The summer planning has begun ! With so much vacation time missed due to pandemic - we decided to do a big tour this summer as well as see our friends in Denmark.
Plan is to first spend a week+ driving around Iceland - we want to get a volcanic walk and a glacier walk in.
Then we will fly to Oslo and spend a few days there. After which we will drive down into Sweden and see the coast - and the 2 great cities of Gothenburg and Malmo.
This will bring us into Denmark! Which we have missed and see our amazing friends there. Spend a few days in Copenhagen and maybe drive around a bit as well.
Then we will take a train to Stockholm and spend a few days there before flying home.
I know many of you are well traveled - thus any and all ideas are very welcome!! Still early in planning stage but working on it.
We went to Malmo for the day, and also had lunch at Julie Vinbar. Agree with the rec.
We did one special dinner in Copenhagen. We ate at Amass. It’s in a funky, but fun, area, and the restaurant was also a bit funky. Honestly, going over to and eating at Amass was one of the highlights of our trip.
That would be a fun detour or pit stop, and they now have guest accommodations. But I read somewhere that dates are filling up.
We visited Koks when we went to Denmark and the Faroe Islands. My Copenhagen and Malmo recs above were all from that trip. Koks was a crazy good experience, and we loved the Faroe Islands (have not been to Iceland or Greenland). I would recommend Koks if you can swing it, but I will warn you that the menu options can be limiting. I can see how some people may be turned off by some of the food.
Sounds like you’re going to have a terrific trip.
Thanks Paul! My wife wanted to add the Faroe Islands into this but i am not sure we can swing it… how many days? did you go from Copenhagen?
We are not going to Greenland on this one for sure. again - limited in days and we do want to hit all 3 capitol cities
Yes I do realize Greenland is not in Iceland : ) I also know Mikhail is a professor and probably has some flex in his summer schedule hence why I suggested Bornholm and a possible detour to Greenland which I am sure you get.
We should compare our experiences at Koks! The first night we had to walk out in knee high water because the water washed out the road. The somm grabbed two case of beer for us to drink on the way out. My wife who had on Rick Owens shoes and leather pants and does not like beer, unless its Cantillon, was not happy.
Great itinerary, but misses the area I loved the most in Scandanavia (haven’t been to Iceland).
The “Norway in a Nutshell” circuit, which leaves from Bergen or Oslo is a whirlwind day on train, tram, bus, boat. I did it based in Bergen split it into 2 nights/3 days by stopping at Gundvagen and Kvikes overnight. However, you have Iceland for the majestic nature and city stuff the rest of the way, so I can’t improve on your itinerary.
Thanks Robert, that’s an eye opener, at least Katla. I heard that Oslo was the most expensive city in Europe, and figured if the wine was reasonable the food would be astronomical (I thought a simple pizza was $40, but maybe that’s based on a dated exchange rate). In any case, the menu at Katla and the pricing is very appealing, even before I throw in the chance to try Keller at an earthly price.
When are you going? We are going in late June and availability of camper vans was already depleted and rental cars were in short supply at certain times. Demand was high pre-pandemic and has escalated.
We are on to Norway after for dinner + o/n at some farmhouse that is famous-y and I have no idea what it is called as this was all my wife’s idea.
Paul - yeah it feels like unless we have time for a long detour it isnt worth going…
Robert - same for some of the other detours. the kid is 15 and we want to show him a bit of europe before he doesnt want to travel with us anymore. we lost 2 of the best teenage travel years to covid.
As a Swede I was going to jump in, but the reality is I’m from Stockholm and you’re going to the west coast. Secondly, I’m very out of touch with the food scene and Robert will for sure be much more up-to-date than me on that part.
But it’s a nice part of the world and the food scene in general, is top drawer these days. World class. How times have changed - when I grew up in the 70’s a fancy restaurant was a Pizzeria, which was still a novelty then. Nobody had even heard of olive oil or garlic for another 10 years at least. I grew up on dill, cream, pickled herring dishes and “husmanskost” (peasant, home-cooking dishes). Something that’s now almost exotic and the stuff I pine for. When I go back in the summers, all I eat is that stuff. I have no interest in the Momofoku’s or fine Michelin “new scandinavia” dining stuff, I only want the old school “husmanskost” and the stuff I can’t ever get anywhere else. It’s like reliving my childhood again.
