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Solo Trip from Helsinki - Berlin

Posted by on

Hi All,

After 19 years of travelling around the world with parents, I'm starting to plan my first solo trip next year. I will be taking a German course in Berlin for the month of July and want to travel a bit of Scandinavia before, and work my way down to Berlin. I've been to Iceland, Norway and Denmark before, but want to visit Helsinki, Tallinn and Sweden. I have seen the Fijords of Norway and am not particularly interested in seeing natural wonders; more into cute towns, cities, history, food etc. No length of time yet set, but around 2-3 weeks to get from Helsinki - Berlin.

My rough plan is as follows. Helsinki - Tallinn - (Helsinki) - Stockholm - Gothenburg - Malmö - Copenhagen - Hamburg - Berlin.

Would appreciate some suggestions of places to visit, particularly en route from Stockholm - Gothenburg and Gothenburg - Malmö.

Advice of best method of transport too (obviously ferry between Helsinki and Stockholm) would be appreciated (Train/Eurail Pass?/FlixBus) and suggestions if I have missed anywhere important.

Posted by
533 posts

I have only a little experience with that part of the world, but I found trains in Sweden to be very pleasant, efficient, easy to navigate, and extremely cost effective when tickets are booked far in advance. My ticket from Stockholm to Malmö, a 4 1/2-hour trip, cost just 195 kr, or around $23. (The map here would have you believe that the same trip costs five times as much.)

The math may work out differently if you're making a lot of shorter trips instead of one longer one, or if you're not able to commit to a specific train months in advance. But do take a look at point-to-point rail tickets before resigning yourself to either an expensive rail pass or the much slower buses.

Posted by
14507 posts

Hi,

Welcome to solo traveling. If you have close to three weeks of solo traveling before getting to Berlin for the German course, I would recommend the full range of options, discount air carriers, day and night trains, the buses, and the ferries. Keep in mind that with the Pass you are qualify for discounts up to 30% on the ferry. If you decide to skip Copenhagen, there is the overnight ferry link Malmö to Travemünde, (I took that one) , from which you can reach Hamburg. The trunk lines go through Hamburg Hbf anyway.

There are several ferry links between Sweden and Germany, which could be useful to you if you choose to skip Malmö, Copenhagen. Take the ferry in Gothenburg to Kiel, (close to 15 hrs) where you can stay a day or two, then the regional train to Hamburg Hbf. Or, Trelleborg to Rostock if you cut out Hamburg, if not Trelleborg to Travemünde.

What type of history in Helsinki? WW2 sites?

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