Must see places in Bergen, Stockholm, Helsinki

[DiscoBoots]

I'm travelling round Scandinavia for a couple of weeks in summer with DC 6 and 9. We're visiting Bergen, Stockholm, Helsinki for 4 days each (and a few other places which are already scheduled).

Keen to get any top tips on things we must see in any of these destinations. Kids are both relatively normal on their interests I think? Amazing nature, animals, vikings... not sure what else to mention?!

If there was an equivalent of rhe blue lagoon type hot water springs somewhere I'd love that.

I think we'll take a boat ride in Bergen, and probably visit the Abba museum and nearby Viking museum, but not got anything else planned yet.

Also ideally things we can do on public transport daytrips rather than car hire, but could hire a car for a day or two if warranted.

And also ideally on the cheaper end, the rest of the holiday is already SO EXPENSIVE! But happy to splash out, again if warranted

Probably not keen to visit too many theme parks as we're def spending a day at Tivoli.

Hit me with your hidden or not so hidden gens!

The Vasa Museum in Stockholm is amazing - the Vasa is an 17thC flagship that sank on its maiden voyage but was preserved in the mud around the harbour until it was lifted and restored. Really gives you a sense of the scale of those ships and also what life must have been like onboard one as a sailor.

Agree the Vasa museum is fabulous, the best thing we saw in Stockholm. Your kids are a good age for the Skansen open air museum as well.

Second the Vasa, it's amazing.

I'd also suggest doing at least one boat trip from Stockholm- either to the viking island Birka or to Skoklosters Castle on Lake Mälaren. For the latter, it's important to go with an actual guided tour even if it's in Swedish as the audio guide doesn't give you access to the most important parts like the giant banqueting hall that was left as work in progress with tools and everything in place.

Here's a good description, disregard the info on temporary exhibits: https://www.takemetosweden.be/en/daytrip-skokloster-slott/

Ooh great, Vasa will go on the list!

Will think about a boat trip from Stockholm... with ferries along the way and boat trips from Bergen and Helsinki I'm not 100% sure we'll add another though?

I heard sea kayaking was good in Stockholm, anyone done that?

Also really keen on visiting playgrounds and doing that low-key hanging out thing that the kids love. Playground and an ice cream is always a winner with mine and good not to be too busy every single day?!

There is a really great playground area at the top of the funicular in Bergen. Lots of little walks too with “trolls” hiding in the trees. And ice creams for sale. Also lake to walk around where people have barbecues. Would definitely suit your age group.

The funicular is sort of a must do in Bergen so you probably had that planned anyway. But just so you know you could probably fill half a day up there

Ahh god I love Scandinavia. Loved Bergen, but we went when the kids were about 1&4 so maybe not many suggestions. Fernicular & playground, fjord boat tour (4 hours maybe?), aquarium (just a regular aquarium really). We did a science museum and got a bus to ikea on a rainy day 😂 God it’s a lovely city, just such a nice vibe.

Stockholm yes Vasa, open air museum, and go for a Smorgasbord!

Our family really liked the science museum in Bergen

Gamla Stan in Stockholm is beautiful. It’s the old town and is lovely to stroll through the tiny streets. You can walk there from the city centre in about 15 mins. In the summer it’s very popular to swim in one of the beaches in Stockholm - the water is clean and it’s a very Swedish thing to do if you want to hang out with locals for a few hours. Take a picnic and check out one of these places:

https://www.visitstockholm.com/see-do/activities/swimming-in-the-city/

(source: I live in Stockholm 😄)

For Helsinki, the outdoor museum at Seurasaari is a nice afternoon and accessible by bus and/or tram - it’s been years so I can’t advise exactly but I have never needed a car in Helsinki. Suomenlinna is also a fun trip - a boat ride from the centre.

Everyone is right about both the Vasa museum and the archipelago for a boat trip in Stockholm. I was pre-kids when I went but I remember thinking what a nice place it would be for a family city break. Enjoy!

Aaargh you've all got me really excited about the trip now! So far we've been planning all the boring logistics, really nice to have some fun ideas to add onto it all too

I don't think I knew much about Bergen except visiting the lovely old houses. I went there 20 years ago but have forgotten it all. Funicular and playground sounds perfect.

Nitflux that us exa try the sort of tip km after, perfect! I hope the weather behaves...should it be nice early August? Its no way guaranteed on the South Coast of the UK so not sure why I expect it to be that far north, but I'm hopeful. Will be a pain packing if it's not hot apart from anything else!

Get up into the mountains in Bergen, I went in February so it was snowy but they'll be beautiful in warmer months too, amazing views and easy scenic trails. Delicious bolle at the cafe on top, I dream of those custard buns! You can walk up from the city on a windy switchback roads and trails or take the furnicular.

Those Helsinki ideas look perfect Coffee, thanks.

Ooh this sounds good... walking from the city?! My other memory of Bergen 20 years ago was getting an unnervingly on time bus out in the countryside, it was minute perfect.

Is it worth getting some kind of Bergen tourist (or Stockholm, or Helsinki) ticket to gey into lots of things, or just PAYG?

@DiscoBoots yeah my husband and I walked from the city centre up to the mountain nearest city, it starts on neighbourhood roads and becomes trail quickly. Took about an hour if I recall, then you reach that cafe and then lots of interspersing trails of various difficulties begin :)

I've been to Stockholm and Bergen but on seperate trips so not sure about passes, I usually PAYG so can cherry pick specifically what I want to see.

iirc there's a nice park near the Vasa in Stockholm so you could also chill there for a while with the DC either before or after you visit it. The Nobel museum is fab - lots of interactive exhibits for DCs. Gamla Stan is full of cobbled streets, little shops and cafes.
In Helsinki, there's the Temppeliaukio Church. It might be a bit dull for the younger one but our 9-yr-old loved it - it's circular and built into the rock so you can have a clamber over the rocks that surround it too. There are paths to follow.

Skansen in Stockholm was lovely, we went there more than once. Old houses, bakery, bear cubs, and there's a children's museum called Junibacken which is lovely, has craft stuff for kids to do and a ride which goes through scenes from Scandinavian children's stories like Astrid Lindgren/Pippi Longstocking etc. Really charming and a lovely shop where I bought my Moomin cake tins. Plus you can do a boat trip to get there. Vasa is great too.

The red and blue funiculars in Bergen are very cute and there are nice walks and views at the top. Plus we went to some sort of sea life place in Bergen and saw seals but can't remember the name. Lots of cute shops and amazing fresh fish and chips at the harbour market.

While in Bergen we also took a side trip to the composer Grieg's house where there's a pretty lake and Grieg is buried in a rock tomb in the cliff which deeply impressed my DDs.

Flam Railway is very scenic and I think connects to Bergen by train, we had hire car and also did the viking museum with axe throwing nearby. Fjords worth seeing.

We have seen lots of wildlife in Scandinavia but further north, brown bears at Arola Bears, lots of reindeer in Lapland and moose safari in Norway further north. There's a company called Wild Sweden who offer things, not used, but from memory reachable from Stockholm with car hire. Bit north of Stockholm we stayed at Norranges Alpacka which was Alpaca farm with outdoor pool and you get to tour farm and feed animals. That needs car hire though.

I’m a swimmer, so if I’m in Helsinki for work I go on the OMFG Early flight so I can get a decent swim in at the Allas Pool.

It should be nice in august - last year was beautiful - but, like the UK, you never can tell! Someone mentioned Junibacken above which is a great day out for the kids. It’s quite pricy though, we went on Saturday and it cost about £70ish for 2 adults and 1 child. Eating out is quite expensive here too so I’d recommend picking up sandwiches from a bakery, or there are loads of burger places around. Generally the standard is higher than the UK though, so it’s hard to get a bad meal. Little tip: if you want to buy alcohol you can only get it from a shop called Systembolaget which doesn’t open on a Sunday. Get anything you need when you arrive and keep it at your hotel / apartment. It’ll be MUCH cheaper than drinking in a restaurant. (i know you’re with your kids, but I was at a medium-priced restaurant at the weekend where a large glass of wine was £15 😭)

Helsinki is lovely in summer - like rest of the Scandinavia & Nordic countries.

Your DC are great age to visit Suomenlinna, an island just outside of Helsinki. It's an Unesco world heritage site, and old military outpost with a myriad of ancient tunnels to explore. My DC had a blast there. It's not an amusement park, just walk around at your own pace and poke your head in whatever looks interesting. You can also walk across the old defence walls and wave at the cruise ships as they glide past. It's very popular picnic destination for locals too on a nice summer's day. Just make sure you take the public ferry there rather than the premium tourist one. It's not any better or any faster than the public one.

Korkeasaari Zoo is fun too, it's another island just right outside of Helsinki harbour, you can take a ferry there or bus as it's connected to the mainland by a bridge. Ferry is more fun of course.

Kauppatori market square at the harbour is a must for souvenirs and al fresco coffee & cinnamon buns Finnish style. It's right next to the Presidential Palace too.

Helsinki is very walkable and if you get tired the trams are handy for hopping in & off.

Have dinner at 10.Kerros (10th Floor), beautiful art deco interiors with views across the city.

As Nitflux said, Finland too has a similar system to Sweden's Systembolaget. You can buy regular beer and cider (Finns love their cider, lots of crazy flavours available!) from supermarket but anything else is sold in Alko-stores. I've also heard that they won't sell you if you have children with you, not sure how enforced that is but if you fancy buying a bottle of wine, leave the DC with one parent outside...

One more if random idea - find a big supermarket, only to see the ice-cream isle. In the big markets it's about kilometre long and many crazy flavours and combinations available (bit like with cider lol).

Where are you staying in Helsinki?

In Helsinki there is a church which is carved into a rock- cannot remember it’s name, but it’s stunning and well worth a visit

I LOVE Scandinavia. I haven’t been to Norway (yet). My daughter (15 then) and I spent our summer holiday last year in Stockholm: head to an area known as Djurgården’s. This is a very pleasant part of the city, wooded, lots of lovely trails and very walkable. It is also where you find some of the key attractions: Vasa (my favourite Stockholm museum - it is amazing), Skansen, ABBA museum and the Viking Museum amongst many others.

Helsinki: Suomenlinna is fantastic, it has great big open spaces and lots of ruins to trigger the imagination of young kids. Linnanmäki is an amusement park in the city with great rides for kids at your DCs age. A bit left field, I would also recommend Kiasma, the museum of modern art. It is very relaxed and family friendly and the building is amazing. Also if the weather is bad I can also recommend SuperPark Vantaa. It is a really big indoor activity park just outside Helsinki and you could easily spend all day there.

Also OP, for future holidays I can heartily recommend Copenhagen, Tivoli is not to be missed.