholm, so just a day trip, and it was great. I could see where an extra day or two there would be nice. I also did Helsinki the same way. I would have loved more time there as well. It has a different feel from the rest of Scandinavia.

This sounds like a wonderful trip. Enjoy!

Thanks Carroll. I'm def leaning towards splitting my time between Helsinki and Tallinn.

I'm definitely planning day trips from all the major cities. I like
being able to post up in one place for several days instead of
spending more day dedicated to travel.

That can have it's advantages, but also limits you to things that are within day trip distances of those cities. Might work fine if you are in e.g. Benelux, but in northern Europe distances are much larger. Would you try to see Spain by spending five days in Madrid and do a few day trips? The five countries on your itinerary have a combined area of over 1,260,000 km2, or more than twice the size of Ukraine.

A good way to see a bit more of Sweden would be to not just take the train from Stockholm to Copenhagen. Take the ferry to Visby and spend two nights there. Then take the ferry to Oskarshamn and spend a night in Kalmar before taking the train to Copenhagen.

I didn't totally love the idea of being in Helsinki for that many days
so I will look at splitting my time. That's a good idea.

Was the day trip to Turku added to have something to do there? Instead of five days in Helsinki I'd suggest five days in Tallinn, you can do a day trip to Finland one day, Tartu is also a good day trip and for a different place to visit, consider a day trip to Narva.

If you've told us what time of year you plan to take this trip, I've missed it.

I liked both Tartu and Visby; I haven't been to Narva. I would warn that during peak season (summer), demand for lodging in Visby is intense. Rates are high and availability can be an issue. I believe weeknights are probably a bit easier than weekends. Visby was totally worth the cost to me.

Thanks Badger and acraven for your input!

I am traveling in spring. I didn't say when exactly out of discretion.

One of my main reasons for several days in the bigger cities was to not bounce around so much at the end of my trip. Last time I traveled, I did the opposite. Two weeks in two cities then moved around a bunch. I was tired by then and didn't enjoy dragging my increasingly heavy suitcase :-) I flew in and out of AMS and planned to take the train back to AMS the day before. I missed my train and almost didn't make the last one. It was super stressful so I'm trying a different approach this time.

I'd rather spend more days in Finland than Estonia so I'll see about changing up that part of my itinerary.
Thanks!

For a spring trip, it shouldn't be hard to find a place to stay in Visby for a reasonable price. Adding Visby might make the trip more bouncy, but it is worth it in my opinion. A very charming town in many ways, that's not within day trip distance from Stockholm or Copenhagen.