Finishing up our stay in the Nordics!

I have to admit that I was not overly excited to start our trip in the Nordics. I wanted a sandy beach, warmth and lazy days in the sun. However, I have been very pleasantly surprised after our 35 days in the nordic countries! We saw only a tiny fraction of each country by mainly staying in the southern parts of Norway, Sweden and FInland. (Denmark is so small that we travelled around most of it!)

We saw and experienced so many interesting places, from the beautiful fjords in Norway to the breath taking lake district in Finland, below are some of the highlights:

Delicious meal and beer at the Aegir microbrewery in Flam

The tiny city of Flam was gorgeous. The famous train ride from Myrdal to Flam is what attracts most tourists, but the small city of Flam was very charming (and we had our first taste of some great local beer!)
We hiked to the famous Preikenstolen. It was a dificult hike and it became even harder with the cold temperature and the rain. When we got to the top, it was so foggy we couldn’t admire any of the amazing fjords and views!
We shared (Norway is really expensive!!!) a whale steak at the market place and saw the most intersting fishing museum in Bergen.
Finding the forgotten giants from Thomas Dambo (around Copenhagen) was fun and somewhat challenging (we only saw 4 of the 6 wooden sculptures and spent 4 hours doing so!)
Staying and spending 2 days in Legoland Billund (where Legos were invented) was worth every penny! (or Danish Krone)
Our kids loved playing with the chickens at one of our stays to the point the rather hang out with them then go and see the Kronborg castle.
In Malmo we stumbled upon a “though mudder” race that went through the city. It was entertaining and fun to watch!
We have seen many amazing museums, fortresses, castles and churches. A few that stand out:
- The Edvard Munch museum in Oslo (where the famous “the scream” painting hangs)
- The tiny but interesting old church in Flam, from 1670
- The fishing museum in Bergen. Very informative, interesting and interactive!
- The cathedral in Stavanger. Admission for the kids was free, so we gave them our iPhones and they went inside by themselves and took many awesome pics!
- The canning museum in Stavanger, small but very interesting to know the history about the sardine can history and process.
- Copenhagen had some beautiful historic buildings and just walking around (we clocked in 33K steps that day!) was an open air museum!
- The Viking museum of Roskilde. We spent almost 6 hours there. It was very informative and interactive.
- The Nimis “exhibition”. This ‘illegal’ art work made of drift wood and other recycled wood, right next to the shore, was worth the hike and was very mesmerizing!
- The Sofiero palace and Park was fun to explore and read about the Swedish royalty that built it!
- The old food market in Helsinki was beautifully restored and we found some delicious and cheap food!
- The 13th century castle in Turku, Finland was very well restored and the displays were interesting and we found very helpful guides!
- The Savonlinna Castle was gorgeous and breathtaking. Although we did not get to chance to go inside (we were having way too much fun at the lake side cabin), it was a beautiful landmark!
During the 5 weeks in the nordics, we came across some unique Airbnb places:
- In Stavanger, Norway, we stayed with the nicest host that made an amazing breakfast spread each morning (even at 3:30am before we had to head to the airport!)
- In Billlund, Denmark (LegoLand) we slept in a Lego pirate themes room with 2 bunk beds for all 5 of us! We all had great nights of sleep!
- In Landskrona, Sweden, we slept in the attic of an 18th century house in Sweden. The room was spacious, had a swing and a pool table! We stayed with a host family and their adorable dog!
- In the Stockholm archipelago we slept in a cozy cottage on a small island named Storholmen, no cars, no WiFi and only accessible by ferry.
- In Savonlinna (Lake district in Finland) we stayed at a typical lake side cabin with no running water (just a hose with a pump to the lake), no WiFi, no shower but right on the lake, with an amazing sauna and a row boat. We had the best time!
- In Kotka, Finland, we slept in a building that was the old school from the early 1900. We highly recommend exploring the Nordic countries! People are friendly and it is gorgeous, from the lush forest to the beautiful historic cities. We hope to be able to come back and explore other parts!