For those who have done Norway, WWYD??

[ngl]

Since I always get some great ideas from these boards, I thought I would dive into the collective knowledge base! We are planning a trip to Sweden and Denmark for Summer 2025. (It has been on our short list for awhile for various reasons). We have truly enjoyed all the ABD vacations we have taken and only wish they did one in these countries as well. (They used to do a Copenhagen Escape so have that information as a guide at least!) I know everyone seems to love Norway either by land or sea but we unfortunately do not have time this year to tack on another week for ABD or cruise (and dates not lining up). We will have about 4 days that we could stay in Europe after Sweden & Denmark. Would you try to get to Norway with that limited time and, if so, what would you do? We typically end our European trips on a beach someone in Europe so that is still a possibility (yes, very different!) but given we will be so close wondering if we should try to see some of Norway or try something else? Btw, we are a family of 4 with 2 younger teens. Thank you for any advice!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We went to Denmark and Sweden back in May amongst multiple other countries in Europe. We traveled between the countries by train. It was just my husband and I.

In Denmark we did Copenhagen but stayed in Malmo, Sweden which is just quick enough train ride across a bridge. From Malmo we also went to Gothenburg, Sweden (a 2 1/2 hour train ride north) which was actually the only disappointment to our multi-country trip. I think Gothenburg's archipelago would have been a better thing for us to do but we were trying to stick more to the city center and the city center didn't have as much to do/see compared to the various other cities we had already gone to. To get to the archipelago there were multi-hour ferry tours you could do.

I really enjoyed Copenhagen, we toured Christiansborg Palace which is still used for State affairs and can close at a moment's notice. I LOVED touring the ruins below the Palace and learning the history of it. We did other things in Copenhagen too.

As far as only having 4 days after Denmark and Sweden to consider to do Norway (which I'd love to go touring around there especially the fjords) my advice would be thinking what airport and airline are you considering doing for getting back home. We had considered Gothenburg, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark for airports. We flew PLAY airlines back home to the U.S. and Copenhagen had more flight options compared to Gothenburg. Had we flown out of Gothenburg we might have considered staying overnight in Gothenburg. 4 days is a decent amount of time but maybe not if travel time between destinations in Norway (which I don't have personal knowledge of) take too long to get there. On our trip in May we had two days that had long distance travel; a 4 or 5 hour trip from Frankfurt to Hamburg (stayed overnight in Hamburg and had half a day of the next day to tour that) and a 5 or so hour trip from Hamburg to Malmo, Sweden (train switch in Copenhagen, arrived late enough at night in Malmo) so that did take a chunk of our time out.

 

[ngl]

Thanks for the input re Denmark & Sweden! We did not plan on going to Gothenburg and based on your description, do not think we will. (We will be in Stockholm and other places in southern Sweden and plan on doing some archipelago travel there). Sounds great re Copenhagen! Good call out re flights! Yes, no question Copenhagen has many more flight options out than Oslo but we typically fly out of London for any flight home (we are not major US city but like arriving in our hometown directly after our Europe trip so London has a few options that are usually the cheapest for us. We typically spend one night there on the last night). We find nearly all cities in Europe have flights into one of the London airports.

Just do not know if it is "worth" it to just spend a few days in Norway. I hear so much about it so maybe it is a trip for another time but the reality is we only take one of these big trips per year so doubt Northern Europe would be back on the agenda for awhile so that is why I was thinking of getting a bit of Norway in. May not be worth the effort, however, for this trip.

How was your weather in May? We would be going a bit later in summer but was curious. Thanks again!

 

[Donalyn]

I haven't been to Norway - but when I've looked into it, it seems to me that you'd need more time to do it justice.

Could you explore more of Sweden or Denmark instead of adding another place?

 

[ngl]

I haven't been to Norway - but when I've looked into it, it seems to me that you'd need more time to do it justice.

Could you explore more of Sweden or Denmark instead of adding another place?

No question we could spend a month in all of those countries and never be bored! We try to give the kids a "flavor" of various countries so when they get older they can explore more on their own with their friends/significant other. We have about 5-6 days each in Denmark & Sweden so just looking for something for 4-5. Last year we ended with 4 days in Mallorca (after ABD Rhine and it was amazing!) May go back there lol!

 

[Donalyn]

If that is your travel style and goal (a little taste of a place), then go to Norway!

We did the ABD Rhine last summer too.

 

[aggiedog]

I think it is a common mistake for Americans to be like "we're already across the ocean and have a few more days, so let's go to one more place." (DH is the WORST about this.) Don't forget that anywhere you go, you've got to factor in travel time, checking in to the new hotel, etc, so you don't have quite as much time as you think.

That said, I'd suggest Iceland. It's easy to get a taste in just a few days, especially if you get out of the city.

I would also just look at flights home and see if there are any legs that stop in interesting countries/cities and consider spending time there.

 

[ngl]

I think it is a common mistake for Americans to be like "we're already across the ocean and have a few more days, so let's go to one more place." (DH is the WORST about this.) Don't forget that anywhere you go, you've got to factor in travel time, checking in to the new hotel, etc, so you don't have quite as much time as you think.

That said, I'd suggest Iceland. It's easy to get a taste in just a few days, especially if you get out of the city.

I would also just look at flights home and see if there are any legs that stop in interesting countries/cities and consider spending time there.

Thanks! Yes, I brought up Iceland to my DH as well! I think for us summer vacation is the one time we spend together as a family unit of 4 so "max-ing" it out is important because my kids are approaching college so trying to squeeze what we can for now. we have bee to Europe the past 3 summers in various places and enjoy being in various places and luckily, timing has worked out as you said that is key! I am going to look into Iceland further. Thanks!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think it is a common mistake for Americans to be like "we're already across the ocean and have a few more days, so let's go to one more place." (DH is the WORST about this.) Don't forget that anywhere you go, you've got to factor in travel time, checking in to the new hotel, etc, so you don't have quite as much time as you think.

That said, I'd suggest Iceland. It's easy to get a taste in just a few days, especially if you get out of the city.

I would also just look at flights home and see if there are any legs that stop in interesting countries/cities and consider spending time there.

I wouldn't suggest Iceland if you're doing Denmark and Sweden. It's not that close together and Iceland requires a flight to get there. I mean you're suggesting against Norway in favor of Iceland with a time crunch and that just doesn't make sense IMO. That said IF the OP is taking a connection in Iceland, like we did, then it's doable. PLAY airlines (note I actually wouldn't suggest flying PLAY airlines just giving my experience with them in terms of routes) does connections in Iceland (they are an Icelandic airline) and we could have done a few days there if we had wanted to.

 

[ngl]

I wouldn't suggest Iceland if you're doing Denmark and Sweden. It's not that close together and Iceland requires a flight to get there. I mean you're suggesting against Norway in favor of Iceland with a time crunch and that just doesn't make sense IMO. That said IF the OP is taking a connection in Iceland, like we did, then it's doable. PLAY airlines (note I actually wouldn't suggest flying PLAY airlines just giving my experience with them in terms of routes) does connections in Iceland (they are an Icelandic airline) and we could have done a few days there if we had wanted to.

Would like to understand your experience with PLAY? I know they are a budget carrier but sounds like you did not like them?

Yes, we are fine with doing a flight to the next point. While train would be great, the past few trips we flew from one place in Europe to another to end the trip. Would prefer it not to be a long flt (Iceland or anywhere in Southern Europe we are looking at is 3 hrs) but just trying to get ideas. That is why we were thinking Norway. Thanks for the input all!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Thanks for the input re Denmark & Sweden! We did not plan on going to Gothenburg and based on your description, do not think we will. (We will be in Stockholm and other places in southern Sweden and plan on doing some archipelago travel there). Sounds great re Copenhagen! Good call out re flights! Yes, no question Copenhagen has many more flight options out than Oslo but we typically fly out of London for any flight home (we are not major US city but like arriving in our hometown directly after our Europe trip so London has a few options that are usually the cheapest for us. We typically spend one night there on the last night). We find nearly all cities in Europe have flights into one of the London airports.

Just do not know if it is "worth" it to just spend a few days in Norway. I hear so much about it so maybe it is a trip for another time but the reality is we only take one of these big trips per year so doubt Northern Europe would be back on the agenda for awhile so that is why I was thinking of getting a bit of Norway in. May not be worth the effort, however, for this trip.

How was your weather in May? We would be going a bit later in summer but was curious. Thanks again!

No problem!

I did really want to like the city center of Gothenburg but I think what we should have done is go spend the day at Kronborg Castle (also known as Hamlet's Castle) in Helsingor, Denmark

My advice is still look at which airport you're thinking you'll fly out of for proximity. If I understand it you're trying to connect in London? We didn't look at what connections Copenhagen had for London so I'm not sure if either of those has better connections than the other or even other cities. We did fly into London (from JFK after flying to LaGuardia from Kansas City) for the start of our trip and last year when we did a cruise in the Mediterranean we connected in London after flying from Athens.

If you're leaning towards Copenhagen for flights I'd probably not try doing Norway because you'd be backtracking far enough. If you were thinking of flying out of Oslo then you could squeeze in touring Oslo and maybe another nearby city (maybe going to that nearby city first then ending in Oslo). So worth it to me is more based on that because it's taking into consideration time spent to get to the locations and difficulty in getting there as well as the next point below.

IMO I don't think you'd realistically be able to do more than a city or two in Norway unless you're sticking close to Oslo and flying out of there so if you're thinking you may not be able to get back to Norway any time soon and really want more encompassing tour of it you might just save it for when you could do maybe a ship tour combined with a land/train tour of Norway.

When we did our trip back in May we knew we were sacrificing touring time in some places in order to either use transportation to get to our next destination or allow more time in a more desired location. We did London (England) Ghent (Belgium) Luxembourg City (Luxembourg) pit stop in Trier and Cochem (Germany), Kronberg (Germany), Hamburg (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Malmo (no touring just hotel stays (Sweden) and then Gothenburg (Sweden). This type of touring is what we're about to do in a few weeks when we head to Japan where we'll be hitting 7 different cities.

The weather in May was actually warmer than average. It was 60s and 70s (sometimes upper 70s) our entire 2 weeks in Europe, a weather pattern just followed us around and it never rained except for a few minutes in Kronberg, Germany (just outside of Frankfurt). That said Copenhagen (which we were there mid-May) had quite windy conditions especially when you were closer to the waters and was combined with a chilly air so that one I was glad I had on my thin fleece pull over I brought. Gothenburg on the other hand didn't have that higher winds and I ended up getting hot with my thinner jacket I had on. We did bring umbrellas and rain jackets just in case but did not need them. We also only did carry on and personal item and did laundry in sinks on days we could allow time to dry. This really helped when it came to using the trains and the suitcases on old European streets.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Would like to understand your experience with PLAY? I know they are a budget carrier but sounds like you did not like them?

Yes, we are fine with doing a flight to the next point. While train would be great, the past few trips we flew from one place in Europe to another to end the trip. Would prefer it not to be a long flt (Iceland or anywhere in Southern Europe we are looking at is 3 hrs) but just trying to get ideas. That is why we were thinking Norway. Thanks for the input all!

They are basically like Spirit in terms of service and flight experience (items are a la carte for purchase) and their plane seats not comfortable in the least. The flight from Copenhagen to Iceland was 3 hours 20 mins and wasn't too bad, it was the 6 1/2 hour flight from Iceland to Baltimore that the poor seats and poor passenger behavior caught up and we were in the exit row but they don't allow anything under your seat for that particular airline in the exit row. We paid for the 3rd highest ticket bundle they had (eta: meaning there was only 1 level higher than ours available to purchase).

If I had to I'd fly them again as in really there wasn't an option I would but I would take another airline if I had a choice. We don't fly Spirit nor Frontier so our experience may not be the same as someone who routinely flies those and is more okay with how it is. That said it was $984 for two people so an affordable way to get back home (although that doesn't include the food and drink purchased during the flights which aren't terrible I guess in costs).

 

[Donalyn]

ah, so many different touring styles. I'm a big fan of to each their own on travel styles, but the whirlwind touring style is not our style. I don't so much like the logistics of traveling (getting to the next place, getting to the hotel, figuring out how to use public transportation in the next cities, over and over again in locations with a language barrier). I'd rather spend more time in locations (and maybe use them as day trip bases), instead of picking up and moving to another place (unless ABD is handling the logistics for me and I just have to follow along). It isn't that I can't do these things - it just isn't fun for me (I spend my entire life dealing with headaches and solving problems, don't also want to do it on vaca). Also, in my opinion, so many locations deserve so much more time than these more ambitious itineraries allow them.

For example, PP is visiting 7 cities in Japan in two weeks or so. I've planned 10 days just in Tokyo (to be fair, 3+ days were going to be at Disneyland resort area, and we had a day trip planned in there), and a full week in Kyoto (with a few day trips).

 

[ngl]

ah, so many different touring styles. I'm a big fan of to each their own on travel styles, but the whirlwind touring style is not our style. I don't so much like the logistics of traveling (getting to the next place, getting to the hotel, figuring out how to use public transportation in the next cities, over and over again in locations with a language barrier). I'd rather spend more time in locations (and maybe use them as day trip bases), instead of picking up and moving to another place (unless ABD is handling the logistics for me and I just have to follow along). It isn't that I can't do these things - it just isn't fun for me (I spend my entire life dealing with headaches and solving problems, don't also want to do it on vaca). Also, in my opinion, so many locations deserve so much more time than these more ambitious itineraries allow them.

For example, PP is visiting 7 cities in Japan in two weeks or so. I've planned 10 days just in Tokyo (to be fair, 3+ days were going to be at Disneyland resort area, and we had a day trip planned in there), and a full week in Kyoto (with a few day trips).

Yes, I say this all the time when people ask for vacation advice!! What one person thinks is the best vacation ever, others would hate. It is a such a personal decision on so many levels.

 

[Bobo912]

I did the northbound route from Bergen to Kirkenes with Havila Voyages last year. It is a coastal ferry, so you can end your trip at any port. They have 4 ships, so there are a lot of departure dates. If you don't have time to sail all the way to Kirkenes, you could disembark at Trondheim or Tromso, where you could catch a flight. The exterior cabins are large and very nice. There is plenty of seating in public areas and great views from all of them. The food is also very good - no buffets (which is a plus IMO), but you can orders as much as you would like. They offer excursions or you can venture out on your own. It's pretty low key, so the time onboard might be boring for your teenagers. There are a few get togethers on deck where they serve some local food and provide some information, as well as an Arctic Circle crossing ceremony. There is also a meeting each day to tell you about the sites and culture of the area you're visiting the next day. Other than that, the scenery, some board games and puzzles, and conversation with your fellow travelers is the entertainment. And people knitting also seems to be a big thing for some reason. There are a lot of European, Australian and North American tourists onboard, along with Norwegians just using the ferry to get around. Hurtigruten is also another option that provides the same service. It is the original costal ferry and their ships are older and their meals are buffets, but I've heard it is also nice.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

the whirlwind touring style is not our style.

I agree everyone has different ways and things like mobility, travel comfortability, funds and time to vacation.

Ours is a lot of a desire to see the world and considering the cost and time spent doing so. Getting to Europe takes time and costs $$ so we try to make it worth while. FWIW we didn't run into any language issues in any of the countries we've visited that I listed and then last year the cruise was Italy, Croatia, Montenegro and Greece and really didn't have issues there.

It's costing us more than $4K RT for 2 people to get to Japan and I don't want to spend my time in only Tokyo or Kyoto so we're doing various cities in more central Japan. But I also wanted to do Disney there so we had to compromise there.

We're doing another cruise in the spring hitting Spain, Portugal, France, Monoco and Italy but again it's not the least expensive and it's another 15 or so days gone.

We talked to two lovely women on our train from Hamburg to Copenhagen one was German the other Danish and both spoke English very well, actually the Danish woman said English was preferred by many because Danish people often have issues understanding each other lol. I'm more worried about Japan and language barriers. Just to say don't assume moving around means issues with language. Transit works roughly the same in many countries and many destinations in Europe can be explored on foot once there. I'm more worried about understanding Japan.

On the other hand if we're wanting a beach vacation I'm not interested in island hopping and would much rather go for 8 or 9 days in one place.

None if this is is being said against your comment just that assuming that you'll experience difficulties so you choose not to do it is more what I'm speaking to, if it's not your style it's not your style, more a generic comment to the subject of some of the concern you brought up.

 

[travelgirl06]

We just did a week in Norway/Sweden and Denmark with our kids who are 6, 10 and 13…it was a lot in a week, but we really enjoyed it!

It sounds like you have ideas for Copenhagen, so it will just touch on Sweden and Norway.

In Sweden we did Gotenberg but we did go to the archipelago. There are easy, frequent ferries and they are included on your transit pass. We really liked visiting the islands and getting out to the city. We also did the zoo/playground at Slottsskogen which was fun.

We stayed at Liseberg Grand Curiosa hotel which I HIGHLY recommend for a family with kids! It is themed like a Disney hotel and is next to a big Swedish theme park (we did bot go to the theme park, but it is just a quick tram ride to downtown. They had a phenomenal, included, breakfast buffet, a play room with games, a slide into the lobby and rooms that accommodate 5.

After that we took the train to Copenhagen and spend time there then took the DFDS ferry to Oslo. The ferry is an overnight ferry with lots of amenities (swimming pool, restaurants, bars, kids areas, etc.), and we really enjoyed it. It was nice to take time to slow down, swim, and play board games in the middle of the trip. For little ones they have a card you can buy for like $15 that includes the kids pool, a prize at the store, a kids mocktail at one of the clubs, ice cream and more - our 6YO loved getting all her goodies with this card . The views were great, and the cabin was tiny but fully functional (again they have rooms that fit 5, which is amazing but also quite cozy).

In Oslo we did the Nordic Folkmuseum which is a wonderful living history museum, some of the naval museums (very cool!!), Akhersus, the Munch museum, the roof of the opera house, the ski jump (the kids were going to zip line down from it, but it started to rain) and the sculpture gardens. With more time we would have loved to venture up to the fjords, but for this trip we stuck to the city.

 

[Marthasor]

I would absolutely spend 4 days in Norway if that is all the time you have. If Oslo is the most convenient to get to, I would probably just go there. There are so many amazing museums (Folk Museum, Fram Museum, etc.) and, perhaps you could even do a day trip outside of the city.

We loved Bergen, but I don't know if it would be inconvenient for you to get to.

 

[ngl]

I did the northbound route from Bergen to Kirkenes with Havila Voyages last year. It is a coastal ferry, so you can end your trip at any port. They have 4 ships, so there are a lot of departure dates. If you don't have time to sail all the way to Kirkenes, you could disembark at Trondheim or Tromso, where you could catch a flight. The exterior cabins are large and very nice. There is plenty of seating in public areas and great views from all of them. The food is also very good - no buffets (which is a plus IMO), but you can orders as much as you would like. They offer excursions or you can venture out on your own. It's pretty low key, so the time onboard might be boring for your teenagers. There are a few get togethers on deck where they serve some local food and provide some information, as well as an Arctic Circle crossing ceremony. There is also a meeting each day to tell you about the sites and culture of the area you're visiting the next day. Other than that, the scenery, some board games and puzzles, and conversation with your fellow travelers is the entertainment. And people knitting also seems to be a big thing for some reason. There are a lot of European, Australian and North American tourists onboard, along with Norwegians just using the ferry to get around. Hurtigruten is also another option that provides the same service. It is the original costal ferry and their ships are older and their meals are buffets, but I've heard it is also nice.

Thank you SO much. This is great information!! Really appreciate it. We were looking into this last night and exactly what we were looking for! One question - how rough were the waters? How was the weather in general. We would be going in July. Thanks again!!!

 

[ngl]

We just did a week in Norway/Sweden and Denmark with our kids who are 6, 10 and 13…it was a lot in a week, but we really enjoyed it!

It sounds like you have ideas for Copenhagen, so it will just touch on Sweden and Norway.

In Sweden we did Gotenberg but we did go to the archipelago. There are easy, frequent ferries and they are included on your transit pass. We really liked visiting the islands and getting out to the city. We also did the zoo/playground at Slottsskogen which was fun.

We stayed at Liseberg Grand Curiosa hotel which I HIGHLY recommend for a family with kids! It is themed like a Disney hotel and is next to a big Swedish theme park (we did bot go to the theme park, but it is just a quick tram ride to downtown. They had a phenomenal, included, breakfast buffet, a play room with games, a slide into the lobby and rooms that accommodate 5.

After that we took the train to Copenhagen and spend time there then took the DFDS ferry to Oslo. The ferry is an overnight ferry with lots of amenities (swimming pool, restaurants, bars, kids areas, etc.), and we really enjoyed it. It was nice to take time to slow down, swim, and play board games in the middle of the trip. For little ones they have a card you can buy for like $15 that includes the kids pool, a prize at the store, a kids mocktail at one of the clubs, ice cream and more - our 6YO loved getting all her goodies with this card . The views were great, and the cabin was tiny but fully functional (again they have rooms that fit 5, which is amazing but also quite cozy).

In Oslo we did the Nordic Folkmuseum which is a wonderful living history museum, some of the naval museums (very cool!!), Akhersus, the Munch museum, the roof of the opera house, the ski jump (the kids were going to zip line down from it, but it started to rain) and the sculpture gardens. With more time we would have loved to venture up to the fjords, but for this trip we stuck to the city.

Thank you for this information!! This is great too. Some great ideas to consider!