I am a high school senior, and I will be taking the trip of a lifetime this summer. My boyfriend is Swedish, and we will be traveling around Sweden to visit his family for six weeks, with possible outings to Copenhagen and Helsinki. We will spend most of our time in Stockholm, but hope to get up to Kiruna, down to Lund, and around to other places as much as possible. I have never traveled outside the US before, so I need help. Does anybody have specific suggestions for places to go, packing, rail/bus pass options, etc other than what is already in Rick's guidebooks and things? My situation is a little different from most of those posted on these boards, since I will be there for over a month and will be staying with members of his family instead of in hotels. Anybody have a similar experience or want to share advice? Thank you!
Posted by
Daphne, AL, USA
41 posts
Grace,
You are going to have a fabulous time!! I worked in Stockholm for almost 2 months in 2006 and LOVED it! We only had weekends to travel, but we made the most of it. We went to Copenhagen for a weekend (which I would highly recommend) and just took the train for that...it was inexpensive. We also took the overnight boat from Stockholm to Helsinki and had a blast with that; we only stayed for the day and took the boat home the next night. In Stockholm, I hope you will get to go to Skansen and watch the glass-making and some of the other crafts. That was such a great experience and I really enjoyed the outdoor park there (especially since we were there in Sept & October and it was getting cold...we were outside every nice day!) Since it is the summer, I hope you will get to explore along the archipelago a little and see all the islands...it is beautiful! Definitely get the Rick Steves scandinavia book...it was very helpful for us! :) Have a great time!!
Posted by
Atlanta
97 posts
You are very lucky. Stockholm is probably my favorite city in Europe. The Rick Steves Scandinavia and Rick Steves Stockholm books will give you plenty of good ideas. Everyone goes to the Vasa museum in Stockholm, it is great. The city is very easy to get around, and everyone speaks perfect English, which actually takes a little getting used to, makes you feel like an idiot. Agree that Copenhagen is good. Also if you have time check out Oslo, and if you have even more time take Norway in a Nutshell to the fjords.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
1525 posts
With all that time on your hands, see if you can talk a group into doing the Silja Stockholm-Helsinki overnight ship. Helsinki is great. You can either spend 10 hours there and then get right back in the ship overnight again, or you can spend a couple days in a youth hostel and see some things that take more time before the trip back (like Savonlinna, Suomolinna, and Tallinn, Estonia). Congratulations!
Posted by
OP
Worthington, United States
2 posts
Thank you all so much for your advice!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
Don't buy the RS Stockholm book if you are buying the RS Scandinavia book. It's just an excerpt from that larger book.