Scandinavia in mid May

Definitely not off-season in Denmark---it can be quite nice then. And be sure you are in Norway, either Oslo or Bergen, on 17th May for their national holiday. It is great fun to see the parades and everyone dressed up in traditional costume, based on region.

We will be making another trip to Sweden, and my cousins there recommend May. They tell me it's a beautiful time of the year. Before we've always gone in July, so this will be a new experience.

Hello Karla. I think the second and third week in May is not too early for being at the Scandinavian countries. When I was there, I arrived at Copenhagen May 4, and during the next 14 days I was at Copenhagen and Norway and Sweden. But most years, the deciduous trees at Oslo do not have leaves until the fourth week in May. The year I was at Oslo, the leaves were on the trees, three weeks earlier than usual. That is, in the first week of May, all the big trees in front of the Royal palace in Oslo were filled with big green leaves. It was beautiful. I did the "Norway in a Nutshell Fjord trip, from Bergen, in the second week in May. The air was not cold. Everything was open, including the guest house at Aurland (at the Aurland fjord). In the third week in May, I was at Stockholm. The air was not chilly there during the day. Being at Stockholm then was very pleasant. But the crafts shops in Skansen were not open in the second and third weeks in May. And at Oslo, I think some of the buildings in the outdoor museum there were closed in the second and third weeks in May. I would not want to be at Oslo on the day of their national Holiday. Too many people there that day.

It's smart to go in May. There are hordes and hordes of tourists on the Nutshell tour in the summer. Honestly it was painful on the fjord cruise to be packed in so tightly. In May the days are getting longer and longer and you'll see the spring flowers. All the sights will be open but without the tremendous crowds.