Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen

[herrbert]

I am having itchy feet again, and in one week (31-8) I am leaving for Scandinavia (flights and hostels are reserved). The trip will bring me first to Helsinki, then across to Türkü on the westcoast of Finland. From there I will fly to Stockholm for a couple of days, and finally to Copenhagen. I know that not a lot threads on this message board are dedicated to these places (I could find only a few), but if anybody has a few good tips about any of these places, then please let me know. (off course I am reading a lot, but to my opinion, reading a book, can never beat the experience, of someone who has actually been there)

[commie]

stockolm is great!

dont miss the skansen park and vasa museum. been there and it was pretty good, however the aquaria water museum is quite close to skansen and vasa but i would skip that, its imho to expensive fur such a small exhibition. www.stockholmtown.com offers a discount card to see more than 60 museums cheaper or even free. if everything is closed you can still spent 2 days explore the city and take lots of pictures (if you have good wheather....).
there is even a hostel on a ship somewhere in stockholm (www.rygerfjord.se), maybe this could be an attraction too.

and dont forget: skandinavia is a BYO area or you spent 50 euro/night in bars and pubs without even getting drunk

[herrbert]

Thanks for the tips. Vasa and Skansen look really great (I just checked the websites)

I will have to see if the card is worthwhile (at first glance it looks that way). I know Scandinavia is more expensive than other places (and that's I think the most important reason that most people don't go there). But luckely I am not a huge consumer of alcohol.

I promise to save my drinking money for Madrid (Lavapies is great for eating and drinking!), but that's for next month, first to the north!

[herrbert]

Just to follow-up on my own topic (in case future readers find this one via the search mode). These are my recommondations on Scandinavia.

Helsinki, is a great place. not a very big city, and very doable in 2 days. Seurasaari (open-air museum) and Suomenlinnen are good place to go. Helsinki is also a great startingpoint to make trips (Porvo, Turku, Tampere are all close, and can be reached within 1-2 hours, and can be done as a daytrip). Tallin is not that far away (doable as a daytrip by boat), but you will have to make reservations.

One thing you should however not do is to stay at the stadion hostel at the Olypic Stadion. (awful)

Stockholm is a great place also, it has a lot of old buildings (like Vienna). Skansen is good for a couple of hours of fun, the Vasamuseum is an absolut must, if you go to Stockholm. There are a lot of museums to check out, if you are into this. (I had an overdose of (art)museums earlier this year, so I passed on them) Drottningholm Castle is for the people who like places like Schönbrunn / Versailles (it's just outside Stockholm), two or three days are however enough to see Stockholm.

The Fridhemsplan hostel is excellent. (I mean really excellent)

Copenhagen is like Amsterdam, so for me not really that special, but it's good for a day or two. Tivoli is however expensive, a good way to spend a Saturday evening.

All in all it was a good trip, and I am sure to back to Finland in the future, because I really like the country and the people. Only thing with both Finland and Sweden is that a lot of sights run a very limited programm after the 1st of September. So if you go, go in July or August.