Best of Copenhagen & Stockholm?

In addition to the sights, the best restaurants in my opinion are:

In Copenhagen, we had two great meals at Gammel Strand (across the canel from the Thorvaldsen museum) courtesy of chef Jengiz Moller. This man cares about his food in the same way we find great chefs in NY or SF. It was also recommended by Richard (Hans Christian Andersen walking tours which I heartily recommend), so we were very happy to second his opinion.

In Stockholm, we ate several meals at the restaurant on the square Stortorget (in Gamla Stan), directly opposite the Nobel Museum (two outdoor dinning porches for the same restaurant). Everything was good (we ate mostly seafood).

In Stockholm, let me second Carroll's recommendation of the Vasa Museum...a fully restored warfighting ship recovered from almost 300 years below the waters of the bay....both the ship and the building are breath taking!

I heartily recommend Hotel Nebo in Copenhagen, and Hotel Reisen in Gamla Stan (Old Town) Stockholm...from a budget hotel near the train station to a 4 star hotel on the waterfront near the Palace...both great stays for different reasons.

The scope of this question is wide, makes us do a lot of work. Can you help us narrow it down? What month or time of year are you going? What are your general interests and expectations for these destinations? Tell us more about your trip, please.Rick's book, Scandinavia, answers your questions and lots more. You're spending thousands on the trip, the book is a $20 instruction manual on how to best spend your money and time.

I was clueless also until I did the google search for "Copenhagen sights" and "Stockholm sights" so I could read what there is to see in each city.

You will find it a big help because there are pictures too. I wont give you my favorite places because your interests are different.

General advice is to stay in a hostel if you want to save money. Free breakfast and clean rooms. Many now offer private rooms for 2,3 or 4.

Use public trans and forget about renting a car. I would skip Oslo; I found very little of interest there except to go to the fjords and Bergen.

Thanks, both, for the replies. We're actually seeing Copenhagen & Stockholm next week, as a quick get-away. Our interests are more towards the historical & picturesque. (We're quite the photogs.) I've heard many great things about Stockholm's Skansen. But really, to be more clear about my question, I wanted to hear what other people's impressions are & favorite gems.

(BTW, Kent, my husband & I live in Central Europe already making it difficult/extremely expensive to purchase new English books, so we try to be resourceful using other means.)

Next week?! Okay, go here on this site, these are Rick's online suggestions, that will get you started on a list of must sees: Copenhagen & Sweden must seesSome Copenhagen Must Sees:Tivoli GardensNational MuseumRosenborg Castle & TreasuryChristiansborg PalaceMuseum of Danish Resistance

I agree with Kent's recommendations on Copenhagen. For Stockholm, I would suggest:
Gamla Stan (old town -- great walking)
Skansen
Vasa Museet
a boat ride

I would especially underscore Kent's recommendations of the National Museum and Danish Resistance Museums in Copenhagen. In addition to exhibits taking one through Danish history, the National Museum has a good, reasonably priced restaurant. Among its unique offerings, the Museum of the Resistance has filmed interviews with both some rescuers of the Danish Jews and some of the beneficiaries of their valor. It really did me good to be reminded, in these times of seeming endless vicious behavior of humans to each other, that there are countries where a high standard of moral behavior has been maintained. Very uplifting!

When we were there in July our favorite activities were the Vasa Museum, walking the trails in the parks of Djurgarden and a boat ride back. Have a great time!

Drottningholm Palace and Drottningholms Slottsteater is a good day trip near Stockholm. The palace is the residence of the royal family and the Slottsteater is a perfectly-preserved 18th century theater. The palace grounds are lovely.
http://www.royalcourt.se/royalcourt/theroyalpalaces/

Click on Drottningholm Palace in the list of palaces on the left of the page.

Patton.............if you add Oslo...the resistance museum there is also fascinating...........

Stockholm......the Vassa museum might be closed for rennovation but you could check it out.........take a boat ride in the archipelego (sp?) that is fun too! Skansan (sp?) museum and park is nice.......a kid at heart will love the Pippi Longstocking house and grounds..........

Well, here's a couple for each...

Copenhagen:

Tivoli - fun to hang out in and walk around, especially if you are catching an afternoon/night train out of town like I was (took the night train to Stockholm). Rode some rides, had a nice dinner, and listened to a concert. Smoked my first pipe there after buying it from a tobacco stand in the park (kudos to the helpful attendant). Not something you'd find at Disneyland.

Christiania - an intriguing portrait of alternative community living. A great place to relax and people-watch. I didn't smoke anything here, though. Was tempted to do so at an Internet cafe until six cops barged in. Kind of exciting.

Copenhagen is a great place to walk or bike around. I used one of the free coin-operated bikes when I could, and walked around the rest of the time. You'd be surprised what you might find, like an American Indian troupe doing traditional dances and selling CDs of their music in one of the city squares (bought one and have it on my iPod).

Stockholm:

The Vasa Museum - excellent, and not just for the ship itself (which is amazing). There are various dioramas of shipboard life, tours, and so on. Spent a couple of hours there, well worth it.

Shopping district - not sure what the actual name is, but it is located in the older part of town. It's a great place to walk and shop (window or otherwise). I got one of my favorite travel souveniers nearby - a 6" by 4" painting of a street scene, looking up to an old tower. I stood on the spot that duplicated the painting's view - on my right was an Italian restaurant where I had a couple of dinners, and on my left was the art gallery where I got the painting, which sits on my desk at work.

In Stockholm I used the bus to get around when I wasn't walking. I paid for a two-day pass, and I could get on and off while listening to an audio tour. Riding the bus while checking out the city map helped me get my bearings and appreciate the sites more.

As an addendum, I used Rick's Scandinavia guide to good effect during my trip (which also included Oslo). All of his hotel sites came through, his maps were helpful, and his ideas of doing the night cruise from Oslo to Copenhagen and the night train from Copenhagen to Stockholm were great time and money savers. The night cruise was particularly cool because I could pretend that I was leaving Norway for America, much as my ancestors did way back when they were kicked out of the country, and see things from their perspective. Plus, the wine/cigar bar was sweet, especially with the nice view from the large picture windows.

If you do add Oslo, I second the Resistance Museum, along with the Kon-Tiki and Viking ship museums. And Oslo is a great place to walk around, shop, people-watch, and cafe-hop as well.

The Tourist Information Office in Stockholm offers a hop on and off bus tour of the city. I found it helpful and inexpensive when we were there.

In Stockholm, don’t miss the Vasa museum (a wonderful museum), the Stadshuset (City hall where the Nobel dinner is held … make sure to plan to take an English tour as the guides are excellent), and Skansen (the open air museum). Gamla Stan (the old town) is also nice. You can also visit Drottningholm either by taking the boat or a combination of subway and bus. The gardens are beautiful and there is an interesting theatre from the 1700s on the grounds.

Two of my favorite places for lunch in Stockholm are:

• Östermalms Saluhallen (www.ostermalmshallen.se) - This is an indoor food market that sells produce, cheeses, baked goods, etc. It is a great place to pick up things for a picnic and there are also a couple of places in the market where you can eat. You will see lots of traditional Swedish foods. There are other food markets at Hötorget and in Södermalm at Medborgerplatsen, but I think the one in Östermalm is the most impressive and traditional.

-Rosendals Trädgårdscafe (www.rosendalstradgard.se) - This is an apple orchard and garden on Djurgården (the island in Stockholm where Skansen and the Vasa museum are) which has a wonderful café that makes excellent sandwiches, salads, and baked goods. All the food is fresh and organic. You sit outside at picnic tables in the orchard.