Looking for a complete 10-Day Scandinavia itinerary?
Our 10-day Scandinavian itinerary for families through Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden includes whale watching, bike riding and, even a little bit of Shakespeare.
Read all about our 10-day Scandinavian itinerary, and learn why this will almost certainly not be our only trip to this family friendly part of the world.
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Three Days of Your 10 Day Scandinavia Itinerary in Reykjavik
We started our Scandinavian itinerary in Reykjavik with just over two days to enjoy the city. If we had a longer time in Iceland, I would have definitely liked to see more of the country. However, with just over two nights and three days, we stuck to the city, and were not disappointed.
You can travel from Keflavik to the center of Reykjavik by taxi or by bus. The airport is 30 miles from town so you should anticipate the trip taking 45-50 minutes.
A taxi into the city is quite expensive with a range of $115-145 USD so we opted for the bus. There are several bus companies that operate between Keflavik and Reykjavik.
These private carriers cost around $30 per person for a one-way ticket to Reykjavik. Carriers coordinate with flights so, if you book in advance, even with a delay, the company will ensure that a bus is waiting for you.
We opted for Airport Direct – the bright orange buses – and found them comfortable and convenient.
There is a public bus system. Typically, we are all in for using public transit on our travels.
However, the buses run pretty infrequently and take close to an hour and a half. Regardless, if you do decide to travel by bus, be aware that bigger buses are not allowed in parts of the city.
Day 1: Bike Riding
Reykjavik is a small city so it was easily explored by foot and on bike. In fact, we liked to travel the city so much by bike that we put it on our list of 5 Most Bikeable Cities (that are not Copenhagen and Amsterdam).
To fight off jet lag, we grabbed some bikes from Reykjavik Bike and Scooter Rental and rode from downtown to the Grotto Lighthouse and the Nautholsvík thermal beach. The bike ride took us about 2.5 hours and is about 11 miles. We rewarded ourselves with a round of beers and sodas.
People often remark that Iceland is expensive, and if you are eating out constantly, it is. So at the end of our ride we stopped at the nearest Bonus grocery store and loaded our backpacks with breakfast and lunch supplies.
Our international travel rule is no matter how early you land, no naps. We do our best to push through the first day to something resembling the night.
By the time, 6 p.m. rolled around, our son was nearly in tears with exhaustion so we ate an early dinner in our Airbnb and it was lights out. Be aware that if you are traveling in the summer, you will want to be sure that your place has blackout curtains to be able to sleep through the midnight sun.
Day 2: Hallgrimskirkja Church and Perlan Museum
On day 2, we headed out again by bike to the iconic Hallgrimskirkja Church. Towering 240 ft in the air, it is impossible to miss this Reykjavik icon from anywhere in the city. It does not cost to go into the church.
If you want to access the bell tower, which has beautiful views of the city, you will need to purchase a separate ticket. Children 6 and under are free.
After touring the church, we headed out to the Perlan Museum and Planetarium. The museum was a bit pricey for us. However, the glacier exhibit, especially because we couldn’t make it to the real thing based on our short time, made it worth the cost.
The museum also has an award-winning planetarium, and should not be missed.
After a day exploring, we were hungry. One of our biggest budget strategies while traveling is to eat in. But we definitely make the exception for street food.
So what better stop than Reykvavik’s most famous street food: the Icelandic hotdog. And there is only one place to get one, Bæjarins Beztu (Translated to The bezt in Town!).
While I wouldn’t say this was our favorite meal, stopping by for a dog is must. The line will always be long, but they move people through quickly. While you are waiting, grab a beer from the nearby bar and strike up a conversation with the other folks in line.
Day 3: Whale Watching
Our last day in Iceland, we spent whale watching. A morning of watching costs roughly $95.
While tours from the north of the country often offer more diversity and nearly a 100% chance of seeing whales in the summer, we found the tour from the capital to be quite good.
Of course, everyone hopes to see humpbacks, but sightings are less common in this part of the country. We did, however, see Minke whales, as well as harbor porpoises.
The other wonderful part of taking the tour from the city is you get to see the coastline with all its manmade and natural wonders, including Harpa. Harpa is the home to the opera and symphony. In addition to its cultural importance, it is a bold and beautiful work of architecture and art.
A note on The Blue Lagoon. Most people who travel to Iceland–with or without family–make a stop at The Blue Lagoon. However, because we are from Idaho, we did not go.
In our home state, thermal waters are very common, and many of the hot springs in the area are in the national forests and can be accessed for free. At roughly $60 per person (although kids under 13 are free), it didn’t make sense for us to pay that amount of money or take the time for The Blue Lagoon.
I am sure most people would tell you it is worth a stop. So if you don’t have hot springs where you come from definitely add the Blue Lagoon to your Scandinavian itinerary.
Three Days in Copenhagen
Copenhagen was by far our favorite stop on our Scandinavian itinerary (sorry, Stockholm).
One of the people we met while traveling described Denmark “as Sweden’s rowdy cousin.” To clarify, lest you get false ideas of debauchery, we are taking Scandinavian rowdy, which for us means “buy beer and wine at grocery stores instead of country-run liquor stores” kind of rowdy.
Whenever we travel, we keep a list of cities that I could live, and (if it were a little less expensive) Copenhagen would come in at the number #2 spot.
Because we loved Copenhagen so much we really outdid ourselves to see it. Typically, we do not buy the city card, but there were so many things we hoped to see that in the end, buying the Copenhagen Card saved us lots of money. If you are planning to follow this part of our itinerary, read about how the Copenhagen Card saved us 244€.
Getting into the heart of Copenhagen using public transit is very easy. The airport is only 7 km from downtown so you can easily travel by metro and arrive in about 30 minutes.
From the airport you take the metro to Kongens Nytorv station. Here you can change to metro line M3, which rings the city and has 17 stops. A one-way trip costs is very inexpensive.
If you get the Copenhagen Card, transportation on the metro is included.
Day 4: Round House, Rosenberg and a Canal Ride
With the Copenhagen Card burning a hole in our pockets, we spent our first day seeing the “must sees” of Copenhagen.
As explained earlier, the city is very accessible via metro. However, we wanted the full Danish city life experience, so we rented bikes and experienced the city on two wheels.
There are places to rent bikes throughout the city. We happened to be lucky enough to have a bike repair shop a few blocks from our Airbnb and the owner rented us bikes very inexpensively.
Copenhagen does have a city bike program. With 130 stations, renting from the city bike program, Bycyklen, is a great choice. For under $15, you can have 120 minutes of ride time. You need to download the app to access the bikes.
As the oldest functioning observatory in Europe, the Round Tower is a fun place to start your Copenhagen experience.
Kids and adults alike will have fun walking up what feels like a medieval parking garage, and the view at the top is worth the climb. From the Round Tower, it is a 5 minute bike ride to Rosenborg Castle.
Rosenborg Castle is to Denmark what the Tower of London is to England.
Starting in the 8th Century, the Danish Monarchy has been stashing its treasures in Rosenberg Castle since the early 17th century. In addition to the lavish throne room, guests today can see numerous coronation crowns and jewels to dazzle the eyes.
Be aware that entry to Rosenborg Castle requires timed entry. We didn’t realize that in the morning so we had enough time between the Round Tower and Rosenborg Castle to go to Ripley’s Believe it Or Not and Guiness Book of World Records. I would definitely not recommend making a trip for these two museums, but if you have some time to kill, they are good kid entertainment.
We ended our first day in Copenhagen with a canal tour. Roughly 1 hour in length, the canal tour takes you past the Opera House, Amalienborg Palace and right up to the Little Mermaid. To be honest, we didn’t enjoy the Copenhagen Canal ride as much as the ride in Amsterdam.
It could just be a case of “been there and done that.” But it is also worth noting that we struggled to understand the guided tour, and about half way through the tour, our son gave up and switched over to his book on tape.
However, we did appreciate that it got us so close to the Little Mermaid Statue. So perhaps it was worth it just for that. We did this in part because it was included in the Copenhagen card; we could see, however, that there were smaller canal boats that might have offered a better experience.
Day 5: Copenhagen Zoo and Tivoli Gardens
The half way point of our trip was all about our son. We spent the morning exploring the Copenhagen Zoo and the afternoon and evening at Tivoli Gardens and Amusement Park.
Included on the Copenhagen Card, the Zoo is a nice place to spend a morning. However, it is a bit farther out from the city center. We used the 4A public bus to travel out to Frederiksberg where the Zoo is located.
In the afternoon, we made our way to Tivoli Gardens. This stop was by far our favorite favorite.
The Copenhagen Card gets you free admission but you do need to buy tickets to ride. Because we were committed to several hours, we bought ride-all-day bands .
Day 6: Kronborg Castle and the Frederiksborg Ferry
Matthew is a Shakespeare professor so there was no chance we were not going to Kronborg Castle in the town of Helsingor, Denmark. And in the end, we weren’t even sad about it. Believed to be the famous Elsinore Castle from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a trip to the castle is a must for any literature lover.
Every year, the castle is host to important productions of Hamlet. But even if you aren’t there for one of the “big performances,” the castle’s actors perform scenes from the play in various rooms throughout. What fun to come across Hamlet moments before “To Be or Not to Be.”
Even if you aren’t a fan of the Bard, the castle is impressive in its own right. Added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000, this important Renaissance castle is impressive from land and sea.
After touring the castle, we grabbed a boat tour on the Frederiksborg Ferry–also included on the Copenhagen Card and took in the grandeur from the water. The ferry is in the small town square a few minutes walk from the castle.
Kronborg Castle is easily accessible by train. From Copenhagen’s Central Station you take the S-Train, Line A towards Hillerød. Stay on until the last stop. If you like, you can (like we did) take your bike on the train as well. It’s an easy cycle from the train station to Kronborg Castle.
Three Days in Stockholm
The last leg of our Scandinavian itinerary through the nordic countries took us back to Matthew’s family roots.
Situated on 14 islands, the city is best explored by foot, bike and metro.
Day 7: Gamla Stan and The Nobel Prize Museum
Arriving in central Stockholm is easy by train using the Arlanda Express. The express train runs every 15 minutes. The roundtrip ticket cost roughly $70 for adults. Tickets for those aged 8-25 is $34; however, kids aged 8-17 are free when traveling with a paid adult. We landed at the airport at noon, and by 2 p.m. were out exploring the city.
After getting settled in our Airbnb, we got the lay of the land by taking the city metro to the historic center. Gamla Stan, or “The Old Town” with its lovely cobblestone streets and narrow alleyways was the perfect place to walk off our flight. Here you can visit the Royal Palace and walk by the Swedish Parliament.
We also stopped by the Nobel Prize Museum. The museum was fairly small, but if you have an inquiring mind like O’s it is worth a stop. Visitors also get their own “Nobel Prize” which reveals itself to be a sweet chocolate treat. However, a full day of travel meant an early night so we headed back to our Airbnb by 6 to make dinner and rest up for day 2.
Day 8: Djurgården and its museums
At about $50 per person, bike tours of Stockholm, are a great way to see the city if you want the bike experience.
We tend to see bikes as our primary mode of transportation so again in Stockholm–as we had in Copenhagen–we grabbed a two day bike rental. Regardless of how you get in the saddle, we can not recommend enough spending some of your time in Stockholm on two wheels.
Since 2006, Stockholm has had a city bike share program. In 2022, they are set to add over 5,000 ebikes to the system. For roughly $18 you can get a 3-day pass.
One of the best places to ride is Djurgården, once home to the king’s hunting grounds. After pedaling around the park, we visited The Vasa, The Viking Museum, and Skansen.
Of all the museums in Stockholm that we could get to, the Vasa was our favorite. Sailing only 1,400 yards, the Vasa was a symbol of the king’s power and wealth but too overburdened with her finery, sunk to the bottom of the Stockholm harbor on her maiden voyage. And there she stayed for over 300 years.
Now the world’s best preserved 17th century ship is not only a reminder of the dangers of hubris, but also a marvel of restoration.
From the Vasa, we spent an hour or two in the Viking Museum. While I wouldn’t put this on any “must see” list, O and Matthew had great fun dressing up as their Viking forefathers and arguing which one of them would have been chieftain.
After the Viking Museum, we biked to Skansen, the world’s largest open air museum. Skansen is a chance to learn more local Swedish history and traditions.
The museum has several areas, but we spent most of our time in the historic 19-century replica of a Swedish village. The historic town replica is full of little shops where people still create Swedish handicrafts and food as they did before the industrial revolution.
Our son was absolutely fascinated with glassblowing and spent close to an hour watching a man blow traditional Swedish glass. We have a tradition of getting a Christmas tree ornament on every trip. So of course, we remember this trip with a glass-blown ornament from Skansen.
After a full day of bikes and museums, we called it a day. One more day left.
Day 9: Stockholm Sky View and The Museum of Science & Technology
Back on our bikes for one more day, we used a combination of bike and metro to get to the Stockholm Sky View.
At 425 feet above sea level, the attraction gives you 360 views of the city. The Sky View is literally connected to the outside of Avicii Arena, formerly the Ericsson Globe. The tickets are about $20 for adults and $13 for children.
After our bird’s eye view, we went back to the northern most part of Djurgården to Techniska, Stockholm’s Science and Technology Museum. We were able to reach the museum by bike.
If you are not on two wheels the best way to get there is by bus. If you have tweens or teens they will love this museum, and spend hours exploring each floor.
Before heading back to our Airbnb, we took once more to bikes. This time we rode through Haganparken, a huge green space just north of the city. Part of the Royal Parks, Haganparken or simply Haga park is full of architectural wonders like the Haga Palace and the Haga Echo Temple.
Day 10: Final Day of our Scandinavian Itinerary = Homeward Bound
Sad to see the trip come to an end, but knowing that this is only our first attempt to build a Scandinavian itinerary, we boarded the Arlanda Express back to the airport and set off for home.
An urban biker’s paradise with activities for all ages, Scandinavia is definitely one of our favorite family trips. Our 10 days were not enough. We will definitely be back.
