12 Days 11 Nights
Daily Tour
Private / Custom
English
Copenhagen (2N) – Odense – Frederikshavn (1N) – Hirtshals – ferry to Kristiansand – Oslo (1N) – Telemark (1N) – Vemork – Bergen (2N) – Sognefjord – Fagernes area (1N) – Lillehammer – Karlstad (1N) – Mariefred – Stockholm (2N) · private tour · price on request · your dates
Three kingdoms, two seas and some of the most beautiful roads in Europe. This 12 Days Scandinavia Holiday travels through Denmark, Norway and Sweden the way the Scandinavians themselves do: by road, by ferry and by fjord boat, from the royal squares of Copenhagen to the old town of Stockholm. It is planned and supported by IMAD Travel, an IATA-certified travel agency in Hyderabad serving travellers from across India since 2011. We can arrange this same route, or a similar one, as a custom package for your family, couple or group, on your own dates and with your choice of hotels. Just quote the tour code IMAD-EU-32927 when you contact us.
WhatsApp +91 63003 03169 for a quote on your dates, or to add Flåm, the Geirangerfjord or Helsinki. Tour code: IMAD-EU-32927
Families, couples and small groups who want to see all three Scandinavian countries in one unhurried trip, without changing hotels every night or dragging bags through railway stations. Most stops are one or two nights, the long drives are broken up with ferries, waterfalls and lakeside towns, and every transfer, ferry and cruise is booked before you leave India. It also works well for first-time visitors to Europe who have already seen Switzerland or Paris and want somewhere quieter, greener and less crowded.
The journey begins in Copenhagen, a city of copper spires, bicycles and canals. An orientation drive takes in Amalienborg, where the Danish royal guard changes at noon, the small and much-photographed Little Mermaid, and the Gefion Fountain, before free time in Nyhavn, where the painted houses lean over the water and the cafés spill onto the quay. On the third day you cross the Great Belt Bridge to Funen and stop in Odense, the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen, whose fairy tales many of us grew up with, before driving over the Little Belt and north through Jutland to Frederikshavn, a fishing and ferry town close to the point where the North Sea and the Baltic meet.
Next morning, from nearby Hirtshals, a ferry carries you across the Skagerrak to Kristiansand, Norway’s sunny southern gateway, and the road follows the coast to Oslo. A guided tour shows you the Vigeland Park, where more than two hundred granite and bronze figures show every stage of human life, the National Theatre, the Parliament and the medieval Akershus Fortress above the harbour, with time to see the white marble Opera House, whose sloping roof you can walk up. Then the city falls away and the road climbs into Telemark, a region of deep lakes, narrow valleys and dark wooden farmhouses. At Vemork, the hydro-electric plant above a deep gorge, the museum tells the true wartime story of the “Heroes of Telemark”, the Norwegian and British commandos who destroyed its heavy water production.
Western Norway is the heart of the trip. A ferry crosses the Hardangerfjord from Utne to Kvanndal, whose slopes are covered in apple and cherry orchards that blossom white in May, and at Steinsdalsfossen a path leads behind the falling water, so you can photograph the waterfall from the inside and stay dry. Then comes Bergen, the city of seven mountains, with two nights to enjoy it. Walk the creaking wooden alleys of Bryggen, the old Hanseatic wharf and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, taste fresh prawns and salmon at the fish market, and ride the Fløibanen funicular for the classic view over the harbour.
Leaving Bergen, you cruise on the Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in Norway, and its narrow arm the Nærøyfjord, where cliffs rise more than a thousand metres from the water and tiny villages such as Undredal, famous for its goat cheese, and Aurland cling to the shore. The road then climbs over the mountains to the lakes around Fagernes. Next day you pass Lillehammer, the friendly Olympic town of 1994, and follow the shores of Lake Mjøsa before crossing into Sweden.
Värmland is a land of pine forests and, it is said, more than ten thousand lakes. You spend a night in Karlstad, a sunny little city on Lake Vänern, the largest lake in Sweden, and the next day stop in the little town of Mariefred to see the round towers of Gripsholm Castle on Lake Mälaren before arriving in Stockholm. Built across fourteen islands, the Swedish capital is a fitting finale: the narrow, ochre-coloured lanes of Gamla Stan, the Royal Palace, the City Hall where the Nobel banquet is held, and the Vasa Museum, home to a 17th-century warship that sank on its first voyage and was raised almost intact after more than three hundred years.
Fairy-tale Odense on the way north. The open sea of the Skagerrak from the ferry deck. Standing behind the Steinsdalsfossen waterfall. Prawns on the quay in Bergen. The silence of the Sognefjord when the boat engine slows. A cinnamon bun and coffee, the Swedish “fika”, in a Gamla Stan café on your last afternoon.
Scandinavia’s summer season, from late May to early September, brings long, bright days, with daylight late into the evening in Norway, and every fjord ferry and mountain road open. Hotels in Bergen and Stockholm and the fjord cruises fill early for June, July and August, so planning a few months ahead gives you the best choice of hotels and dates.
This is a price on request private tour: we quote for your dates, hotel category and group size, and the road journeys run by private car, van or coach depending on how many of you travel. A single Schengen visa covers Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and our visa team can help you apply. The drives are scenic but some days are long, so we can add a night, for example in Flåm or the Hardanger area, if you prefer a slower pace. Vegetarian and Indian meals can be found in all the cities on the route.
More of Scandinavia: see all our Norway tour packages, the 13 days Classic Scandinavia tour, the 7 days Copenhagen, Oslo and Bergen tour, or the 5 days Copenhagen and Stockholm tour.
WhatsApp +91 63003 03169 — quote tour code IMAD-EU-32927 for this 12 days Scandinavia holiday through Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Welcome to Denmark. On arrival at Copenhagen Airport, transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to settle in, perhaps with an evening walk to Nyhavn or the Strøget shopping street. Overnight Copenhagen.
After breakfast, an orientation drive around the Danish capital, the seat of the world’s oldest kingdom: Amalienborg Palace, the Little Mermaid, the Gefion Fountain, Christiansborg Palace and City Hall Square. The rest of the day is free. Optional: a tour of the castles of Zealand, a canal cruise or Tivoli Gardens. Overnight Copenhagen.
Leave Copenhagen and cross the Great Belt Bridge to the island of Funen. Stop in Odense, the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen, then cross the Little Belt and drive north through Jutland to Frederikshavn, a harbour town near Skagen at the northern tip of Denmark. Overnight Frederikshavn.
Drive to Hirtshals and board the ferry across the Skagerrak to Kristiansand in Norway, then continue by road along the south of Norway to Oslo (about 320 km). Overnight Oslo.
A guided city tour of Oslo: the sculptures of Gustav Vigeland in Frogner Park, the National Theatre, the Parliament and Akershus Fortress. Later, a scenic drive west into the Telemark region of lakes, forests and valleys. Overnight in the Telemark area.
Drive to Vemork, where the wartime heavy water plant was destroyed by the Heroes of Telemark, and visit the Vemork museum. Continue through lakes, winding valleys and gorges, cross the Hardangerfjord by ferry from Utne to Kvanndal, and stop at Steinsdalsfossen, where you can walk behind the waterfall, before arriving in Bergen. Overnight Bergen.
A free day in Bergen, the city of seven hills and home of the composer Edvard Grieg: the UNESCO-listed Bryggen wharf, the fish market and the old town. Optional: the Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen for the view over the city and harbour. Overnight Bergen.
Travel to the Sognefjord, Norway’s longest and deepest fjord, and cruise on the narrow, UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord, past villages such as Undredal and Aurland. Then continue over the mountains to the Fagernes area (about 380 km in all). Overnight Fagernes area.
Drive to Lillehammer, host of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and along the shores of Lake Mjøsa. Cross into Sweden through the forests and lakes of Värmland to Karlstad on Lake Vänern. Overnight Karlstad.
Continue east to the charming town of Mariefred to see Gripsholm Castle on Lake Mälaren, and arrive in Stockholm in the afternoon. Evening at leisure. Overnight Stockholm.
A guided tour of the Swedish capital, built across 14 islands between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic: Gamla Stan, the Royal Palace and the City Hall, where the Nobel banquet is held. The afternoon is free. Optional: the Vasa Museum or an archipelago boat trip. Overnight Stockholm.
After breakfast, transfer to Stockholm Arlanda Airport for your flight home.
