[scorpi0N]

Prologue

It was in 2022, down with Covid and reading another Martin Beck novel (a set of police procedural novels based in Stockholm), that the idea of visiting Sweden first occurred. In 2021, as normalcy was slowly returning after COVID lockdown, my wife and I were considering going out of the country for a trip. As luck would have it, we were both struck with COVID in early 2022 and were confined to rest and isolation. During this time, I completed all ten Martin Beck novels and was intrigued with Stockholm. As a long time admirer of Borgen, a Danish political TV drama, I always had an innate desire to spend a few days in Copenhagen. I shared the idea of visiting Copenhagen and Stockholm with my wife, who agreed reluctantly initially (which wasn’t a surprise as these are not popular tourist destinations). Her full-hearted agreement was secured later, after her wish to see the Norwegian fjords was accommodated. And thus a Summer in Scandinavia was conceived!

Trip Plan

After a lot of reading and research, the final plan which was crystallized was the following:

Days 1 to 4: Copenhagen

It would not be an exaggeration to state that our pleasant first day experience in Copenhagen set the tone for the entire trip. Even today I can clearly recall that day. We landed at Copenhagen airport at around 1:30 PM local time on a day in August, after a tiring 13 hours of travel, with a layover in Dubai. We had heavy backpacks of 40L and 70L and reaching the hotel from airport was the only thing in mind after we landed. The weather was pleasant and days were long and, after a quick bath and lunch, we gathered the strength to go for a one hour guided sightseeing boat trip in the evening (included in the Copenhagen card). And wow! What an incredible experience! All tiredness just vanished! It was such a wonderful and enjoyable experience. All thanks to the beautiful surroundings and the wonderful guide, who kept the entire ride extremely amusing and joyful. We got a sense of Danes association with water, their taking pride in their Vikings heritage, their rivalry with Sweden and just how scintillating Copenhagen truly was.

The Copenhagen Opera House


The Little Mermaid

Next few days were spent exploring Copenhagen and nearby towns of Roskilde, the erstwhile Danish capital, and Hillerod, famous for Frederiksborg Castle.

The highlights of our visit were the following three.

1. Viking ship museum in Roskilde
Danes, and the Scandinavians in general, have a strong association with boats/ships and with water. They own boats and take them out on lakes/canals for a spin, like we do our cars for leisure drives.

This connection with water and ships is attributed, to an extent, to their heritage from Vikings (seafaring people from 8th century onwards originally from Scandinavia); although being surrounded by water the association is organic. The Viking museum in Roskilde, about an hour from Copenhagen by train, is a celebration of the Viking heritage of the Scandinavians. The wonderful museum showcases ships from various Viking ages. We were able to appreciate the evolution of Viking ships over the years, the hard work done by a variety of people on excavation and techniques adopted by the museum for meticulous preservation. The icing on the cake was a small workshop, where people can just learn a few basic tricks related to shipmaking.

A bit about Roskilde. It is a charming small city and, till a few centuries ago, was the capital of Denmark. The other major attraction apart from the ship museum is the Roskilde Cathedral.

The Roskilde Cathedral

2. Lost in Hillerød
This happened by chance. We had gone to Hillerød, a small town an hour from Copenhagen, to visit the famous Frederiksborg Castle.

We took a train from Copenhagen to Hillerød, and boarded a bus bound towards Frederiksborg Castle from outside the Hillerød station. I think we completed the visit by 1 PM and were thinking of having lunch back in Copenhagen. We decided to walk to the station as it was nearby, through a beautiful market area. I put the location in the maps app and we started walking. The market was nowhere there and I think we ventured deep into the residential areas with beautiful houses and a great deal of greenery. Wife observed that the vegetation was very different, with lots of berries and maple trees.
She was enjoying the walk and observing things, while I was thinking why isn’t the route like the way I had read. Eventually, we reached a small stadium and then I realised that I had selected “stadion” instead of station. After realising the mistake we had to backtrack and take another road to the station. What was supposed to be a 30 minutes walk turned out to be a 2 hours stroll. The best part – it was the most wonderful walk which we had during the entire trip through the quiet roads, beautiful houses and among the berry trees!

3. Nyhavn in Copenhagen
This is the highlight of Copenhagen. Nyhavn (pronounced as “nee haw”) means new harbour. It is the most vibrant area in entire Copenhagen, with a small river/lake in the middle, and both sides surrounded by restaurants, eateries and hotels. One can grab a beer or an ice cream and sit by the river to enjoy, or have snacks / dinner in one of the restaurants with outside seating by the river. Each evening in Copenhagen summer, when the sun sets at 9 PM, could be spent here.

Day 4/5: End of Copenhagen stay and a day in Malmo

For one day we stayed in Malmo, Sweden also. While a reasonably big city, its not famous for tourism. I was fascinated with the Øresund Bridge and wanted to cross it. The bridge connects Copenhagen and Malmo through a large body of water (a strait, to be more technical). Initially, it was supposed to be a 3 days stop over and then onwards to Stockholm; later, on insistence of wife, Norway visit was added for two days and Malmo stop cut to a single night.

The most unpleasant experience in the entire trip was here. We were cheated by a shopkeeper. We went to a Souvenir shop, which was fairly big in size. We noted that most of the items did not have any price tags. Nevertheless, we selected a few souvenirs and went for billing. The owner did not seem to be a local. Later, I would get to know that Malmo has a significant immigrant population and, in fact, its infamous (relatively less than some other European cities though) for crimes. Coming back to the point, the guy said if we pay in cash he will give some discount. Now, we also had some US Dollars and asked if he could accept them. He agreed and quickly did some calculations on a calculator. He explained all the rates pretty fast and we went along with the payment. After coming out we realised that we had been cheated with bad rates and possibly higher prices and no receipt as well. We were not prepared for this experience in Sweden and decided to be more careful from then onwards.

Nevertheless, Malmo is a fine city – very colourful. It was slightly drizzling but we decided to take out our raincoats and waterproof shoes, purchased specifically for our Bergen sojourn on the advise of a friend in Oslo. We explored Malmo in the light rain and, barring the unpleasant experience, we liked the charming place.

Restuarant India!

[scorpi0N]

Days 5 - 7: Bergen, Norway

We crossed the Øresund Bridge the next morning to Copenhagen and boarded a flight to Bergen, located in the West of Norway. Bergen is popularly known as the gateway to fjords! National Geographic describes fjord as a long, deep, narrow body of water that reaches far inland. Fjords are often set in a U-shaped valley with steep walls of rock on either side. A few pictures below would help visualise.

But before fjords, a few words about Bergen! Bergen, in itself, is a beautiful small city. A tram runs in a straight line from airport to Bergen city centre and the city is situated along this line. On the Sunday we reached Bergen, it was bristling with activity. The main one was a triathlon taking place in the city centre which had participation from across Europe. A huge crowd had gathered to cheer the participants. The gathering was quite signficant considering that Bergen is not heavily populated. The Belgium Grand Prix was also going on, and a number of cafes/pubs were streaming it. So all in all a very lively Sunday! We, returned, to our hotel early in the evening as the next day was going to be very hectic. We had to start at dawn to go and see the fjords! Little did we know that it was going to be the most memorable day of our life!

The plan: Now, there is a very helpful website https://www.fjordtours.com/en/norway...-in-a-nutshell for planning the trip to fjords. In summary, for the trip which starts and ends in Bergen, the route is as follows.

The only thing that we did different was we booked each leg (each bus, train and ferry) by ourselves instead of going for the package trip, to reduce the cost. We started at 6 AM and returned to the hotel at 930 PM. To describe our experience, I would say

On a typical Nordic summer day – when the sun has little time to retire, we explored one of the most idyllic landscapes on the planet – the majestic fjords, picturesque mountains, serene villages and crystal clear lakes!

We started from our hotel and reached the main Bergen train station, from where we caught a train to Voss. At Voss, we boarded a bus bound towards Gudvangen.

Random pics from the way


Are these the places where they clicked my old Windows wallpapers!

Gudvangen is conveniently located, between the mountains, at the end of Nærøyfjord. After a five minute walk, we reached the large passenger boat which was going to take us through ...

... the Majestic Fjords!

















With small villages along the way...

The 2 hours Fjord cruise ended at the scenic village of Flam.

After a quick lunch at Flam, we boarded the Flam railway.

Marketed as the world's steepest railway, the Flam railway, offers a breathtaking view of the Flam valley.

The last stop of Flam railway is a place called Myrdal from where the rail returns to Flam.

We disembarked at Myrdal and boarded the next train back to Bergen, totally overwhelmed by the enormity of the immense sights which we had witnessed, and which we were never going to forget!

[scorpi0N]

Days 7-11: Stockholm

The last leg of our trip was Stockholm. By this time, we were fairly exhausted with all the continuous day trips and decided to take it a bit slow in Stockholm. Unlike hotels in Copenhagen, Malmo and Bergen, we had booked a studio flat through airbnb in Sodermalm area of Stockholm, which was just a small walk away from the city centre. We landed at the Arlanda airport on Day 7 after bidding adieu to Bergen.

From Arlanda, we took a bus to city centre and then metro to Sodermalm. Meanwhile, our host had messaged us enquiring about our tentative arrival time. Once we reached the apartment a young lad of about 14 years, the son of the airbnb host, had come over to hand us the keys for the apartment. He gave basic instructions on garbage disposal etc. and left after wishing us a pleasant stay in Stockholm. After some unpacking we went to a nearby pub for light dinner (Sodermalm had some of the most cozy cafes and pubs in Stockholm), returned and retired.

A bit about Stockholm. It’s also called as a city of archipelagoes as its not situated on a single landmass, but multiple islands joined by bridges. A book on Stockholm had stated that the city is one-third water, one-third parks/gardens and one-third the traditional city of buildings and roads, and I felt that is the most apt description.

During our stay, we rarely relied on any public transportation and covered the major attractions on foot. I think the following are worth a visit.

1. Vasa Museum
For me the most interesting place to visit in Stockholm was the Vasa Museum. Its a museum which has only one artefact – a ship. Yes, a whole ship from the 17th century.

The spectacular warship sanked on its maiden voyage, just after it left the harbour. Swedish today have no shame in admitting that it was a very badly designed ship. The ship was richly designed, but badly engineered and was ordered to sail as the king was getting impatient. And no one had the courage to tell the king that the ship was unstable. Unbelievable and amusing as the story may sound, the ship is massively impressive. Its the complete ship which is on display and speaks volumes on how fascinated the Scandinavians are about their ships!

2. Gamla Stan

Gamla Stan means “old town”. Its the most charming neighbourhood of Stockholm, we felt. Located just near the Stockholm palace and on the riverfront, it has very old narrow roads made of big stones. It houses charming cafes, pubs, small shops and also the Nobel prize museum (which after visiting we felt isn’t worth visiting).

A cafe in Gamla Stan is probably the best place...

... to enjoy the Swedish Fika (coffee and cake)

3. Nordic Museum

A very interesting museum, which among other things showcases the early posters created to popularize the tourism in Scandinavia.

4. Archipelagoes boat tour
Around two hours guided boat tour of the archipelagoes - constituting and spread around Stockholm. We were slightly underwhelmed after the wonderful boat ride in Copenhagen. Here the narrative was slow, considering that the islands and major attractions are a bit far from each other and it takes some time to reach, which results in discontinuity in the narrative by the guide. Also the guide was not that engaging here. But, still its a reasonably good trip.

The best part of Stockholm for us, however, was living like a Swedish couple in a Swedish apartment, purchasing groceries from a nearby conveniency store (COOP), cooking our own foods and just exploring the lovely city without any haste.

Unfortunately, amidst all this the day to leave arrived. With a very heavy heart, we bid adieu to the lovely home and boarded the Arlanda Express (non-stop train from central Stockholm to the airport) to catch our flight back home!

Epilogue

I feel Scandinavia is quite underrated as a tourist destination. While planning we asked a lot of people for advise, and everybody was reluctant about these countries – costly, difficult to get relatable food, non-English speaking population etc. were some of the responses which we got! But, we chose to be adventurous, and, honestly, we were rewarded with the trip of a lifetime! With adequate planning, cost can be reasonably managed and we did carry some ready to eat foods for a part of the trip. Nordics in general, except in a few places like Malmo, are also pretty good in English and communication was never a problem. In summary, these are amazing countries full of beautiful sights and wonderful people. Given a chance, and hopefully in a winter when the aurora shines bright, we will not hesitate to embark on this remarkable journey again!

[KarthikK]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Jeroen]

Thanks for this lovely travelogue. Brings back many memories. I can highly recommend anybody to visit Copenhagen. It is a lovely town with much to see and do. My wife and I visited it some time ago and it is high on our list to revisit.

Nice to see all the sites in Stockholm. I used to visit Stockholm 10-12 times a year and I have spent many weekends there as well.

The Vasa Museum is very interesting and impressive. Even if you are not that much into boats. It capsized on its maiden voyage because the King ordered an extra deck full of guns, against the ship architect's recommendations.

I visited in the very early days of the museum. I seem to recall they were still spraying the ship with conservative fluids.

Also, outside the museum, there are a couple of vintage ships. One is an old steam-powered icebreaker. Very interesting too.


The one thing about visiting Stockholm, make sure to do it in the summer. During autumn/winter, it can get very gloomy, wet and of course snowy. Also during winter sundown is at 1600 hours. Whereas in the summer it is nearer 23.00.

Being in Stockholm during Midsummer (the longest day) is fantastic. With so much to see and do in the many parks of Stockholm and Gamla Stan (old town)

Jeroen

[vb-saan]

Great travelogue, thank you for sharing. Norway and Denmark (Copenhagen especially) are in my wish list and hope to do a summer trip around next year or so.

And the pictures are just awesome!

[LawyersDrive]

Amazing photographs and crisp travelogue.

Scandinavian tour is one of my Bucket List items.

Thank you for sharing.

[scorpi0N]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks for this lovely travelogue.

Originally Posted by vb-saan

Great travelogue, thank you for sharing. Norway and Denmark (Copenhagen especially) are in my wish list and hope to do a summer trip around next year or so. And the pictures are just awesome!

Originally Posted by LawyersDrive

Amazing photographs and crisp travelogue. Scandinavian tour is one of my Bucket List items. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you everyone for your kind words! Please let me know in case you have any specific queries. Would be happy to provide helpful information.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I visited in the very early days of the museum. I seem to recall they were still spraying the ship with conservative fluids.

Yes, the meticulous preservation is indeed very commendable!

[mobike008]

Lovely travelogue and some amazing and crisp pictures. The weather seems to be picture perfect too.

Thanks for sharing.

[Dieseltuned]

brilliant travelogue and lovely pictures. Had a few queries if you dont mind :

1. Could you please add some details about the Visa process and wait times and from where did you get it processed in Mumbai ?

2. Is Veg food a problem ?

3. Is language a barrier ?

4. Did you plan the trip yourself, if yes, could you please provide the links to the booking sites for train passes and hotel bookings ?

Thank you in advance. This will help me in planning my trip.

Regards
Diesel

[ads11]

We did Stockholm and Copenhagen just last month so lots of this is still fresh in the mind. We rather unwittingly landed in Stockholm the weekend Taylor Swift's Eras tour was on so there was essentially a city takeover by Swifties. We did however end up taking a sleeper train north to Umea to visit my MIL before flying back to Stockholm to spend 4 nights there before then taking the train over to Copenhagen for a further 4 nights.

Here are some takeaways from our trip:

Stockholm-

• You really don't need cash at all. I can't think of a single instance where we needed cash. I forget the name now (Swish?) but they essentially have an app for payments for instances that card machines don't work.
• Excellent public transport system with everything from boats, metro, trams, buses and regional trains available on it. Look for SL (Link). The tickets show up as QR codes. The way the ticket works, let's say if you have a single ticket is that it is valid for a 60-75 min window of travel once activated. Feel free to do however many journeys you want within that time window. So while a single ticket can feel expensive, it's a progressive system in that it certainly removes a lot of the barriers women might face with traditional single journey ticketing systems. We went for a multi day pass.
• Arlanda to Stockholm transport - we used the coach on our first landing into Stockholm. But on our second arrival we got a 72 SL pass and went looking for the commuter train service down to the city. The differences between the express service, the regional train service and commuter services is poorly marked out. About the only time we felt the signposting on the transport network was poor. Otherwise it's excellent.
• Language: we didn't once feel any language barriers. Most everyone is fluent or conversational in English, you'll be just fine. We really only needed translation with menu's sometimes but got by with asking for translation or just using Google Lens to translate.
• Food & drink: loads of options, and very good options at that. We were averaging £80 a day each.
• Museums: Absolutely go to the Vasa Museum! It's such a great museum, although it does celebrate an infamous failure. Also recommend stopping by the National Library to see the Codex Gigas.
• Location: Stockholm is famously split into multiple islands. We were in Hammarby Sjostad. Was quite a bit cheaper than staying centrally or in Gamla Stan but really it wasn't that bad as we had the tram right outside the hotel and could change to the metro (T-bana) to get into town.
• Speaking of the metro: you have to see some of the stations. They're worth seeing, with each having a distinct theme.
• Weather: Definitely visit in the summer. We had glorious weather our entire time. Not a single cloudy day.

Intercity rail:

• We did most of our intercity travel within Sweden and booked using the Swedish rail operators website, SJ.
• Our Stockholm to Copenhagen train took about 5 hours and a chair car seat was 800 SEK each, so really not bad value.
• Our overnight sleeper was 600 SEK each for a bunk with 6 bunks in a cabin. The train wasn't particularly fancy but we got what we paid for. Must say though it was stiflingly hot.

Copenhagen:

• An extremely walkable city - it's geographically much smaller. You really don't need to get a public transport pass, but if you do, the app again is by the local transport authority, DOT (link).
• Public transport: similar ticketing system to Sweden in that the passes are time based. Oddly the metro stations don't have any gates as such where you need to scan into the station. Can be disconcerting at first. Also the metro here is fully automated with no drivers and small 3 carriage layouts.
• Food & drink: equally good, and equally expensive. Unanimous recommendation was Warpigs, but it's not a place for vegetarians. We kept revisiting the market hall at Torvellehallern. Myriad options for food. I've never been an open sandwich person but if you do want to try it, brave the queue and get the fish cutlet one here from one of the stalls (you'll recognise it from how busy it is). But, v expensive. Think we were averaging £140 a day on food & drink and we weren't exactly going to Michelin places either. But we were being indulgent so just don't get spooked by the prices.
• Museums: again, some excellent museums. Tourist sites will recommend getting a multi day travel pass that includes museum tickets but not sure if that's really worth it. We ended up paying entry where needed. We particularly enjoyed the Design Museum.
• Locale: We were staying in the Indre district but if we went back, we'd certainly stay in Norrebro. The vibe in this district was just our cup of tea with it's mix of bars and restaurants. Think millennial gentrification.
• Weather: we had one cloudy and wet day but again, summer is the time to go with long sunlit days to just explore and wander around. Plus Danes won't be down with their seasonal affective disorder.
• Language: you'll be absolutely fine, everyone is fluent in English. With food labels just ask and staff will describe it to you or use Google Lens to translate - we used it extensively.
• Money: again, cashless more or less. Only time I got coins back was when I returned my empty drinks can back to a store and I only did that because I couldn't find a recycling point nearby and wanted a coin for the novelty.

Overall a really great place to go in the summer. Highly recommend. We didn't end up cycling this time round but if we visit again, we'd probably rent bikes and go further afield.

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

1. Could you please add some details about the Visa process and wait times and from where did you get it processed in Mumbai ?

2. Is Veg food a problem ?

3. Is language a barrier ?

4. Did you plan the trip yourself, if yes, could you please provide the links to the booking sites for train passes and hotel bookings ?

1. Applied in the UK but FWIW, was able to do a postal application since was within 59 months of a previous Schengen. Was really convenient not having to deal with the hassle that is VFS or TLS. Whole process took about 20 working days.
2. Not at all. My wife's pescatarian but mostly opts for vegetarian dishes and there's plenty. You'll be fine.
3. Not a problem. Again, we mostly stuck to the two major capital cities but even when we were in little old Umea up in the Arctic circle, we never once felt like we'd come across a language barrier.
4. Yep, we just booked and planned stuff ourselves. Public transport apps are linked above. Hotels were via websites like Booking or Expedia. About £115/night in Stockholm, and £150/night in Copenhagen. We didn't have a very prescriptive plan but once we got to each city, we'd spend the first day sorta exploring by foot, then finding a nice pub/bar for the evening to just sketch out a rough plan for the next few days and then pretty much wing it inbetween. With good public transport and being walkable, it affords you the flexibility to go off piste if needed. We'd also try and squeeze in a walking tour on the first day at each place to get a feel for the place and often the tour guides will give you a sense of the where, when, what questions you might typically have.

Hope that helps.

[scorpi0N]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

brilliant travelogue and lovely pictures. Had a few queries if you dont mind:

1. Could you please add some details about the Visa process and wait times and from where did you get it processed in Mumbai ?

Hi. Thank you very much! The Visa for Scandinavian countries is the Schengen visa (for EU countries). I applied through the Swedish Embassy in India, as the maximum stay was in Sweden. You have to download the checklist of documents and submit it at VFS office at BKC. Make sure to get an appointment at VFS for document submission. This link would help: https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/swe/

The processing time is typically two weeks (and in my case also). Also note that Sweden has a fairly high rejection rate so ensure that you are submitting all the documents and go beyond that also. For instance, if its a personal trip make sure to mention in the cover letter how you have good socio economic ties in India and that all your assets, including financial, are in India. You might want to give some details of your assets also. The authorities want to be sure that you don't overstay and will return on time. If you work for the government, mention that. Many people have shared their negative experiences on multiple forums regarding Schengen visa. But, in my experience I have seen that genuine applications submitted with diligence are generally accepted.

In summary, I would just say to not take the "Schengen" visa application casually. Be extremely diligent.

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

2. Is Veg food a problem ?

Veg food can be managed. But, if you are very particular about veg food, I would suggest carrying some ready to cook foods. These days you get a lot of such foods, the packet of which you need to just put in boiling water. You can carry a decent size electric kettle also. This would not only ensure that you have a backup for food, but would also significantly bring down the cost of food during the trip.

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

3. Is language a barrier ?

In Copenhagen and around, Stockholm and Bergen people spoke good english. In Malmo, we did face some language issues while interacting with the general public. But in general, Nordics are good in English and it would not be a problem.

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

4. Did you plan the trip yourself, if yes, could you please provide the links to the booking sites for train passes and hotel bookings ?

Yes. You could refer to Rick Steeves books which has a lot of details on these lines which will be helpful. Hotels you can search on tripadvisor/agoda.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ads11

[*]You really don't need cash at all. I can't think of a single instance where we needed cash.

It’s been over three years since my last visit to Stockholm so things might have chanced. I would agree with the need for no cash in Stockholm, but there two exceptions?

The public toilets needed coins. Maybe they have changed that too now.

The other one is when you go into a restaurant and leave your coat at a vestibule with an attendant. They will only accept cash. In the summer not so much an issue as you would have no or a very light coat and most likely would take it in the restaurant with you.

However, in the winter with heavy thick winter coats you really need to use the vestibule. And they take, or at least till recently, would only take cash. Even the very fancy restaurants!

Jeroen

[ads11]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

It’s been over three years since my last visit to Stockholm so things might have chanced. I would agree with the need for no cash in Stockholm, but there two exceptions?

The public toilets needed coins. Maybe they have changed that too now.

The other one is when you go into a restaurant and leave your coat at a vestibule with an attendant.

I don't think we had to go to a public toilet so can't comment or when it came to cloak rooms. It was t shirt and shorts weather throughout so we got off lucky. The only times we used cloak rooms were in museums and or stations if we wanted to dump our backpack for a few hours whilst exploring and they were usually free in the former and had card payment options in the latter.

[meetarin]

What an amazing travelogue. These places are on my bucketlist and I wish to be there someday! Nyhavn is mesmerizing and Norway is stunning in your pictures!