Could someone advise on a good 2-week itinerary for a first-timer in Scandinavia? I have individual country books, but they don't help with the logistics of traveling from one country to another. Nor do they provide comparisons between countries (the best fjord, viking ship, etc.) Thanks!
Sansdieu,<BR>Here's what we did last summer, and it worked well for us. We travelled by train and by boat, in a circular route, sort of:<BR>2 days Copenhagen<BR>2 days Stockholm<BR>1 day Helsinki<BR>1 day Stockholm<BR>2 days Trondheim<BR>2 days Oslo<BR>1 day Bergen<BR>1 day Oslo<BR>2 days Copenhagen<BR>We used trains extensively, and mostly overnight trains to spend more day time in a given city. For Helsinki, we took the Silja line overnight to get there, spent the day, then returned on the boat that evening. Since there are no longer night trains between Oslo and Copenhagen, we took the overnight boat on that leg as well.
We did not take the ship traveling up between Bergen and Bodo, although I have heard it's pretty amazing. It took too long to fit in our itinerary. So my only knowledge of fjords is the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour between Oslo and Bergen, a full day affair of trains, boats, buses, and more trains, leading you past incredible scenery. <BR><BR>The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is awesome, as is the area surrounding it.
davidx,<BR>thanks! i'm emailing you as i'm writing this...<BR><BR>huisclos,<BR>that sounds like the itinerary i had in mind. did you buy all your tickets on the spot? do any boats (especially overnight boats) require reservations? how was the overnight boat (in terms of amenities, etc.)? what exactly is "norway in a nutshell tour"? and what did you do for accommodations? thanks!
The boats between Sweden and Finland are like floating hotels. They have different restaurants, bars, pubs, night clubs with performers, discos, saunas and swimming pools or jacuzzis, shopping areas and so on. <BR><BR>During summer time (and ecpecially during summer weekends) it is wise to book beforehand.<BR><BR>You can check Silja Line boats from here:<BR><BR>http://www.silja.com/english/<BR><BR>And Viking Line here:<BR><BR>http://www.vikingline.fi/index.asp?lang=en
DFDS sails between Copenhagen and Oslo and those tickets can be purchased in the US . . . although, I found, once I got to Copenhagen that I could have purchased a special fare ticket for about half the cost that wasn't available from DFDS here in the US.<BR><BR>For what it's worth, I thought the trip from Copenhagen to Oslo was better than the reverse. Arriving in Oslo fjord early in the morning was breathtaking. Also, the weekend boats between the two cities can be fairly loud and boisterous . . . maybe a plus, perhaps a minus.
