I first decided that we’d go on a Nordics trip back in December.
Robert and I had been living in USA for nearly 5 months, and I was itching to have some more travel on the horizon. When I discovered that a travel blogging conference was going to be held in Stockholm, I just couldn’t say no.
I purchased my conference ticket and started planning a 3 week trip around it. That trip starts this week! I’ll be ticking off 4 new countries in a part of Europe that I’ve never been to before – the Nordics.
If you’re wondering what the difference is between the Nordics and Scandinavia, you’re not the only one. Those are some blurred lines, to be sure, and you’ll probably get a different answer depending on who you ask. As a geography nerd, I decided to find out the differences:
Scandinavia is generally referred to as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The Nordics usually include all the Scandinavian countries, as well as Iceland, Finland and their associated territories (Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Åland Islands).
If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you might enjoy this fact: In Northern Europe, the Nordic countries are often referred to as Norden meaning “The North”. If I come across any castles that look vaguely like Winterfell, I’ll be sure to post it on Instagram.
Now that we know all about Scandinavia and the Nordics, it’s time to show you my trip itinerary, which literally has me squirming in excitement.
days 1-5: Iceland
I’ve been wanting to go to Iceland for a while now, but from Australia, it’s a b*tch to get there. The two countries are literally on opposite points of the globe.
Luckily I now live in NYC, which means Iceland is only a 5 hour flight away! Robert and I will fly from New York to Reykjavik, where we’ll spend 5 days doing road trips around the west and south of this incredibly scenic country.
As someone who thoroughly enjoys photography in naturally beautiful places, I’m pretty damn excited for this part of our summer trip!
Days 6-8: Denmark
From Reykjavik we fly into Copenhagen. We weren’t even going to include Denmark on this trip, but the flights were cheap and conveniently timed so we decided, why not spend a few days exploring the Danish capital.
I expect that we will consume many pastries, and if I get a sighting of the Crown Princess Mary, I imagine her and I will promptly go to tea and discuss our Tasmanianism. (Don’t know the story? Check out this article on the official website of Denmark, which hilariously refers to Australia as “a remote country” and regards Mary’s parents as “commoners”).
Days 9-15: Sweden
We take a fast train from Copenhagen to Stockholm and follow it up with a few days exploring the city. I’ll be interested to see whether Stockholm will impress me with its Scandinavian beauty and culture.
Robert will then head back to New York while I stay on for TBEX. I have 2 days free before the conference activities start, which I’ve decided to use for few days of R&R (most likely consuming numerous coffees, and not much else) in the university city of Uppsala.
On the day before the conference, I’ll be taking a day trip to the historic township of Sigtuna, sponsored by Visit Stockholm for TBEX attendees. From then on, there’s parties and events and conference galore up until the weekend.
Days 16-21: Finland
The day after the conference, my press trip with Visit Finland officially starts! Along with 9 other bloggers, I’ll be jumping on an early morning ferry which will take us to Mariehamn in the Åland Islands, situated between Sweden and Finland.
We spend 2 days in Åland doing some outdoorsy activities and getting to know this picturesque area before taking a ferry to the Finnish mainland.
We spend another 2 days in Turku exploring the Finnish archipalego before heading back to Stockholm on an overnight ferry, where I’ll then jump on a flight back to New York.
A bit sad to hear, you didn’t want to include Denmark in the first place. To me, Denmark has a lot more heart and soul than Norway and Sweden do, Norway especially. Denmark is full of beautiful scenery if you bother to go a bit out of Copenhagen and up the coast to cities like Elsinore, where the castle Kronborg is located which is where Shakespeare’s Hamlet takes place. You must try our famous open faced sandwiches, “smørrebrød”, spend an evening in Tivoli after sunset, visit Nyhavn, watch the change or guards at Amalienborg and generally just enjoy our awesome city and the Danish mentality.
Well now, I never said that I didn’t want to go to Denmark! I just said that it wasn’t in our original plan 😉 I’m sure I will love it. Thanks for your tips, Tess!
I’m heading to Denmark for six months in August, let me know if you find any hidden gems throughout the Nordic countries! Would love some more places to pop on my weekend getaway list ?
Ooh that is so exciting! Are you going there to study? I’ll be sure to put together a huge list of weekend ideas for you 😀
Yep! I’m lucky enough to essentially get paid to live the Danish life ? I would love your fav spots!
Sounds like a fabulous trip! I’ll also be in Stockholm – looking forward to meeting everyone!
Kate | http://www.petiteadventures.org/
Oh yay, that’s great! I can’t wait for Stockholm. I’m sure TBEX is going to be awesome 🙂
Sounds Fantastic as usual Ashlea! I’ll keep an eye on your Scandi adventures.
If you get a chance, head up to Tampere in Finland. It’s only 2 hours by train and has a cute little Moomin museum!. Or visit Junibacken while you are in Stockholm as they have a Moomin exhibition on there. https://www.moomin.com/en/
Alternatively you could head to Espoo to the Museum of Modern Art. http://www.emma.museum/en
Have a great trip!
Ooh sounds like a great suggestion! I won’t have time to head up to Tampere, but I’ll have plenty of time in Stockholm to check out a few museums 😀 Thanks Si!
Wow this looks so exciting! I’ve never been to any of the Scandi countries before, but hoping to check out Norway and Denmark this winter 🙂
That’s so exciting, Sarah! I would have loved to include Norway as well, but I feel like I would need to dedicate a decent amount of time to see it. You’ll have to let me know what it’s like once you’ve been!
Sounds like it was a really exciting trip! I’m curious how you found Uppsala to be? Since it’s so close to Stockholm I’m thinking maybe Uppsala would be a good starting point for my trip to Sweden…
It was a great trip, thanks Wilma! Uppsala was nice, it was small and pretty. But I don’t think I needed to spend so long there – you could easily do it in a day trip from Stockholm 🙂
So for purchasing flights, did you purchase Iceland first and then to Denmark via a more local airline? Or how does all that work? I’m planning to visit my old high school foreign exchange student in Copenhagen next summer and want to make stops in Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Thanks!
Oh, that will be a great trip! I purchased all segments of the flights separately so that I could take advantage of whichever airline was more direct/cheaper. I ended up going with Iceland Air from NYC to Reykjavik, SAS to Copenhagen, and Norwegian from Stockholm back to NYC. In total the cost was about $900-$1000 USD for all 3 flights 🙂
I hope to visit Scandinavia this year so thanks for your tips!
x
Ooh that’s exciting, Stephanie! It’s definitely worth the trip, Scandinavia is an awesome place to visit 😀
LOVED this article. Have been absolutely dying to visit these countries forever, and now I want to go even more! Coming from Australia, like you said, it’s such a long way. But so worth it. I would love to hire a car and visit all these places, especially the Christmas Village in Finland that I keep hearing about. Your blog is great! 🙂 Jen
Thanks Jen! It’s absolutely worth the long journey from Australia – you won’t regret it! I think hiring a car to drive around the Nordics would be a perfect way to see these countries. And you’ll have to let me know what the Finnish Christmas Village is like when you make it there – I’m also dying to see it 🙂