10 Days in Scandanavia: Where To Go?

Posted by Laura (Washington, DC, USA) on 06/07/09 02:16 PM

My boyfriend and I are headed to Gothenburg for a wedding in August and are planning to extend our trip to spend 10 days touring the area. We're a young couple not afraid of a quick pace. We're approaching this trip as a way to get a "taste of the region" so we can better focus future travels.

We'll be flying into Gothenburg and out of Copenhagen, but are looking for your suggestions for where to spend the intervening days. Specifically:

(1) Oslo or Helsinki?
(2) Is Stockholm worth the trip or will Gothenburg give us enough of a feel for Sweeden?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Laura

Posted by Chris

Vancouver, BC

06/07/09 04:05 PM

162 posts

Stockholm has the better sights and museums. In fact, Gothenburg is not even in Rick's book. I think Oslo might be the better option because it has more to offer: I particularly love the Vigland Park in Oslo, and the Viking Museum was good too.

Posted by Samantha

Tallahassee

06/07/09 05:00 PM

3 posts

I recommend Oslo, it is a great city. However, a day or two is enough, make sure you don't miss the fjords. As Rick recommends, there is a great "Norway in a Nutshell" tour that runs from Oslo to Bergen. The tour can be done in a day (including an overnight ride on a train) However, if you have extra time, use it! Last fall I spent 3 days on the tour, and stayed in the small town Aurland for a day. Keep in mind that Norway can be expensive, my brother and I went to grocery stores and picnicked to save money on food.

I hope this was helpful!

Sam

Posted by Carroll

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

06/07/09 06:29 PM

2708 posts

I have not been to Gothenburg, but I can tell you Stockholm is a spectacular city. It's set on 11 islands and is very beautiful. One of the islands is Gamla Stan, the old town -- it is one of my favorite old towns in Europe. From Stockholm you can take an overnight cruise to Helsinki. It gives you just a day in Helsinki, but that's enough to see the highlights. Helsinki is very interesting. Or you could take a similar overnight cruise to Tallinn, Estonia which also has a great old town. I just loved it. The cruises are very reasonable considering it covers transportation and two nights lodging.

I am not particularly fond of Oslo, though it has some interesting sites. One day would do it. I much prefer Bergen, which is on the coast and is very pretty and has an interesting city. From there you can do Norway in a Nutshell which only takes a day and takes you back to Oslo. I liked Helsinki better than Oslo, but if you factor in the Bergen and fjords, I would choose Oslo.

Of course you will want to save a couple of days to see the sites in Copenhagen. So you probably won't be able to squeeze it all in, but those are my thoughts.