Hi All,

I'm planning on visiting Scandinavia next month with my Mom. I'm 29 and she is nearly 51. She'll be traveling for a six weeks or so in the aggregate, but I've just changed jobs and cities and have the opportunity to join her for a few weeks.

We're thinking about visiting Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. We love museums, fashion, shopping, shopping, architecture, shopping and, of course, people watching and meeting the natives (especially important on this trip, since Mom has family from Stockholm). We also love good food and drink. I'd welcome any good suggestions. Right now we're planning to be 3-4 days in Copenhagen, 4 days in Stockholm, and 2.5 days in Oslo. I'd also welcome any suggestions for good and easy day trips from the above places.

I'd also welcome insights on whether we should take the train between these various cities. The rides look lengthy, but we like to see the countryside. Is it pretty and worth doing?

Thanks!

With the interests you list, you might want to consider adding at least one day to Stockholm. I think 3-4 days makes sense for Copenhagen. I haven't been to Oslo yet.

It's a beautiful part of the world - enjoy!

The countryside between Copenhagen and Stockholm is not very varied, I like it but you might be bored with it. The trees should be in their fall colours. The train route is better than the route by road for scenery.
If you like good food and drink, Copenhagen is the best city IMO, followed by Stockholm, I have not been to Oslo so cannot comment on it, it has never appealed, esp from the F&B aspect. The best/most popular restaurants need to be booked esp for the weekends.

There are alot of threads already on the subject of daytrips, things to do & recommended restaurants in these countries.

I love Oslo and I think you will find enough to fill 2.5 days.

There are small but very interesting museums on the Bygdoy peninsula with viking longships, the first ice breaker vessel (Fram) and the Kon Tiki raft.

In the city centre you have the National Museum with an excellent collection of Munch's dark works, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Vigland sculpture park (Frogner).

Lovely shoreline, rocky islets, and great views from Holmenkollen.

Well trains are great there and if you plan your itinerary there should be few really long trains rides - boats are fun too - Stockholm to Turku/Helsinki being one of the most dramatically scenic anywhere though in dark days of fall it may not be worth it as these boats go overnight.

anyway for lots of good info on trains and ferries check www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com. If taking more than a few trains check out the Scandinavian Railpass valid on most trains and many ferries and gives a dicsount off major chain hotels.

<i>I'd also welcome any suggestions for good and easy day trips from the above places.</i>

I know Copenhagen the best, so I will focus on there. For day trips, consider Roskilde for the Viking boat museum and the cathedral. You could also go to Hillerød and Helsingør for the castles, maybe stopping at Louisiana (art museum) on the way back.

Contrary to the train advocates on this forum, I would definitely rent a car for the day trips. Driving to any of the above is easy and it will be a much more efficient use of your time. For example, you could do Hillerød, Helsingør, and Louisiana easily in one trip with a car, but not with public transit. The Hertz office behind the SAS Royal is very convenient if you are renting the car for just the day. There is also an Avis and a Sixt (if you were desperate) in the same area, but Hertz would be my first choice.

Click on my name for my recent Scandinavian TR. i would take one day from Copenhagen and add it to Stockholm, I didn't have enough time there.

Roskilde from Copenhagen, and a day trip to/through the archipelago from Stockholm.

For day trips from Copenhagen don;t forget to visit Roskild which has a wonderful cathedral as well as a Viking ship museum.

From Stockholm take a boat trip (if they are still running) out through the archipelago (absolutely gorgeous) to visit Dottingholm Palace.

These cities are all manageable on foot, charming and have a ton to see and do. Just make sure you are prepared for the prices, which can be very high - esp in Norway.

For example, you could do Hillerød, Helsingør, and Louisiana easily in one trip with a car, but not with public transit>

easily and see what - I spent at least half a day in Hillerod at Fredericksborg Castle - a supreme royal castle and a half day in Helsingor - yup you could do all three with a car but I could also do those places by train in one day if I just wanted to have a brief time at each place.

Car travel can be great for say going between Stockholm and Copenhagen as you can stop off willy-nilly in between but it will take a lot longer than the high-speed trains that go well over 150 mph or so.

<i>I spent at least half a day in Hillerod at Fredericksborg Castle</i>

Did you stop and read the name on every shield? That is way longer than I would spend there.

<i>Car travel can be great for say going between Stockholm and Copenhagen as you can stop off willy-nilly in between but it will take a lot longer than the high-speed trains that go well over 150 mph or so.</i>

It takes 5 hours by train to go the 400 miles between Copenhagen and Stockholm, so no, they don't go well over 150 mph. And, FWIW, I'm not suggesting that the OP drive from Copenhagen to Stockholm. I'm suggesting they drive 25 miles from Copenhagen to Hillerød and save at least 30 minutes each way vs public transit.

Did you stop and read the name on every shield? That is way longer than I would spend there.>

No the castle interior like most didn't excite me - but I walked around town, had a coffee then walked around the lake to the castle in the lake (could take boats or shuttle buses) - again I could easily do that itinerary in a rushed fashion by train - no looking for parking, etc.

Not saying cars are not nice or even a tad quicker but I could do the same three by train easily in a day and spend a smattering of time in each place.

In fact in one day by train I went to Hillerod - then to Gillelje - a neat seaside town on the north coast and took the inter-urban like train to Helsingor - saw the castle and town as well - if I wouldn't have gone to Gillelje I could easily have done Louisiana instead.

I did over estimate the speed of trains though they are the fastest in Scandianvia - X2000 or whatever they call it - so they average 80 mph between Stockholm and Copenhagen - that's yes faster than driving but by driving I meant to make a leisurely day of it - stopping perhaps in Lund or other towns that most folks never get to see.

Have you done those three day trips from Copenhagen by car? How was parking?

Oh well just that to me renting a car for day trips around Copenhagen when the S-tog train system is so so great makes little sense and would cost a lot more to gain a very little time. How much would a car rental cost for a day? You have to drive out of Copenhagen and back and that can take some time.

Oh well a good suggestion and options are what folks are looking for - every different takes and who is to say which is better - for me the train is for you the car - fine.

<i>Have you done those three day trips from Copenhagen by car? How was parking?</i>

Yes. Parking is a snap at all of them. IIRC, Helsingør has a lot and Frederiksborg has easy street parking nearby. Louisiana definitely has a lot.

<i>How much would a car rental cost for a day?</i>

You should be able to get a small car for $50 or so.

<i>You have to drive out of Copenhagen and back and that can take some time.</i>

The drive to Hillerød from the Hertz behind the SAS Royal should take about half an hour to 40 minutes. Rush hour shouldn't add much more than 10 minutes, if that.

OK - great info for folks - more options the better- driving saves times since you can go right to say Fredericksborg Castle whereas the train station is about a mile away - ditto for the other destinations.

Oslo. I'd also welcome any suggestions for good and easy day trips from the above places.>

I was underwhelmed by Oslo in general - oh nice enough town - clean as heck and no obvious crime, etc but I would suggest that to see the real beauty of Norway you take the Bergen-Oslo railway to Bergen and stay a few days there and take the fantastic Norway in a Nutshell loop - by train, mountain bus and boat on Norway's largest and perhaps most impressive fjord - a two-hour boat ride to Flam where you take a mountain train up to Myrdhal for trains to Oslo - leave heavy bags in Oslo (train station) and travel light.

https://www.google.com/search?q=norw...FZKAkgodkf8IKQ

For day trips, I agree with the recommendations for Roskilde from Copenhagen and the archipelago from Stockholm. You might also consider visiting Uppsala from Stockholm. And while I agree that visiting Drottningholm while in Stockholm is well worth considering, and that going by boat is also worth considering, I would not have considered a visit to Drottningholm to be a visit to the archipelago. JMO. BTW, all of these places can be visited easily by public transportation.

They can be visited by public transport, but IMO it is better by car, at least in Denmark. You miss out by only taking public transport plus a car is quicker to get around multiple sites in one day. I would never have experienced as much of Copenhagen or north sjaelland without a car. Driving north from CPH along the coast is lovely and you pass some beautiful suburbs, you can stop along the way at harbours or restaurants in smaller places. Parking is free from Friday night to Monday morning in CPH, same in Stockholm. Since I usually have limited number of nights when I visit CPH (which is 4-5 times a year), I find it a better use of time to have a car.

cars are great but you do not need to have one to enjoy the day trips from Copenhagen but if you want sure but there is no need to as public transit is so so great and cheap.

Thanks everyone for all of your EXTREMELY helpful feedback! I could see how cars might make sense for some, but neither Mom nor I like to drive that much even in the USA, so I think we will opt for the train!

We are still sort of up in the air as to whether to include Oslo or to pass. I'll have to discuss it with her. We have some family in Stockholm, so maybe we'll end up tagging on an extra day there instead. I've heard that Bergen is supposed to be the neater place to visit, but it seems a little harder to get to (i.e. more travel time), so I think we may pass on it. It'll make for a good reason to go back!

I just had a brief stop in Oslo while doing a RT on the QM2. It's a lovely city
but I think the advice to do Norway in a Nutshell is the better option if one has time.. We once drove from Copenhagen to Stockholm… and it was boring… so you won't miss anything. If the weather is ok…. and how long are the days in Oct?… some sort of trip thru the archipelago would be delightful.. but Stockholm has plenty to see on its own. Whatever you do don't miss the Vasa Museum.

We once drove from Copenhagen to Stockholm… and it was boring… so you won't miss anything.>

Much of Scandinavia outside of mountains and coastal areas seems rather blah to me - scrub land with scrub trees - just like out UP in Michigan - for miles and miles and miles.

You can take overnight trains here and miss little in scenery (except on some lines like Oslo to Bergen, ubiquitously rated amongst the very most scenic rail lines in Europe.) but if you go one way by day go the other at night.