In November 2022, we took a 12 day Scandinavian vacation, first arriving for 3 nights/2 days in Copenhagen, Denmark, then flying up to spend 3 nights in Oslo, Norway, flying down to spend 2 nights in Stockholm, Sweden, and then taking the train to end back in Copenhagen for 2 nights (to end up with a total of 4 days in Copenhagen). In addition to each of these separate posts, I wanted to summarize my top few favorite things we did in each segment of our 12 days in Scandinavia vacation itinerary.
Copenhagen, Denmark
We created a 4 days in Copenhagen vacation itinerary in 2 parts: spending the first 2 nights in Copenhagen at the beginning of our trip and then ending back for an additional 2 nights in Copenhagen at the end of our trip, which totaled 4 full days of Copenhagen fun.
These are my top 5 favorite places and things to do in Copenhagen.
Nyhavn District
The Nyhavn District is the iconic image of Copenhagen, with its colorful buildings lining each side of a straight canal out to the harbor.
I loved this area because of the beautiful, colorful buildings and its “seaside” nature and charm. It offered great photo opportunities and was definitely a great place to walk around.
It was gorgeous during “golden hour” and sunset, and was dazzling in Christmas lights during the pre-Christmas season when we went in November.
They definitely know that this is a very “aesthetic Instagrammable” neighborhood!
Each side of the canal is lined with cafes that have seating outside. Even in the colder season, they had heaters and cozy blankets to keep warm.
We stayed at the 71 Nyhavn Hotel, which is a lovely boutique hotel at the very end of the canal in an old factory.
At night the Nyhavn district definitely felt magical with all of the Christmas lights!
Copenhagen Christmas Market
We explored the Copenhagen Christmas Market a few times, both in daytime and nighttime. I found this to be the best Christmas market we went to during our whole 12 days in Scandinavia!
The Copenhagen Christmas market is located in Kongens Nytorv aka King’s New Square, and flanks one end of the Nyhavn district.
The King’s New Square alone is gorgeous, and is really cute all lit up and decorated for Christmas.
The market had a plethora of great handmade and local Danish gifts. We did most of our Christmas shopping at this market because of all of the great, and inexpensive, gifts we were able to find!
One of my favorite gift stalls we purchased from was this Blacksmith stall. I bought some metal dice for my brother who is into board games, and I got a necklace for one of my cousins, and bought myself one as well for a treat 🙂 The gifts were all handmade, and the blacksmith was even working on some while we were there!
They also had this cabin selling hot Gløgg (pronounced “glow-gh”), which is Danish mulled wine served around Christmas time. It is similar to German Glühwein (pronounced “glue-vine”). This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions, since it is so cozy and warming in many ways!
The food at the Copenhagen Christmas Market was also excellent. We spent one dinner here and got a delicious plate of wood-fired local salmon and potatoes, and a herring sandwich.
For a meal at a Christmas market stall, it was really, really good! It also would have been really good for a dish at a restaurant.
This was definitely the most beautiful Christmas Market we went to in Scandinavia as well as being the best for gifts and food. It almost rivaled the German Christmas Markets we’ve been to (…I said almost…)!
Kastellet Fortress
The Kastellet Fortress is a star-shaped fortress in the middle of Copenhagen. “It is one of the best preserved fortresses in Northern Europe”, according to Wikipedia.
We went to the Fortress, which is free to enter in one of 2 spots along the star-shaped island. You can walk around the entire outside as well, which is now a park.
The way we entered was along this bridge which crossed over the moat at one end.
My favorite part about going to the Kastellet Fortress was walking around and taking lots of photos of the cool architecture.
Inside the main walls of the Fortress, most of the buildings were this bright red color, and there were Danish flags everywhere. It is still a working military establishment, so we saw some military folks walking around inside.
It was a cloudy day but the photos came out lovely in the afternoon. After walking around inside the Fortress and going to its small onsite museum, we walked all the way around the inner pathways.
It was neat to learn about the Danish armed forces and spend a nice (yet windy and chilly) afternoon walking around the Fortress.
Riding Bicycles through Copenhagen
Probably my favorite “activity” we did while in Copenhagen was riding bicycles through the city. I put “activity” in quotes because this is not just an activity but a great transportation method to get around the city.
There are bicycle paths, most often separated from the main road by concrete barriers and other methods, all over the city and many people, both locals and tourists, partake in this method of transportation.
The city is mostly flat as well so it was not very strenuous either. This was good because our bicycle rentals did not have much in terms of gearing, so going up hills would have been difficult. There were only a few spots that needed some small gear changes, one in particular which was going up and over the pedestrian bridge at the end of the canal in Nyhavn going towards Freetown Christiania.
I detailed our bicycle rental process in my separate post on our 4 days in Copenhagen itinerary, but the gist is that, at least for Donkey Republic bikes, you download the app and put in your credit card information so that you can access the Bluetooth locks to pick up and drop off bikes wherever they list a spot on the app. It makes it really easy to rent all over the city!
We really had a nice time biking around the city, and would highly recommend doing this as a great mode of transportation as well as some fun and exercise (especially after all of the delicious food you’ll be eating on your trip!)
Breweries in the Meatpacking District
The Copenhagen Meatpacking District, once formerly for packing meats, has been turned into a hipster paradise of foodie restaurants and breweries. We stopped by and went to 2 different breweries. This is always a fun vacation activity for us, and going to breweries in the Copenhagen Meatpacking District was no different!
We rode our rented bicycles into this area, dropped them off, and then went to our first stop: The Warpigs Brewpub.
This place was definitely a meatpacking factory at one point in time, as can be seen by the tiled floors and walls (probably updated since but still representative), meat hanging gear all around, and general “factory” vibes.
In addition to delicious beers, they also served BBQ snacks, which surprised us being that we are from the USA and didn’t expect to see BBQ in Denmark.
We had some delicious beers here, including a really nice IPA.
We got some brisket which was surprisingly good, and a side of macaroni and cheese which was amazingly creamy! Good job with the BBQ, Copenhagen!
Next stop was to ABEN Brewery a short walk away, and more into the “meatpacking” center. I’m guessing this place was pretty new because they had signs saying they were now open. Their beer garden was really nice but it was chilly so we decided to go inside.
The inside of this place was really cool! They had lots of unique looking taps that ran down from the brew tanks hooked to the ceiling.
This brewery had more “brewery” vibes than “meatpacking factory” but it was still a cool atmosphere.
The beers here were also very good, I got a nice hearty stout this time, and they ended up lighting candles at each table as it got dark. This definitely hit the “hygge” (Danish cozy) vibes for me.
Copenhagen, Denmark Final Thoughts
I thoroughly loved Copenhagen and would 100% go back (and we did go back a few years later…stay tuned for another post!) It was such a cute city with a lovely vibe, and made even more lovely during the Christmas season. If you want to read more about this portion of our trip, check out my post on our full 4 days in Copenhagen itinerary!
Oslo, Norway
Next on our 12 days in Scandinavia vacation itinerary, we spent 3 nights in Oslo, Norway which gave us 2 full days and an extra half day to explore Oslo. These are my top 5 favorite things to do and see in Oslo.
Grünerløkka Neighborhood
We didn’t get to spend as much time in the Grünerløkka neighborhood as I would have liked, but the short time we did spend there was great! We rode the tram from the center of Oslo up to this hip neighborhood to check it out and look around some vintage shops.
Grünerløkka definitely felt more like a place where people actually lived rather than in the center of Oslo (although I’m sure people live there too). There were a lot of really cute buildings and lots of green space.
This neighborhood is known for vintage shops, cute cafes, and trendy restaurants and bars.
We popped into a few stores to check out their vintage sweater collection. I ended up buying a really cute handmade wool sweater from the shop on the right, Vintage Wear! They had a lot of really nice and inexpensive vintage and second-hand items.
Before I purchased my sweater, we had gone into this sewing store because I saw a few sweaters in the window the night before and wanted to see if any were for sale.
I loved each of the 3 sweaters displayed but was leaning toward the green one with the little hearts in the foreground of this picture. They were for sale, but the price was a little more than I was wanting to spend, even if it were handmade. I decided to purchase some Norwegian yarn so I could make myself a hat back at home (I can crochet. Knitting is hard!) and then we would come back in and decide on a sweater if I didn’t find anything else. I ended up finding that sweater I mentioned at the vintage shop, but I’m glad I took a picture of the sweaters in case I ever got into knitting and wanted to make my own!
After exploring the vintage shops, we were getting a bit hungry for a snack and thirsty for a beer, so we found this microbrewery in the neighborhood. When the weather is nice they have a cute beer garden, but it was not open at the time so we sat inside.
They had a nice cheese board to go with their home brews, and a really yummy jam as well. They also served pizza which looked pretty good, but we were wanting to save our appetites for dinner later.
Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri (Microbrewery)
After our beers, we found another microbrewery in the area called Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri (Microbrewery) so we walked on down there.
This microbrewery was a bit larger than the other one, and may have counted as more of a macro brewery to me.
It had a cool entrance area, but it took us a bit to find the entrance to the pub in the cellar.
Walking down the stairs to the beer cellar….
We were met with a magical environment once we got down to the beer cellar! There was brick everywhere and chandeliers, and cozy tables with candles. Then at the back of the cellar…
…was a roaring fireplace! This was the coolest place to get a beer I think I’ve ever been to!
I loved the cozy vibes they had going on, and these beautiful stained glass windows that seemed probably fake since I thought we were in a cellar…
We found a cozy spot right next to the fireplace which ended up working out well because we had a great view of it from the side and it offered some nice warmth.
James got us some beers as I held down the table. We started out with some lighter beers.
Then I wanted to try their stout which did not disappoint and was perfect for the cozy atmosphere!
I loved these chandeliers, and they reminded me of the ones we had in our wedding venue.
They had this neat drawing of the brewery from some unspecified date. I’m guessing late 1800s/early 1900s?
Oslo Christmas Market (Jul i Vinterland)
One of our favorite activities on our trips during the Christmas season is to check out a city’s Christmas markets. Oslo had a cute one called Jul i Vinterland!
It was more of a carnival vibe than other Christmas markets we’ve been to, but still was a really nice place to walk around even if we didn’t go on any rides.
I loved the cute barn-like entrance.
The merry-go-round was small but adorable!
They had a nice central Glogg shack with 2 stories, and an animatronic moose head that sang Christmas tunes in Norwegian!
The ferris wheel was a decent size and had red and green flashing lights on the spokes.
They had these adorable lit up archways that were on either side of the market. We definitely took some Christmas photos underneath!
Of course I had to get a Glogg to warm up, and we went to the top of the Glogg shack to watch the ice skaters go by on the rink below.
We also decided to get a grilled sausage to split as a snack, which was delicious.
Overall, the shopping options weren’t the greatest and things didn’t look to be handmade or even local to Norway, so we skipped purchasing any gifts here. Otherwise, it was a nice afternoon strolling around and taking in the sights, smells, and tastes of Christmas!
The National Museum (Nasjonalmuseet)
I had seen that Oslo had a National Museum of Architecture right near our hotel, so one afternoon we decided to check it out.
It ended up being a small branch of the larger National Museum overlooking the fjord, and by purchasing a ticket with one you got access to both, so we toured around this Architecture branch before heading over to the main branch which was more art and design focused.
There were some interesting exhibits in the Architecture museum. They didn’t have a permanent exhibit but had themed rotating exhibits every few months. This rotation was about women in architecture.
This above was my favorite exhibit, and I was kind of expecting more of these types of drawings from the Architecture museum. I was a little underwhelmed, so after we were done we went over to the main museum which was close to where we had reservations for dinner.
This design exhibit was what I recalled seeing when I searched for the Architecture museum. This was the interior design hall showcasing different types of unique chairs over time.
This was an interesting exhibit in the Modern art and design section, showcasing photographs of gas station awnings being blown over by hurricanes. I loved the arrangement of the photos and the cohesiveness of them being in black and white and having the same frames and matting, as well as the different angles of the subject from one photo to the next.
There was also a “Mona Lisa” in the art section of the museum which I found funny. We had seen the original Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris but it was so crowded it was difficult to view the painting for more than 10 seconds before being shuffled past (and being worried about pickpocketing!). It was much more enjoyable to spend time looking at the “fake” one! To my untrained eye it looked identical, at least from her facial expression. I think the background is different but I thought this one was nice also.
They also had one of the famous self-portraits of Van Gogh which was cool to see!
The Salmon Restaurant
Right after we spent a few hours at the main National Museum, we went over to a restaurant called The Salmon for dinner.
It was in this very modern section of the city, right next to the water along the fjord and next to some inner canals.
The front of the restaurant was under construction but the outside area looked like it would have been a nice place to eat during warmer weather.
We found the entrance and went in to see the hostess for our table. We had come here the night before without a reservation but they were full, so we made a reservation for the next night because I really wanted to eat here!
The restaurant had cool, modern “under the sea” vibes.
There were some cold cases at the front for some takeaway options.
Everything looked so good and I was really excited to eat a ton of Norwegian salmon!
They had a cute “newspaper” menu that was fun to read!
For a starter, we got a sampler platter of 3 types of salmon: hot smoked, cold smoked, and cured. Each one was amazing, and I really couldn’t pick a favorite! They also came with different dipping sauces, including a horseradish sauce, a honey mustard sauce, and a tartar sauce. Each sauce was paired with a specific type of salmon, and the pairings were perfectly delicious!
For dinner, we decided to split a baked salmon filet with mashed potatoes and asparagus, and then a side of salmon sashimi. The baked salmon was delicious and perfectly cooked, but the salmon sashimi really shined for me (I’m a huge fan of sushi & sashimi)!
We were still a bit hungry after our main course, so we ordered another type of salmon sashimi for “dessert” (lol). It was a torched salmon tataki with jalapeno ponzu sauce and it was incredible! I’m so happy we decided to get another sashimi plate, and we were definitely full after that.
Oslo, Norway Final Thoughts
I thought Oslo was a very nice, modern city with a great foodie atmosphere. I loved going to the microbreweries, especially the Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri. I absolutely loved dining at The Salmon restaurant and eating 6 different types of salmon! We had other great food there as well, which I talk more about in my post about our 3 nights in Oslo, Norway itinerary, among the other activities we did while in Oslo, Norway!
Stockholm, Sweden
After Oslo, we spent 2 nights in Stockholm, Sweden, and timed our arrival and departure so that we would have 2 full days to explore Stockholm. Here are my top 5 favorite things we did and saw in Stockholm.
Gamla Stan
Gamla Stan is Stockholm’s Old Town and original medieval city center, dating back to the 13th century. We strategically chose our hotel to be close walk to Gamla Stan, which was just across a small island containing the Riksdagshuset Parliament House.
The streets of Gamla Stan are laid with medieval cobblestones, and many of them are very narrow.
The photos above and below were of Stockholm’s narrowest street (Mårten Trotzigs gränd). There were several groups of people walking through, seeming to be doing the same sightseeing activity as we were. You can really only have 1-2 people fitting on the street in the same spot at the same time!
The streets were lined with Christmas lights when we were there at the end of November, which just added to the cozy and magical charm.
Stockholm this time of year, during the Christmas season, is just lovely!
The cozy cafe vibe of Stockholm was charming, and it made me want to sit all day with a coffee and a book and watch the world go by!
There were a lot of tunnels in Gamla Stan that made walking through feel like you were transported back into the medieval era (without the electricity of course!).
Gamla Stan at night was also magical, with the twinkling Christmas lights hanging above the streets.
Stockholm Christmas Market
During the Christmas season, the Stortorget square is the host of the Stortorgets Julmarknad (Christmas market).
Not only is this square beautiful on its own, but it was so magical with all of the lights and the big Christmas tree in the middle.
This was definitely the background of our Christmas cards that year!
There were a bunch of stalls in a big circle around the square, and even though it was crowded we managed to buy a few gifts to bring home.
We love visiting Christmas markets in Europe during our November vacations!
The only downside with this Christmas market was that it ended around 4pm, just when it started to get dark. They also didn’t have many food options, as we like to eat at least one meal or snack at the Christmas markets in Europe if the food looks decent. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to experience this lovely Christmas market in the dark with the lights glistening all around while enjoying a snack and a hot mulled wine…
Stockholm Medieval Museum
The Stockholm Medeltidsmuseet (Medieval Museum) is located on the same small island as the Parliament House (Riksdagshuset), just across the Riksplan park.
In order to get to the entrance of the museum, you have to take some stairs down to the bottom of the Norrbro bridge that spans the island. There are plenty of signs to guide you on your way.
The entrance to the museum is free, and at the time of our trip it was open Tuesday-Sunday from 10-17 (10am-5pm) but closed on Mondays. We were lucky to catch it on a Sunday, and it was a bit crowded with families enjoying the exhibits.
The museum had some medieval city foundation walls preserved inside.
It was so cool to see these walls and think of how old they were!
They had some reconstructed medieval buildings, showing what life would have been like back then.
There was also this cool ship bottom that had been preserved and reconstructed. All in all, it was a great museum and a nice way to keep warm for a few hours during the day.
The Hairy Pig pub
The Hairy Pig pub was my favorite restaurant in Stockholm!
We would have gone in for a drink just for the name alone, but the reviews for food were stellar, and they had Swedish meatballs which I was craving!
It had such a warm, cozy vibe that was perfect for a chilly evening. We got there right before 6pm, and were asked if we had a reservation. Most of the tables were reserved for dinner but we managed to snag one by the window. Others were turned away shortly after we sat down!
It definitely had a London pub meets sort of a wild/folksy vibe. Spot the hairy pig on the wall with the football scarf!
I got a delicious locally brewed Dark Winter Lager, and we chose to get the Ostkroketter (cheese croquettes) as a starter.
The croquettes were crunchy, creamy, cheesy, and topped with tangy sour cream and lingonberry. A great starter!
The highlight of the meal was the entrees: James got a wild boar sausage with mashed potatoes (top), and I got the Swedish meatballs (bottom). They were made with “wild meat”, which I assumed was probably at least wild boar and maybe reindeer meat, and topped with the most delicious gravy! The mashed potatoes were also amazing, and I loved pairing it all with a side of lingonberries and lightly pickled cucumbers for some freshness. This was my favorite meal in Sweden and one of the top meals on this trip to Scandinavia!
Vasa Museum
The Vasa Museum is a maritime museum on the island of Djurgarden in Stockholm. It displays the intact 17th century ship that sunk on its maiden voyage just after launching in Stockholm harbor.
The building was a very modern construction that was built around the Vasa ship. It has one of the main masts on the roof, looking like it is sticking out!
There were a few floors you could venture onto to see all of the parts of the ship up close. Starting out on the first floor, you can go to the ground floor or up 2 more floors.
They had a map showing where they eventually found the Vasa in the harbor. Apparently, the Vasa left on its maiden voyage and sank almost immediately. We saw a documentary at the museum explaining what happened: there was a design flaw where the ship was constructed incorrectly, with the gun ports being too low, and the center of gravity of the ship being too high causing the ship to become unstable in even just slight windy conditions. The ship wavered too much in the wind on its maiden voyage, causing water to get into the gun ports, and therefore she sank to the bottom. They tried to retrieve Vasa a few days later but it was too stuck in the mud.
Then, 333 years later the Vasa was finally retrieved, breaking the surface in 1961 after a few years of searching and then preparing the ship for lifting. The Vasa was stored in a temporary facility for a while and then the current museum was constructed, opening to the public in 1990.
The masts were super tall, and in fact this is only the first third of the length of the masts! It was quite amazing seeing how tall this ship was, and impressive that the building was able to be built to accommodate it. The ship had mast extensions that were taken off so that the building didn’t have to be 3X as tall! The extensions are actually are the masts that were mounted on the building’s roof on the outside.
The intricate details of the ship were on close display, and I was shocked at how much detail there was in all of the carvings! Apparently the carvings had once been painted bright colors, and it was a little hard to imagine what that might have looked like.
Fortunately they had some statue carvings that had been repainted to represent what colors they once were. The preservationists were able to figure out (by science!) what colors were formerly on the statues, which really blew my mind!
There was also an area in the museum that had a replica of the inside of the ship which was cool. This was a really interesting museum about a fascinating engineering disaster that turned into a tragic event for 17th century Stockholm.
Stockholm, Sweden Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed our 2 nights in Stockholm, from the magical Christmas vibes and medieval atmosphere of Gamla Stan, to the food (those Swedish meatballs at The Hairy Pig!!!) and the great museums like the Vasa museum. We enjoyed our time so much we knew we would want to go back, and a few years later we did! Stay tuned for another post about visiting Stockholm in the late summer!
Final Thoughts – Scandinavia
The Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are great places to travel to, even in the late fall/early winter! Things are expensive, yes, but the great food and activities in the region are definitely worth the prices. We love traveling to Europe during the Christmas market season, and Scandinavia was no different. The glittering lit streets and squares mixed with the warm foods and atmospheres provides a warm, cozy vibe that will make you wish you lived there and could soak in the Scandinavian lifestyle all year round.
We enjoyed this 12 day Scandinavia vacation so much we have been back a few times to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and other Scandinavian cities and towns since we took this trip back in November 2022. Stay tuned for posts about those trips in the near future!