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Scandinavia by Train – An Overview
Why Go to the Arctic Circle
To celebrate InterRail’s 50 year anniversary a special promotion was advertised in May 2022. For an old codger like me this offered three months of rail travel throughout Europe for the grand sum of £341.00. That works out at less than £4.00 per day. What’s not to like.
The only remaining issue was how to use it. Travelling continuously for three months, although appealing, was not practical so a number of shorter trips was settled upon.
Looking at the InterRail rail map Cadiz, Athens, Istanbul and the Arctic Circle all looked tempting as destinations. First time out I decided to head through Scandinavia by train o the Arctic Circle.
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How Did I Get There
In September I set out, travelling overland by train from London, via Cologne, Hamburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm on the way up, and returning via Bergen and Stavanger to Oslo.
Cheating a bit, I flew from Oslo back to London on British Airways at the give away price of £45.00 + 2900 Avios points.
Did I Use Any Other Modes
Yes, Just to add to the adventure I managed to secure four extensive but cheap ferry trips through the Norwegian fjords for a total of less than £170.00. These included:
- an early morning local ferry trip between Svolvaer and Bodo;
- an afternoon cruise through Aurlandsfjoden and Sognefjorden from Flam to Bergen; and
- another afternoon cruise on Fjord Line’s ferry ship MS Stavangerfjord from Bergen to Stavenger.
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How Much Did Accommodation Cost
My trip to Scandinavia by train was all topped off with some 19 nights of accommodation for an average price of less than £50.00 per night.
Where Did I Go
An overview of the whole route through France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway is depicted on the map below.
Would You Like to See More Details
More detailed maps showing this route through:
- northern Germany and Denmark;
- within the parts of Norway located to the north of the Arctic Circle; and
- within the southern area of Norway
are shown here.
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What Were The Highlights of The Trip
- stop overs in Cologne, Hamburg and Copenhagen while on my way to Scandinavia
- visiting Stockholm, capital of Sweden
- taking an overnight sleeper train from Stockholm to Narvik, at the edge of the Arctic Circle
- spending a day aboard the Norwegian Coastal Express, travelling through the Fjords of Norway
- seeing the Lofoten Islands
- travelling by train from Bodo to Oslo, with a stop off in Trondhein
- spending a day travelling on the Bergen Express and Flam railway
- cruising by ferry between Flam and Bergen, passing through more fjords
- exploring the town of Bergen, on the North Sea
- sailing between Bergen and Stavanger, by coastal ferry
- exploring Stavanger and then returning to Oslo by train
- spending most nights while travelling staying either in friendly well run hostels or local budget hotels.
- most of all, feeling free every day to do exactly what I wanted without any of the usual stresses of daily life
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How Long Did This Take
Overall, the trip took around 20 days. In hindsight however I wish I had spent a bit more time in some places, particularly the Lofoten Islands, Trondhein and Oslo. Maybe then, 25 days would have been a more realistic time allowance.
Do You Have Any More Trip Details
A detailed itinerary is presented here, detailing each step of the journey, providing links to daily blogs and also providing details of the accommodation used for each of the steps.
These detailed blogs of specific parts of my journey can also be found by selecting the buttons below. These blogs detail my activities and thoughts during each of these parts of my journey.
In addition to the above, a detailed list of all the transport facilities used during the trip is provided here. This details each train, ferry and bus journey, it origin and destination, the travel times between origin and destination and a note regarding whether a reservation was needed for each journey..
Do You Have Any More Photographs
Yes, you can find more photographs on my PolarSteps site here
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