Scandinavia in summer

Hi Lisa,

We took our children to Scandinavia in summer 2008 when they were 11, 9 and 5 years old. They loved it. We went for three weeks and could have stayed longer.

Is it at all possible to stretch your trip to 15 days (two full weeks)? If so, then you can hit each of the 4 main countries. Less than that, and you would have to let Finland go, and that would be a shame because Helsinki is a gem, and off most people's tourism radar, which makes it even more appealing, in my opinion.

With only 10 days, I would fly into Copenhagen (1&2), spending the evening of day 2 at Tivoli garden amusement park; (3) tour Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerod and Helsingor castle, both easy, short train trips outside of Copenhagen; train to Stockholm (4,5,6), the most beautiful city in Scandinavia; Take the morning train to Oslo (7,8,9), spending all of day 8 or 9 doing the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour (do a google search for info or read Rick Steves); on day 10 fly home, if you can do an open jaw flight from Oslo. If not, do an overnight cruise after day 9, back to Copenhagen & catch your flight home.

With 12 days, I would train from Stockholm to Trondheim, Norway and then spend two days fjording to Bergen, on the coast, then do the "Nutshell" back to Oslo.

With 15 days, I would add the overnight Silja cruise ship/ferry to Helsinki round trip for three days. The children will LOVE you for it, and it's a fantastic bargain.

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You might consider getting a cheap flight to Minneapolis, where you can then fly IcelandAir to Scandinavia. They have layovers in Iceland which are either brief, or you can opt to stay a day and see Reykjavik and the thermal baths (the children will LOVE you for it). Technically, it's a Scandinavian country, too, so you can check that off your list. Best of all, IcelandAir services all the Scandinavian cities (including Bergen) making open jaw flights easy, and they tend to be $100-$200 per person cheaper than major airlines.

Heck, you can drive here (Minneapolis) and park your car outside our house :)

email me for more specific info.

Hello Lisa. I was at the Scandinavian countries in May of 2007. If you can be there a total of seven days, I recommend : go to Norway only. Ideally : fly from U.S.A. to Bergen (that involves a transfer at an other airport), and fly from Oslo to the U.S.A.
Read about Norway in the book "Rick Steves' SCANDINAVIA". People of all ages enjoy the "Norway in a Nutshell" Fjord trip (between Bergen and Oslo). In my opinion, one whole day in Oslo is sufficient time there. I would plan an excursion to Trondheim. (Train from Oslo). Two nights at Trondheim.

For 7-10 days, I would focus on Norway and Stockholm. They are beautiful. We took our kids(boys) to Scandinavia when they were 10 and 14 and they were not crazy about either Copenhagen or Helsinki, though I loved both of them. I think they like nature better. Tivoli sounds great, but is hideously crowded in the summer, which takes away all the charm. The weather is great in the summer -- rarely hot and very pleasant and you will have lots of daylight. We did not find it crowded when we were there in July.

Two more points come to mind;

1) It's tough to nail down costs - too many variables - but based on our experience 18 months ago, going there for 7 days might cost around $7,000 for 3 people; 10 days $8,200; 14 days $10,000. so you can see how relatively inexpensive the 2nd week would be. A 3rd week would be even less of an increase since you would likely not do so much each day. Try to go for as long as you can.

2) As parents of a child (how old is yours?) of course you have to tweak your plans to better fit the child's needs. But children tend to adapt to what is expected of them. If they see you interested in something, they are likely to be interested, too, just for less time. Our children love museums. They could go to three a day. But we are rarely in one for more than two hours. One hour is about the average. Museum passes work well. You can come and go as you please. There is always a tower or hill to climb for a great view. Children like that. But I can honestly say there is very little that we DONT do because of the children and very little we would do differently if travelling without them.

We spent a couple weeks there this past June. Our favorite was the fjords of Norway, i.e., Norway in a Nutshell. We stayed night in Balestrand and didn't include Bergen. In other words, you don't need to include two larger cities. Hopefully your 10-year old will enjoy the scenery or, at least, the different modes of transportation. We enjoyed the ship museums in Oslo-Viking, Fram, and Kon-Tiki. I agree with the other posters about the sites named in Copenhagen and Stockholm. Have a great trip.

If your situation permits, I suggest you look into a house exchange. There are lots of listings on the various major sites (pm me if you don't know what they are)for Scandinavia. That way you can cut down on costs and have a more comfortable space for you and your child than a hotel affords. If you can find an exchange with a family with a similar age child, you'll get toys and probably bicycles, too. There are many outdoor museums in Scandinavia, Skansen being one. There is the Open Air Museum in Copenhagen; and the Viking Ship Museum in nearby Roskilde has some live demonstrations as well as the ships. You can also go out on an authentic replica of a viking ship and help row it. The city of Aarhus has another super outdoor museum. Scandinavia is extremely child-friendly. Many of the museums are geared toward engaging young people through hands-on activities. Copenhagen gets my vote as the top destination in that region.

Home exchanges are great in certain situations. I don't think this is one of them. She wants to see as much as possible in a pretty limited time. Home exchange (or a weekly cottage or apertment rental) pretty much limits your trip to anything you can see within day-trip driving distance of your home. It also requires a car. so she would be limited to one country - most likely it's capital and anything within 50-100 miles.

Scandinavia is big. Public transportation is great. The capital cities are fantastic, but with just a few exceptions (the Norway fjords being a big one) the areas outside the capital cities are not that notable. Most of Sweden, Denmark & Finland that we saw from our train window was attractive enough, but exactly like our home (except with Volvos). We made it a point to stop in at least one smaller town in each country, but didn't spend much time doing it.

Oslo is one of my favorite cities! You kids will love it. Take them over to the Bougdy (spelling?) pensulia. There are some great museums there - especially the Viking one. They have a Viking ship that was pulled out of the mud in the fjord a few years ago. The palace is nice also as is Vigland sculpture park. We have wanted to do Norway in a Nutshell and go up above the artic circle, but haven't yet managed it. There is also a silver mine not too far outside Oslo, we did that on our last trip and it was fun. There are outdoor "living" museums with houses, churches, etc that show how people lived over the years and in various parts of Norway. Lots of other things to do, too. YOu could just stay there for the trip and do day trips, maybe renting an appartment???

Hey ,you guys age great ! All these terrific ideas! I agree with many of you that it's a short time, but I think we're trying to visit a friend near Rome on the same trip and that's going to eat up time - I'm not even sure the best way to get there... we prefer traveling by train but it may not be feasible.
I've asked for RS's Scandinavia guide from Santa, but does anyone know of any festivals, maybe Summer Solstice related?
In any case, thank you all so much. The Helpline rocks!

From anywhere "up north" to Rome you will probably want to fly- you'd loose WAY too much time by train (and this from a train-aholic).

Well, related to summer solstice, Midsommar is one of the biggest holidays in Sweden. It starts on Midsommar's Eve (a Friday) and that is when the bulk of the celebration takes place and extends to Midsommar day (a Saturday). People head to the countryside and celebrate with traditional games and songs. The typical meal includes herring, new potatoes, and strawberries. The dates are June 25 - 26 this year.

One caveat ... this is a big holiday so many things will be closed. In Stockholm, Skansen has some nice activities for Midsommar. However, most other places will be closed.