[OT] Fun in Norway and Denmark?

[Pielorinho]

My sweetheart and I are getting married in May, and in June we'll be honeymooning in Denmark and Norway.

She's not a gamer, but she's a history buff and generally very cool. Do y'all Scandinavian folks have ideas of what would be fun things to do in Norway and Denmark in June? We've got two weeks and a moderate amount of moolah.

Daniel

 

[Ziggy]

Hm, of the top of my head:

History theme:
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Denmark got a few good museums with focus on the vikings, I remember at least one in Roskilde near Copenhagen.

On the west cost there are the remnants of a huge camp used as staging area for attacks on England, but I've never been there so I don't know if it's any good.

Some friends of mine went to a roman camp event in Denmark last summer, and it was supposedly quite good. I'll check where and when it is the next time I speak to them.

The viking ships in Oslo are pretty good, and a must see if you are into vikings. The historical musuem is not bad, but nothing special.

The "stav-" (stave ?) churches are fantastic (old churches built out of wood, with a mix of christian and norse motifs), but then you need to travel a bit around. A must see if you go th Vestlandet (see nature below).

Other
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Nature. Norway if full of it. Vestlandet (the west cost) if the most accessible if you come from Denmark, dependnng on how you plan to travel (car,plane, train, combo ?)

If you have plenty of time/money Lofoten in the north of Norway is absolutely fantastic in summer (at least if the weather is good), and I recommend a whale safari if you go there. If you have the money I recommend take the plane from Oslo to Bodø (some 1200 kms).

My hometown (Trondheim) is okay, with a pretty decent cathedral (Nidarosdomen, the largest in Scandinavia). Worth a visit if you are going north anyway, but not worth a detour.

.Ziggy

 

[MarauderX]

If you have never been to Norway, take a trip through some of fjords - it was very inspiring as well as beautiful. Also Bergen in June would be great for staying up all night (the sun will barely set and the weather is still mild) and getting some fresh seafood at the docks in the morning. That's probably the cheapest food you will find in the whole town. There are also some good museums around there too, just not that popular compared to, say, Washington, D.C.
Have fun!

 

[alsih2o]

http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/

 

[green slime]

Of course while visiting this part of the world in June, don't miss out on the Midsummer celebrations!

The North of Norway is fantastic, naturewise. There is the Viking Ship museum in Oslo which is worthwhile. IIRC there is a museum to the Kon-tiki/Ra travels of Thor Heyerdahl in Oslo as well...

Norway is expensive though. So you may want to check ahead. Last I heard a McDonalds meal in Oslo cost around $12 US...But perhaps that is just hearsay.

Pity you miss the 17th May (National Day) celebrations in Norway, they really get carried away.

Enjoy your travels. Pity you won't make the West coast of Sweden.

 

[Pielorinho]

If you have never been to Norway, take a trip through some of fjords - it was very inspiring as well as beautiful. Also Bergen in June would be great for staying up all night (the sun will barely set and the weather is still mild) and getting some fresh seafood at the docks in the morning. That's probably the cheapest food you will find in the whole town. There are also some good museums around there too, just not that popular compared to, say, Washington, D.C.
Have fun!

You guys have got us pegged! The Oslo-Bergen rail line comes highly recommended wherever I look, so we're definitely going to make reservations for that (someone told us that June is prime tourist season in Norway, so we should make reservations for some things). The fjords are probably the major draw to Norway for us: we're both fairly outdoorsy, and the fjords sound fantastic. And while the descriptions of Norwegian food in general scare me, some of the seafood sounds sublime (although I'll take a pass on the fermented trout, thank you very much).

Ziggy, that Roman Camp thing sounds very cool Is the Hjemsted Oldtidspark what you're talking about?

Sadly, due to the relatively short length of our trip (2 weeks), we'll probably not make it to northern Norway -- trying to do so would just mean packing too much stuff into the trip, even though the far north sounds really interesting. Are the stav churches primarily in the north, or do they exist in southern Norway as well?

Viking stuff=a must. My fiancee is a history museum professional, so I'm sure we'll be checking out many history museums in our travels; I'll probably try to steer us toward the more blood-and-guts museums . We'll try to check out the Roskilde museum.

Alsiho, sadly, we'll probably not be making it to the Netherlands: no Van Gogh museum for us.

Thanks, all -- you rock!
Daniel

edited to make a more specific link to the Roman Camp

 

[green slime]

Oh yes! I forgot!
Good Luck with the "I do" thingy!

 

[Pielorinho]

Oh yes! I forgot!
Good Luck with the "I do" thingy!

Thanks! I think I've got a good 'un.

Because of the cost of Norway and the beauty of the natural landscape, we'll probably spend at least some time camping. My understanding is that Norway is actually a fairly popular vacation spot for poor Russians, because if you camp and bring your own food, it's very cheap. Does this sound correct? We figure we'll find a good area for doing the cottage-camping thang (trails with little cabins along them for hikers), and do that for a few days.

Oh, and here's an obscure question: will June be chanterelle season over there? I'm an amateur mushroom-hunter, and I don't trust my identification of just about any gilled mushroom, but chanterelles are distinctive enough (and, in my uninformed impression, common enough) in Europe that I might be able to snag a few. What about wild berries -- will any be in season in early June? There are few joys in life greater than picking one's own dinner.

Daniel

 

[Zander]

The Oslo-Bergen rail line comes highly recommended wherever I look, so we're definitely going to make reservations for that (someone told us that June is prime tourist season in Norway, so we should make reservations for some things). The fjords are probably the major draw to Norway for us: we're both fairly outdoorsy, and the fjords sound fantastic.

I went to Norway in May seven years ago and had one of the best holidays of my life. What a great place and lovely people!

While you're going from Oslo to Bergen by train, you have to do the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour. This is a pre-planned series of train, bus and boat trips that take you through some of Norway's most impressive scenery including the fjords and many of Norway's natural wonders. Ask for it by name at the Norwegian tourist office. They should have plenty of info. It's famous among visitors to Norway and should not be missed.

While you're visiting the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, take a moment to check out the main hall's weird acoustics! There are two balconies overlooking the longship, one at each end of the hall. If you whisper while facing the side wall on one balcony, you can be heard clear as a bell at the other. You can freak out Mrs Pielorinho by having her go up one balcony and you the other and talk to her as if she's right next to you!

I'll second Ziggy's suggestion about the stave churches. I went to the one in Heddal near Notodden. It's really cool. FYI it's the building shown in the Norse mythology pic in the 1E Manual of the Planes. I can find a pic of it online if you like...

Edit: Here's a link to Heddal stavechurch.

 

[Clay_More]

Roskilde, as mentioned, has some interesting medieval stuff. Theres the Viking Ship museum, holds 7 or 9 viking ships. Theres the Cathedral where the Royal Family is buried.

Copenhagen has some interesting places. The most noteworthy, and the place that most tourists visit, is Christania, which is a self-governed city within Copenhagen, remnants of old occupiers that have made a living for themselves. Its like a miniature Amsterdam, with hash-cafees and things (and you dont have to be a pot-head to enjoy it, I dont touch the stuff and still find the place amusing).

Otherwise, theres the yearly Roskilde Festival, the date I cant remember. Three day festival, biggest in scandinavia. I think its Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers that are the big names this year, even though theres a couple of hundred bands playing, on nine different stages three days in a row...