Scandanavian Itineraries

November 30, 2010 4:08 PM

Help us plan our Scandanavian honeymoon!

Charmcityfiancé and I are in the (very) early stages of planning our honeymoon. We're both very interested in Scandanavia and are pretty certain that it is our destination of choice.

We have more time than money (maybe 2 weeks?), and would likely be traveling during a school break. We're not sure when the wedding will be, but we also probably won't go immediately after, so please suggest itineraries or specific things for any season.

We don't need or want honeymoon suites or anything overtly "romantic" in nature; we view this as a really neat vacation with lots of history and natural wonders to take in. We've both traveled in Europe but never any Scandanavian country. We speak English and French. Outdoor / athletic endeavours would be great, we live in Alaska so we do a lot of hiking and winter sports.

Best guidebooks? Little-known hostels? Must-try foods?

Thanks!

posted by charmcityblues to Travel & Transportation around Scandanavia, South Africa (9 answers total)

Do you you consider Iceland Scandinavia?
posted by halogen at 4:40 PM on November 30, 2010

When I did my big Scandinavian trip in 2006, I found that two weeks was enough time to see the highlights of Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tampere (a smaller city in Finland where I had friends). The weather was glorious when I was there (late June) and I used Lonely Planet Scandinavia as my main guide and was not disappointed. My travel tastes tend more toward things like museums, so YMMV, but these are things that I still remember well, four years later (my favorites are starred): Ibsen Museum,* Kon-Tiki Museum, National Gallery of Norway, Viking Ship Museum, Holmenkollen Ski Museum, Skansen Open-Air Museum,* Vasa Ship Museum,* Seurasaari,* Ateneum Art Museum,* Amuri Museum of Workers' Housing, Moominvalley.*
posted by ocherdraco at 4:50 PM on November 30, 2010

Oh, and I meant to mention that you must sauna if you go to Finland.
posted by ocherdraco at 4:51 PM on November 30, 2010

Response by poster: Suggestions for Iceland are welcome, but I'm not sure we'll be able to swing it on this trip.
posted by charmcityblues at 4:59 PM on November 30, 2010

Hey I just went in August for two weeks - Stockholm, Denmark, Iceland - and it was all fantastic. Everyone so chill and all speak English, great manners, great museums, shopping, bars, trains, and most of all BOATS if you like them! They do - water water everywhere.
The coolest thing I did was the Stockholm boat out to Björkö the island of Viking burials at the old settlement of Birka - just beautiful and other-wordly. Also definitely worth a visit is the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde in Denmark.
Bring lots and lots of money if you want to eat and shop. Wicked expensive.
posted by henry scobie at 7:29 PM on November 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

I and my now-ex had a Scandinavian honeymoon - we flew into Stockholm and took the train to Bergen via Gothenburg and Oslo, staying a night or two in each place. I absolutely recommend the train journey between Oslo and Bergen, it's one of the world's most beautiful train rides. We did the Norway in a Nutshell tour.

Holmenkollen ski museum in Oslo as mentioned above was a highlight too!
posted by corvine at 4:54 AM on December 1, 2010

oh, and the best restaurant we went to (traditional Swedish food) was Smaka in Gothenburg.
posted by corvine at 4:57 AM on December 1, 2010

This sounds awesome. I spent a semester in Bergen, Norway and absolutely loved it. I think this is an especially fab idea for outdoorsy types.

Word of caution: Norway is very expensive. Very. I ate a lot of soup while there.

So in terms of specific recommendations: Grab some fresh seafood from the outdoor markets. (I heard the one in Bergen is actually moving inside.) Fjord cruise -- I think there are several to choose from and you might as well choose according to your budget. I did the 1 day Norway in a nutshell trip and it was great. In Bergen, you can hike up Floyen (this may be too amateurish for real hikers, but good for me!) and enjoy some hot chocolate while taking in the view at the top.

I think Bergen and Oslo are fun cities to explore and I plan on going back, but getting out to the smaller, tiny, and sort of isolated towns was probably my favorite part.
posted by ihavepromisestokeep at 11:02 AM on December 1, 2010

I'll reinforce what ihavepromisestokeep says:

Scandinavia is VERY expensive. I live in Chicago, and prices in Norway are higher than they are here.

That said, it's a fantastic place to visit. If you go in the summer, I thought the Nordkap was really cool...it's billed as most northerly accessible point in Europe.

I'll 2nd the Vasa Ship museum....it's absolutely amazing. It's an entire ship that they restored and built a museum around. It's HUGE.

And, in Oslo, I would suggest that you visit the Vigelandsparken.
posted by specialnobodie at 2:27 PM on December 3, 2010