Sweden itinerary

Gothenburg, Stockholm and Uppsala are all worth visiting. And so are the rural northern areas.

What does the plan look like so far? What do you want to see and do? What are you interested in? When is this trip?

I liked Gotherburg a lot, but travel forces us to make trade-offs. As someone not physically capable of walking over uneven terrain, I've learned that short visits to rural areas are often enough for me, but I need extra time in cities because I'm slow in museums. You may be the exact opposite.

In my personal opinion the Swedish East coast is undervalued in a lot of travel forums and literature.

But instead of choosing "big" Gothenburg I recommend smaller towns such as Varberg or Helsingborg.

This is the first draft of the itinerary.

Copenhagen
Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm
Uppsala
Uppsala
Train (overnight from Uppsala to Lulea)
Lulea
Kiruna
Kiruna
Narvik
Svolvaer
Svolvaer
Train (overnight from Bodo to Trondheim after catching morning ferry from Svolvaer to Bodo)
Trondheim
Trondheim
Oslo
Flam
Flam
Bergen
Bergen
Bergen
Train (overnight from Bergen to Oslo)
Oslo
Oslo
Ferry (overnight from Oslo to Copenhagen)
Copenhagen
Copenhagen

We are travelling in July 2024 and flying from Melbourne, Australia via Singapore to Copenhagen and are scheduled to arrive at 7am. We are in our mid 60s, will not be hiring a car and are happy to walk when sightseeing but no plans for significant lengths walks/hikes.

I am contemplating removing Gothenburg and adding an extra night in Svolvaer, perhaps 2 extra nights or slotting an extra night in elsewhere.

I am interested in your thoughts. The only fixed arrangement is the first night in Copenhagen.

Thank you.

This part looks awkward to me:

Oslo
Flam
Flam
Bergen
Bergen
Bergen
Train (overnight from Bergen to Oslo)
Oslo
Oslo
Ferry (overnight from Oslo to Copenhagen)
Copenhagen

You can easily fly from Bergen to Copenhagen, I just did it. Multiple flights and carriers per day. You can do the Norway in a Nutshell from Oslo and pick up Flam. So the route after Trondheim could be:
Oslo - multiple days
NiN - include Flam railway and overnights
Bergen multiple nights
Fly to Copenhagen

Of course, you may particularly want the Oslo ferry rather than flying.

I have another comment - my opinion, of course, especially without knowing your interests. Have you been to Copenhagen before? If not,

I find Copenhagen and the surrounding area to have many more options than Bergen and Oslo. I wonder if you are shorting yourself with the time in Copenhagen - especially as you will likely be jet-lagged on arrival. On the off chance that you haven't completed your research on Copenhagen and easy day trips, take a look at Helsingor, Roskilde, Fredricksborg Castle - all within an hour by public transit from central Copenhagen with multiple sites in Helsingor and Roskilde. 90 minutes one way, there's Odense - birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen and charming city center. Central Copenhagen has castles, palaces, museums, Nyhavn, Stroget street, churches, on and on.

If it was me, and it is certainly not, I would take one day from Bergen and one from Oslo and add to Copenhagen - probably at the beginning of the trip to recover. Just a thought!

I don't know Sweden at all, so can't comment, but I have had multiple trips to Copenhagen (and still am missing some sites I'd like to see) and I just completed multiple days in Oslo, Oslo to Bergen train, multiple days in Bergen.

Enjoy the planning!

Thanks for your insights. The Oslo/Flam/Bergen route will be done as Norway in a Nutshell. I could easily knock a day off Bergen as we will have a full day available before departing on the overnight train to Oslo. We choose to use ground or sea transport when travelling, apart from our initial flights to and from Australia.

Plenty more to consider.............

I am astonished that you do not have more nature in your plan when you spend 4 weeks.
Example Norway: Senja, Vesterålen, Geiranger- / Hardangerfjord, Lysefjord ... and no integration of the seaside e. g. by including port-to-port of Havila / Hurtigruten which allows travelling while sleeping or enjoying beautiful coast landscape.

Overall not a bad plan. But I also have some comments.

Copenhagen Gothenburg Gothenburg Stockholm

This is certainly doable. But you can also consider making Gothenburg a stop between Oslo and Copenhagen on the way back.

Trondheim Oslo Flam Flam Bergen Bergen Bergen Train (overnight from
Bergen to Oslo) Oslo

This also looks a bit odd and adds a bit of backtracking. Another suggestion is to follow the coastline from Trondheim to Bergen. Either with Hurtigruten or a combination of Hurtigruten and buses. And from Bergen then the NiN or a variation of it to Oslo.

I am contemplating removing Gothenburg and adding an extra night in
Svolvaer, perhaps 2 extra nights or slotting an extra night in
elsewhere.

Regarding the number of nights, two nights in Gothenburg is certainly worth it. But as always, you can't see everything. I'm a bit curious about the night in Narvik though. It's not the most charming place, more a place you pass through with good transportation connections. So I'd suggest heading direct to Svolvær instead. You might also want to remove one night from Bergen and add it somewhere else.

Thanks Badger and others for your suggestions.

Based on your feedback I have tweaked the itinerary slightly.

I have added a extra night in Copenhagen which will allow us to explore some of the places a bit further afield that were mentioned.

We will stay in Narvik for one night as the train from Kiruna then bus to Svolvaer would make for a long travel day and we are keen to spend the afternoon in Narvik visiting the Narvik War Museum.

Added an extra night in Svolvaer. Also departing on a Sunday so ferry departure time is 12.45pm rather than 6am (on weekdays).

Reduced nights in Bergen and Oslo from 3 in each to 2 in each.

Our time in Flam will coincide with no cruise ships in port (according to https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/flam-port-1361)

Copenhagen
Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm
Uppsala
Uppsala
Train (overnight from Uppsala to Lulea)
Lulea
Kiruna
Kiruna
Narvik
Svolvaer
Svolvaer
Svolvaer
Train (overnight from Bodo to Trondheim after catching ferry from Svolvaer to Bodo)
Trondheim
Trondheim
Boat cruise (Trondheim to Bergen)
Bergen
Bergen
Flam
Flam
Oslo
Oslo
Ferry (overnight from Oslo to Copenhagen)
Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen

I am feeling pretty happy with this itinerary.

Thanks for your help.

Another thought - special thanks to Badger for suggesting the cruise from Trondheim to Bergen.

If you like war museums/memorials, I can highly recommend the Danish Resistance Museum in Copenhagen. I have visited many war museums in Europe, Australia (including several hours at Melbourne's memorial and 2 full days on different trips to Canberra's incredible War Memorial and museum as well as Sydney Memorial and several small town museums), and Asia.

This one was unique - it follows the stories of 5 actual residents and their occupation and resistance experiences. I found the multiple perspectives with audio and film as well as artifacts and the walk thru the occupation timeline very moving and enlightening. We spent several hours, probably 2 - 3, reading every bit of info provided. Others moved through faster if your time is limited.

Thanks ORDtraveler for the suggestion. We will definitely check out the Resistance Museum in Copenhagen.

Not a bad plan. But since you've not told us much about what you are interested in and looking for it is hard to give advice. But if you like war museums you should probably visit the Army museum in Stockholm. And if you have time for a detour there is also the Navy museum in Karlskrona and the Air Force museum in Linköping.

And is there any reason for the stop in Luleå? Not a bad place to visit, but not the most popular place either.

The resistance museum in Copenhagen is my favorite. Weird to say favorite but you hopefully you know what I mean. Don't forget Tivoli Garden. Its fun and yes touristy but fun. I am carefully reading your thread as we might do Sweden next September. I've only been to Stockholm from a Baltic Cruise many years ago. Oslo was my favorite stop. The City Hall is a great tour.

Lots of good ideas here... I wondered if you had a reason for stopping in Flam, it's not the nicest of the towns as it's a large cruise ship port. We preferred Balestrand, an earlier stop on the ferry between Bergen to Flam, before catching the narrow gauge railroad. We stayed at the Kviknes Hotel in the newer wing & the old, carved wooden dining room was a treat!

Flåm is a nice a place to visit, as long as there are no cruise ships there during your visit.

Flam puts you on the correct side of the fjord for the Flamsbana train, the Naeroyfjord ferries and the side-trip by bus to the Borgund stave church (direct buses in peak season only).