Scandinavia – June 2019

I spent one and a half days in Bergen, the last stop on my trip to Scandinavia.  I had travelled to four cities in three countries in just over a week, so I had packed in about as much as possible.  I was very excited to explore Bergen, as it is less well-known than the other cities I had visited and has fewer museums and touristy things to do, but was the most recommended place by Diana, my Norwegian friend who I had met in New Zealand.

I started off my first day by going into the historic part of the city, which is mostly known for its use as one of the main trading cities by the Hanseatic League.  I didn’t really know anything about the Hanseatic League or its history, so I went to the Hanseatic Museum and took the tour.  They showed us some artifacts from the time as well as some existing foundations from important buildings of the time.  Some of the wooden structures are still standing as well, which we were able to walk through and explore a bit.

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After the museum and walking around the historic parts of the city for a bit, I decided to find a hike that I could do in the afternoon.  Bergen is surrounded by mountains, which makes for a lot of beautiful hiking paths overlooking the city and the ocean.  I found a highly rated path that would only take a couple hours and set out for a nice afternoon tramp.

The view at the top of the hike was beautiful and I decided to keep following signs and go down a different way, which led me past a couple pretty lakes.  I really enjoyed this part of my day and it was a highlight of the trip.  I think I was extremely lucky with the weather (during my entire trip, really) since it rains in Bergen a lot of the year and both days that I was there were sunny and pretty warm.

The next day, I had just the morning to spend in Bergen before having to head to the airport to fly home.  I went back into the city center and just poked in some stores and walked around a bit more.  I felt like Bergen was the perfect city to end with, as I was more laid back in what I wanted to see while I was there.

Overall, my Scandinavia trip was incredible, and I would definitely go back to most of the places I visited again.  While I was able to do a lot in the time that I was there, I would love to get to spend more time in those countries, especially outside of the major cities.  It was a great place to travel solo for a week, though, and I was very glad to be able to plan a trip like that before starting work.  Hopefully my next international trip will not be too far in the future!

This was probably one of my favorite days from my Scandinavia trip.  While it was just a full day of traveling across Norway, I was able to see some of the most beautiful landscapes and take in what else the country has to offer outside of its major cities.  I had decided to follow the “Norway in a Nutshell” itinerary for traveling between Oslo and Bergen, as it is easy to plan and known as one of the most beautiful routes in the world.  This included three different modes of transportation, starting with two trains, then a boat ride through some fjords, a bus, and then another train.

Throughout the entire journey, I was amazed by how beautiful the landscape was.  It was a huge contrast from all the cities I had been in earlier in the week and I couldn’t help but be reminded of New Zealand.  All the mountains, lakes, and even fjords brought me back to all the beautiful places I had been just over a year before.

I was so glad to have been able to spend a day traveling the “scenic route” across Norway.  On this trip I planned to stay in cities for the most part and get a taste of several different places in a short time, but hopefully I’ll be able to return sometime in the future and explore the more rural and scenic areas of Norway even more.

Here are some of the very best pictures I took along the way:

*I know this post is much overdue, but I’m finally getting around to writing about the last few days of my Scandinavia trip- enjoy!*

I got to Oslo in the late morning, and went to my Airbnb to check in.  Then, the first thing on my list was a walking tour.  This was one of the less exciting ones that I’ve been on, but we hit the major sites in the center of town and I find that the walking tours are always the best ways to get oriented to a new city.  We did see the opera house, though, which is supposed to look like an iceberg.  I thought this was one of the cooler(!) buildings I’d seen on my trip so far.

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The next place I went to was the City Hall.  They do 15 minute tours that you can get on whenever you show up, so I was able to go inside to see the main room and learn about the artwork that is displayed and how it shows different parts of Norwegian history.

Next, I wanted to try to go to a couple of the top rated (by Rick Steves) museums before they closed for the day.  The first was the Viking Ship Museum, which I found a little underwhelming, especially since I’m not particularly interested in archaeology or Viking history.  The exhibits were not very interactive and there were just a lot of really old artifacts that were “probably” this or that.  It was cool to think about how old the ships and artifacts were, but I didn’t end up spending that much time there.

The next museum I visited was the Fram Museum.  This focused around yet another ship (the third ship museum in a week!) that was used on explorations to the Arctic.  This was a cool museum because you could actually walk on the ship and go through the underneath areas to see the living and sleeping spaces.  It was much more interactive and had videos and recordings throughout that talked about what life was like on the ship during the expeditions.  It seemed like they had everything on board, even a Christmas tree and piano!

After the museums closed for the day, I headed over to Vigeland Park, which has a lot of sculptures by the famous Norwegian artist, Gustav Vigeland.  I actually didn’t know too much about him or his work, but the park was recommended by Rick Steves, so I decided to check it out.

After a long day of exploring Oslo, I was pretty satisfied with everything I was able to check off.  Compared to the other cities I had just been in, I felt like Oslo was the least exciting for me, and I felt like I had actually been able to see almost everything I had wanted to.  So, I was glad that I had planned the shortest amount of time there and was excited to travel across the country to Bergen, the last stop of my trip!

I flew out of JFK on Friday night and landed in Stockholm around 11:45 Saturday morning. I was in the very last row of the plane (42), but at least I was on the aisle.

I took the train to the Stockholm Centralstation and stored my luggage for the day, since I couldn’t check into my hotel yet. I first grabbed something to eat and saw that the Starbucks in the train station had frozen iced teas that were different flavors, so I decided to try the Strawberry Lime one (it was okay, but I probably wouldn’t get it again) and drink it as I walked over to Gamla Stan, the Old Town.

In Gamla Stan I joined a free walking tour, which lasted about two hours and went in a large loop around the island that the old town sits on. Stockholm is a city made up of several islands all connected by bridges, which makes for pretty waterside views from a lot of the city. After the tour, I walked around a bit more before going to get my luggage and checking into my hotel. Here are some pictures I took while on the tour and walking around:

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The hotel that I am staying at is actually very cool and unique. It is made up of two boats, so you get the experience of staying out on the water in a city made of islands and canals. My room is tiny but has little port holes I can open and hear the waves. I think I’ll sleep very well tonight with the rocking of the boat and after the long day of travelling and walking!

And here are some bonus photos I took of the city at sunset!