Earlier this summer, my husband looked up from the paper and asked, “Did you hear that Delta Airlines has launched a new direct flight to Copenhagen, Denmark?”
Photo by Laura Oliven Silberfarb
That was all the spark we needed. One month later, we were on our way to our Scandinavian adventure. I have long been curious about Scandinavia due to the close ties and history that Minnesota has with these countries. We very quickly put together a four-city itinerary beginning in Copenhagen flying to Oslo, taking the train to Stockholm, flying to Helsinki, and a hop back to Copenhagen to return home. Technically, Finland is a Nordic country with a different and more neoclassical feel to it, but we wanted to include it in the trip. We decided to focus on cities to learn more about the region’s history, museums, arts, culture, and of course, food. We like the freedom traveling on our own—but it does mean you are responsible for your own logistics. Here are a few tips for DIYers that made a big difference in our trip.
We began each city with a free walking tour (although called free, the expectation is to give your guide a tip at the end). They are easy to sign up for, and it is a great way to get oriented to the history, geography, and highlights in the city; they will also give you great tips for local restaurants. We also bought downloadable “city passes” for Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm. These passes are a convenient and affordable way to explore museums, sites, and skip the lines. They also include interesting other types of sites like the Karen Blixen house (author of the 1937 memoir “Out of Africa”) and the Tivoli Gardens Amusement Park that helped inspire Disney. We ended up stopping into places we would not have otherwise visited. In Copenhagen, we briefly visited MACA, a museum of modern contemporary art to see a Banksy exhibit we passed on the way back from the Museum of Danish Resistance. Some passes include local transportation options like ferries to the museum islands. We made great use of them.
Another tip? Set up shareable, individualized Google maps for each city. It was an indispensable tool; not only can you pre-identify the highlights and destinations in each of the cities, but it also gives you detailed transportation information with live information on the bus, trains, and trams schedules, as well as the walking distance. A challenge it brings, though, is orienting yourself to where you are on the map, especially if you are coming out of a train station. More than once, we started walking the wrong way, only to turn around. Although we take the usual precautions to keep valuables safe (e.g., bags that lock), we felt extraordinarily safe in all four cities. We always try to learn linguistic basics in the countries we visit, but in Scandinavia, everyone speaks English. In Stockholm, they greet you with “Hey” and often “Hey, Hey.” It was such a fun greeting—we may bring that one home. One other note, we made the decision a few years ago to fly with carry-ons only. Hopping between cities, it makes a huge difference to pack light.
An army travels on its stomach, and so did our little squad. If you are eating at restaurants, these are reservation cities. We chose restaurants that would allow us to sample local food, see different parts of the city, and get out of the more touristy areas. I found it especially nice to have a dinner reservation the first night in each city, as it takes away some of the stress and guesswork. I often changed reservations based on local tips once we were on the ground, but this is a really nice way to learn more about the culture and gastronomic highlights of each city.
A great hotel can be part of the fun of experiencing a new city. We strategically used credit card points for our hotels. In Copenhagen and Oslo, we used our flexible Chase Reserve points and booked centrally located, special hotels. In Copenhagen, we stayed in the boutique Nobis Hotel, which included a sauna and cold plunge in the lower level. It was rejuvenating to plunge into that cold water after hours of walking in the heat. In Oslo, we stayed at the historic and iconic Grand Hotel. Opened in 1874, with its painted dining rooms and elegant winding staircases, it is the hotel where Nobel Peace prize winners and heads of state are often housed. I like the support and comfort of a good hotel with the morning breakfast and a concierge to check your itinerary. In Stockholm and Helsinki, we used our Hilton points to stay in their named hotels. While both hotels were fine and we enjoyed some benefits of being in their honors club, these more institutional hotels lacked the charm and central locations of our other stays.
My husband and I share many interests and tend to focus on history, art, unique museums, and food. These countries have centuries of royalty and many palaces to see. I visited three Copenhagen palaces, including the Rosenborg Palace, to see the crown jewels of Denmark. In Norway, you have to do a guided palace tour. The guide entertained us with humorous stories. Being the smallest of the regional palaces, they used to walk guests around the halls on the way to dinner to make them think the castle was bigger than it is. The mothership of palaces is in Stockholm with a massive edifice that dominates as intended. If you are lucky, you can catch the changing of the guard which includes a marching band. Stockholm’s Gamla Stan is a highlight. It is the original city center dating back over 750 years from the 13th century. Earlier buildings burned over the years, but the buildings there today date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. You could spend hours exploring these winding and narrow cobblestone streets.
Each of the cities has interesting and unique museums. My husband visited many of the fortresses and military museums. Both Copenhagen and Oslo have resistance museums about local efforts to fight the Nazis in World War II. Two unique museums really stood out in our trip. The spectacular Fram museum in Oslo housed on the city’s “museum island” (accessible by ferry) is dedicated to Norwegian polar exploration. You can literally walk on board this ship built in 1892 and explore the different levels of the boat. It also has an experiential movie of Antarctic flight exploration where you feel like you are on board a crash landing. The other standout was the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. We loved seeing a beautifully restored ship from the 17th century that sunk in the harbor within hours of its maiden voyage. I’m sad to say the line for the ABBA museum next door was too long for us to stay. In the summer months, you must decide which museums to prioritize. We always include art museums in our itineraries. We chose a sample and especially enjoyed the Glyptotek in Copenhagen, the Munch Museum in Oslo, the National Museum in Stockholm,, and the design museum in Helsinki. There are literally dozens of art museums we did not have time to visit.
Another major highlight of the trip was visiting the Nobel Centers and City Halls in Oslo (Nobel Peace Prize) and in Stockholm (Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Economic Sciences). The great halls in both city halls are impressive tributes and beautifully decorated to inspire excellence. I have followed the Nobel Peace prize winners for years, and it was exciting to be in that building. The museum is exceptional and includes exhibits designed to teach listening, tolerance, acceptance, and encourage peaceful interactions and a better understanding of each other.
Another fun and unique experience was walking up the sloping exterior of the Oslo Opera House. Set along the sea, the architecture is designed to look like an iceberg. The city invites and encourages people to walk up and down the sloping walkways. It offers a great view of the city. Next door is the Oslo Library, voted one of the best in the world. It was an enjoyable hour to walk through the floors, each one with inviting spaces, artwork, botanical, cafes, and communal workspaces. On a tip, I did spend a glorious hour at an outlet of the internationally acclaimed Marimekko store in Helsinki. It was worth the trip with a whole room of their famously vibrantly colored fabric, samples from the factory at steep discount, and a room of “last year’s” fashion at half the price.
In almost every city, Stephen explored the local soccer scene. One of the nights, he went to an international soccer game to see Hammarby IF in the European league. Earlier in the day, I heard marching fans making their way through the city. I asked a policeman if I should be concerned. He just laughed and said this was part of the fun. Stephen was thrilled with the raging enthusiasm of the fans and came back sporting a new dark green jersey.
Now to the food. For us, exploring the culinary and local food traditions of each of the cities was a highlight. We watch a show called “Somebody Feed Phil” where Phil Rosenthal explores cities by visiting restaurants and sharing meals as a way of understanding the people, culture, and traditions in a region. Let’s begin with the breads in Scandinavia. The cardamom bun is taken to new heights. I had the best bun of my life at Andersen & Maillard in Copenhagen. I had intended to save half for my husband, but before I knew it, it was gone. Moist, butter filled, and chewy, scented with the exotic flavor of cardamom. I have never seen so many pastry shops with windows filled with buttery goodness. The Swedes have an enlightened tradition called Fika, which is a relaxing break with good company, often with coffee and a pastry, dedicated to enjoying life and savoring its pleasures. When you’re walking 20,000 steps a day, it is also a chance to sit down, relax, and reflect on the day.
A favorite lunch on the trip was the Danish Smørrebrød. It consists of thin, dark rye bread with piles of little shrimps, roast beef, or smoked salmon, often including egg and maybe tomato. They were delicious, and we ate many of them. All four cities are on the sea and feature extraordinary, fresh seafood. In Oslo, we ate at The Salmon, a restaurant dedicated to this glorious fish. We tried the sampler with smoked, cured, and grilled salmon. My husband had a pickled herring sampler. All four of the cities also have unique indoor food markets, or Saluhalls. We enjoyed one in Copenhagen the most, where each stall has a purveyor of unique specialties. It’s a great way to sample the best of the local fare. We shared a table there with a young man traveling around the world for over a year. We sat there for over an hour listening as he described some of his favorite destinations, his approach to choosing cities, and how he made this unique lifestyle work.
One of the more unique dining experiences in Copenhagen was an Absalon Folkehuset dinner. This is a community center that is devoted to building community and bringing people together through food and activities. You sign up in advance, and the large hall has rows of tables where people share a meal and connect with each other. Its website notes they believe social bonds between people are what make life meaningful. We sat with young men from Australia who were working in London and on holiday and to our right, a young Danish couple. Table captains serve each of the courses, and the food was delicious. Scandinavia is not inexpensive; it was a nice treat to have a delicious meal for two for a total of $30. Best of all, we met interesting people and expanded our horizons through connection.
On our second to last night, we ate at a classic Finish restaurant in Helsinki that has been open since 1933 called The Seahorse. In addition to a delicious dinner of classic steak and onions, we noticed a unique dessert on the menu and asked the server to explain it to us. They served a bowl of frozen cranberries and poured hot caramel over it. It was sublime. He said it works because it’s hot and cold; sweet and sour. We are still thinking about that dessert, and I can’t wait to try it at home.
In Stockholm, our local guide told us to be sure to eat at Meatballs for the People. With little chance to make a reservation, we arrived to a long line, but it was part of the fun and moved quickly. The menu features 15 kinds of meatballs, including reindeer moose and boar. Housed in its original building, they stacked dinners into contrived stadium-like levels to maximize occupancy. After meals, we often wandered the city at night stopping in at local cocktail establishments. This was another fun way to meet new people and connect with local culture. All four countries have an unusually large number of Michelin-starred restaurants. Although this is not our thing, it would be another fun way to explore the region’s delights.
Normally a Scandinavian trip includes sauna experiences. This is a centerpiece of their way of life in the region. Even apartment buildings have saunas. Each city has unique and wonderful sauna options, even ones that float or are combined with restaurants; many of which include a plunge into cold water afterward. During our 14 days, we had 13 and a half sunny, unseasonably hot days. These cities are not built for heat. There was very little air conditioning in restaurants, buses, and even some hotels. We were warm, day and night, and the thought of a sauna just was not enticing. This gives us yet another reason for us to return.
In conclusion, thank you, Delta Airlines, for creating a direct flight route from Minneapolis to Copenhagen. It created an invitation for us to explore this region, and we will be sure to return. We would like to see now more of the glorious countryside, forests, fjords, and unique landscapes. In the meantime, we can’t wait to see what other new direct flights to inspire our next adventure.
