Anyone been to northern Scandinavia? About This Page:

[Disneybine]

We are thinking about taking a trip to Scandinavia in September or October. Since we've been to the southern part before (Kopenhagen, Oslo, Bergen, Stockholm), we would like to drive up further north this time.

Has anyone been to northern Norway, Sweden and/or Finland? If so, any and all information/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[chezp]

I've not been any further than Oslo or Stockholm either, although we did a weekend in Helsinki a couple of years ago - and I can recommend that. It's a beautiful place.

The only thing that does strike me is the timing - September / October, isn't that going to be starting to get very cold in that sort of area? Actually, I have a Norway guidebook and just checked - Trondheim would be about 9/48 (as you know, we do both Celsius and Fahrenheit here! ) in October, with lows of 3/37, while Tromso would be 5/41 and lows of 1/34.

[Colexis Mom]

One of my girlfriends from school just spent a month in Trondheim in May (her DH was a visiting professor at the university there). They stayed in a small apartment. Did a cruise up to the Artic Circle (which I think was a couple days and not the lap of luxury by any means). And a small trip to see the Fjords. It was cool then (I remember her pictures and they ususally had jackets on and sometimes hats, although they did have a few warm days).

I'll see if I can find out more details if you need it!

[lauriep]

I've been to Kolari, in Lapland. We traveled by train from Helsinki and it was so beautiful! This was almost 40 years ago and the trains went to Kolari only 2 or 3 times a week. They probably run more frequently now. This was at Christmastime and it was very cold and very snowy, but incredibly beautiful and peaceful. We stayed in a bed-and-breakfast, saw herds of reindeer, and went cross-country skiing. I'm afraid any details of price and accomodations would be too out-of-date to be useful, but this is a wonderful area to travel in.

[eff051102]

DH and I went to Norway and Denmark in 2003. We went to Oslo, Bergen
(my relatives live/lived there), Stavanger and many little villages and towns in
Norway. In Denmark we went to Cophenhagen, Odense, Tonder, Viborg, Thisted
and Frederikshavn. My other side of the family came from aroundTonder.

Used the ferry in Frederikshavn to cross to Oslo which was really nice. Stayed
in a hotel the night before and got in first thing in the morning.
We also drove the coast of Sweeden from Oslo back down to Cophenhagen to
fly out.

We were driving a rental car and traveled during late July and the weather was
really nice.

[scottjs]

My wife's parents were in Alta during World War Two(They were Jewish). So I would love to go visit that part of Norway. I have been only to Copenhagen years ago. Had a great time. Good luck to you.

[Disneybine]

Originally Posted by chezp

The only thing that does strike me is the timing - September / October, isn't that going to be starting to get very cold in that sort of area? Actually, I have a Norway guidebook and just checked - Trondheim would be about 9/48 (as you know, we do both Celsius and Fahrenheit here! ) in October, with lows of 3/37, while Tromso would be 5/41 and lows of 1/34.

Yeah, I know. We're summer people, really, and I'd prefer going in early summer. But since the only time we can go is early fall, we'll just have to pack warmer clothes It's not like it's that warm up there during the summer, either, I guess.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

One of my girlfriends from school just spent a month in Trondheim in May (her DH was a visiting professor at the university there). They stayed in a small apartment. Did a cruise up to the Artic Circle (which I think was a couple days and not the lap of luxury by any means). And a small trip to see the Fjords. It was cool then (I remember her pictures and they ususally had jackets on and sometimes hats, although they did have a few warm days).

I'll see if I can find out more details if you need it!

That'd be great! We're thinking about driving all the way up to Hammerfest and the North Cape (northermost point of Norway), past the Artic Cirle... We wouldn't be going to Trondheim, though, as it's too far south.

Originally Posted by lauriep

I've been to Kolari, in Lapland. We traveled by train from Helsinki and it was so beautiful!

If we go, we'd take a ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, visit that city (as it's the only Scandinavian capital that we haven't been to yet) and then drive up north through Finland.