2 weeks in august- scandanavia- where to go with 2 teenagers?
Jan 26th, 2003, 05:06 AM
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2 weeks in august- scandanavia- where to go with 2 teenagers?
We are in the initial planning stage for a 2 week trip in early august 2003. Our daughters are 16 and 18, and we love trains, short adventure type cruises, day hiking, glaciers etc,river rafting, local markets, travelling on our own, unusual hotels , and getting off the beaten path. Where in scandanavia do you recommend? Can't get a good sense of denmark v. sweden v. norway v. finland. thanks for any help.
Jan 26th, 2003, 09:00 AM
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Based on your post, I believe Scandinavia is a very good choice. <BR><BR>Some ideas:<BR>-Norway in a Nutshell<BR>-Scanrail 2nd class youth passes<BR>-Connect Bergen and Stavanger via Flagrutten ferry<BR>-Preikostolen Rock--daytrip and hike from Stavanger<BR>-Ferry to north Jylland for great beaches<BR>-Train to Copenhagen through Danish countryside<BR>-Consider stop in Odense for a day and rent bikes<BR>-Copenhagen to Stockholm via high speed train; stop for few hours in Lund; stay Af Chapman in Stockholm<BR>-Stockholm archipeligo--cheap ferry passes, hiking, exploring, camping huts<BR>-If time, ferry to Helsinki<BR>-If time, ferry to Talinn<BR><BR>I live in Norway and will be happy to answer more questions. It seems like with two weeks, you might consider concentrating on either Norway and Denmark, or Sweden and Finland, but Copenhagen should be part of either trip.<BR><BR>Some resources as you plan:<BR>www.scanrail.com<BR>www.visitstavanger.co m<BR>www.sterlingticket.com<BR>
Jan 26th, 2003, 11:23 AM
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I posted a lengthy reply at about noon today!! Where did it go??<BR><BR>I'll try to reconstruct it here.<BR><BR>My husband and I toured Scandinavia for two weeks in May of 2001. We had a fabulous time and look forward to returning. Our itinerary was as follows:<BR><BR>-Flew into Copenhagen - Spent 3 nights<BR><BR>-picked up rental car, drove up Western coast of Sweden<BR><BR>-Overnight in Fjallbacka, Sweden (1/2way between Copenhagen and Oslo)<BR><BR>-Oslo - 1 night (left most luggage and car in oslo, took train/ferry to Aurland)<BR><BR>-Aurland, Norway - 3 nights (part of Norway in a Nutshell)<BR><BR>-Back to Oslo - 1 night<BR><BR>Drove to Stockholm<BR>-Overnight in Filipstad, Sweden (1/2way between Oslo and Stockholm)<BR><BR>-Stockholm 4 nights<BR><BR>Flew home from Stockholm<BR><BR>A busy two weeks to say the least!<BR><BR>Our favorite place was Fjallbacka... a small fishing village on the bohuslan coast. We will surely go back there some day and spend more time. Our Hotel there definitely qualifies as unusual. We stayed at the Stora Hotellet. It is an old Sea Captain's home. Each room is decorated according to the Sea Captain's experiences. The themes are ports of call, women he knew or other sea captains. We stayed in the Leif Erikson Suite and can easily say the it was the coolest hotel room we had been in. Our suite was 2 stories, had a fabulous spacious balcony overlooking the Achipelago, and a bathroom made of slate. The restaurant seemed to be popular with locals and had great live entertainment. Check out their website www.storahotelet-fjallbacka.se.<BR>I believe they show all the rooms on their site.<BR><BR><BR>Another great place was the hotel we stayed at in Filipstad called Hennickehammars Herrgard. We were there before their busy season started, so the many activities offered were not available. It is a restored manor house set in a secluded area on a beautiful lake. In the summer there is boating, tennis, horseback riding, a sauna by the lake. Lots of things to do. <BR>Both of these overnights were a nice break from the touristy city things we had been doing. They certainly qualify for "off the beaten path"<BR> <BR>I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to e-mail me if you like.
Feb 3rd, 2003, 03:20 AM
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Eurotrip Don gave some good pointers. Travel thru the Danish countryside and possibly make a stop in either Odense or Aarhus. You can travel from let's say Aarhus to Stavanger in one day. The ferry to Kristiansand only takes 2 hours. I would try to make space for a walk to the Pulpit Rock near Stavanger. <BR><BR>You mentioned glaciers, and I would suggest you take the coach from Bergen (discount when having a scanrail-pass) to Stryn. From Stryn busses go to/from the Briksdalsglacier in Olden every day, there’s also trips to Geiranger (www.nordfjord.no). You can continue by coach from Stryn to Otta and take the train to Oslo. If time one can be collected by the train station at Otta and driven up to a nice spa-hotel in Rondane (www.rondane.no) or perhaps stay at the nearby Mysuseter mountain hostel (buss from Otta, only in summer). From there its easy access to the scenic National Park. <BR><BR>Rafting, there’s many possibilities. Some of the better is Jolster-rafting near Skei a few stops before Stryn, Sjoa (near Otta) and Voss.<BR><BR>If you don't have time to Stryn I would suggest you take the train to Finse, rent a bike (book in advance) and travel down to Flom (Also possible at Mjolfjell). Very popular by Norwegians and others. The journey from Hallingskeid thru Kleivagjelet to Flom is the most beautiful and mostly downhill, and August is the best time of year to do this.<BR><BR>In Sweden I would visit the Stockholm archipelago or travel to Gotland Island and the medieval town Visby. Or do the short version, go by rail to Gothenburg and visit Liseberg amusement park. Continue to Copenhagen.
Feb 3rd, 2003, 06:08 AM
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For hiking in the high mountains check out local buss transportation at www.ottadalen.no choose language and click on 'Bus routes in the Jotunheim and Rondane Mountains'.<BR><BR>In Sweden I like the west coast towns of Fjallbacka, Smogen and Fiskebackil, but they are not that train friendly.<BR><BR>Finland has deep forests and lakes.
Feb 3rd, 2003, 01:23 PM
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I will second the Norway in a Nutshell trip.I have experienced this trip twice in previous years and found it to me one of the more memorable excurrsions in my numerous European trips.The combination of forests,glaciers,waterfalls,barren rock,and deep Fjords in a relativity short distance is truly hard to beat.You can do it in a day,but I like to stretch it out so I spent one night in Voss,and hiked around a bit.Then continued my journey on to Bergen.Since you said you love trains,I can't think of a better trip through Scandanavia.
Feb 3rd, 2003, 01:43 PM
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dkw, I tried the website you suggested, www.storahotelet-fjallbacka.se and it didn't worked 
-( I loved your report and would love to check out the amazing hotel you referred to. What am I doing wrong?
-( I loved your report and would love to check out the amazing hotel you referred to. What am I doing wrong?
Feb 4th, 2003, 06:13 AM
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Travelled with my wife through Scandinavia in July 2001, so here are my recommendations:<BR><BR>Sweden:<BR>Stockholm obviously a must, and worth three days. The sites to see are largely obvious - Gamla Stan (old town), Kungstadgarden, etc. There's a wonderful lookout point over Stockholm that's easily accessible, but I can't recall its name, sorry. It's on one of the islands and is a beautiful sunset spot. The archipelago, frankly, is a bit of a boring trip, though certainly very pleasant for dinner and sunset.<BR><BR>Highly recommend the island of Gotland, and the main town Visby. This is where the Swedes vacation with beaches and Visby is a very charming medieval walled town. Recommend renting a car on Gotland and driving around. <BR><BR>Norway:<BR>Highly, highly recommend the Norway in a Nutshell trip. Really - it's a must. Besides, Bergen is terrific and the N in N trip is thebest way to get there. Oslo also was enjoyable and susprised me, but two days and a half is plenty.<BR><BR>Denmark: <BR>We were only in Copenhagen, but it's also a must. Teenage girls will especially love it. Have dinner at Nyhavn and enjoy the liveliest city of the region.<BR><BR>Enjoy.
Feb 5th, 2003, 01:14 AM
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You certainly are picking up a lot of messages and here is yet another suggestion. I cannot recommend too highly a trip to the Lofoten islands - and the Vesterälens if you want to make a thing of it. I have written some accounts of my trip there and would send them - or in some cases URLs - if you care to e-mail me [email protected]
Feb 5th, 2003, 08:21 AM
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Sorry for the typo Maira. Here is the corrrect web address:<BR>http://www.storahotellet-fjallbacka.se<BR><BR>I would second Lovejoy's suggestion to not try to do the Norway in a Nutshell trip all in one day. We spent 2 nights in Aurland (the first boat stop beyond Flam) and were glad we did. This enabled us to get off a verrrrry crowded mid-day boat(lots of large tour groups) for the ferry portion of the trip and take the morning boat the next day. To our great enjoyment the boat was nearly empty with the exception of a few tourists and schoolchildren taking the ferry to their local school. We were able to wander about and move to the portion of the boat where the best view happened to be at any one time. <BR><BR>
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