Hi there. I am planning on traveling to Scandinavia from London. I am planning on 7 days or so.
What are the "must see" cities/sights on such a limited time frame?
I'm 37 and interests include: city walks, the arts, live music, bars, dining, hiking and biking, nature. (Kind of like everyone else, huh?) Thanks for your time.
Hello Tracy. If you will return to London, Ron recommends Day 1: Fly from London to Bergen Norway (SAS airline), sleep in Bergen. Day 2: Ride in train from Bergen : the "Norway in a Nutshell" Fjord trip (Bergen -> Voss -> Gudvangen -> Aurland), sleep at Aurland at Aabelheim Pension. Day 3: Travel from Aurland to Oslo (bus to Flam ->train uphill to Myrdal ->train to Oslo. Sleep at Oslo. Day 4: be a tourist in Oslo. Sleep in Oslo. Day 5: Train from Oslo to Copenhagen. If a traveler leaves Oslo at 8:00 in the morning, he could get off the train at Goteborg in Sweden, see and talk with Swedish people there, and get on a train, continue journey to Copenhagen (you might change trains at Malmo in Sweden). Sleep in Copenhagen. Day 6: Be a tourist in Copenhagen. Sleep in Copenhagen. Day 7: Fly from Copenhagen to London. I perceive Copenhagen to be more fun than Oslo or Stockholm for bars and dining. What kind of live music do you want ? Read about the "Norway in a Nutshell" trip in the book "Rick Steves' SCANDINAVIA". And look at all the small maps of Oslo and of Copenhagen, in that book.
Hi Ron,
Thanks for the great ideas. Headed out to get my copy of Rick's book today :) I like all kinds of music - I tend to prefer to check out local music. Altho I think jazzfest is on in Stockholm (19/7) so may try to make that.
Seems like a lot of train time. I'm assuming that it's quite scenic and not to be missed.
Lastly, have you done the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki and then to Tallin? Any thoughts there? I know it would require a few more days. Thanks again.
Loved the overnight ferry to Helsinki...we spent 3 nights there and found so much we liked we could have stayed longer...Tallin is supposed to be very nice...we just didn't have time for everything.
My favorite Scandinavian country is NORWAY. I think the best travel guide book on Norway is : "The Rough Guide to Norway" written and researched by Phil Lee. (I have the fourth edition, published July 2006).
By the way, I met Danish people at the Danish Seamen's club in San Francisco California, in May of 1979. I do not know if that place exists now.
Tracy, the Stockholm area has lots to offer...music and parks..... if you start there........you would have fun exploring the archipelgo (sp?) by boat --- to some great islands meant for the inner soul of a hiker!
I vote yes for the Norway in a Nutshell ......
If you end up in Denmark ....and spend more time there....read about the Island of Aero - in RSTEVES....... it is wonderful.
Tracy,
Stockholm would be a great choice based on your interests.
Stockholm is a very walkable city and there are many interesting sites like the Vasa Museum, Skansen, the Stadshuset (City Hall), and Gamla Stan (the old town). In the summer, there are concerts at Mosebacke (www.mosebacke.se) many nights during the week. The site is in Swedish, but click on 'Kalendarium' to see the concert list. There are tons of bars and good restaurants. There are a number of islands in the archipelago that would make good day trips.
The island of Gotland is also a nice place for a couple of nights if you want to go to the country side. Nice beaches, biking on the island, and the walled medieval town of Visby. This can be reached from Stockholm by train and then ferry.
I am Swedish-American and have been to Stockholm many times. We just returned to the states from our lates visit.
These are the things to see:
1.) Gamla Stan- The quaint old town steeped in history with side walk cafes the Palace and Nobel Museum. Don't forget the exhibit of Swedish cariages and costumes at the armory there.
2.) The pedestrian walkway called Drothinggatan. This is filled with shops and cafes and is the essence of downtown Stockholm.
3.) The Vasa Museum which was a sunken ship that sunk hundreds of years ago and has been preserved in excellent condition. The museum has an excelllent display of artifacts from that period and a great movie.
4.) Skansen- A part complete with Swedish life hundreds of years ago where you are greeted by reindeer and other indigenous animals. you will see furniture being made, glass blowing and all sorts of crafts being done before your eyes.
5.) City Hall- The place where the Nobel prize awards is given. **** Go to the Nobel Museum in Gamla Stan and have the dessert which is served during the banquet and tip over your chair.The dessert is decadent.All are autographed by winners of the prize. You may be sitting on Einstein or Mother Theresa's chair!!!!
Hi all! Thanks so much for your time and thoughts. It all sounds incredible. Very excited!
Tracy,
My favorite backdoor in Scandinavia is the Aland Islands between Sweden and Finland. A bit off the beaten track and not a huge place for night life (there are some cool niteclubs), but the views, art galleries, biking, hiking, and boating are fabulous. A bit pricy, but actually less than Sweden or Finland due to their unique, semi-autonomous status. 4 hour ferry ride from Stockholm area, but worth the trip.
Cheers, John
We go to Norway every other year. If you want to be a tourist, most of the sites are well spelled out in guide books. I'm not saying that's bad, just not everything that is Norway. In Oslo see the Resistance Museum, Bygdøy, order hot food from cafeterias. Bergen is great, see old Bergen, Hanseatic Buildings, eat at or near the fish market, or in the basement of one of the many stores (locals eat there), Grieg's home Troldhaugen (old Bergen and Greig's can be seen on a single bus tour). Geiranger and Art Nouveau Ålesund are great, take a bus tour out of Ålesund to see high moutain passes, Geiranger by Ferry (ferry's are fun in Norway). Flåm train and "Nutshell" is ok but touristy. If you get a car in Bergen driving E16 will eventually get you to Oslo, but it will go through Flåm, near several Stavkirke and if you go on some side trips you can buy some great Norwegian Goat Cheese, fresh caught Mackerel, eat in some nice family/farm cafes buy some bringebær (raspberries) and see SogneFjord. It may take you 2/3/4 days but that’s some of the best of Norway. I just finished showing a friend how to spend 2 weeks in Norway and they will need to go back because there is much more. Trains are good but don’t get you into the smaller, quieter places, Bus service is wonderful. Cars and gas are expensive. Sunnfjord area has Glaciers and the best hiking (guides are available in many small towns and at some farms, ask when you eat in a cafe)
Is there anything you don't like to do, Tracy? Maybe you're not so into history. Anyway, all of these posts have excellent advice. I loved Bergen, so I would try to stay a night there if you can. I was less enthusiastic about Oslo, though I do think it's worth a day to see the Viking ships and a few other things. I can't imagine going to Norway and not taking a fjord cruise, so I would highly recommend Norway in a Nutshell or a similar tour. Stockholm is a very beautiful city, so it needs at least a day. I really enjoyed taking the overnight cruise to Finland. You waste no time traveling since you travel when you are sleeping, and you get to see the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos (sp?islands) and spend a day in Helsinki. Helsinki is a little different than the rest of Scandinavia due to the Russian influence. I loved the architecture. Finally, Copenhagen also has great old buildings and a wonderful natural history museum, which you might not care about. It's a very interesting city with a neat harbour -- great for city walks or the bus tour.
Finally -- I wanted to suggest you look into flying between Copenhagen and Stockholm and between Stockholm and Oslo. Our travel agent suggested this and it worked very well. If you fly SAS to and from the US, it doesn't cost much to add short hops in between and it saves a lot of time.
Have a great trip! You will love it.
Tracy, We did Sweden/Denmark last year and I would go to Stockholm for a week again if I could. We flew Ryan Air (think Greyhound with wings) from Stansted to Skavska Sweden (both not close to the cities) for about $50 one way. If SAS has something at double that it is well worth it to be closer to the cities and a bit better service. I made all my reservations at www.visit-stockholm.com/ and they have an awesome deal for the Stockholm a la Carte card with your room. Includes public transportation for free, ferry trips, entrance to most attractions, discounts at restaurants, etc. We only paid for 1 attraction the 4 days we were there (Vasa Museum we loved) so it turned out to be our cheapest stay of the summer. All of us enjoyed a day at Birka, billed as "the Viking town" with lots of island to explore, but that was the only one we had time to explore. There are many others on the a la Carte card.
