Trying to plan a week in Berlin and then possibly a couple of days in a couple of Scandinavian countries.

I could find train fares between Berlin and Copenhagen but not Copenhagen and Stockholm for instance. Well I see that there is water between Denmark and Sweden but trains must run presumably because there is a Scandinavian rail pass covering the 3 countries plus Finland?

Other option I was considering was to fly from Berlin to Stockholm, then train to Oslo, then fly back to SFO via CDG. But I can't find fares between these two cities either. I see train schedules and trip duration of 6 or 7 hours? Is that right? According to Webflyer, it's only about 250 miles apart and a flight is only one hour?

I'd heard it's expensive to book train tickets from Europe, especially between countries. It wasn't so bad for short trips within France. But maybe there's some gouging going on against Americans?

It would be faster to fly in many instances. As to timings...there is water between Germany and Denmark as well, depending on the routing. Hamburg to Copenhagen takes about four hours by rail and that is due, in part, to the fact that the train rolls onto a feery for the 45-minute ride between Puttgarden and Rodby.

You might check to see if there are any budget flights available at www.skyscanner.net.

It is far LESS expensive to book train tickets in Europe than it can be through an agency in the US due to price mark-ups and possible S+H fees.

Nobody is "gouging" Americans except other Americans.

Trains between Denmark and Sweden cross the Öresund on a bridge; before the bridge was built, they were taken across by ferry.
You can check fares on the national railway web sites:
www.bahn.de
www.dsb.dk
www.sj.se
www.nsb.no
The German site gives schedules for all of Europe.

Hi sc,

>I'd heard it's expensive to book train tickets from Europe, especially between countries. It wasn't so bad for short trips within France. But maybe there's some gouging going on against Americans?<

Do you actually think that the ticket agents at European train stations have two price lists?

If anything, it is often cheaper to buy train tickets in Europe than to get them through a TA here.

www.railsaver.com estimates about $127 for Copenhagen to Stockholm.

Thanks all. The German and Swedish sites don't show the prices unfortunately, just the timetables, unless I'm missing something.

For one week, realistically, I can only do two cities so I would probably go from Berlin to Stockholm, then Stockholm to Oslo and fly back to the US from Oslo, connecting through CDG.

The railsaver.com site wants to sell me a pass for close to $400. Raileurope showed Berlin to Copenhagen but no availability to Stockholm. To Copenhagen was about 220-240 dollars IIRC.

So the other option is to fly from Berlin to Stockholm and then train to Oslo. In my award ticket, I can go from Berlin to Stockholm via CDG. So that option is free. It does take about 6 hours though, which is probably still faster than the train. Or I could find a LCC if I really wanted to shave some time, I suppose.

Stockholm-Oslo trains take so long because very few trains now run directly between these cities - only a few a week i believe and perhaps an overnight train. So the routing goes Stockholm-Goteborg-Oslo, usually with a change in Goteborg, making it a much longer trip distance and time wise.
You could also consider the Germany-Denmark pass.

Hi sc,

www.bahn.de shows Berlin/Copenhagen for 120E via Hamburg.

You can see prices and book trains Copenhagen-Stockholm at www.sj.se . Go to www.sj.se . Click at "In English" in the upper right corner. Choose ticket type "Just Nu 2 kl" to get the cheapest prices. Since tickets booked at www.sj.se must be picked up in Sweden, it's probably better to book the ticket from Malmö to Stockholm. You can buy a ticket in Copenhagen for the local trains to Malmö. These trains run every 20 minutes and the travel time is 35 minutes. You can pick up your ticket in a ticket machine at Malmö Central station.

Thanks again all. I decided to go south instead of north from Berlin.

Will have to do Scandinavia another time, unless I decide to try to get to Copenhagen from Berlin for a day or two.

One thing that I'm wondering about is that these Scandinavian cities get a lot of "wet days" according to weather almanacs? Like 20 days or more a month, year round?

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/clim...n/wstockhm.htm

What is a good time to visit? On the one hand, you got warmer weather but if it does rain a lot, maybe winter with snow would be better?

The reference library of a city near you may have the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable. Table 50 shows that trains run thus by day. They all have buffet cars, and meals or refreshments are availsble for 57 minutes on ferries in Denmark.
Berlin main station 0700, Hamburg main station 0850 to 0928, early lunch available 1110 to 1207, Copenhagen 1359
Berlin main station 1114, Hamburg main station 1250 to 1328, refreshment available 1510 to 1607, Copenhagen 1759
Berlin main station 1314, Hamburg main station 1450 to 1528, refreshment available 1710 to 1807, Copenhagen 2028
Berlin main station 1514, Hamburg main station 1650 to 1728, supper available 1910 to 2007, Copenhagen 2159
Berlin main station 1714, Hamburg main station 1850 to 1928, supper available 2110 to 2207, Copenhagen 2359

Similar day services run southwards.

You save travel time and a hotel bill in a sleeping car. Berlin 2323, roll and coffee in sleepers, Malmo 0801, then Malmo 0822, Copenhagen 0901. And southwards Copenhagen 2043, Malmo 2118 to 2152, Berlin 0601. The train moves between Sweden and Germany on a ferry: you stay asleep.

Ben Haines, London
[email protected]

There are different figures about the wet days at this page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/c...ml?tt=TT004300
I think the Average Precipitation is more important than the number of wet days since the weather can change a lot during the same day. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/country_guides/ for more weather guides.
If you look at the data you will find that it rains much more in Bergen, Norway than in Stockholm.
In reality the weather is very different from one Summer to another Summer. This Summer has been very dry and hot in Stockholm.