Boraxo

I just booked a 2-week trip for late May 2014 - inbound to CPH and outbound from ARN. However I am not going to post on the misnamed "Baltic" thread as we don't plan to visit any of the former SSR colonies.

Looking for advice on how many days to spend in Copenhagen, and any other places we should visit in Denmark and Sweden. Mrs. B is not much for camping, so we need to stick to places accessable by air, rail and auto.

My travel style is generally to spend 2-4 nights in a given location rather than trying to visit 14 towns in 14 days. So that leaves 4 or maybe 5 places tops. I've visited Stockholm before so we will probably spend only the last 3 nights there. But the rest is open.

Is it worth taking a side trip to Norway, Finland or perhaps St. Peterburg? Having recently visited Moscow, and as a former student of Russian history, St. Petersburg is quite appealing, but it's a bit of a logistical challenge.

SPBanker

You could take the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki (you will sleep on the boat and therefore save one night's hotel bill) and then Allegro train to St Pete, only 3.5 hours. Archipelago off the Swedish and Finnish coasts is quite beautiful.

stut

St Petersburg is physically rather easy to get to (a 3.5h train journey from Helsinki) - the only hassle is the visa. It's well worth going out of your way to get to, although you've no shortage of impressive places to visit inside the Nordics.

GUWonder

The most traditional regional tours include: CPH for 2-3 days, Bergen to Oslo, Oslo to Karlstad to Stockholm, Stockholm to Helsinki and on to St Petersburg from Helsinki or via the Baltic Republics. But that is sort of very rushed if including the Baltic Republics.

startpacking

Some comments on the capital cities in the Nordic:-

Personally I find Stockholm to be the most interesting city in the Nordic. Copenhagen has some sights that could keep you busy for two to three days at best. Oslo and Helsinki really don't have much to offer, I would spend a maximum of a day in each if you want to include either city in your itineary.

Some comments on the "other" sights:-

How late in May do you plan on travelling? The midnight sun is something you could include in your travel plans. You'd have to travel to Lapland for this. There are natural sights and cultural sights (seeing the culture of the Sami people) in Lapland.

Other natural sights in the Nordic to consider are the Norweigian Fjords or the Flam Railway.

If you choose to include St Petersburg, it's best to travel to St Petersburg from Helsinki. You can take the train but must get a visa in advance which can be a complicated and time consuming process. This ferry is an option too and doesn't require a visa in advance.

Boraxo

All great suggestions. So now I'm sketching this out now:

• 3 days CPH (incl. arrival date)
• 2 days HEL (incl. arrival)
• 1 day train to St. Petersburg
• 3 days St. Petersburg (incl arrival)
• 1 day return train to HEL/fly to STO (or just fly LED-STO)
• 4 days STO (including arr. date)

This actually leaves me an extra day, which might be useful for a day or overnight trip from Helsinki or Stockholm to a smaller town. I'd love to see Norway, but the schedule is already a bit jammed and it would take even more time to visit areas outside Oslo.

startpacking

Boraxo, two things come to mind with the plan you've outlined above.

First, you only have 2 full days in St Petersburg. It's a much bigger city than any of the Nordic capitals. I would spend more than 2 days in the city as you have an interest in Russian history.

I second SPBanker's suggestion to travel between Helsinki and Stockholm by ferry. As daylight hours are long in May you can view the archipeligos on departure/arrival. It's much more convenient than flying between the two cities. Two ferry lines to consider are TallinkSilja and Viking Line.

Boraxo

When people say "ferry" I think of the cheap UK and Greek ferries I utilized years ago as a poor student. But those ships you referenced look pretty sweet, more like cruise ship accommodations. I guess my only major concern would be sea sickness (I get queasy just crossing the bay here) and the travel time. But sounds like a good way to see the coast and maybe test whether I might enjoy it enough to consider a week-long cruise at some future point.

I will come back later with a re-worked itinerary.

SPBanker

Boraxo, the ships between Helsinki and Stockholm are much closer to cruise ships than e.g. ferries crossing from the UK to the continent. In May the sea should be very calm, and they are big ships anyway.

If you take e.g. the 10 am train from Helsinki to St Pete, you will arrive to the Finland Station at 14.36, leaving you still half a day in the Venice of the North. Here's a TR I did on Allegro last year: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...kempinski.html.

startpacking

Sorry, for the confusion when I typed "ferry". I have seen these ships referred to as cruiseferries. There are in many ways a combination of the two, a cruise ship (without all the bells and whistles of a lavish cruise ship) and a ferry that transports people (and freight) from a to b. Whatever terminology you wish to call these ships they are comfortable and a convenient way to travel between cities in the Baltic.

tsastor

Even as I love Stockholm, I too would consider adding one day for St. Pete and maybe subtracting it from Stockholm. You could also add a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia from Helsinki.

Boraxo

Ok here's the revised version:

• 3 days CPH (incl. arrival date)
• 2 days HEL (incl. arrival)
• 1 day train to St. Petersburg
• 4 days St. Petersburg (incl arrival)
• 1 day return train to HEL plus overnight cruise to STO (ETD 17:00)
• 4 days STO (including arr. date)

I feel I'm shorting Finland, and quite a bit of travel the first week, but I can't see cutting anything out. I have an old buddy in Stockholm so that would be a good place to end the trip and spend some time. Hopefully not too difficult to get from train station to port in Helsinki.

Perhaps a little early to start thinking about hotels though we have points across a few programs. The W in St. Petersburg sounds like a good call, and I seem to recall that there were some good Hilton affiliates in Stockholm. Time for some research.

tsastor

There is ONE Hilton in Stockholm and it is a former Scandic. There are THREE Hiltons in Helsinki, including one at the airport, and they are all nice. There is ONE Hilton in Copenhagen, it is by the airport, but it is very nice so I would still consider it. The Renaissance in St. Pete is fine and has an excellent location.