Irishwhistler90

This post is regarding a tentative trip that I have lined up for June 2012:

In this trip, my dad and I will be traversing Scandinavia, mostly because he has a conference there. We will be in Helsinki, Tallinn, and Stockholm for the conference, and after that are thinking of going to Denmark and Norway.

I'm trying to sort out an early itinerary draft for our time in these last two countries. In Denmark I would like to visit the Viking Museum in Roskild, the living history area in Lejre, and perhaps the Viking ring fort and longhouse at Trelleborg. We had allowed three days for Denmark ( including arrival day ) and thought we would probably base ourselves in Copenhagen.

We were thinking of taking the train from Stockholm to Copenhagen, taking out most of a day and spending what's left of it seeing the city, then I had allowed a whole day each for Roskild and Lejre, but now that I have discovered Trelleborg, I would really like to go there also. Do you think I would need an extra day in Denmark for this, or could the other two perhaps be done in one day? Suggestions?

travelgourmet

A whole day in Roskilde is overkill - the Viking Ship Museum will take 2 hours, max and that is if you read every word of every exhibit, watched the movie, and browsed the gift shop. Ditto for Lejre. If you want to maximize your time, you could rent a car and do both in the same day, easily.

PalenQ

agree with gourmet about Roskilde - but Copenhagen itself has so so many neat sites - the Carlsberg Brewery which is a veritable art museum - the harbor and Little Mermaid, Christiana area is really neat, etc. And if going from Helsinki by ferry to Stockholm (one of the world's most awesomely scenic boat rides as it parallels a lot a rocky archipelago and then train to Copehagen from Stockholm and presumable train around Denmark - anyway check out IMO the ScanRail Pass, good in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway and also covers 100% boat Hel-Stock (may even give a free sleeping berth) - great sites for rail info in those areas - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricdksteves.com.

Irishwhistler90

Thanks! The reason I had allowed a whole day for Roskilde is because I quite liked the idea of going out in a Viking ship from the museum. Apparently they go out and let the tourists row the longboat replicas, and I thought that sounded fantastic, as did my dad. Has anyone here done this before?

The conference is providing all the transportation between Helsinki, Tallinn, and Stockholm, and I believe that we will be going by ferry to Stockholm. I am majorly interested in Viking and Iron-age sites in Denmark, and my main reason for going to Lejre is because it is believed to be the site of Heorot, the great hall from the Beowulf story. Also, many of the Old Norse sagas are set in and around these ares in Denmark. I am a bit of a literature geek....

My dad is interested in the Viking sites too! Thoughts about Trelleborg? Is it worth the complicated public transport?

spaarne

Ditto PalenQ on the Helsinki Stockholm ferry. I've taken the Silja Line Serenade. It is a WOW! of a ship. The buffet dinner is outstanding.

nytraveler

The problem is that you seem to have ignored Copenhagen which is worth at least 3 full days itelsf (I've been several times and for a first trip would want 3 days for C plus a day for Roskide, another for the castles north of the city)..

If you really are interested ONLY in Viking remains that's fine - but Copenhagen is much more than that. I might consider cutting other places - IMHO C/Denmark are much more interesting than Norway, which I found sort of dull.

irishface

Irish, where's the rest of the story with your grandmother? No fair asking about the next trip until you've finished your trip report! I am anxiously awaiting the rest of the story, signed, another Irish

Irishwhistler90

Yes Irishface, I'm getting there! It takes a while, and I do have assignments and exams and things that need attention...... I will put up the next day very soon

Nytraveler, I understand that Copenhagen is a great place alone and worth three days, but on a time schedule, I have to choose exactly what I want to see. I have about one week in which to travel from Stockholm to Copenhagen, see what I want to see in Denmark, then fly ( I think ) to Oslo and see what I want to see there. There is a good chance that I won't be back in Scandinavia for quite a long time, so I have to make the most of it. Would you recommend adding a day to Denmark and having one less day in Norway?

Explanation: it takes us two days to get to Scandinavia and three days to get back with a one day stopover in Hong Kong ( We are coming from New Zealand ) so that takes up a chunk of the time my dad can actually be away from work for, and makes about three weeks including the conference.

kja

Hi, Irishwhistler90 -

I rarely see postings on this board by people who have clearly identified such a specific focus for a journey - thanks for a refreshing change of pace! And while I hope you are mistaken in thinking you won't be able to return to Scandinavia for a long time, I understand that view (I've been there!) and appreciate your desire to plan accordingly.

My one overall comment is to keep in mind the amount of time you will lose to changing locations - it isn't just the time lost to jet lag or transit time, it's getting to and from your lodging from the train station/airport, checking in/out, getting oriented, etc. I'm not opposed to changing locations frequently - I probably do that more than most Fodorites. Nonetheless, I think it sometimes makes sense to make a painful decision to drop a destination or two from an itinerary just to be sure to have enough time to appreciate the places you do visit. It sounds like you are potentially forgoing a lot to focus on your particular interests; only you and your father can decide whether that is the best choice in light of the cost in lost travel time. Again, it sounds like you've put a lot of effort into making some of these decisions, so I suspect all I'm doing is underscoring the obvious.

As for specifics:

In Roskilde, consider leaving enough time to visit the cathedral and to just roam around a bit.

And in Stockholm, try to make time for the Vasamuseet.

Best wishes for your exams! Keep us posted on your plans and your trip.

Irishwhistler90

I am beginning to see everybody's point....there do appear to be a number of amazing things to do just in Denmark and the Copenhagen area....

If I were to drop Norway altogether, what would you suggest seeing in Denmark, besides what I have already shown interest in? I was looking online and thought that the Frederiksborg Palace looks quite neat...

What to do, what to do? The things I wanted to see in Oslo were the Viking museum ( obviously ) and the wooden stave church. But I guess those could just be saved for another trip...

Nikki

My family went out in the Viking ship at the museum in Roskilde. It made for a fun activity. There were also games and crafts being demonstrated outdoors the day we went, but I don't know how often that goes on. We found the whole site very interesting, and had a good guide through the museum.

Frederiksborg was very interesting indeed.

irishface

Found your latest post on the last trip this morning. Thanks! Good luck with the exams and papers! (By the way, I was sort of just kidding in the last post, even though I am delighted to continue reading your trip report. Sometimes it is hard to convey one's true meaning when no one sees your face or hears your tone of voice.)

PalenQ

I were to drop Norway altogether, what would you suggest seeing in Denmark, besides what I have already shown interest in? I was looking online and thought that the Frederiksborg Palace looks quite neat...>

Yes Frederiksborg Palace is awesome - take the boat across the lake to it - from train station a short walk to the town center and boat dock - you can also walk around the lake.

And Helsingor with Hamlet's Castle - Kronborg officially I believe is a nice jaunt by s-tog (commuter) train and it can easily be twinned with a look at lovely Louisians, a world-famed outdoor statue park and art museum.

travelgourmet

Frederiksborg is pretty cool. More a museum/palace than castle, but very nice nonetheless. Kronborg and Louisiana is another good trip. You can now take the train from Hillerod to Helsingor, so you could conceivably do all three in one day, using public transport. As with Roskilde/Lejre, it would be even easier with a car.

Copenhagen, as a city, is also worth some time.

All in all, I'd definitely consider dropping Oslo. It is a very nice city, but it just adds additional travel and hassle that I don't think worthwhile.

For both Denmark and Sweden, bring lots of money.

Irishwhistler90

Okay. Presuming there is no longer any Norway, what are the top recommendations for Denmark in six days? Do you recommend staying in Jutland at all, or should I stick with Copenhagen? My father and I are total history nuts, so we love exploring castles, palaces, Viking history areas etc. We aren't so keen on modern art or impressionist art.

Would love to hear you favourite things to do in Denmark!

kja

> The things I wanted to see in Oslo were the ... wooden stave church.

Look into the Seurasaari outdoor museum in Helsinki and the Skansden outdoor museum in Stockholm - both have some very interesing (IMO) structures, including churches, from traditional / historic areas within Finland and Sweden, respectively.

PalenQ

I hve done the Round the Sound trip twice - this goes from Copenhagen by train over the newish long Bridge-Tunnel over the Sound to Malmo, Sweden - just change trains here - Malmo IME is one of the blahest of blah modern towns - and head for nearby Lund, to me one of the nicest oldish looking towns in Sweden and home to a prestigious umiversity whose verdant campus is graced by fine architectur new and old - a nice city and then hop train to Helsingborg, Sweden and take the constant ferries over to helsingor, Denmark, home to Hamlet's Castle which you pass arriving by ferry and take train back to Copenhagen - nice scenery the whole way - esp from top of the long new bridge to Sweden - see for miles around.

PalenQ

Frilandsmuseet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilandsmuseet - CachedSimilar
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Frilandsmuseet (English: The Open Air Museum) is an open air museum in Lyngby at the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Opened in 1897 and ...

I also enjoyed a day trip to the famous Frilandsmuseet not far outside of Copenhagen, accessible by S-Tog commuter train - one of Europe's most celebrated open-air museums