re: Travel Advice: Nordic Trip - Summer 2016

Sounds like these places are popping...

Stockholm
Helsinki
Tallinn
Bergen

I've heard that it is easy to connect to London or Copemhagen from Bergen to fly back to the States. This thread delivers. Thanks everyone.

If/when you go to Reykjavik, you should do the Silfra dive if you have the basic certification. Not far from Reykjavik either

quote:

---

Reykjavik

---

Make sure you do the golden circle tour. I was disappointed with the blue lagoon. Too touristy and expensive for what you actually do. A better idea is figuring out where the hot springs are, renting a car, and driving there for a hike and bath up the mountain. Also, the thermal energy plant has a museum and tour that is totally worth it. My friend gives tours there and I found it really interesting. Maybe try couch surfing there and if you get lucky they will have a car and want to bring you around. Tons of beautiful women there. My Icelandic friend (sister of the aforementioned tour guide) is 11/10. No joke.

I have been to Oslo and Stockholm on your list. I like stockholm a lot but I'm partial as my dad is from there. It's a pretty great town with beautiful women and a very efficient subway, very clean and expensive, so probably not much different than other places in Scandinavia. Nightlife is a hard egg to crack there. If you want to go to clubs in Stureplan (the club area) you will fight lines to try to get in, possibly get rejected by the bouncer, and/or pay $12 per beer. The thing to do is to drink beforehand and go early. There are pubs and stuff that are less uppity also in Sodermalm.

I think Oslo is an uniteresting city, very generic and not worth going to IMO. You could use it to fly into to get to Norway and check it out for a day or two if you want, but it's pretty meh.

Now, what place is really nice, is Bergen Norway. It's on the west coast in the fjords. There's a cool center area of town, a tram you can take up to get an awesome view, a seafood market that you can eat whale at, and day cruises of the fjords. If you go to Norway, the fjords are a must see. There's a train ride between Oslo and Bergen that is stunning. Or you could just fly to Bergen from Stockholm which is what I did.

Gothenberg I've never been to, but heard nothing but good things about that west coastal area of Sweden. There are a few quaint fishing towns there that the Swedes vacation at in the Summer. Gothenberg is supposed to be a really nice town, and it's a college town. I haven't been to Helsinki either.

You will spend more in that part of the world than other places, but it's manageable. You just need to get used to paying $9 for a beer instead of $5, and other things get pricey too.

quote:

---

Any opinions on driving between Oslo and Stockholm? My friend wants to drive and stop at small towns along the way, but I am leaning towards a train ride. I would rather see small towns in the Archipelago of Sweden.

---

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. If you have a few days to stop at towns on the coast that would be pretty nice. How long is this trip?

quote:

---

TheIndulger

---

Awesome feedback. I have been to Copenhagen and am familiar with $10/beer prices. Nothing compares to Zurich though

Norway in a Nutshell is about $300/person to make the RT from Oslo >> Bergen >> Oslo. We are 50/50 on it but everyone raves about the fjords. We are only planning on staying in Oslo for about 2 1/2 days.

quote:

---

We get roughly 2 1/2 days per city

---

Makes me tired just thinking about it.

I'm flying into Helsinki this summer and spending 3 nights before heading to Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

quote:

---

Norway in a Nutshell is about $300/person to make the RT from Oslo >> Bergen >> Oslo. We are 50/50 on it but everyone raves about the fjords. We are only planning on staying in Oslo for about 2 1/2 days.

---

5 cities in 12 days is a lot of moving around but it can be done.. Personally I think you would get more of an understanding of the culture if you stuck to two countries. You could still move around a lot.. Maybe fly into Stockholm, drive to Oslo and stop at Gothenburg and other towns on the way, from Oslo take the train to Bergen and explore the fjords there then fly home, or even check out stavanger or another Norwegian town. It would still be a lot of moving around but less dizzying and you'd get a better idea of the countries.. Unles your goal is to check off a list of countries you've set foot in, then by all means go everywhere you can.

Also I saw you might go to st Petersburg, I'm sure you know this but you need to get a visa to visit Russia. Sounds like fun, good luck!