SusanAnn

My 65th birthday gift is a trip with my hubby to Scandinavia. We are active seniors, and enjoy cities, as well as visiting rural areas to experience history and culture. We don't care about nightlife, and we leave our hotel in the morning and don't return until after dinner. We have tickets to fly in and out of Copenhagen from NYC in June 2016. I have a "sort of" itinerary and I am still trying to understand how and where to travel. I have searched forums for some good information, but feel that I still need some help. Handling luggage isn't easy at our age, however, and driving and flying may sometimes be easier than trains and busses. We prefer to spend 2 nights or more in a location. Here is what I have so far:

Day 1 Arrive in Copenhagen Sleep in Copenhagen
Day 2 Tour Copenhagen Sleep in Copenhagen
Day 3 Tour Copenhagen Sleep in Copenhagen
Day 4 Rent car/ Drive & Boat to Aero Sleep in Aeroskobing
Day 5 Tour Aero/Aeroskobing Sleep in Aeroskobing
Day 6 Drive to Kalmar Sleep in Kalmar
Day 7 Drive to Stockholm Sleep in Stockholm
Day 8 Tour Stockholm Sleep in Stockholm
Day 9 Tour Stockholm Sleep in Stockholm
Day 10 Tour Stockholm Sleep in Stockholm
Day 11 Tour Stockholm Sleep in Stockholm
Day 12 Fly Stockholm to Oslo Sleep in Oslo
Day 13 Tour Oslo Sleep in Oslo
Day 14 Rent Car/ Drive to Balestrand Sleep in Balestrand
Day 15 Tour Balestrand Sleep in Balestrand
Day 16 Aurland to Bergen Cruise Sleep in Bergen
Day 17 Tour Bergen Sleep in Bergen
Day 18 Fly from Bergen to Copenhagen Sleep in Copenhagen
Day 19 Fly from Copenhagen to JFK

Should we consider an overnight to Finland or Estonia? Is Aero worth the trip?
I really appreciate any assistance that you could give me so that I can book some hotel rooms!

PalenQ

The Stockholm to Finland ferries go along a gorgeous archipelago most of the way and with the long nights in summer you can see it for the first several hours - in case you want to go to Finland this makes a neat way since you cannot drive - an overnight boat. Fly to Oslo from there and get a taste of Finland

kja

Should be a great trip! Just a few comments:

If you must fly out of Copenhagen, then consider trying to put ALL of your time in Copenhagen at the END of your trip, as you will want to be there at least the night before your flight home. It might not work for you -- and its no big deal if it doesn't -- but if you can eliminate one change of hotel, why not! (You might base your decision primarily on travel connection options -- you might be tired, but if so, you'll be tired whether you push on or not. ;-) ) Again -- just a thought.

Of the destinations on your itinerary, I've been to only Stockholm and Copenhagen, and I must admit that I think you might not be giving Stockholm enough time -- it has an incredible wealth of interesting sites! But of course, it depends on what YOU want to see and do. If you haven't already done so, you might want to identify the specific things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). That should give you a good idea of whether your time in Stockholm is sufficient. Just an idea....

Hope that helps!

Odin

Ærøskøbing Is quite some distance both from Copenhagen and from
Kalmar. Is there something you want to see in Kalmar or is it just a stop en route to Stockholm? If you want to see something other than Copenhagen, North Sealand has a lot to offer in the way of sights & excursions. Most posters never get past the centre of Copenhagen but if you have time, the northern suburbs are really worth a visit. Ærøskøbing to Kalmar is a long way, will you drive, where will you drop off the car, or are you picking up the car in Copenhagen, touring Denmark Sweden & Norway then dropping back at Copenhagen? If so that works but it's a lot of driving. Make sure you pick hotels with free parking although parking is free in the streets at the weekends. Or stay in a hotel slightly outside the city centre eg Gentofte.

I'd advise limiting your itin to Copenhagen & surrounding area of Zealand then Stockholm & surrounding areas & Norway.

bilboburgler

Just a few thoughts

You are going to a lot of cities, I'd try and visit the countryside, fjords, castles, viking ships, farmsteads etc.

June is a good time to go just before the main holiday season so hotels booked on the road should be easier. The days get very long as you go north. You might prefer to split the days a bit and eat supper early then go out for some hiking etc, this is especially beautiful away from the cities.

Ferries are good.

There is along drive you can do which is circular from Copenhagen, I've done it by bike but cars can do it too. Basically circle through Roskilde, Nybourg, Rudkobing.... ferry... Nakskov, Vordingbourg. If you follow my name back to 2015 summer you can read what we did, but the real pleasure was the countryside is beautiful

dyoll

I suppose you have some reason for visiting Ærøskøbing? The drive to Kalmar with time for ferry etc from there will be a very long day. I cannot see from your itinerary where or when you are planning on returning the car. Cross border one-way hire may come at a hefty extra fee. I'd consider skipping Kalmar, returning the car in Copenhagen and taking the train to Stockholm.
Having a car in European cities is rarely a benefit and usually a nuisance and expense with finding parking - far better to use public transport.
It might be more efficient to fly Stockholm - Bergen and drive back to Oslo - again there will be a hefty one-way fee here. There isn't really a great benefit in having a car on this journey either - Take the Norway in a Nutshell tour between Bergen and Oslo with a side trip to Balestrand.
From Oslo take the overnight ferry to Copenhagen for a scenic cruise down the Oslofjord.
I agree with the previous comment that it might be best to save your Denmark part of the holiday to last. Take the train to Stockholm on arrival in Copenhagen - it would have been better to get an open jaw ticket arriving in Stockholm and departing Copenhagen.
https://www.norwaynutshell.com

nocloset

In 2012 I did a trip that was almost identical to yours up to and including Stockholm. I'm not too much younger than you.

A few differences:

I only spent one night in Ærøskøbing, and it was plenty. I took the train from Copenhagen to Odense, another train to Svendborg, and then the ferry, arriving in time for a late lunch, then spent the rest of the day exploring. (But it's a very small town.) The next morning I woke up early and took Rick's recommended bike tour, got back to the B&B in time for breakfast, and then had the rest of the morning to kill and kind of ran out of stuff to do waiting for the ferry. Were you planning on taking your car to Ærø, or leaving it in Svendborg? With a car on the island, perhaps you'll find more to explore. Ærøskøbing is lovely, but I am just not sure it's worth staying two nights.

I spent two nights in Kalmar, arriving late evening (it was a long day of travel from Ærøskøbing, but not so awful) and it was definitely worth it. I rented a car for a day and drove around the southern half of Öland, and then had the evening and next morning to see Kalmar, including touring the castle, before my early-afternoon train departed for Stockholm. I would urge you to add a day there, and since you'll already have the car, it will be easy for you to drive around Öland.

I didn't make it to Norway on that trip. (I'm heading to Norway next month!) From Stockholm I went to Tallinn by ferry, then to Helsinki. I really loved Tallinn. Helsinki was also fascinating for its architecture and I enjoyed walking around the city a lot.

If you take the advice of others and save Copenhagen for the end of your trip (which definitely makes sense), I'd still encourage you to start with a couple of nights in Kalmar before heading to Stockholm.

Even if you cut Ærøskøbing, I think you can do either Tallinn and Helsinki or Norway, but not both in a reasonable schedule. Until I get back from my trip next month, I can't advise you on which is the better choice, except that Norway might be a place you can get back to in a couple of years and spend more time seeing at a leisurely pace, whereas Tallinn and Helsinki fit nicely with the rest of your itinerary.

Enjoy!

SusanAnn

I am very grateful for the replies to assist with our itinerary on this special trip. Unfortunately, we are flying on frequent flyer miles and must fly into and out of CPH. But I have taken your advice, and changed up the itinerary to do the Copenhagen tour at the end. We will get off the plane in CPH and take the train directly to Stockholm! thank you!

I also gathered that I was planning to drive too much, and have been learning more about public transportation. I also sense that Aeroskobing may be too ambitious, and no, I had no other reason to go through Kalmar.

I have changed the itinerary:

Day 1 - arrive CPH - train to Stockholm - sleep 5 nights
Day 6 - Fly to Bergen, sleep Bergen 2 nights
Day 8 - Norway in Nutshell - with 2 night stop in Balestrand?
Day 10 - Oslo - 2 nights
Day 12 - Oslo to Copenhagen - sleep 4 nights

So here's the new big question. We will do day trips out of Stockholm. But that still leaves us with 3 nights for a visit somewhere else. I like your suggestions of spending time out of town - countryside or village. Is there somewhere on or near our route that you would suggest to experience a small town - without going the distance of Aero? Or should we also subtract days from the big cities in order to spend more time in the countryside? The other option mentioned was a night ferry to Helsinki or Tallinn.

For now, I've booked hotels near Old Town Stockholm (Victory Hotel) and in Copenhagen near Nyhavn (Hotel Skt. Annae). I want to fill in the other hotels/rooms and then continue planning the daily activities.

I am very grateful for all of your great observations and suggestions! Thank You!

Ruby99

Is there any way at all to change your tickets to fly into Stockholm rather than Copenhagen? I guess it's too late, but it would have been easier than landing then taking a 5-6 hour train... you might also check SAS airlines to see if you could get a flight to Stockholm instead of the train, as you're already at the airport. We flew from Copenhagen to Helsinki for just $65 a few years ago.

I haven't gone to Norway and am jealous of your time there... the NIN tour was recommended by friends who said it was excellent. Hope to do it someday soon...

We did Copenhagen 4 nights which was about right, Helsinki 3 nights then took the ferry to Tallinn for 2 nights (also about the right length of time before it feels like we have to move on) and we did the overnight ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm....... THAT ferry ride was one of the highlights of all my trips to Europe. Beautiful views of the archipelago and the time spent on the ferry was also a lot of fun

There is so much to see in Stockholm, much more than the other cities... you are going to have an amazing time. My sister and I loved the ABBA museum which had just opened, as it was very interactive.

kja

IMO, your plan is MUCH improved!

Just one little quibble: If you can add more time to Stockholm, I don't think you'll regret it. With day trips, it easily merits 5 full days, and more if you'll be recovering from jet lag while there. But maybe you already know what you want to see and do there and have determined that you have enough time?

Finecheapboxofwine

I've read that you are looking to spend three nights somewhere else before or after Stockholm??

You could consider a trip to the beautiful island of Gotland. You can take the short flight easily from Stockholm or the speed ferry and get there in under six hours. I believe there is a transport connection from Stockholm station to the ferry port in Sweden.

Upon arrival on Gotland the ferry terminal is right in Visby and if you stayed in the city you can walk to your hotel. (Although that option might be a late arrival.) You'd have to check on that. If you are short on time and want to discover more of the island than just the walled city of Visby, then I might suggest for you to fly.