Day 1: Arrival in Copenhagen
Arrive in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark and make your way to your hotel. Copenhagen Airport is well connected with the city centre and you can take a shuttle bus, metro or train. Shuttle buses and trains are operated every 10 minutes and metro operates every 4 – 6 minutes. The travel time by metro to the Nørreport Station in central Copenhagen is around 15 minutes.
In this charming city one thousand years of history await you in the medieval streets; the same streets walked on by every generation of the world's oldest royal family, the same streets and canals which have inspired artists for centuries and been home and workplace to meticulous craftsmen and famous designers.
Accommodation at Quality Hotel Høje Taastrup or similar (three nights).
Day 2 & 3: Copenhagen
Breakfast at the hotel. Two days at leisure to enjoy the city's many attractions and sights, such as The Tivoli Garden, the statue of the Little Mermaid, the Gefion Fountain, the Royal Palace Amalienborg, the Royal Theatre and Opera, and much more.
Day 4: Copenhagen – Malmo (train) - Gothenburg - Oslo ( 565 km)
After breakfast at the hotel, you will take the train to Malmö in Sweden and pick-up your rental car. Then you will continue your journey north along the western coastline of Sweden to Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city and largest harbor. From Gothenburg the journey continues through the forests to Svinesund and the Norwegian border before reaching Oslo, the capital of Norway.
Accommodation at Quality Hotel 33 or similar (three nights).
Day 5 & 6: Oslo
Breakfast at the hotel. Two days at leisure. The Norwegian capital is beautifully situated at the head of the Oslo Fjord, and it's surrounded by forested ridges. Oslo offers many well known sights, such as the Vigeland Sculpture Park, the Viking Ship Museum, and the Munch Museum. We recommend the Oslo Panorama Sightseeing tour, a one and a half hour non-stop tour though the central parts of the city. Guiding on this tour is done in nine different languages.
Day 7: Oslo – Stockholm (535 km)
Breakfast at the hotel. Drive from Oslo and head southeast to the Swedish border crossing at Ørje. Continue towards Karlstad, located at the head of Sweden’s largest lake; Lake Vänern. From there the journey continues in an eastern direction via Örebro and Eskilstuna to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.
Accommodation at Quality Hotel Prince Phillip or similar (three nights).
Day 8 & 9: Stockholm
Breakfast at the hotel. Two days at leisure. Stockholm is built on 14 islands, and you are never far from the water. Well-preserved medieval buildings stand alongside modern architecture, and just outside the city, the archipelago of 24 000 islands is waiting to be explored. Sights of interest are the Vasa Museum, Skansen Open Air Museum, City Hall, the Old Town (Gamla Stan) and much more. We recommend a sightseeing tour by bus or boat.
Day 10: Departure from Stockholm
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure from Stockholm according to your own itinerary.
Visas
For your holidays to Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia or Ukraine, you will not need a visa if you have a valid passport from any EU country, Australia, Canada, USA, Japan (there are more, so check with us to make sure). Please note that your passport should be valid for at least six months after the date of your return.
However, if you plan to travel to Russia, you will need a visa, which we can help organise for you.
Insurance
Travel insurance is required and also advisable. If you do not have a valid policy, please check our Insurance link on the bottom of our homepage or http://www.baltictravelcompany.com/insurance. We can offer quotes for all nationalities.
Our recommended partner is FS Ball who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Language
You will be able to communicate quite well with the locals, as most people in the service industry are quite adept at speaking English. If English doesn't work, then try Russian (if you can), or German. The further you go from the major cities, the less English you will hear. However, do not let the language barrier keep you from exploring the beauty of the country side. We can always arrange English speaking guides to accompany you wherever you wish to go.
The Estonian language is similar to Finnish and is unrelated to Latvian, Lithuanian or Russian. Latvian and Lithuanian are two of the oldest languages, with roots traceable to Sanskrit. This makes them quite challenging to learn, but attempting a few words will put a smile on the local faces. Russians use the Cyrillic alphabet, so reading street signs and tube maps will be a challenge in St Petersburg .
Car Rental
You can rent a car, as long as you have a valid EU or international driver's license. Most cars will have manual transmission.
Currency
You can get local currency from ATMs at the airport where you land or in the major cities. Be aware that your bank will charge you a service fee and exchange rate fee for the transaction, but this is likely to be less than exchanging money in the UK before you depart. Please note that in Russia exchange bureau's and banks will not except Scottish bank notes.
We suggest choosing the right credit card for spending abroad. Most credit cards will have an additional cost (about 3%) to the bank exchange rates. You can avoid it by obtaining a specialist overseas card that does not add this % and will give you good exchange rates that are better than money exchange bureau rates.
Credit cards charge you interest rates, but some debit cards (bank account cards) could have fees that could add up to £ 1.50 every time you spend.
We recommend checking with your bank what fees/interest rates will be applied to your card when using it abroad in order to make an educated decision on what card to use.
Most restaurants and shops will take credit/debit cards like Visa and Mastercard, however, many places will not accept AMEX.
Traveller's cheques are difficult to cash, so we recommend not to use them.
Airport or ferry terminals in most cases will have the worst money exchange rates, so if you must get it from the airport, pre-order money for pick-up to get a better rate.
The local currencies are (alphabetic order):
Denmark - Danish Kroner
Estonia - Euro
Finland - Euro
Greenland - Danish Kroner
Iceland - Icelandic Kroner
Latvia - Euro
Lithuania - Euro
Norway - Norwegian Kroner
Poland - Polish Zloty
Russia - Russian Ruble
Sweden - Swedish Kroner
Ukraine - Hryvnia
Restaurants
Dining opportunities are plenty, from ethnic to exotic. We would suggest you to try some national dishes and get a real taste of the region. Note that most traditional dishes contain meat and are fairly heavy, but very tasty.
Reservations in advance are recommended for up-market restaurants, especially for Friday and Saturday evenings.
Tipping - many of the up-market establishments will let you know how good their service is by including it on the bill. Rounding up the bill is usually sufficient, unless you feel your server deserves an extra bit of recognition.
Mobile Phones
There are several mobile operators in each Baltic country, the Nordics ( Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland incl. Iceland and Greenland as well as Poland, Ukraine and Russia. If you have an international connection, there shouldn't be any problems with your incoming and outgoing calls.
In case your phone doesn't work, please check in the local mobilephone shops and you can buy Calling cards etc. or ask in your hotel, they should be able to advise you too.
Internet Access
Internet access is available at Internet Cafés, which mostly are located in the central part of the city. Most hotels have internet access.
Postal Services
Stamps are available in the post offices and in most newspaper kiosks. Approximate price for a stamp to European Union countries will vary but between appx. £ 0.30 to £ 0.70. You'll see post boxes on the streets or you can ask hotel representative to send your post card, they'll gladly help you.
Emergency Numbers
Emergency telephone number for the police, ambulance services or fire department in Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and Poland - 112.
Greenland uses 911 and for mobile phones only 112.