I will be flying in from NYC in the last week of August. I will be travelling solo in my late twenties. Won't be driving a car. I enjoy culture and cities but want to enjoy the Scandinavian landscape. My first time to Scandanavia and chances are that I won't be returning there soon. I have not purchased my tickets yet, but I know that it will be open jaw. Where should I fly into and out off? I have 10 nights and 11 days. I don't like to rush my trips, but 3 days in one place is usually good for me.

I want to do Norway in a Nutshell,Stockholm and Copenhagen. - How many days in each place?
Will that be too much for the amount of time I have?
Would you recommend an alternative route?
Should I take the train or is flying between the cities better?

Thanks!

Norway in a Nutshell can be done in a day and will get you from Oslo to Bergen. You might want to take a look at my trip reports on our Norway trip and our stay in Stockholm; just click on my name to find them.

After a cruise that took us to several Scandinavian and Baltic venues, (see my trip report on that entitled Scandinavia and other Baltics--a whole new world) we decided we liked them well enough to return the following year. We flew into Helsinki, spent 2 nights, took an overnight ferry (which I liked better than the Princess Cruise we'd taken previously) to Stockholm spent 4 or 5 days there, then flew SAS to Copenhagen for another 4 or 5 days and flew back to the States from there. We loved it. I don't know how the Norway in a nutshell would affect such an itinerary but I'm guessing that you'd best count of flying if you want to have enough time to see the main cities.

For time allotment I'd put the most time on Stockholm or at least equal Stockholm and Copenhagen and then what is left to be able to do either Norway in a Nutshell or Helsinki--probably can't fit both in.

> I want to do Norway in a Nutshell,Stockholm and Copenhagen. - How many days in each place?

I haven't been to Norway yet, but I think that Stockholm and Copenhagen generally deserve a minimum of 3 days each. But of course that depends on your interests and preferred pace.

> I ... want to enjoy the Scandinavian landscape.

If you literally mean the landscape, then I think you'll need to get out of Stockholm and Copenhagen. With limited time, you might consider a several-hour ferry ride through Stockholm's archipelago and/or a day trip from Copenhagen to Roskilde.

Thanks for your response. This is what I have so far.

NYC to Oslo 2 nights
NIN to Bergen (One night in Flam or Bergen or none)
Fly from Bergen to Copenhagen 4 nights
Fly from Copenhagen to Stockholm 4 nights

You will get to Bergen in the early evening. I doubt that you can fly out that day.

Further edits.

NYC to Oslo 1 night
NIN to Bergen (1 night in Flam or Bergen)
Fly from Bergen to Copenhagen 4 nights
Fly from Copenhagen to Stockholm 4 nights

Any other suggestions? Is the route acceptable? Should I take another form of transport?

Bergen is more interesting in the evening than Flam. I would not consider staying a few hours away from the town where the airport is located given a very tight schedule; unless you happen to know that the train schedule and the departure time from Bergen are compatible, with plenty of transfer time between the train station and the airport.

I did almost this exact trip about six years ago. I would stay in Bergen instead of Flam. The itinerary looks pretty good. Copenhagen is the best for nightlife, IMO. Stockholm is pretty good too.

Depending on total transport costs, you might want to check flying into Stockholm and out of Copenhagen (with Oslo/Bergen in the middle) or vice versa. The number of nights per city looks good. I trained between some of the cities, but flying is better for a short trip if cost is not too high.