Where in Scandinavia for holiday with kids?

[Monvelo]

Where is nice to go in Scandinavia, with kids? I've got zero starting point. Would like good scenery and nature and pretty towns. The cost will be a consideration as I believed it's pricey.

Where in the UK are you based? Avoid flying by considering travelling by car ferry if in the North East, then you have transport sorted on arrival.
Distances are massive so a car is a must, and although all of the nature is pretty spectacular, especially the further up you go, you can't plan to visit too many places as nothing is really an easy day-trip away, unless you're really leaning into a 'road-trip' narrative. Better to pick a priority: "a cabin by the coast" or "access to skiing" or "close to an amusement park" and use that as a baseline starting point when working out what to plot on your itinerary.
Really take my word for the long distances thing; I've tried to pack too much in and it's sooo boring for the DC.

I love Stockholm and the archipelago, which I think is beautiful and is pretty easy to travel by car and ferry.

Equally Bergen and the fjords is beautiful.

If you like cities Copenhagen is fab, lots of kid friendly stuff to do.

But pp is right, the distances are huge: this summer, we took a 14 hour train journey from Gällivare in the north of Sweden down to Östersund. It's then a few hours more to Stockholm, and then we got the sleeper train to Malmo, and across the Oresund bridge to Copenhagen. We loved it, but we like trains 😂.

We did Denmark with our children. Cheap flights to Copenhagen and then rented a house for 5 days. We all liked the city. After that we hired a car and travelled around visiting Legoland and the beaches. The scenery is a bit bland though.

We also visited Norway this year going via the ferry - these can be very expensive. The distances are massive and the speed limit is low so you do not get around as fast as you might think. Weather is also an issue, it was very wet and cold in June. I am not sure I would have taken the kids to Norway when they were younger, there are other more child-friendly places to go in Europe.

You can get reasonably priced Ryanair flights from Stansted to a a few destinations. I flew to Stockholm for £95 return and next month I'm flying to Helsinki for £105 return. Both with a 10kg cabin bag. As a PP said it's best not to be over ambitious and it all depends what you want to do/see. Chilling by lakes with a canoe, rowing boat or SUP/forest hikes - Sweden or Finland, spectacular scenery, Norway. Denmark has Legoland, Copenhagen and pretty islands like Aero. Then there's Iceland which is a whole topic by itself. And yes, I am aware I've gone Nordic rather than just Scandinavia.

Choose the right country - Denmark is WAY more expensive than the others; Norway and Iceland are also more expensive. I'd go for Sweden or Finland.

Rent a house - houses/cottages are SO much cheaper to rent than here, however, do not expect luxury: Swedish cottage renting traditionally involves 'going back to nature' and living frugally. Today there are obviously all sorts, but when I see what people expect here when they rent, it's a different kettle of fish... So check what you'll get etc.

The very cheapest option is actually to swap homes - you can find people who want to go everywhere, so even if you don't think your home/area is particularly interesting, it will be to some people! Check out peoplelikeus.world or homeexchange e.g.

In Sweden most areas do a 'summer travel deal' whereby you pay a very small amount of money and can then travel as much as you want on local trains and buses as you want. E.g. in the south of Sweden this summer it was about £50 for 2 months' travel - loads of things to explore. If you had a week there for example, I'd choose to either live in a city (probably Malmö, with walking/cycling distance to a beach), and then explore quaint towns (Ystad (Wallander), Simrishamn, Skanör) by bus/train; and nature too (Kullen, Skäralid, Österlen).

Alternatively, if you want a very water focused time, I'd go to Blekinge (south-east) and go island hopping in the Blekinge archipelago. Check out the cabins here - you'll be literally on a beach, it's a UNESCO world heritage town and the archipelago is just as beautiful as the Stockholm one (but fewer tourists). Also do explore Kalmar if you go there :-)

Stockholm's archipelago is fantastic too, but Stockholm is generally a tad more expensive.

If you have any specific questions I can help with just let me know.