Scandinavia with a three year old

[ewbank]

I've got three weeks in July free, and I'd love to travel in Sweden and Norway with my three year old. Am I mad?

I love any advice about destinations, routes, public transport (or I could drive?) as I don't know where to start!!

Thanks

Hopeful bump?

Not much info but we spent five days in Stockholm last August with 3 year old DTs and it was brilliant. We were visiting family which meant we had loads of home comforts (especially massive garden with playhouse) but I still think we would have had fun in an hotel. Weather was 23/24 and bright sunshine and blue skies - perfect toddler and city weather for me as meant it was lovely and warm but you could still actually do stuff. We just took a day trip out to the islands but had we stayed longer we did investigate hiring a cabin on one of the islands and having a few days paddling and offering around little beaches.

Hope that helps a bit!

Thank you for that!

I have some friends in Norway so we could maybe stop with them for a little while on our way through. Been doing some research on the internet there seems loads to see. I'm hoping to get all the way up to Tromsø.

Why would it be mad? Go for it, Skandinavian summers are gorgeous. I'm from Finland and haven't really travelled around Sweden and Norway but the climate is very similar in these countries (unless you travel as far north as Lapland).

Depends when in July you'll go but you should still be able to enjoy the nightless nights (sun sets very late). Just pack a travel blind as it's not always given that your accommodation has black out blinds or curtains. Locals are so used to it being still light at midnight but your 3 year old won't!

Car hire is relatively expensive but driving in Sweden is easy. Good roads, far fewer cars than in the UK

Never done public transport there so can't comment on how good it is

Weather is usually variable - similar to the UK

Thanks for your comments.

I think I'm going to sling a tent in the car and just see where we get to. I definitely want to make it to Lofoten but aside from that we're easy. Are campsites quite cheap/decent quality/plentiful?

I didn't have children at the time but I loved my trip to Norway. We flew into Bergen and out of Oslo and travelled around a bit in between. We took a fjord boat trip, saw some glaciers, and got the train to Oslo, which is reckoned to be one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. My now 4 year old would have loved it! There was a lovely outdoor museum in Oslo as well about the history of Norway - one of those with actors role playing different eras.

I'm sorry im a bit vague on details - it was a long time ago - but they were all super touristy things you'd find in any guide book.

The only thing is it's expensive to eat and drink out, but that's true of lots of places. We tended to picnic during the day to save a bit of cash. Also we were there early August and there were a lot of midges, so pack repellant.

Thanks for the tip Hobbes. I think we'll take a camping stove and eat a lot of sandwiches!

Oh I can't wait now!

I've been to Stockholm in October with my then 2 year old and Bergen in August when she was 5. Both are beautiful and Stockholm deserves to be far more of a 'must do' place than it is, it's a lot prettier than I was anticipating. Train services are good from my limited experience in both Sweden and Norway - perhaps worth investigating rail passes?

On the flip side, as above, it is quite stupidly expensive. As a Danish friend told me, the further North you go, the more expensive it gets. After our Swedish experience, we rented an apartment in Bergen (from the Bergen tourist site) which was 1/2 the price of a hotel and meant we could self cater. Extremely pretty and old and quaint it was too! A supermarket shop in Bergen for 3 days worth of food (and we're not gourmands!) cost the equivalent of £90, twice the amount I would have paid in the UK for the same items. The weather in Bergen was also horrid - 12 degrees at the end of August with pretty much constant rain.

So - definitely go (both places I went were lovely) but take water proofs and sandwich bags!!,