Scandinavia 10 Day Itinerary - Suggestions

With only ten days to work with, two of them travel days, I'd probably try to do the Nutshell tour in one day, flying from Copenhagen to Oslo will save valuable time, it's a long ferry ride. Flying to Stockholm also makes sense. We didn't take advantage of it but I believe SAS offers great prices on Scandinavian legs when you fly with them from the US. A ferry out of Stockholm will be more interesting than out of Norway. The archipeligo out of Stockholm is worth seeing. You may want to take a ferry to Helsinki and/or Estonia for a day (using the night you gained from Norway). I wouldn't cut day three in Copenhagen. There's plenty to do and you will be traveling enough as it is.

You probably won't like my input, but here goes:
I think the itinerary has too much time being spent in a transportation mode... only 4 days not moving to a different location. It's too complicated. I would cut out one of the countries and be optimistic that I'd be going back in the future to see the third country. For 3 reasons, I'd cut Norway this time: Oslo is the least interesting city of the 3 capitals. I think the Nutshell tour is hard to beat for scenery, but could be boring to teens. The whole country is in mourning now and teens may find that hard to cope with. To simplify, Id suggest days 2 - 5 in Copenhagen /Zealand, day 6 train to Stockholm, and days 7-9 in the Stockholm area. A ferry ride through the Archipelago is a great idea.

I actually think your itinerary is fine if you have a high energy level. I agree with the suggestion to use flights to get from one major city to another. I would definitely stay in Copenhagen the third day. My only suggestion is that you might be way too tired to go to Tivoli your first night. The only way I can see you enjoying it is if you took an afternoon nap. But you might adjust better to the time change if you stayed awake and got to bed early your first night. Of course I'm assuming you're arriving after a flight from the US.

Tim: advice well taken; Everyone in the family is very prone to museum fatigue (I am the only one who refuses to admit it!); We all love nature (mostly looking at ;-) so maybe we should focus on a quiet break in the fjord area between Copenhagen and Stockholm. Day 4: Fly from CPH-OSL (or should I fly CPH to Bergen?) try to get to Voss/Myrdal by the afternoon train as suggested by some clever Rick Steve disciples of doing the NiN tour without the crowds.Stay overnight Day 5 tour the fjord/local excursion, stay overnight ?Balestrand Day 6 train to OSL; Fly OSL-STO Days 7,8,9:Stockholm
Day 10 Return

I agree w/ the posts above that the original intin is a tad aggressive. I'm super active/fit and believe in getting a LOT done/seeing a lot in each place I visit....but not at the expense of running myself ragged. I had 10 days for my 1st trip to Scandinavia, and just focused on 2 countries (Sweden and Norway); and left Denmark for another time. One of Rick's mantras is "Assume You Will Return!" If all 4 of you are huge nature lovers, then Norway-in-a-Nutshell should be a big hit. Re: NOT going there now, due to the recent tragedy...like almost everything related to travel, that's subjective and your call. Personally, I WOULD go now if I already had plans...but can def see the other view re: teens finding it difficult. If anything else, I WOULD go as a sign of solidarity w/ the Norwegians. Bottom line..I would select 2 countries, so you can really enjoy them and see more than just the highlights. Hope you and your family have a fantastic time.

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Final: 3 days in Copenhagen and 3 in Stockholm; and an expensive detour as follows. Fly from Copenhagen to Oslo just to take the afternoon train from Oslo-Voss; stay overnight in Voss; Do the Voss based roundtrip Nutshell tour in the reverse direction which is apparently less crowded; take the night train from Voss-Oslo; Do a brief guided tour of Oslo before catching the evening SAS shuttle to Stockholm. Skal

You're too late to get really good rates on SAS airlines, but here is what I found for mid-August; Copenhagen to Bergen for as little as $80 - to be used in a Copenhagen-Bergen-(nutshell)-Oslo-Stockholm route. Bergen to Stockholm for as little as $120 - to be used in a Copenhagen - Oslo (ship) -(nutshell)-Bergen (fly)- Stockholm route. The SAS routemap can be found here; http://www.sas.se/en/Misc/Services/Route-Map/ click on "northern europe" and then click on any dot to find where planes from there come from/go to. The general pacing of your trip is OK. Essentially, Copenhagen (excluding Tivoli) requires a full day. It's not a bad idea to arrive from the long flight, check in and take a short nap, then do Tivoli until closing time (11-12). That would give you a reasonable chance to have a regular night's sleep. With an extra 1/2 day, I would go to Frederiksbourg in Hillerød. Oslo requires a full day to do the museums across the bay & stroll the city center. Another 1/2 day to do Froggner Park. Bergen only needs a 1/2 day minimum to walk around the old Bryggen area and maybe catch a tour. Stockholm is the jewel that should have 2+ days just to soak it all in & do the best museums & stroll Gamla Stan. With one of the legs of your itinerary by air and another by nutshell, you don't need a rail pass - especially if you stick with the Copenhagen - Oslo night ship. Personally, I would fly Copenhagen to Bergen and then head east. Let us know what you decide on...

Fly CPH-OSL Fly OSL-STO 2.5d in Copenhagen 3.25d in Stockholm prior to return 14h in Oslo (mainly to catch the train)
Tried the CPH-Bergen flight; way expensive as compared to Oslo. Thanks