TWO WEEK FAMILY ADVENTURE TO COPENHAGEN, THE FJORDS OF NORWAY AND STOCKHOLM
 

TWO WEEK FAMILY ADVENTURE TO COPENHAGEN, THE FJORDS OF NORWAY AND STOCKHOLM

I have sought and received advice for various family adventures on this site for the past 10 years. I am always thankful to discover trip reports on places I plan to visit and to have specific questions answered. As all of us know, putting together a trip like this is sort of like putting together a puzzle. All of the locations begin as an enigma and then slowly become familiar as you explore all the possibilities. And then when the trip comes to life and the adventure is even more than you expected – it is the greatest joy! With that said – thank you so much to all who take the time to post trip reports and those who have answered my questions. This trip did just that – soared above my very high expectations. I hope this trip report is helpful to someone planning a similar trip.

Our trip took place in July in a rare two weeks that everyone in my family had an opening in their schedules. Our oldest son – The Scholar – is entering his senior year of college. Our youngest son – Lunatic Maximus – is entering his senior year of high school. DH – Mario and I felt very blessed to share this time with them both. (They all received these nicknames on our very first European adventure to Italy almost ten years ago – the boys were 9 and 12 then).
We flew through Chicago to Dusseldorf via AA – perfect flight – arrived in the early morning and then had a quick flight via Air Berlin to Copenhagen. Upon our arrival in Copenhagen, we got a cab and immediately went to our hotel for our three night stay in Copenhagen: Hotel Kong Arthur -

http://www.arthurhotels.dk/hotel-kong-arthur/

Let me just say – that I labor over hotels from the USA -reviewing hotels on this site as well as Trip Advisor to find a hotel that is comfortable, well located and also provides a local flavor. I am always nervous about a chosen hotel until I walk through its doors and we hit the jackpot with this hotel! I cannot say enough nice things about the quality of the hotel, the friendliness of the staff, the amazing breakfast and complimentary “cozy hour”!

Upon arriving at the Kong Arthur – one of our rooms is ready – so we refresh briefly, store all of our luggage and take off on a beautiful sunny day to walk the short distance to pick up the Hop On Hop Off bus. I have found in the past, that the Hop On Hop Off bus is the perfect thing to do when arriving Day One in the country – so you don’t waste the day, you get an overall feel for the city and yet it’s not overly taxing. We walk to the National Museum to pick up the bus and begin our enchantment with Copenhagen! We arrive to Nyhavn mid-afternoon – the sun is shining on the canal, the day is warm and bright – it is simply beautiful. We walk around for a bit and sit down at one of the canal side restaurants and have a local beer and Smorgboard. I understand that this area is not known for it’s great food – but honestly for day one to sit in the sun by the canal, drinking a local beer and eating local food – we thought it was quite good. Our server is very proud of their braised pork and a few other items – we all order something different and he tells us how to assemble our open-faced sandwiches and we were delighted After eating our late lunch/early dinner – we walked around the corner and has an ice cream. We got back on the Hop On Hop Off tour – sat upstairs in the sunshine and continued our tour of Copenhagen. What a gorgeous city. We went full circle on the bus, then walked back to our hotel. We enjoyed “cozy hour” at the hotel and all called it an early night. All trying to push through the jet lag – sleep well to have a full day tomorrow! We go to bed while the sun is still high in the sky … but this is Scandinavia … we will soon find out, the sun is almost always high in the sky at this time of the year!

Day Two

I awake several times through the night (as you do on the first night adjusting on an international trip) and I notice every time I wake up that it is still light outside. I noticed about 2 am that the sky was an ethereal cobalt blue color that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen before and it was gorgeous! The boys tell me they wake about 3:30 am and it is light out so they take a little walk and then come back to sleep a bit more. I finally get up at 6 and start to get ready for the day – I send messages to the boys that breakfast is available at 7:00 a.m. We are all the first to walk into the breakfast room. The air in the courtyard is a little brisk, but the sun is out and is beautiful. We take one of the outdoor tables in the courtyard and then marvel at the gorgeous breakfast spread. First of all, I don’t think I have ever seen a more artistically laid out breakfast buffet – everything is organic, beautiful and artistically prepared even down to the little jars full of scrambled eggs and bacon. The jellies and breads are all hand made. It is a delightful way to start the day …. This is our first glimpse that the people of Copenhagen are serious about their food and also serious about bringing beauty to even the smallest details!
We enjoy a relaxing breakfast and then get directions from the very friendly front desk staff on how to meet our bike tour. We have arranged from the U.S. to be part of the 10:00 am Mike’s Bike Tour: http://bikecopenhagenwithmike.dk/
We arrive at the bike shop about 9:30 and see other people arriving. Mike seems a bit gruff at first (he actually indicates that on his website), but he very efficiently gets everyone sized right to their bikes. The bikes are in perfect operating order – he makes sure everyone can ride well enough and then we are off to discover Copenhagen! We soon realize that Mike is passionate about Copenhagen and Denmark and has every right to be. Through his eyes we discover this majestic city, marvel at Grundtvig, the father of Denmark and his vision, the beauty of their education and how they want to prepare their youth to be competitive in the world market in order to continue the nation’s ability to thrive globally. He is the perfect guide to the historical sites, the changing of the guard soldiers actually march right past as and then we bike on to the hippie island, the little mermaid, we cross the bridges to and from and the sites and ride across the harbor. It is the most spectacular day and we actually all get a little too much sun and stop to pick up some sunscreen (we laugh because we live in the Southern US and we travel to Denmark and get sunburned). Being on this tour was the perfect way to get acquainted with Denmark and the city is such an easy city to bike across. Mike is a passionate guide and truly gives you a sense for the local flavor and pride in their country. We also have a blast as we are cycling across the city – just a perfect family day!

As we finish the tour, the boys are starving (when you have two sons ages 18 and 21, they are always starving). We walk the short distance to the food market where we know former Noma chef, Rosie Sanchez has a taco stand – we find it easily and bingo what a perfect lunch - http://www.hijadesanchez.dk/ the food is exceptional! We sit outside at a picnic table and just enjoy!
Following lunch, the Scholar mentions one of his college friends has told him about Saint Peter’s bakery – the oldest and best bakery in Copenhagen and apparently they serve the most amazing cinnamon roll ever on Wednesday. We realize it is Wednesday and we cannot miss the best cinnamon roll ever. It is a short walk back to the bakery (it is actually right around the corner from Mike’s Bike Shop …. http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copen...geri-gdk703530 We are all feeling that afternoon jet lag lull - so we share two cinnamon rolls and all have a coffee and just enjoy this little treasure of a place. They are indeed the best cinnamon rolls ever and it just seems special to be in there – charming, cozy and special!
We are fed and reenergized! When we bought the “Hop On Hop Off” tour yesterday, the ticket price also came with a canal tour. We walk the short distance down to the harbor and jump on one of the last canal tours of the day. It is a beautiful way to see the city and shouldn’t be missed. Again – it is just such a pretty day and lovely to be on the water. When we finish the tour, we get on the Hop On bus to travel closer to our hotel and walk the short distance to the hotel in time for cozy hour out in the courtyard. We are officially in love with Copenhagen!
After cozy hour, we take a little time to relax and then book a late dinner at Fiskebar: http://fiskebaren.dk/fiskebaren/ - wow what a great restaurant! We had been told that It was by far the best fish restaurant in Copenhagen – I didn’t try any others, but cannot imagine anything better. We enjoyed the oysters and various different fish dishes and we all raved about our meals! The staff was lovely and even invited us on a kitchen tour – just a lovely dining experience. If I had one suggestion, we didn’t realize they had such a large outdoor seating and small in door seating and we should have requested outdoor with our reservation. The evening was very warm and there was not much ventilation inside the restaurant – the only way our evening could have been better was to be seated outside. But again – the food, the service were all A+! We travel back to the Kong Arthur – it has been a full and splendid day!

Reading along. Isn't cycling a great way to see a city (that is cycling friendly). Well done.

Am looking forward to the rest of your report !

Great report so far. I've bookmarked for my trip next year and can't wait to read more. Thank you for sharing!

Wow, what a fantastic first two days! I'm starting to plan a 2018 trip to Norway and Denmark, so I'm taking notes. Bike Mike sounds like a winner! And I also love the HOHO bus tours on my first time in a city.

Thank you so much for the encouraging comments. I am thrilled to hear that others are already planning a trip to this region for next summer and hope this trip report will be helpful!

Day Three

I only wake up a few times throughout the night, but I am amazed that every time I awake, it is still light outside. My wandering children actually wake again in the early am and once again walk around the area. We are not the first at the breakfast room today, but among the first and enjoy eating all the wonderful yummy things in the courtyard. Just a lovely environment. We notice that it seems that we are the only Americans staying at the hotel – not sure why – maybe the hotel is slightly off the beaten path, but I am so glad that we are not staying on hotel row where it seems there are so many huge hotels are grouped together. The Kong Arthur is so charming.

After our successful day on bikes yesterday, we decide to rent bikes today from our hotel. We sunscreen up and bike the short distance back to the food market to meet our Food Tour at 10:30 http://copenhagen.foodtours.eu/ oh my goodness – what a wonderful way to explore the city! We sample some of the local cheeses etc at the market and then begin our walk through the city. We walk to Aamanns http://www.aamanns.dk/us where there is a prearranged smorrebrod arranged for us – it is so beautifully prepared and so delicious … and so much food I simply can’t eat it all (but the boys can). Then we walk to Norrebro Bryghus http://www.noerrebrobryghus.dk/en for a beer tasting – so much fun and so good – I particularly like the pilsner, the ipa and the stout! As if we haven’t eaten enough, we continue our journey to a place I have read so much about … Dop http://www.xn--dp-lka.dk/en/ -let’s just say it’s worth the hype - the best hotdog ever! We walk on to a sweet treat at Somods Bolcher http://soemods-bolcher.dk/en/ - the candy maker to the queen and yes these yummies are fit for a queen! We enjoyed this tour so much as well as our lovely tour guide! The tour is half food tour, half history tour, with nice walks through the city and lots of background on Copenhagen’s famous Nordic Food craze! Once again, we are simply enchanted!

After our wonderful food tour, we need some serious exercise! We jump on our bikes and find ourselves at the National Museum. It is such a gorgeous day, it is almost a shame to be inside, but the Scholar does love art history and we enjoy the many Picasso, Matisse as well as old master’s paintings. Then we bike to the Round Tower – where we park the bikes and walk to the top for the view – fantastic! Then we bike all the way to the Marble Church just to find that it is closed, but it is so pretty from the outside. We bike along the harbor and just continue to take in this gorgeous city. We bike back to Nyhavn where we sit for a bit and enjoy a beverage in the sun by the canal. Then we ride our bikes across the bridge to Paper Island where we lightly sample the street food and largely enjoy the environment! It is a magical place! This is our last night in Copenhagen and we all agree that we wished we had one more day just to the stroll the streets, discover a few more places and just to soak up this atmosphere a little more. But that is the testament of any great city and great vacation – right? We always wish for one more day! But in all seriousness – we have all traveled quite a bit and we are all surprised that this ranks highly among our favorite cities! We linger as long as we can at Paper Island and then get on our bikes and travel this easy bike path in the beautiful Scandinavian twilight to our charming little hotel.

DAY FOUR
We enjoy one last decadent breakfast at our charming hotel and we are hesitant to leave. As I said before, we all wish we had scheduled one more day in this fantastic city just to stroll it’s streets a bit more, maybe ride a few rides at the Tivoli and take it more of it’s fantastic charm. We leave our hotel all discussing a return trip sometime in the future. The hotel organizes a taxi for us and we are off to the airport for a quick SAS flight to Bergen!

We arrive to the Copenhagen airport, check in with no problem. If I had only known how fabulous this airport was, I could have probably taken care of my shopping fix here – I have limited time but find a few moments to go to H& M and Gant for a few purchases. We find our gate with no problem and everyone is dressed very rugged – Lunatic Maximus says it seems that we are taking off for the wild wild west – a premonition of things to come!

As we land in Bergen, it is a bit overcast and fogged in so we can’t see too much. We pick up our rental car from Avis and follow our GPS to the city center to the Clarion Havnekontoret – I have prearranged two rooms for one night at this hotel through a third party source called Delux Hotels that I found on line. When I spoke with them a few months ago, I prepayed the room for a nominal discount. Upon arrival at the hotel, I find that our prepaid room was cancelled yesterday and of course Delux Hotel Group cannot be reached. Lesson learned. Fortunately, the Clarion has rooms, allows me to book two rooms at a good rate and I will take it up with my credit card company when I return. The staff at the hotel is charming and our rooms are lovely and the hotel is perfectly located.

From the U.S, I had prearranged a walking tour of Bergen with Sue Lin [email protected] Sue was fantastic to communicate with online and she met us promptly and we began our wonderful time in Bergen. By this time, the rain has cleared, the sun has come out and the harbor is sparkling. We enjoy hearing all about the fascinating history of Bergen – walking around it’s charming streets and ending our time with Sue at the Fish Market. Sue is a great guide – very knowledgeable and a delight to spend time with!

We leave Sue at the fish market and stroll around the town a bit more. We end up having dinner at the Bryggeriet Microbrewery and restaurant : https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...rn_Norway.html We have a gorgeous table overlooking Bergen Harbor – we are all delighted with our entrees – apparently the chef has won one of the cooking shows in Norway. I particularly loved the mussels – one order is large enough for two. The beers made there were great. Beautiful evening with the sun high in the sky. Mario and I call it an early night, but the Scholar and Lunatic Maximus discover Bergen a bit more and take the most gorgeous sunset pictures about 11:30 that night!

Enjoying your trip report! We will be visiting Copenhagen plus some day trips in mid May, 2017 with our two daughters, ages 19 and 20. Your itinerary and commentary is quite helpful!! Sounds like an amazing trip.

I'm enjoying your report! We visited Norway and Copenhagen a few years ago and Stockholm just recently in July. We also stayed at the Kong Arthur and liked it very much. I still remember that breakfast--sounds like it hasn't changed!

I hope you get your deposit back for the Bergen hotel! Yikes... I'd be frantic.

DAY FIVE
A day of adventure and navigating the fjords awaits us! We enjoy a nice breakfast at the Clarion Hotel, pack up and leave Bergen before 10:00 a.m. From the US, I have booked the 3:00 pm ferry from Gudvangen to Kaupanger …. I am not exactly sure how long it takes to get there, but I want to leave a little time to sight see along the way – but I have made it clear that we cannot miss that ferry. Sometimes things seem so complicated in my mind before we do them – then you get there and it all works out seamlessly, but it all takes a little preparation.
We are amazed by the scenery as we leave Bergen – as noted by everyone who has traveled this region, truly jaw dropping scenery around every corner. The sun is bright and not a cloud in the sky – we stop at the Tvinde waterfall along the way – https://www.google.com/search?q=tvin...HbBMDQgQsAQIGw - so majestic and beautiful. We take photos – bask in the sunshine and stand in awe of one of the most beautiful waterfalls maybe I’ve ever seen. Little did I know that we would be chasing waterfalls for the next week! We also stop at the Stalheim Hotel - https://www.google.com/search?q=tvin...m+hotel+norway for such an epic view! It’s hard to believe we could see such grand sights all in one day – this view is truly so grand. Again, we take photos, stroll around the garden a bit and purchase a few souvenirs. We are enjoying our drive and doing great on time. Our GPS is very efficient, but the roads are also very well marked and easy to navigate. We get to the ferry about 45 minutes ahead of departure – hand our little confirmation slip to the attendant and line up. Easy breezy!

From the states: this is the site I used to pre-purchase the ferry: http://www.fjord2.com/ - it was advised to purchase this ferry ahead of time because not many run on a given day and we were traveling in high season. When the ferry arrived, it unloaded and then we drove our little SUV right onto the ferry and found a table on the back deck to sit back and enjoy the ride. Once again, we are simply delighted by a beautiful sunny day. I purchased a variety of salami, sausages, olives and cheeses from the food market in Copenhagen – we lay out our little spread and have the most divine picnic as we travel down the Naereoyfjorden and behold wondrous beauty that simply cannot be described. We will be on quite a few ferries during the next week, but as I reflect on our trip, this is the one trip that just should not be missed. It is truly a land that has been untouched. We glide along the fjord and rarely ever see another boat – we pass a few ferries and quite a few kayaks, but rarely do we see a pleasure boat – it is as If we have the fjord to ourselves. We see little family farms dotted along the mountains that seem as if they have been there for generations. Those farms seem so remote and so picturesque – I just wonder who lives there and what must their lives be like in the middle of winter. We pass countless waterfalls and around every corner – there are new sights to behold. This is why we came to Norway and we are getting the full dose on our first full day – wow!

As we sit on the back deck of the ferry – we witness other families from all over the world, but we are the only Americans here on this given day. We see families from Germany, Spain, Russia and strike up a conversation with the Australian family. It is a magical day that I will reflect on for the rest of my life. I only wish I had the words to describe the majesty of the beauty!

We glide along the fjord for a little over two hours and arrive in Kaupanger a little after 5:00 p.m. – we exit the ferry and drive straight to the Stave Church https://www.google.com/search?q=kaup...HcGtBcMQsAQIMw – remember what I said – we got the full dose of Norwegian beauty in one day! Simply amazing!
Then we drive the short distance to our hotel for the next two nights – The Walaker Hotel www.walaker.com – we drive into the charming little hamlet of Solvorn and walk through the arbour of the Walaker Hotel and have found paradise! This day tho! Wow!

There has been much said about this charming little hotel and it is simply splendid in every way. I have emailed the owner Ole several times over the past few months – he is incredibly patient and helpful. We have booked two rooms in the historic section of the hotel and we are immediately enchanted with our rooms. We refresh in our rooms and stroll in for dinner and have the loveliest meal, with the most wonderful wines looking out at the Norwegian sea, the Songnafjord and a site that others have embraced for centuries. This is just a day that I never want to end. We linger on the porch with our after dinner drinks – it is a site that will forever be in my mind and my heart. There is usually a place on every vacation that you think “if I had only known this would be so magical, I would have planned to stay longer” – this is that place! I never want to leave!

Can you share the cost of the hotel rooms? They sound enchanting! :)