Just started planning need help!
 

I am planning a trip to London for 2016 Wimbeldon which is end of June. We have decided to spend time before (about 16 days) trying to see part of NOrway but then Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Brussels before we head to London.. I am not sure if trying to do all those cities is realistic or not. We plan to fly into Bergen, Norway --spend a few days there and do the Norway in a Nutshell then head to Oslo for a few days then over to Stockholm, and then work our way south to eventually wind up in London. We do not plan to drive so plan to train it from place to place or fly if training is too long.. I am still looking into that.
I don't know if anyone has ever done all those cities but we just want to get a flavor of each.
We will be 62 and 70 and don't know how many times if at all we will be getting back to Europe. Two years ago we did 3 weeks and went from London, Paris, Venice, Tuscany, Florence, Switzerland and then back to London. We did most of it by train except from Paris to Venice (we flew). We felt it was manageable so willing to try the "tour" again this time in the area mentioned.
Looking to see if anyone has done a similar trip, what to avoid what to be sure to see what may not be worth it. Any advice will be helpful. As I mentioned we are just starting to read up and plan. Thank you!

Sounds like you are trying to cover a LOT of territory - and much of it in very expensive places (Norway and Sweden and also somewhat Copenhagen). We have been to all of these places a couple of times and I think you would enjoy it more by moving more slowly - but I would start with the sights that are your must sees in each place - and build from there.

IMHO Stockholm is worth at least 4 days as is Copenhagen - with at least 2 (3 nights) in Oslo.

But it really depends on your interests. I would start with Michelin green guides and build from the ground up.

Also in Belgium I would do most anything but Brussels - adore Bruges - love Ghent, and Liege and Spa and other areas in the east (plus a daytrip to Aachen to see Charlemagne territory).

Two things to put on your must see list. There is a magnificent sculpture garden in Oslo - well worth a visit.
The other is the Vasa ship museum in Stockholm. So weird to walk into semi-darkness and see a galleon rearing up out of the dark.
And I forgot a third - the funicular in Bergen for great views over the town and harbour.

I have never done this but here's a stab at it. I did a second draft as well, since the first one (below) seems just too hard.

Fly Bergen - 2
Full day on Norway in Nutshell, stay in Flam - 1/3
Continue Norway in Nutshell to Oslo, - 3/6
Train to Karlstad, about 3 hours - 1/7
Train to Stockholm, about 3 hours - 3/10
Train to Copenhagen, 5.25 hours - 2/12
Train to Hamburg, 4.5 hours - 1/13
Train to Amsterdam, 5.5 hours, 3/16
Fly to London, forget Brussels.

I threw in Karlstad to break up the trip Oslo-Stockhom, and Hamburg to break up the trip Copenhagen-Amsterdam.
Flam is part of the NIANutshell route, I've no idea if it is worthwhile to break up that trip here or not.

Second draft.

Fly Bergen - 2
Full day on Norway in Nutshell, stay in Flam - 1/3
Continue Norway in Nutshell to Oslo, - 3/6
Train to Karlstad, about 3 hours - 1/7
Train to Stockholm, about 3 hours - 3/10
Skip Copenhagen and thus that 5.25 hour train ride, save 2 n
Skip Hamburg and thus that 4.5 hour train ride, save 1 n
Fly to Amsterdam from Stockholm (2 hour flight) - 4/14
Train to Brussels - 1/15
Train to London - 1/16

Getting better but still pretty busy....

That's a lot!

Fly into Bergen, means the first day you'll have jetlag presumably, so you have day two and day three there. You'd be able to do Myrdal -Flåm on your way to Oslo.

Then Oslo - Kiel by ferry, for a little cruise experience (and beautiful cruise through Oslo fjord)

Kiel - Hamburg and Hamburg - Amsterdam.

Copenhagen and Stockholm are both outliers. If you swap Gothenburg for Stockholm you could do Bergen - Oslo - Gothenburg and then the ferry to Kiel (Stena is more modest than Color though, but still nice)

Or: fly into Stockholm. Stockholm - Malmö, Malmö - Copenhagen. City Nightline from Copenhagen to Amsterdam has been scrapped unfortunately, so maybe fly Copenhagen - Amsterdam. If you go by train, you'll lose a day.

I'd read up on trainschedules by using the Deutsche Bahn planner. You want to cover substantial distances by train, and that will lose you days from your schedule.

I think, either do Norway - Sweden and then fly to London or do Denmark - Germany - Netherlands and take the overnight ferry from Hook of Holland to Harwich in order to get to London.

You can easily compare prices of train vs plane on line but from my experience flying in those areas is more economical. Norwegian Air is quite inexpensive. And the train trips are very long. I love train travel but in the case of these destinations flying makes MUCH more sense.

For my Norway trip I decided against Oslo as it just didn't sound as interesting as Bergen and the fjords so I concentrated on those. When possible I like fewer 'bases' and some day trips rather than one or two nights in each place. I did the Norway in a Nutshell round trip from Bergen as a day trip and am glad I did. I loved Bergen and while I'm certainly glad I did the NIN I'm also glad I didn't overnight in Flam which I though was very boring - essentially a couple hotels and a giant souvenir shop and excruciatingly expensive food. Bergen is expensive as well (as is all of Scandinavia) but there's more choice and the city itself is beautiful with lots to see and do. I did 4 days in Bergen and planned two fjord day trips but ended up not taking the second as there was so much to see in and around Bergen.

In your case I would probably do:
Fly into Bergen - spend 4 nights with NIN roundtrip as a daytrip
Fly to Stockholm - spend 3 or 4 nights
Fly to Copenhagen (this is the one that could be done by train by it's still 5 hours) - spend 3 or 4 nights
Fly to Amsterdam- spend 4 nights ( there are numerous day trip options from here, you could easily spend more than 4 nights if you had the time).
Fly or train to London

If you really want to see Belgium you could just do three nights in most of the Scandinavian cities and have 2 or 3 for Beglium. I'd base in Bruges or Ghent or Antwerp rather than Brussels - all those cities are about an hour or less apart.