annealex

Hi All,

We're getting our itinerary ready for our June trip. We're a couple in our 50s with many European trips behind us. We travel light and try to keep to a budget. We love music, wine, whimsey, art and history. Yeah, we like food, too.

We'll fly into:
1. London for a week, (2nd trip here. We'll certainly see some plays and see the Churchill museum, plus, plus.) We've already been on a Beatles walk, etc.
then train to:
2. Brussels, (3 days?)
3. Antwerp (3 days?)
4. Bruges (2 days?)
5. Amsterdam (3 days?)
6. Copenhagan/Malmo (6 days?)
7. Stockholm (6 days)

My husband 's family comes from Sweden and it's our first visit there. Our last trip was through France/Switzerland for 30 days and we liked our leisurely approach. Are we missing any key places? Do we have too much time in any one place? The only thing locked in is our week in London and flying out of Stockholm, otherwise we're open.

Our focus is culture, museums, nightlife, natural beauty (should we do an island around Sweden??) and enjoying leisure strolls around the city…

Always looking forward to your ideas…
Thanks,
Annealex

nytraveler

Don't think you need 3 days in Brussels. You can easily do a day trip to Ghent and might even consider another day trip (IMHO 1 day is plenty for Brussels).

janisj

How much time do you actually have?

It might be better to think in terms of nights rather than days. To net 3 days in a place requires staying 4 nights. 2 days = 3 nights and so forth.

kja

I haven't been to Brussels or Antwerp yet, but otherwise like your plan in light of your interests and preference for a leisurely pace. You might consider adding a day to Amsterdam if you have any interest in the surrounding countryside -- you could take an lovely day trip to some traditional villages, see windmills and the making of sabots and Edam, learn about the polders, etc. Consider visiting Roskilde from Copenhagen and Uppsala and the archipelago from Stockholm.

Hope that helps!

annealex

We have 30 days. I'm starting to look into Delft in Holland and I've heard good things about Roskilde. That's an easy day trip from Copenhagen? I saw that I could train to Uppsula. Lots of planning ahead…

Odin

There isn't much to see in Malmo, 6 days will cover Copenhagen and North Zealand. You can see Malmo in a day trip from Denmark, if you must. Roskilde is an easy trip from Copenhagen. Consider car rental as there is alot to see along the north zealand coast which you will miss by train. The archipelago is a must for Stockholm.
3 days in Brussels and another 3 in Antwerp seems a bit too much.

Tulips

Add a day to Brugge instead of Brussel or Antwerp, and visit Ieper (Flanders Field museum) or, if the weather is nice, do a cycling trip to Damme, or visit the coast for a day. Train to Knokke from Brugge, hire a bicycles and visit the Zwin nature reserve. Have a nice lunch somewhere along the coast.
Gent is nice too.

menachem

If you book well ahead, book a stuga on one of the islands off Stockholm.

annealex

Thanks everyone!

OK, I looked up "stuga" and that sounds cool. What island would you suggest? ( I love islands!)

I'm going to reduce Brussels and do some more research… Including North Zealand and Zwin nature reserve.

menachem

We stayed at and loved Grinda, but it's perhaps further than you want. It's almost off the grid, but has a very good restaurant and a small general store, stuga "village" and a hostel (and sauna of course)

http://grinda.se/en/ and http://grinda.se/en/vandrarhem-stugby/

I you don't want to go for a cottage, book a room in the hostel. it's self catering and the whole experience is as swedish as can possibly be. Mid summer is a big big thing!

in general:

http://www.stugknuten.com/resultatny...x=36&test.y=16

hope the link works this way: in descriptions look for Stockholm Archipelago.

Odin

If you have time and since you like natural beauty, a ferry trip from Stockholm to Helsinki is highly recommended. Stugas are everywhere in the countryside in Sweden, you might like one by a lake and forest for instance. Bring insect repellent.

The coastal road north from Copenhagen through upscale suburbs such as Hellerup, Charlottenlund, Klampenborg (walk thru the Deer Park at Bakken and have lunch at Peter Lieps Hus, then walk over to Bellevue Beach) is lovely, a nice easy drive up to Louisiana. Coastal small towns eg Hornbaek (has a lovely beach and some cute shops, bakery) and Gilleleje fishing village (good place to stop for a lunch of smoked herrings on rye bread with a glass of beer). There is a very good bakery in Gilleleje too. This route will also take you past Karen Blixen's house which is opposite a small marina.

Tulips

Zeeland is well worth a visit. Look up towns like Veere, Middelburg, Zierikzee. Best to have a car though.

annealex

Our trip itinerary is getting more organized. After a week in London at an Airbnb, we'll train to Brussels (reservations in hand) for a quick overnight at a small B&B, then hopping on the train to Brugge for 3 nights. From there I'm not sure the best way to get to Delft, our next stop.

I've looked at various train sites and it's unclear to me. Any suggestions? It seems there are 3 stops, but I'm not sure which site is best to look at and whether I need to reserve or ? This is for June, maybe tickets aren't yet available.

We are in Delft for 2 nights, then we'll train to Amsterdam for 3 nights. Then we have 5 nights in Copenhagan, maybe 1 night in Malmo, and 2 nights in an Archipelago location (Grinda or Voxholm?) and 5 confirmed nights in Stockholm.

Any train help from Brugge to Delft? Thanks All!

menachem

Brugge to Antwerp, Antwerp to Rotterdam, Rotterdam to Delft: 2 changes. You don't need to make reservations. I believe from Brugge station you can buy your ticket for the whole stretch to Delft.

Book ahead for you Archipelago excursion: it's mid summer then and busy! Grinda may have been fully booked already, Vaxholm is larger and has more accommodation.

Odin

There are too many nights in some places, too many hotel changes and nights in places where it is not worth staying, eg Malmo. 2 nights in the archipelago is rather short IMO.

Tulips

You can book the train ticket online, but it won't make a difference in price. If you look it up on the Belgian rail site, www.nmbs.be, they will sometimes try to book you on a Thalys from Antwerp to Rotterdam, or Brussels-Rotterdam; that is much more expensive, and the Thalys must be booked in advance.
In fact the site gives a route via Gent, Antwerp, Rotterdam.
There is a direct train Brugge - Antwerp once an hour, so you don't need to change in Gent.

dweislaw

Delft was a great day trip to Amsterdam for us - Thursday morning market and then the afternoon at the Delft factory. I'd stay more in Amsterdam rather than two in Delft. The new Markthal in Rotterdam would also be worthwhile as you make your way through the Netherlands. Rotterdam is 50 minutes by train from Centraal while Delft is a bit longer. Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy.

menachem

Amsterdam - Rotterdam is about 40 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal by Intercity Direct.

annealex

Thanks for your helpful suggestions about train travel between Brugge and Delft…Lots of changes but doable.

About the Archipelago -- if we were to stay in Grinda or Vaxholm, coming from Copenhagen which appears to be a 5 hour plus train journey pus the ferry… would it be wise to stop somewhere between Copenhagen and archipelago for an overnight? We're booked to stay in Stockholm after the Archipelago as our last part of our trip before heading home.

Copenhagen 5 nights
overnight?
Archipelago 2 nights
Stockholm 5 nights

Thanks again for any practical suggestions!
Annealex

menachem

You could do a night in Stockholm and in the morning hop on the ferry. There are fast services to both Vaxholm and Grinda and also a slow service with beautiful historical ships.


http://www.waxholmsbolaget.se/start