Soliciting Itinerary for Aug '23
 

Greetings! We are a couple in 60s and booked outbound trip arriving Oslo end of August '23. Since I am using points I need to decide soon where I shall fly back to US, 3 weeks is our max. My ideal plan would include Norway/Copenhagen/Stockholm with a few days left for somewhere in Switzerland or Paris, where we are re-visiting. We hope to rely mainly on public transportation for the long distance. We can drive but feel like driving will deprive driver from enjoying the view and it is stressful to plan and navigate, not to mention it is quite expensive to drive and park. Please help me pick 4-5 spots where we stay in Norway and do day trips (escorted or DIY). Most likely we will not visit Norway again, if necessary we can travel far north and forgo big cities in Denmark or Sweden or Swiss or France, to get some unique sightseeing opprotunities. My original thoughts are Oslo/NIN/Bergen/Hurtigruten cruise to Kirkenes - but the cruise is overwhelming expensive and we are not sure if we like to be with the crowds. In terms of spending we are frugal but can splurge sometimes. So many delimma here - it would be great if I can get some insights or directions from the experienced so I can dig in more. Thank you in advance!

Hurtigruten are sadly not what they were, but they are not as crowded as a cruise for instance. Personally if only do a half trip I would do Kirkenes to Bergen or better to Trondheim as the last day to Bergen is long and boring.

But you could get the train to Bergen, Hurtigruten as a ferry to Lofoten. Get the ferry back to Bodø, train to Oslo. Train to Stockholm, Train to Copenhagen, Night train to Hamburg (you could get that from Stockholm and skip Copenhagen) then train to Paris.
Or bus and train From Bodø to Stockholm, but that is a journey of more than 24 hours, but you do get to see a lot of Sweden for your money.
Won't be cheap, Scandinavia isn't. Yes involves long train journeys but you see the country from a train, rather than clouds from a plane, and better for the environment.
You could rent a car and cover a good chunk of it, though not as far up as Bodø and Lofoten. If you do that drop the car in Kristiansand in Norway, get the night ferry to Eemshaven, short trainride to Groningen, train to Rotterdam, train to Paris.

Thank you hetismij2, that's inspirational. I can't seem to find hurtigurten as a ferry to transfer from Bergen to Lofoten. I do like the idea of doing west fjords via public transp or rental car, then go to farther north for a few days, like Lofoten or Tromso and tour via car. Continue to Stockholm and Copenhagen. We can skip Paris if time is short. An thoughts of where to start in north for like 4 nights? That would be early Sept next year. Thanks!

I traveled through Scandinavia this last June. Last in the area in the 1980's. If it were me, I would rent a car and spend much of my time traveling the scenic routes of Norway. Diving is not difficult.

Thanks for the inputs! I now come to an itinerary so I can book my return ticket to US and pre-book others with free modificaitons. Here's the summary - arrives Oslo 8/28/23 (Mon), 3 n - fly to Bodoe, rent car and ferry to Moskenes, stay in Reine, 4 n - ferry from Mos. to Bodoe, fly to Bergen, rent car for 7 days, 7 n in Bergen plus Western Fjords area / fly from Bergen to Stockholm, 3 n / train to Copenhagen, 3 n; flight back to USA. Both car rentals are NOT "one way drop off" to avoid hefty fees. Please help and critique. Any inputs are greatly appreciated!

Overall itinerary sounds great. For our own trip next year we have been looking into whether makes sense to take a car on longer ferries or just go as walk ons and rent car when we get there. For example you might rent a car in Bodoe or you might wait and rent in Moskenes or Reine. And you might find you don't need a car for the days you are in Bergen, that you can just pick up for a shorter number of days when you are leaving Bergen.

Hi there, tickets booked and draft itinerary is as follow: fly SFO to Oslo, fly Oslo to EVE, pick up car to Lofoten, fly EVE to BGO, pick up car for a week, fly to Stockholm, train to CPN, fly to SFO. The two car rentals are both round-trip to avoid one way drop off fees. My biggest issue is the 7 nights loop from Bergen. Tentative route is Voss, Flam, Luster, Loen, Geiranger, Andalsnes. Question is to return to Bergen from Andalsnes to Bergen, what would be a good stop to break up the long drive? Any route or overnight spot would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your insights!