Plane or train between Copenhagen and Stockholm
 

Hello everyone, I was wondered whether taking a plane or train between these 2 Nordic capitals is ideal? I am considering the cost and the time. While the flight is about an hour the train is 5, though I know the flight time should include transit between airport and city in both places. Has anyone traveled this route by train, is it scenic and worth the time investment? I will be there in early September.

Thanks!

I've done it Between Stockholm and Copenhagen in NOVEMBER. Weather was pretty much overcast and by the time we reached Copenhagen it was raining.

Rolling stock was in good condition and aboard internet was fairly fast.

As to the scenery..LOTS of fir trees for sure but certainly IMO nothing really memorable.

Yes your potential air trip should include the time for transport to and from the airports, the security, the luggage restrictions, etc.

I assume if you DO the rail trip you'll book it directly on-line through Swedish Rail...do NOT use RailEurope since you'll likely have a ticket mark-up as well as shipping charges.

We flew since it les expensive and it was so easy to get to and from the Stockholm airport on the Arlanda Express train. Also used train to city center Copenhagen.

Recommend the choo-choo....It's a relaxing, comfortable ride...city center to city center. We enjoyed it...we also used Swedish rail if I recall.

I love traveling from city center to city center by train, but the tickets were $150+ vs. a $60 flight... I think the plane might win on this one from a sheer fiscal perspective, I've taken the train to/from Kastrup and it's only about $4 one way... Not sure about Arlanda, but it can't be so cost-prohibitive as to make a $150 one-way train ticket feasible.

The price of the train varies depending on how early you book, which day of the week you travel, and how you book. On the Swedish railway website - http://www.sj.se/start/startpage/index.form?l=en - you can buy an adult single ticket for as little as 148 SEK, about $22.

I am looking mid-week in September... and $22 would be great! I need you be my travel agent because I cannot seem to find such a low fare! I would prefer the train, as I do find a train ride to be incredibly therapeutic and relaxing in the middle of a busy trip through Europe, which all of my trips seem to be, for better or worse!

Thanks for the advice!

You probably can't book yet for September. Where are you getting such a high price?

Go to http://www.seat61.com/Sweden.htm read what he says about booking tickets for Sweden, and follow his link to the railway web site.

KW..looking at my journal, we paid equiv. of $26 ..so the $22 seems likely. I can't imagine $150.

You can book only maximum 90 days out. Last year, we took the train from Copenhagen to Gothenburg and then a week later from Gothenburg to Stockholm. I got very low fares for both. We went 2nd class both times, [and it was fine]. Highly recommend it. Way easier than taking flight I think as you go downtown to downtown.

Thanks for all the advice! I think I am definitely going to plan on the train. I think I was getting such high quotes because I was trying to book too far in advance!

I would do the train just for comfort. The scenery is lots of evergreens and scrub oaks - but there really isn't a lot of scenery going by air either. If you check in advance you may find lower train fares - and definitely don;t use Eurail.

I have travelled this route many, many times and my vote goes definitely to the train. As adviced by others, don't book your train ticket now, wait until 90 days prior to your date of travel and you will get a heavily discounted ticket. Be aware though that this ticket will be neither changeable nor refundable. But so is also the case with discounted air tickets. The train is so much more comfortable than flying and only takes 1 hour more if you consider transfer times to/from airports, check-in and security procedures. Crossing between Denmark and Sweden on the Öresund bridge is spectacular. Apart from that the scenery isn't but the comfort of the train wins.

In my opinion the only reason for flying is if you haven't been able to book a train ticket well in advance as flights then tend to be cheaper than the train. When going for the cheapest air fares, usually found with Norwegian Air Shuttle, you have to pay extra for check-in luggage and costs add up pretty quickly anyway.

thanks all, i'm definitely going to go with the train, and i'm just going to wait and buy in advance.

I'm travelling from copenhagen to stockholm this weekend, 12-May (sat) and it'd be expensive for me to get a train ticket now, so i guess I've to get a flight ticket.

Which airline do u guys suggest?

www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.net

Smithgardner: good choice IMO and for fun go ahead and check the price of a ticket on the Arlanda Express..it is a LOT more than four bucks, believe me.

Hi,

There is a train departing Copenhagen this Saturday at 08:37, arriving in Stockholm 13:50. Price for a ticket in first class is right now 548 SEK (85 USD). Direct train, no changes en route.
Train booking site: http://www.sj.se/start/startpage/index.form?l=en

Cheapest flight with Norwegian Air Shuttle is 661 SEK, departing Copenhagen at 11:10, arriving at Stockholm/Arlanda at 12:20. Extra charge for checked luggage.
http://www.norwegian.com/en/

Cheapest flight with Scandinavian Airlines is 747 SEK, dep 10:20, arr 11:30.

Good luck trying to buy an online ticket from SJ directly unless you live in Scandinavia! I haven't had any luck booking online (apparently they routinely block foreign credit cards) and they said the only way to book is to call them. However, I don't have an international calling option on my US-based cell phone. When I explained my challenges to the SJ folks via email, they said I should just try to find someone who lives in Sweden who can purchase the ticket for me.

Seriously? It's 2012...online international payment is not a new concept.

The SJ web site is unfortunately known to work more or less randomly with foreign credit cards. For some people it works, for some it doesn't. However, a lot of people have reported that they have been more successful when buying tickets at Veolia's web site. SJ and Veolia are two different companies but they both sell tickets for each other's trains. You will get the same price for a SJ train at their web site as you will get at SJ's site.

Try this web site if your transaction won't come through at SJ's web site: http://bokatag.se/en/

Good luck!

Well, my Dad and I managed to purchase online tickets from SJ, but we are from New Zealand (don't really know why that would make any difference). We just printed out the tickets and saved the PDF with the tickets on it. We booked the 90 day in advance tickets (not the dirt cheap ones, the next model up so that we can rebook them in case of emergency). We are quite looking forward to the train journey, flying is too boring:).

@Irishwhistler
Maybe you have good karma! :-)
There are actually lot of complaints about the SJ web site and I have the feeling that it is usually US credit cards that doesn't work. For some reason.
Agree, train is so much better than flying! No security checks and you can bring as much liquid as you want and I even find a dense pine forrest more scenic than clouds.

This was so helpful!

A bit late to this forum. Last July I was looking to make this trip by train, but not after I saw that it cost £120 and the flight was £40.

I still think the most "scenic" thing on the whole trip is the bridge crossing to Copenhagen but, of course, the usual suspects disagreed.

@johnrath - looks like you were late booking as well as late to the forum. You can by a ticket on the fast direct train from Copenhagen to Stockholm for travel Feb 11th (i.e. buying three months out) for as little as <b>14 GBP</b>.

How long do you need to be at the train station before it leaves. Trying to compute the train vs plane as well. thanks..

Maybe 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the station. No screening, you just have to find the departure board - usually right in front of you as you walk into the station, although Copenhagen is a bit of a zoo - and then find the platform. There should be diagram on the platform showing you where the different carriages stop.

boxcox: are you going from Stockholm central station to Copenhagen or v.v.? I've never seen diagrams at Swedish or Danish railway stations to show where carriages stop but maybe I missed that, same as I missed noticing that Copenhagen is a bit of a zoo.
Some platforms are only accessible by elevator so you should factor in time to find the platform etc.

My daughter and her friends bought tickets on Ryan Air for $11 roundtrip Copenhagen to Stockholm (Kastrup). The return flight leaves at 7 am! Does anyone have experience with Ryan Air and getting back and forth to the city from this Airport?

Thanks.

Seems that Ryanair uses Skavsta airport for Stockholm, not the main Arlanda airport. So, no express train, looks like bus or taxi: http://www.skavsta.se/en/airport/

Or are you asking about Kastrup, which is a Copenhagen airport? https://www.cph.dk/en/parking-transp...s-train-metro/

Thanks. You're right. It's Skavsta. Is this a crazy thing to do and think they're going to make it to the airport for a 7 am return flight? They'll need to get on a bus at 4 am? $11 RT is so cheap. Is Ryanair ok?

Kastrup is the name of Copenhagen's airport. You can reach the city centre of Stockholm on the bus which leaves regularly from outside the terminal at Skavsta. Or if you are talking about getting to Stockholm Skavsta from the city centre in time for a 7am departure, it works this way round too. Usually the buses run according to the flight schedule, so you should find a bus that gets you to the airport in time. I've used the bus service several times, it's pretty good.

http://www.flygbussarna.se/en/skavsta

If you buy a ticket online, it can be sent to your smartphone as a text message, which is what you show the driver. Or you can print out the ticket with barcode etc. You can also buy tickets at a kiosk inside the airport terminal.

Thanks so much. All this is helpful,- she probably already knows but I did in.

On more question. They were planning to take the subway to get to the central terminal to make a 4:10 am bus.back to Skavsta. I don't think that the subway runs that early does it. What about a cab? Any recommendations on how to get there early enough? Thanks!!

Hi!

I will be going to Sweden in December 2016.

Saw some informative discussion here so thought it will be good to direct my questions here to collate all info.

However, if creating a new thread is a better idea, let me know :)

I have been doing some research and read that direct train tickets from Copenhagen to Stockholm can be as low as 148 SEK when booked 90 day in advance.

However, the only direct train tickets available are approximately 40 days later from now on www.sj.se

i.e. up to 7 Aug. Later dates show Sold out or Unavailable

Also, the best price I saw for direct train was 373 SEK, I could not find any tickets lower than this.

Am I getting it wrong?

I am thinking of doing the following route:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Helsingborg, Sweden

Gothenburg, Sweden

Orebro, Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden

1) I will have 6 days in Sweden. Is it too ambitious for this journey? If not, how much time should I allocate?

2) Is train the easiest/cheapest way to travel between these cities? What other form of public transport should I consider as well?

3) How long in advance should I purchase the tickets to get the cheapest tickets?

4) Is it better to travel to Helsingborg via Malmo, Sweden or Aarhus, Denmark?

Appreciate any advice.

Thanks in advance!

You could easily spend six days just in Stockholm. I split my time between Gothenburg and Stockholm, but I had more time.

The later trains probably haven't been listed yet.

For train info see: http://seat61.com/Sweden.htm

from trainwebsite, tickets cannot be ordered more than 2 months in advance.

It is a pity you didn't start your own thread.

<i>However, the only direct train tickets available are approximately 40 days later from now on www.sj.se

i.e. up to 7 Aug. Later dates show Sold out or Unavailable </i>

You are presumably searching for direct non-stopping trains between CPH & STO? This information was on the Swedish Railways website:-

https://kundo.se/org/sj-english/d/te...om-copenhagen/

You may have heard that there are border checks on trains between Denmark and Sweden. The regular trains are bookable until December. You don't say when in December you are travelling. 12/13th December is a busy time in Sweden for travel due to Santa Lucia & travel arrangements should be booked early.

<i>Is it better to travel to Helsingborg via Malmo, Sweden or Aarhus, Denmark? </i>

Why Aarhus? Are you planning to visit Jutland? The best way to get to Helsingborg from Denmark is to go Copenhagen-Helsingoer on the train and take the 15 minute ferry to Helsingborg.

What is the attraction of Helsingborg? I can't see there is anything there of interest to a tourist. I go there quite alot, for shopping etc, pleasant enough town. I'd rather spend my time in Helsingoer and take advantage of the Scandinavian Christmas buffet on the ferry.

<i>I will have 6 days in Sweden. Is it too ambitious for this journey? If not, how much time should I allocate? </i>

IMO it is too ambitious an itinerary. I'd suggest limiting it to Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Saving

Just finishing planning this trip as part of trip from Copenhagen ... St Petersberg and the TransMongolian.Decided to do rail trip Copenhagen to Stockholm with SJ. Having looked at trip on You Tube the subscriber had to change at Malmo and one other. I wish to avoid such changes. Hence does SJ go direct?