Travel Bucket List: Scandinavia

“The heavens seem to be nearer the earth. The elements are less reserved and distinct. Water turns to ice, rain to snow. The day is but a Scandinavian night. The winter is an arctic summer.” — Henry David Thoreau

[Since I haven’t been to Scandinavia (YET), all photos courtesy of pixabay.com]

NORWAY

Norway is at the top of my Scandinavian bucket list. Both my Larson and Olson great-grandparents came from Norway and settled in Sturgeon Bay, WI. I would love to visit the land of my ancestors, including:

• Oslo

  • Take a ferry and island hop around Oslofjord

  • Stroll and shop down Karl Johan’s Gate

  • Visit the Viking Ship Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum

  • Stroll around the Vigeland Sculpture Park

  • Walk along the Akerselva river

  • Walk up the roof of the Oslo Opera House

• Bergen

  • Take a fjord cruise - This is #1 on my Norwegian bucket list

  • Take the Ulriken cable car overlooking the sea, islands, mountains and fjords

  • Stroll around Bryggen with its jewelers, artists, and textile designers along narrow passages between the rows of historic houses and the wharf

  • Discover the KODE art museum and composers homes featuring the work of Grieg, Munch, Dahl, Astrup, Ibsen, and others

  • Visit the Fantoft stavkirke built in 1150

• Lillehammer and its arena and sporting venues from the 1994 Winter Olympics (my favorite Olympic games ever)

• Trondheim

  • Bakklandet and Nidelva with their colorful, wooden houses

  • Take photos from Old Town Bridge

  • Visit Nidaros Cathedral

  • Take the tram up to Lian

  • Enjoy the view from Kristiansten Fortress

• Ålesund (I learned about this beautiful Norwegian city via heartmybackpack.com)

  • Admire the Art Nouveau architecture — Ålesund is built on a row of islands extending out into the ocean. After a fire destroyed the city in 1904 it was completely rebuilt in vibrant Art Nouveau.

  • Walk up to Fjellstua for a view over Ålesund

• Lofoten Islands (featured photo)

  • It is suggested that you have no itinerary when visiting Lofoten (That would be hard for a planner like me, but I have not expectations so why not?!)

  • See the Northern Lights (travel in August and September are your best opportunities)

• Tromsø and Nordkapp: I would like to go above the Arctic Circle, to literally be on top of the world.

• Try brown cheese, salty licorice, and sour cream porridge and sip aquavit — Norwegian cuisine isn’t fancy, but I love to sample local delicacies

• Bonus: Go to Hell — chances are that Hell will even freeze over!

SWEDEN

Yes, I am half Norwegian, but being adopted, I am also the only person in my family that is also Swedish. For me, Norway’s allure is mostly natural (fjords, mountains, the sea) while Sweden’s is more cultural. Here’s what’s on my Swedish bucket list (Some ideas are a result of listening to the Earful Sweden podcast — Thanks, Oliver and Lina!):

• Stockholm:

  • Explore Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town with its winding cobblestone streets, ancient churches, medieval squares, royal palace, and gabled houses of Stortorget

  • Shop in the Norrmalm district

  • Visit the Vasa Museum built around the ship that capsized and sank in Stockholm 1628. After 333 years on the sea bed the mighty warship was salvaged and preserved.

  • Discover the modern art in the Moderna Museet and the photography of the Fotografiska

  • Tour the Swedish Royal Palace

  • Take in the panoramic view of Strandvägen

  • Experience ABBA The Museum because who wouldn’t love an interactive ABBA experience (“Walk in. Dance out.”)?!

  • Take a canal trip to see the islands and the lovely architecture from the water

• Go vintage shopping in Malmö and then travel to Copenhagen via the Øresund bridge

• Go sailing in Marstrand

• Discover the museums and culture of Gothenberg

• Taste köttbullar and pannkakor (Swedish meatballs and pancakes — and compare them to my own) with lingonberries

• Experience lördagsgodis (Saturday sweets)

• Enjoy a fika perhaps with a kanelbulle (cinnamon bun), or a semla (cream filled sweet roll), or even a slice of Prinsesstårta (the beautiful Princess Cake

FINLAND

Eric is Finnish and Norwegian too, so between the two of us, we represent a lot of Scandinavian heritage. I don’t know much about Finland (other than its outstanding education system), so I had to do quite a bit of research to build a Finnish bucket list. Here’s what I found:

• Helsinki:

  • Take a walking tour of the town and marvel at the juxtaposition of Scandinavian and Russian architecture and culture

  • Visit the Helsinki Cathedral built in the 19th century as a tribute to Czar Nicholas I

• Learn about the Sami culture at the Sami Museum in Siida

• Visit the old wooden, medieval town of Porvoo

• Sleep in a glass igloo under the Northern Lights

• Sweat in a sauna and hop into a glacial lake

DENMARK

Although Denmark is perhaps the most accessible Scandinavian country due to its position on the European mainland, it has never really been on my bucketlist. Perhaps you can persuade me to go. If someday I do, here are a few things I might enjoy:

• Strolling around Copenhagen and see the Little Mermaid in the harbor

• Exploring the Viking burial grounds of Lindholm Høje

• Visiting the Hans Christian Andersen Museum

• Castle hopping: Christiansborg Palace, Egeskov Castle, and Kronborg Castle aka Elsinore in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

ICELAND

Of course, I would also visit the capital city of Reykjavik including the Hallgrímskirkja church.

But most of all, I experience the surreal beauty of Iceland including:

• Ice caves of Vatnajokull Glacier

• The iconic Blue Lagoon

• The fumarole fields of Namafjall

• The Fontana Geothermal Baths

• The black sand beaches and craggy rocks of Vik and Dyrhólaey

• The Skógafoss and Godafoss waterfalls

• The Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

• The Geysir and Strokkur

• Krafla-Viti caldera and lake

Scandinavia is right at the top of my travel bucket list. I’ve always wanted to discover the lands of my ancestors. Such a comprehensive tour of Scandinavia is probably both time- and cost-prohibitive, yet I do hope to check off many of these lovely Nordic experiences someday …