itsvivek4u

Help friends,
I am arriving in Copenhagen on the morning of Aug 22nd and leaving out of Stockholm on the morning of Aug 29th this year. So I have essentially 7 full days. I am not too sure I am trying to pack too much in 1 week by trying to do 3 countries. I think I am. It is possible that I will be able to do only Copenhagen and Stockholm.

a) I would like to hear some suggestions on how many days should be sufficient in Copenhagen and in Stockholm. Is it possible to squeeze in something else as well? Oslo?Bergen?
b) What is the best way to travel between these 2 places? Train or flight? Maybe I could take ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo and then travel to Stockholm? I read many other posts here and the opinion was pretty divided. I am leaning more towards train.
c) What all things should I see? I am mostly interested in nice beautiful touristy spots, architecture, archaeology, parks etc. I could also do bike tours etc.

I am hoping the fellow members can give some fantastic suggestions and help me better plan my trip. Thanks !

Fodorite014

I wouldn't do three capital cities in one week. But I am kind of lazy, don't like to get up early in the morning and need at least 4 full days before I feel that I have at least a little bit feel of a city. But that's me. I know that some people are full of energy on their vacations.

However, I will give you my personal recommendations for how to travel between the cities:

Copenhagen - Stockholm, I would go by train. Takes approx 5h20min and will take you from city center to city center. The train is comfortable (2nd class is definitely ok but sometimes the cost for 1st and 2nd class are more or less the same; in that case go for 1st class). The trip isn't very scenic though apart from the crossing between Denmark and Sweden on the Öresund bridge. After that you will se a lot of woods. But in my opinion the train wins over the plane as it is more comfortable and quite relaxing.

Copenhagen - Oslo, I would probably opt for the overnight ferry, particularly as it will save some of your precious time. I have never used this ferry though.

Oslo - Stockholm, fly!!! The train is slow and in summer there is often rail work on this lines so part of the journey is by replacement bus. You can check on which exact dates there will be rail work.

There are so much to see and do in both Copenhagen and Stockholm so these cities deserve 3 or 4 full days. There are many nice day trips to do. From Copenhagen along to coast up to Helsingör. In Stockholm a day out in the archipelago.

Check out the visitors guides on the internet for Copenhagen and Stockholm and you will see that you won't get bored.

Norway is absolutely worth a visit but maybe you should save that to another trip?

Have fun!

Fodorite014

Links to visitors guides:

Copenhagen: http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/
Louisiana: http://www.louisiana.dk/dk/Service+Menu+Right/English
North Sealand: http://www.visitnordsjaelland.com/in...th-sealand.htm

Ferry Copenhagen - Oslo:
http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk/ferry-r...enmark-norway/

Oslo: http://www.visitoslo.com/en/

Stockholm: http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/
The Vasa Museum: http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/
Strömma (tours in Stockholm): http://www.stromma.se/en/STOCKHOLM/
Stockholm archipelago: http://www.visitskargarden.se/en/

Ibake

Copenhagen and Stockholm on this trip, you should have enough time to purchase a reasonable train ticket. On another trip, because you will want to take one, start in Oslo, go to Bergin, visit the fiords, head up into the Arctic circle

ttmadison

For a leisurely or indepth one week trip, stick to Copenhagen and Stockholm plus nearby outlying scenic areas. Since time is short and lodging is expensive, you can take the overnight train from Malmo to Stockholm, as long as you are aware that it leaves late and arrives very early. It's a quick train trip from Copenhagen to Malmo. You can buy or download Rick Steve's Scandinavia guidebook or just the snapshot guides for Stockholm and Copenhagen.

Skip Oslo - it's not worth a specific visit. But parts of Norway are the most scenic in all of Europe. If you're going to see the best of Norway (Rick Steve's Norway in a Nutshell itinerary is great), then you depart from Oslo traveling west, see the fjords, and end up in Bergen. Highly recommended with beautiful scenery.

If you just stick to the country highlights and don't mind fast travel, you could spend two days in Copenhagen, three days going up and doing Norway-in-a-Nutshell, and then two days in Stockholm. I've done this all on a ScanRail pass and felt I got a lot for my money. You could even do this all by yourself since Scandinavia is clean and safe.

nytraveler

A week is barely enough time to do Copenhagen and Stockholm. I think you will regret it if you try to squash in yet another city and another day lost to travel.

itsvivek4u

Thanks everyone. I think most of you guys have confirmed my doubt that I should stick to just Copenhagen and Stockholm for this trip. I think I will leave Norway of snow and plan for it in some other trip

@hoxa61 - Thanks for all the links that you have put in here. I am gonna read those, so that I can best plan out my time in these cities.
@ttmadison - I am curious to know more about the ScanRail pass. I am going to google about it. I usually do have lots of energy on my trip and the suggestion that you make of 2+3+2 in Copen, Oslo, Stock is worth thought. Could you give me some more details.

One final question:
What are the websites to book train tickets from Copenhagen to Stockholm? Should I book them now or should I book when I am in Copenhagen. I will be there in the last week of August.

Thanks so much everyone

Fodorite014

Hi,

You can book train tickets from Stockholm to Copenhagen at
http://www.sj.se/start/startpage/index.form?l=en

Discounted tickets are released 90 days prior to departure and sell out quickly. Try to book as early as possible. If you buy your ticket at the station in Copenhagen you will have to pay the full price so don't do that.

Some people have reported problems when paying for their tickets with an American bank card at the SJ web site. If you run into problems you can try this web site which seems to work better for some people: http://bokatag.se/en/ Another train company but they sell tickets for SJ trains at the same price as SJ.

Fodorite014

You can of course also buy ticket from Copenhagen to Stockholm at the SJ web site! ;-)

itsvivek4u

Wow!! The tickets are pretty expensive. I looked for train tickets on Saturday Aug 25,and it turns out that there is no night train n saturday. SInce I am arriving in Copenhagen on Wednesday morning, I now have the option of taking friday night train which gives me just 3 days in Copenhagen and then 4 days in Stockholm. I might just do that

itsvivek4u

The more I research, the more I get confused...lol
After feedback from most members that 2places are more than enough, I almost made up my mind to skip Norway, until, I did some more research on scan rail pass and norway in a nutshell based on @ttmadison advice.

@ttmadison - could you please provide some more details on how exactly you did this? I am thinking arriving in copenhagen -2 days there, going up to Bergen. 1 day norway in nutshell and then in stockholm. You mentioned 3 days up in norway and doing Norway-in-nutshell but from the details that i have read, it seems the tour is only for a day.. Am I missing something? I will be really thankful to hear some more details.

@hoxa61 - Thanks once again. I was almost about book my train till I did more research but I think I should be able to finalize one way or the other in a couple of days.

This should be awesome. Thnk u soooooo much everyone

Fodorite014

If you decide to do the Norway in a Nutshell tour, flying from Bergen directly to Stockholm could be a good idea. Direct flights are not very frequent but they do exist on the following airlines:

Norwegian Air (Mo,Th,Fr,Su): http://www.norwegian.com/en/

Finnair (Tu,We,Fr,Su): http://www.finnair.com/INT/GB/home

Scandinavian airlines (Mo,Tu,We,Fr,Su): http://www.flysas.com/en/us/?vst=true

There are frequent connections on Norwegian Air and Scandinavia Airlines via Oslo or Copenhagen but these flights are usually much more expensive than the direct flights.

You will usually, but not necessarily, find the cheapest flights on Norwegian. On Norwegian you must pay extra for checked-in luggage. You don't have to do this on the other carriers.

itsvivek4u

Ok friends, I have finally decided on my trip.
Arrive CPH on morning of 22nd Aug , stay 3 days. Take the overnight train on friday 24th august to Stockholm reaching on the morning of Aug 25th. Spend 4 full days (25-28) in Stockholm and fly out morning of 29th.
Are there any day trips that i can take from stockholm? (unless it is very easy to spend 4 days in stockroom itself) hoxa61 mentioned Stockholm archipelago. Maybe thats what I will do.

And that will be a decent 7 day trip. Norway will have to happen some other time.
Thank you everyone so much for all your help

Fodorite014

A wise decision!

With only 4 days in Stockholm I would do just one day trip and that should be the archipelago! Suggested islands:

- Sandhamn
- Finnhamn
- Grinda
- Utö

Pick one of them. Sandhamn and, in particular, Utö have nice restaurants if you want to have lunch.

You can also choose to go for a 3 - 5 hours lunch- or dinner cruise on an old Strömma steam ship. Click the Strömma link in my previous post. In this case the ship will do a loop in the archipelago and finally returning to Stockholm.

On this site you can read about different archipelago destinations and a little bit about their character.
http://www.waxholmsbolaget.se/visito...-of-stockholm/

Going on a sight seeing tour, like the "Under the Bridges of Stockholm" or the "Royal Canal tour" will not get you a feel of the archipelago but rather a view of Stockholm City from the sea.

The archipelago is, in my opinion, THE highlight from a visit to Stockholm and shouldn't be missed. Access is very easy!

itsvivek4u

Life is funny!! Just when I thought that I had finalized my trip to do only CPH and Stockholm, I find out that I actually have 10 full days as opposed to 7 days..lol..
aah!! the pleasures
So this is what I am doing now
Aug 22 - fly into CPH in morning
Aug 22, 23, 24 - spend in CPH
24th night - overnight to Oslo (bus /ferry)
25 - oslo
26, 27 - 2 days norway in nutshell. Travel Bergen to Stockholm on 27th evening
28, 29, 30 - Stockholm
31 - day trip to archipelago
Sep 1st - morning flight out of Stockholm

With this modified itinerary, comes in few more questions:
1. I researched a lot on Euro Scan rail pass and it seems to NOT be the right thing for me since I am doing 2 major train travels if at all (CP to Oslo and Bergen to Stockholm). Do you agree?
2. I saw various options to travel from CPH to Oslo. I think I wanna try the ferry, just to do something different. hoxa61 had already suggested ferry. Has anyone taken it and would wanna share any experience. Os it train a better option?
3. I will book the NIN tour with an overnight stay in Flam in Norway
4. How should I travel from Bergen to Stockholm? Train or flight? Is the train route scenic?

@hoxa61 - Thanks for all the wonderful tips that you given me so far and now with archipelago, which I am def def doing on my travel

Fodorite014

2. Train travel from Copenhagen to Oslo takes more than 8 hours and there is no overnight connection. There is an overnight bus leaving Copenhagen 21:00, arriving in Oslo 5:30. Actually, most connections are by train Copenhagen - Gothenburg and then by bus Gothenburg - Oslo. Even though I have never been on the overnight ferry, I would go for it if I was about to travel from Copenhagen to Oslo. Or I would fly. I would not choose the train or train/bus.

4. Fly! There is no train connection from Bergen to Stockholm. If you for some reason really want to travel by train you will have to backtrack from Bergen to Oslo and then another train Oslo - Stockholm. For some peculiar reason train connections between Oslo and Sweden are very scarce and slow.

itsvivek4u

Perfect. This helps a lot.

ttmadison

I've been so busy planning my next vacation to the Bahamas that I only just now checked back to this discussion board and saw the questions.

You CAN take the train from Bergen to Oslo and continue straight east to Stockholm or vice versa. Look it up on a map. I believe that there is a choice of regular or super-fast trains on the Oslo-Stockholm segment. The Oslo-Bergen leg is slow but extremely scenic and you will be looking out of the train window much of the time.

Yes, it takes more time to use the train rather than fly between capitals, but since my daughter and I were going to be taking the train all around Scandinavia during our 2-week trip, including to smaller cities like Aarhus and out to the island of Bornholm where we have friends, the ScanRail pass paid off for us in both price and convenience.

So you should either choose to buy individual train tickets when needed (they're more expensive in Scandinavia than in continental Europe) and pay for flights between capitals OR buy a ScanRail pass to take the train everywhere during your trip. By train, there will be some boring hours between Oslo and Stockholm, but otherwise you will get to see more countryside.

Some people can nap on trains while other people have trouble sleeping, similar to whether you're able to nap on flights or not. I found berth accommodations on Scandinavian night trains to be acceptable, although you do pay more for a private cabin with berths vs. sharing or just occupying a regular reclining chair.

Also, by taking trains instead of flights between capitals, you will avoid the hassle of airport check-in, waiting times, and checking luggage. With train tickets or a ScanRail pass, you just hop on the train carrying your bags and go. Sometimes you have to make and pay extra in addition to your ScanRail pass for reservations on particular trains, such as overnight or express trains.

However, consider that airline ticket prices are per person, regardless of how many people are in your party or whether they're students. In contrast, ScanRail pass prices cost more if you travel alone vs. with one or more others, and but you can save further if you have student status and are under 26.

Please feel free to ask me specific questions about Norway in a Nutshell, although you can get most of the details on Rick Steves' website or in his book. We arrived in Oslo mid-morning on a train from Stockholm, having stayed at a B&B along the way.

We skipped seeing Oslo itself because its attractions are really not worth a full or half-day unless you are on a longer visit to Scandinavia. Oslo has none of the charms of Stockholm, Copenhagen, Flam or Bergen.

So coming from Stockholm, we just switched trains in Oslo to take the recommended "Norway in a Nutshell" trip headed west. We spent that day sightseeing on the train and on the fjord ferries, ending up in Bergen late in the day. We just stayed one night in Bergen before hopping back on the direct train to Oslo. Bergen is small.

In Bergen, we took the funicular ride up the mountain overlooking the city and bay, visited the harborfront fish market, walked around town, and generally got a good impression of Bergen. By this time, my then-11yo daughter was tired of Scandinavian food, so we went to the Burger King in Bergen and were shocked at the price of their food, easily twice what you'd pay here in the U.S. So we just bought a Jr. Whopper, cut it in half, and we each got a small taste of familiar American fast food.

I'm not really into fast food, and my daughter's pretty adventurous food-wise, but I could tell she was burning out on being in Scandinavia with everything foreign, including listening to people speaking Swedish and Norwegian. She perked up after a familiar taste from home.

The next day, we continued on the train from Bergen to Oslo -- skipping the fjords this time -- and arrived at the ferry port where we took the daytime boat ride south to Frederikshavn, Denmark.

From there, we got back on the train south to Aarhus, where friends picked us up for a 2-day visit, and then we took the train east to Copenhagen, where we didn't know anyone but enjoyed our sightseeing for a couple full days. Then we took the late night ferry from Copenhagen to Bornholm, where we were staying with family friends for a few days.

Finally, we took the ferry from Bornholm up to Malmo and caught the overnight train to Stockholm and the Flybus to the airport. Thus our Scandinavian trip was Stockholm to Stockholm, traveling counter-clockwise around to Oslo, Bergen, Aarhus, Copenhagen, and Bornholm in between.

You will discover that many Scandinavian words and names do NOT sound like they're spelled, so telling the Copenhagen bus driver that you want to go to Nyhavn may get you a confused look because it's pronounced something like "New-haw-ven" in Danish. Also, looking at signs you will see words that may be pronounced differently than what you'd think. Just be advised.

Since I haven't been to Scandinavia in recent years, other people may have more to say about recommended activities, etc. But feel free to ask me anything you think I would know and I'll check back with this board and answer.

Fodorite014

I am a real fan of train travel!

However, as you will be doing the Norway in a Nutshell tour from Oslo to Bergen I find it a waste of time backtracking on a train from Bergen to Oslo and then another train to Stockholm. There are NO high speed trains between Oslo and Stockholm. There are only two direct trains a day stopping at all intermediate stations. Other connections involve a change of train in Karlstad. Besides, there are railworks on the Oslo - Stockholm railway during some periods this summer. The leg Oslo - Lilleström will then be by replacement bus adding another hour to the trip.

Do not only study a map, do also study a train timetable!

Fodorite014

If you decide to fly from Bergen to Stockholm, today's price for a flight on August 27 on Norwegian is 54 euros. You will have to pay extra for checked-in luggage. No evening flight though, departs Bergen 13:05, arrives in Stockholm 14:20. Evening flight is via Oslo, today's price 124 euros.

Cheapest ticket today on Scandinavian Airlines August 27 is 95 USD for a direct flight, dep 10:45, arr 12:05. No extra fee for checked-in luggage. Evening flights are via Oslo, 225 USD.

If you decide to go on a train from Bergen to Stockholm via Oslo there is an overnight train, leaving Bergen at 22:58, arriving in Oslo 6:26 and a connecting train to Stockholm, leaving at 7:25, arrivning in Stockholm 13:20. No railwork on your dates!

Other possible train connection is:
Bergen, dep 7:58
Oslo, arr/dep 14:32 / 15:49
Stockholm, arr 22:05