Scandinavian Capitals: Copenhagen, Stockholm & Oslo

Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Day 1 Arrival in Copenhagen

   Fly to Copenhagen; the driverless metro takes you from the airport to the city centre in just 15 minutes. After check-in, walk along Strøget, one of the longest pedestrian streets in Europe, past fountains, churches and Danish design shops to Nyhavn, the 17th-century harbour lined with colourful townhouses and wooden sailing ships, where Hans Christian Andersen once lived. Dinner with smørrebrød, the famous Danish open sandwiches with herring, roast beef or shrimps.

   
2. Day 2 Copenhagen

   A canal boat tour shows you Copenhagen from the water: the modern Opera House, the royal palace of Amalienborg, the old naval base of Holmen and the Little Mermaid on her rock. Your guide then leads you to Rosenborg Castle, a Renaissance palace with the Danish crown jewels, and Christiansborg, seat of parliament, where you can climb the tower for free. In the evening visit Tivoli Gardens, opened in 1843, with its lanterns, flower beds and old wooden roller coaster.

   
3. Day 3 Copenhagen at leisure

   A free day to explore Copenhagen like a local. Rent a bicycle and ride along the harbour baths and cycle bridges, explore the free town of Christiania with its colourful houses and gardens, or visit the Design Museum and the National Gallery. If you prefer a day trip, a short train ride takes you north along the coast to Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art by the sea. Our team arranges tickets and bikes.

   
4. Day 4 Flight to Stockholm

   A one-hour flight brings you to Stockholm, a city built on 14 islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. After check-in your guide walks with you through Gamla Stan, the old town, with its narrow cobbled lanes, the Royal Palace, the cathedral and Stortorget square with its red and yellow merchant houses. Do not miss fika, the Swedish coffee break with a cinnamon bun, in one of the cosy cafés. Dinner with Swedish meatballs and lingonberries.

   
5. Day 5 Stockholm

   Start at the Vasa Museum, home of a royal warship that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628 and was raised almost intact 333 years later, the best-preserved 17th-century ship in the world. Then visit Stockholm City Hall, where the Nobel Prize banquet is held in the Blue Hall, and climb its tower for a panorama over the islands. In the afternoon cruise into the archipelago, a world of thousands of rocky islands with red summer houses, small harbours and pine forests.

   
6. Day 6 Flight to Oslo

   Fly to Oslo in about an hour and transfer to your hotel in the city centre. In the afternoon walk on the sloping white marble roof of the Oslo Opera House, which rises from the fjord like an iceberg, and continue along the waterfront to the modern Munch Museum and the restaurants of Aker Brygge. See the medieval Akershus Fortress above the harbour. Dinner with fresh Norwegian salmon or reindeer by the fjord as the evening light fades.

   
7. Day 7 Oslo

   Your guide shows you Vigeland Park, with more than 200 granite and bronze sculptures by Gustav Vigeland showing the cycle of human life, the Royal Palace and the City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. A ferry takes you across to the Bygdøy peninsula for the Fram polar ship, which carried explorers to the Arctic and Antarctic, and the Norwegian Folk Museum with its stave church. In the evening you may board the DFDS overnight ferry to Copenhagen instead of flying.

   
8. Day 8 Departure

   After breakfast, transfer to Oslo Airport for your flight home, with good connections to all major European airports. If you chose the overnight ferry, you wake up as the ship glides down the Oslofjord past islands and lighthouses and arrive in Copenhagen in the morning. Eight days, three capitals and endless waterfronts: our team stays in touch after the trip and will gladly plan your next journey to the north, such as the Norwegian fjords.