Sweden, Denmark, Norway Trip Report

Old Jun 18th, 2013, 01:32 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 151
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sweden, Denmark, Norway Trip Report

I'm going to start this report with a high-level overview of the trip, then add details as I have time. (If I go into too much detail early on, I may never finish it!)

Trip: Sweden, Denmark, Norway - a whirlwind
Leave Minneapolis - Friday, May 17th
Arrive Stockholm - Saturday, May 18th
Return to Minneapolis from Bergen, via CPH: Sunday, May 26th

Stayed in Stockholm: Mornington Hotel Stockholm City - one night
Took a cab from the airport in a jetlagged fog.
Clean, bright lobby, nice clean rooms, free wifi, good location, helpful desk staff, tasty and ample breakfast buffet. Great bar across the street with very tasty craft cocktails!

Fly to Copenhagen: Sunday late; took the train into Copenhagen (easy to use)
Stayed in Copenhagen: Clarion Hotel Mayfair - one night
Clean, nice room, several comfortable rooms off the lobby; located near the central train station. Light dinner buffet more than sufficient (helpful to save $$); tasty breakfast as well. Wifi.

Fly to Goteborg (Gothenberg): Monday late, greeted at the airport by driver from Volvo (here to pick up a new car!)
Stayed in Goteberg: Radisson Blu Scandinavia - two nights (one included as part of Volvo European Delivery)
Large hotel, large rooms, some have been renovated, some have not (we had an older room - it was fine and had a nice view); ample breakfast buffet included - very tasty. Wifi.

Volvo pick up - Wednesday, May 22nd - amazing factory tour, cool visit to the Volvo museum, picture with my new car, lunch at the factory. Finally on the road north. Love my new car - rain-sensing windshield wipers, lane drift sensers, Bluetooth, USB for my iphone... The scenery on the west coast of Sweden could be Minnesota - which explains plenty about the early MN settlers. Roads are very easy to maneuver, well marked, and google maps is very accurate.

Drive to Stromstad for a night - lovely spot on the west coast of Sweden almost to Norway. Stayed at Emma's Bed & Breakfast. Lovely room, very kind and friendly hosts; tasty breakfast. Walked into Stromstad for dinner Wednesday night (used the self-service ferry!) - had dinner at a Thai restaurant called Heat. Very tasty meal, large portion so we were able to share.

Thursday morning - drove to Oslo, dropping off car in Drammen. (For its long ride to Minneapolis.) One night in Oslo, at the Comfort Hotel Grand Central. Right next to (i.e. connected to) the central train station. Clean, comfortable. Breakfast included. Wifi. Convenient location to wander around for an afternoon & evening.

Friday morning flight to Bergen Norway. Stayed 2 nights at the Clarion Collection Hotel Havnekontoret. Lovely hotel, right near the water & Bryggen. Breakfast buffet & light dinner buffet included. Bergen highlights: Floien funicular & the Ulriken gondola.

Other notes: yes, food & hotels are expensive in Scandinavia, but having breakfast & dinner sometimes included helps significantly. We found that for a dinner where we might expect to spend $120 (including wine) in Minneapolis might be $200 there. (Wine or alcohol is very expensive in restaurants.) Wine in the state controlled liquor stores in Norway was much more reasonably priced than the restaurants, and on par with what you might pay in the states. Alcohol (vodka/gin, etc.) was still very expensive, even in the store. Travelling in any of the airports (and we hit Stockholm, Copenhagen (twice), Goteborg, Oslo & Bergen) is easy, clean and well organized - seriously almost serene. The duty free shopping in CPH is quite good.

More later - I'll add more details about what we saw & restaurants we visited. Enjoy!
dunia123 is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 03:03 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,589
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well yes, more details so I can remember our own pleasant journey to those parts awhile back. Each Scandinavian country and city enjoyable in it own way. We also were in Helsinki. I did like Bergen and Copenhagen.

Bill in Boston
Ozarksbill is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 03:20 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,350
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi dunia123,
We also used points and stayed in Choice hotels in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen and Bergen. The included breakfast and light dinner really kept us on budget since we were traveling for six weeks. If we return to Scandinavia we will definitely do it with points to save $$$.
Michele
michele_d is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 04:31 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 32,129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for the tip on liquor stores. We are going in August. Dreading the cost.
colduphere is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 05:21 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,350
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi cold,
Don't dread the cost...just be ready for how to work with it. I don't know where you are staying, but if your hotels have the free breakfast and 'light' dinner then you can save quite a bit on meals. I can't imagine that the Choice Hotel line is the only one who does this. The light dinner was fine for me and my husband. My husband and I are not 'foodies' so not interested in going out for expensive meals. Would rather grab a quick bite and continue with our day.

There is a great Mexican restaurant/cafe in Stockholm in the Gamla Stan area. We had been on our trip for over a month and seriously craving Mexican food...a staple of ours in California. We looked through the window and saw that the food looked wonderful so we ordered. My gawd...such good Mexican food so far from home. We were in heaven. We asked to talk to the chef and he was so happy with our compliments...made his day. When we told him we lived in Southern California he said that he was trying to duplicate the Mexican food from this area of the US and we told him Mission Accomplished. The restaurant (more like a quick cafe) was very reasonably priced so if you're in the area give it a try (if you like Mexican). Don't know how much you get of it in Canada.

Scandinavia is beautiful..your family will have a great time.
Michele
michele_d is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 05:53 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 32,129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks Michele. We are staying in Gamla Stan for three nights. We all love Mexican food so we will find the place. After endless searching we found a reasonable place in Oslo - a guesthouse called Cochs Pensjonat. More like a university dorm but great for the five of us. After Oslo it will be rural travel without too many restaurants.
colduphere is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 06:33 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,350
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
This is the link for the Taco Bar restaurant in Gamla Stan. I didn't realize it was a chain in Stockholm. Yummy! And great prices.

http://www.tacobar.se/en/restauranger/our-restaurants
michele_d is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 06:58 PM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,818
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Mornington Hotel Stockholm City -

Dunia...you're the first people from Fodors who have mentioned the above. I've been touting it for about five years.. We thought it was excellent and the price was certainly right, relatively speaking. Comfortable walk to Gamla Stan and the harbor, city hall, etc. Their hotel library was something to see and I do recall the excellent bkfsts..and also the amazing Sala ("food hall") a block away. Happy you did nicely in Scandinavia..enjoy your Volvo..
I'll post some pix to compare memories of the region, and for places you may want to see next time..
Stu
tower is offline  
Old Jun 18th, 2013, 07:10 PM
  #9  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 27,868
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Your trip report bring up fond memories! We picked our S40 in April 2011 and started our trip in Copenhagen, then on to Goteburg, drove up to Oslo and Voss, did Norway in Nutshell, drove back to Goteburg and dropped off car. Then train to Stockholm. We did a bit different on the end - we went to Paris from Stockholm for 8 days before flying home via CPH.

Enjoy the Volvo! We love ours.
DebitNM is offline  
Old Jun 19th, 2013, 10:37 AM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,818
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Dunia: Here are Norway and Sweden..i'll dig up Denamrk and add it. Stu

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...uHk6iIgbSEgAE#

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Stockholm#
tower is offline  
Old Jun 19th, 2013, 10:40 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,818
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
https://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Denmark#
tower is offline  
Old Jun 19th, 2013, 03:47 PM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,012
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Stu: Wonderful photographs. Brought back wonderful memories of a long ago trip, about 30 years ago.

Loving this report which is also bringing back memories.
taconictraveler is offline  
Old Jun 20th, 2013, 10:00 AM
  #13  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 151
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm so glad you've all enjoyed the report so far! There's less traffic in this area of Fodors (compared say to France & Italy), that I wasn't sure I'd have any comments!

Stu - really beautiful pictures. I was in some ways unprepared for how beautiful Scandinavia was. We were really fortunate in our weather - only one day of rain (and that was the Volvo pick-up day). We actually needed sunscreen the days we were in Bergen.

Cold - if you're travelling through the airports between countries, check out the duty-free prices on wine and alcohol too - there were some deals to be found. I would echo what Michele said as to prices. Yes, it's more expensive, but you find strategies to manage. We really didn't end up eating lunch at restaurants at all. Either we picked up a snack at a grocery store or we ate street food. As I'm sure you've seen, the hot dogs are pretty good and reasonable in Stockholm. I would note also that they were really more like sausages, and several different varieties available. Obviously not fancy, but for $12 for two for lunch, I'll take it. I do tend toward the foodie end of the spectrum, but also toward the financially prudent, so managing with the supper buffets in the hotels a few nights, and dinner out for others was a way to manage that.

DebitNM - I remember reading your posts when we were preparing for this trip. We're already scheming for the next car replacement (which is probably 5 years off, but it was such a blast!) As an aside, Volvo no longer allows drop-offs in Oslo - we were the last batch, as the change happened after we ordered.

More later!
dunia123 is offline  
Old Jun 21st, 2013, 09:25 AM
  #14  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 151
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Adding some detail to what we saw where:

Bergen: Spent a good deal of time just wandering around Bryggen, window-shopping and exploring.

As mentioned, we took the gondola up Mt. Ulriken. The views were just amazing. We were in the clouds for about 20 minutes before they burned off. Beautiful, rocky hiking around at the top, with little cabins and mountain-top lakes.

Also loved taking the funicular up to the top of Mt. Floien. Similarly beautiful views, but more manicured at the top, with a restaurant and gift shop. We hiked down, a steep winding well-maintained path.

Gothenburg:

For car enthusiasts, the Volvo museum is very interesting. (For Volvo enthusiasts, buying a Volvo & doing the European delivery is amazing. The factory tour made me feel like I was in a science fiction movie.)

Walked around, enjoyed the waterfront, along the canal, and the old part of city. Went to the Feskekorka (Fish Church literally - a fish market). This was a good place for an inexpensive lunch. We also walked through a covered food market - lots of tasty items on display for purchase.

The Rohsska Museum is a great little museum highlighting the history of Swedish fashion and design. For dinner, we went to Familjen (http://www.restaurangfamiljen.se/). (I had the glazed pork cheek with fresh beans, savory, morels and fried dumpling - very good!)

I'll add more on Stockholm & Copenhagen soon!
dunia123 is offline  
Old Jun 21st, 2013, 09:25 AM
  #15  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 151
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Adding some detail to what we saw where:

Bergen: Spent a good deal of time just wandering around Bryggen, window-shopping and exploring.

As mentioned, we took the gondola up Mt. Ulriken. The views were just amazing. We were in the clouds for about 20 minutes before they burned off. Beautiful, rocky hiking around at the top, with little cabins and mountain-top lakes.

Also loved taking the funicular up to the top of Mt. Floien. Similarly beautiful views, but more manicured at the top, with a restaurant and gift shop. We hiked down, a steep winding well-maintained path.

Gothenburg:

For car enthusiasts, the Volvo museum is very interesting. (For Volvo enthusiasts, buying a Volvo & doing the European delivery is amazing. The factory tour made me feel like I was in a science fiction movie.)

Walked around, enjoyed the waterfront, along the canal, and the old part of city. Went to the Feskekorka (Fish Church literally - a fish market). This was a good place for an inexpensive lunch. We also walked through a covered food market - lots of tasty items on display for purchase.

The Rohsska Museum is a great little museum highlighting the history of Swedish fashion and design. For dinner, we went to Familjen (http://www.restaurangfamiljen.se/). (I had the glazed pork cheek with fresh beans, savory, morels and fried dumpling - very good!)

I'll add more on Stockholm & Copenhagen soon!
dunia123 is offline  
Old Jun 27th, 2013, 12:44 PM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wonderful pictures and great info! We are headed to
Denmark - Norway - Sweden the end of July - I'm looking
forward to your Stockholm and Copenhagen updates!
406keli is offline  
Old Jul 8th, 2013, 07:54 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
TOWER: Thanks for the photos. We are traveling to Denmark next month and are really excited. I have always wanted to go there!
klimes is offline  
Old Jul 9th, 2013, 11:42 PM
  #18  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We hope to go in August - Norway in a Nutshell; Bergen, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm. or tour Can anyone recommend private guide, with car, perhaps, or tour company, or good Scandinavian travel agent. Hoped we could do it ourselves as we have in France, Belgium, Spain, etc., but needs have changed for us (2 seniors). Any input welcome.

Thanks!
bevfremont is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
catcan68
Europe
89
Sep 27th, 2016 10:36 PM
genoise
Europe
19
May 25th, 2015 04:28 PM
Markaphx
Europe
26
Sep 21st, 2013 02:05 PM
karen67
Europe
6
May 24th, 2011 09:04 AM
bakpakr
Europe
4
Jul 4th, 2005 04:30 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -