I am looking for some guidance on travel to Sweden, Denmark and Norway. If we follow an independent itinerary how easily can we navigate using trains and also driving? Is signage in English? We recently travelled to Prague and Budapest with a tour and I was glad because very little was in English. How do those cities compare to the Scandanavian capitals?
Posted by
Chicago
1700 posts
English is widely and well spoken. Signage in English. I’ve never had a problem on trains or ferries - Denmark, Norway, or Sweden.
As an indicator of how widespread English is, a hotel reception worker in Oslo apologized to me for not immediately greeting me as I approached the counter - I said hello first, in English. He said he was about to welcome me but suddenly thought I looked Norwegian. He gets used to greeting folks in English as they approach, but the Norwegian citizens sometimes find that offensive and want to be welcomed in Norwegian. Apparently my Scandinavian heritage showed through and confused him - he didn’t know what language to speak. He no problems with English after we had established preference.
Posted by
Freedonia
17605 posts
I've traveled all over the Scandinavian/Nordic countries on my own. Its one of the easiest areas to travel if you only speak English. Everyone seemed to speak some English--and some better than me. (LOL)
Not once all through Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and the Faroe Islands did I have to use Google Translate.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
7679 posts
It's not hard to navigate Scandinavia on your own. Signs at major railway stations are often in English. And most people speak at least a bit of English.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
6195 posts
It is pretty easy to get around without speaking Swedish. If you will be driving, study the Swedish road signs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Sweden