I thought I could do this on my own by reading the posts but it seems I can not plan my yearly trips without the Fodorites help.

Here is the information for our trip as of now. We want to fly into Copenhagen take a ferry to Oslo and then go to Bergen (and possibility depart for the States from there.) We have approximately 11 - 13 days for our trip that we have to take at the end of June early July. We are thinking half of the trip in Denmark and half in Norway with the Norway in a Nutshell tour. We are not against doing this in reverse if it makes more sense.

I guess what I am interested in finding out is what would be the best way to find out base cities on these trips or do we just stay in the main cities that I mentioned?

Are there day trips from these cities?

Do we need to rent a car or can we get around on public transportation?

Ultimately, how many days would we need in each area?

As a seperate note, we do like the mix of country, city, relaxing and adventorous with some history lessons along the way.

I thank you in advance for your help on this.

Direct flights to the States are from Copenhagen only.
Oslo to Bergen can be done by train (roughly 7 hours travel time) or domestic flight.
For less than 2 weeks I would go to these 3 cities only and make daytrips. A car is not needed imo.
Copenhagen has enough sights to keep you busy for 2-3 days. A day trip could be done to Malmoe for instance.
Another option is to go overland from Oslo to Bergen by bus and ferryboat with a stopover on the way.
From Bergen several daytrips to the different fjords around are offered.
Bergen itself is a very pleasant city.
By the way, be prepared that Norway is one of the most expensive countries in Europe.

use more days in Norway than Denmark, and more days in the west than east N. Continental has had direct flights to Oslo, also see scandinavian.net to check if direct SK flights New York -Oslo

Thanks for the responses so far. I apologize I realize that there aren't many direct flights to Scandanavia area. We realize there may be one stop flights which is fine with us. thanks again.

I can help you a little on Norway but I don't know Denmark so well - only Copenhagen, which is a great city and deserves a couple of days to take in the sights and the trendy shops.

I think you would be best hiring a car in Norway. The main attraction of the country is its spectacular scenery, and although you can see some of it from a train or coach (particularly the Flåm railway on the NiaN tour), it's good to be able to stop when you want to admire a view or visit some museum or craft workshop you see a sign for. You will see much more that way, as the roads are quite slow anyway - few dual carriageways away from the cities, lots of dark tunnels, winding mountain roads, goats, sheep, ferry crossings, etc.

Try and fit in some ferry trips along/across fjords, either in your hire car or as a foot passenger. They are inexpensive, particularly on foot, and you get a mini cruise, sometimes with very few other passengers. There is often a café on board. From Bergen, you could even take the Hurtigruten up the coast a few stops - assuming you can find a way to get back.

I spend 10 days in Norway, Sweden and Denmark in MAy-June 2007. We flew and out of Copenhagen using IcelandAir (for $500 from Bostonn)!!! The Rough Guide to Scandinavia was great. The ferries are a fun way to get around but sort of complicated to figure out - there's a great webpage that sorts them out for you. Like everything else in Scandinavia, they are not cheap but quality is Great.

If I had to do it again, I'd fly into one city and out of another to save on travel time. We had a ScanRail pass and it was a great bargain - espically sleeper cars, which were very reasonable and great quality.

If I had to do it again, this is what I'd do:

Fly into Copenhagen, get there in the morning, spend an day or two there, then head out to Oslo on the ferry. We headed out the same day but returned to Copenhagen on our way out so we saw the city twice. With a ScanRail discount, we got a cabin for two for a total of $112. Great deal.

Get to Oslo in the morning, spend the day there (one day is sufficient, sleep there (p-hotel is close to the station and clean and affordable) then head out the next morning to do Norway in a Nutshell.

Take the NIAN train to Flam, etc. - either stop in Balestrand (we did - stayed at a small hotel run by a friendly US-based Norwegian - I think it's the Balestrand Hotel - she has a great website) - then you can continue on to Bergen. Honestly, I'd skip the NIAN and do the Raumabanen line anyway.

We actually skipped Bergen and instead took a ferry from Balestrand to Maaloy - amazing, amazing scenery, at Maaloy, we were picked up by Solvi Hopland, who runs a lighthouse B&B, and we spent the day, night and the nixt day in a lighthouse! Solvi and her partner are active in restoring lighthouses and building fishing boats and they showed us around the area.

The next day we took a bus and then a boat from Maaloy to Alesund and hung out there for a while - gorgeous gorgeous city.

From Alesund, we took some transport (forget now) then to the train on the wonderful Raumabanen line, which, in my humble opinion, was much more interesting that Norway in a Nutshell. we ended up in Oslo and then took the night train to Stockholm, where we took advantage of a great weekend rate at the Nordic Light Hotel (the breakfast buffets were legendary. If I'd had more time, I would have poked around Sweden a little more and taken the ferry over to Estonia.

Bottom line - nature in Norway, cities in Sweden worked very well for us. Stockholm is my favorite city on this planet.

I wish we'd flown out of Stockholm but we ended up taking another wonderful night train ride to Copenhagen and we finished our trip there.

Feel free to ask me any questions either here or my email ([email protected]) - spend over four months researching a great trip. I can send you photos and more info if you are interested.

Some more info . . .

If you can take an IcelandAir flight - do it! They are very reasonable andhave great customer service.

Scandinavia is expensive but it's really not that bad - everything is just much better quality for the same price ($100 gets you a crappy shared-bathroom glorified hostel in Rome or Paris but a great, clean, place in Oslo with breakfast). You just need to be smart about where you spend your money. You can start the day with a later breakfast/early lunch at your lodging and you'll be F-I-N-E until dinnertime.

Driving a car around the fjord area might be more practical but it's completely do-able through public transport and the scenery is amazing!!! We saw so much of Norway on buses and ferries and trains - without the stress of driving.

I may be in the minority but I preferred the Raumabanen line to the Nutshell. I'd probably skip Oslo too. Didn't go to Bergen, so don't know too much about there. I will say that the lighthouse in Maaloy was pretty much the highlight of the trip (tied with Stockholm). Alesund was my next favorite place.

Wow I didn't realize the potential of just visiting Norway. I can't wait to do some more research. Thanks again for your help. It has been definitly worth the post.