Greetings! My husband and I recently planned a trip to Scandinavia (defined in this entry as Norway, Sweden, and Denmark), and because we were invited to a wedding in Scotland (which is not an independent state, so I couldn’t include it in my country count even though I had never been there before), we decided to go to Ireland as well! This brings my country count to 57. On the subsequent pages is an accounting of what we learned on our trip, information of which was primarily gathered from tours we went on, but also from people we talked to, and written material we gathered. I have outlined the countries on separate pages attached to this introduction page in the order in which we visited them, and I have included some photos from each of those locations. Please note that this information is not intended to serve as an exhaustive history of any of the locations visited, and that any errors made are human error and/or misunderstanding. To get you ready to read about our recent adventure, here are some tips for travel to this area:
Invest in good walking shoes!! We walked a total of 85 miles. Yes, really. And even with well made, comfortable (athletic) shoes, we still had sore feet at the end of each day. So, make sure you take the time to bring the most comfortable, supportive shoes you can wear for long days of walking.
Invest in convertible clothing!! Pants that can transform into shorts are one of the best concepts ever! And half-sleeves (or even 3/4 length sleeves versus long or short sleeves) are great because you can layer them when it is cooler in the morning, but you aren’t as hot when the temperature rises as you would be in long sleeves.
Make sure you travel with a credit card that you can use overseas without being charged a foreign exchange fee. And pay for items in the currency of the country you are visiting, as doing so reportedly has the best value (versus choosing to convert to your home currency). FYI: American Express is not taken everywhere, but Master Card and Visa generally are.
Don’t forget your VAT receipts! Be sure to ask shopkeepers for documentation for your transactions that qualify you for Value Added Tax refunds (i.e., getting the money back from the taxes you pay for the items you buy in Europe). The refunds can be processed at the airport before you leave.
Consider free walking tours! They are usually with locals, some of whom are transplants (like our Copenhagen guide who was from Australia). They are very knowledgeable, and you can pay them what you feel the tour deserves.
Invest in a lens protector! If you have an actual camera (i.e., not your smartphone or tablet) with an external lens (vs. a retractable one), invest in a lens filter/protector! I’m glad I listened to my longtime friend, Marilyn, who told me to do so when I got my first nice camera, as on this trip, I bent over, forgetting that my camera bag was open and out fell my extra lens onto the ground with a resounding “Thunk!” As I expected, the lens was cracked, but then I remembered that I had put a lens protector on it and that was what had cracked. Talk about relief! The actual lens survived, and the protector has now been replaced (but best believe I checked my camera bag multiple times a day to make sure I did not make that mistake again!!).
Consider using a City Pass. I highly recommend the one for Copenhagen (called the Copenhagen Card), but I would “pass” on the Stockholm Pass (we barely used it, as most museums and other sights had free admission).
Use your hotel and tour resources! We got the best recommendations for places to eat from front desk staff at our hotels and our tour guides. We asked for non-touristy places and we were not disappointed, especially in Scandinavia, where the food was very rich and tasty!
Invest in an eye mask, especially when visiting the land of the midnight sun! We travel so often that we always make sure we have eye masks and noise machines (the latter of which is also one of the best inventions ever!!). In all of the locations we went to on this trip, the sun was still up and/or it was still daylight well into the night (we would go to bed between 11pm and midnight and it was still rather light/bright outside), and then the sun would rise again (if it ever went down!) around 4am. While most of our hotels had good blackout curtains, there was one that didn’t, and I was so glad I had my eye mask! So, make sure you have one – they are very cheap and take up virtually no space in your luggage!
Bon Voyage!
(The photo above was taken on the flight to Dublin, showcasing my brand new passport stamp socks that I got in San Francisco!)