#68 Stockholm - The Gateway to Scandinavia

Today marks my last week in Sweden. This got me thinking - not only am I leaving Stockholm - I'm leaving behind a great gateway to Europe, or Scandinavia at the very least.

For the 5 months I was in Sweden, I visited six other countries - Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Poland. And not only did I visit these countries, I visited their capital cities and saw the famous landmarks of Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Tallin, Riga and Warsaw. And I visited Gothenburg and Malmo here in Sweden too.

I'm from Ireland, so these countries aren't very far away. But Ireland is an island to the far West of Europe, and it's not as cheap or easy to get to these places as some of you (especially Americans!) might think.

It cost me only €10 (or €40 for a cabin of 4 people) to get to Finland, Estonia and Latvia using the amazing cruise services from Stockholm. €45 for train tickets to Gothenburg, Oslo and Malmo/Copenhagen. €10 flights to Poland. Now if that isn't cheap, I can't tell you what is.

Some people were visiting places like Spain or Italy, but for me, I could go another time from Ireland and it wouldn't be so much in price difference. But there are plenty of countries you can get to from Sweden so cheaply!

So if you come to Stockholm, you're also getting the opportunity to travel to some great places. They say Stockholm is the Capital of Scandinavia, and although I'm still not sure if I agree, it is definitely the gateway to Scandinavia, and a stepping stone to Europe.

Happy travels my friends!

#63 Oslo, Norway

And this concludes my visit to the 4 big cities of Scandinavia - Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo (sorry for ignoring Iceland - it's too far!).

Oslo was the most expensive out of all of them - food is ridiculously priced! Although the museum prices were okay (about 50nok for students anyway) and a one day travel card only cost 80nok, and there are lots of free things to do too. In general, there isn't a huge amount to do and because it's so expensive I would probably recommend only staying a day or two.


I think the first thing that you notice in Oslo are the skyscrapers. There none in central Stockholm or Copenhagen, and it made a change - it feels like a modern city. Also, it's almost surrounded by wooded hills with houses, which is again different to the other cities.

Shiny!

Ooooh!

The main attractions include the Opera House, which is very close to the central station. I heard there was a great view from the roof, but I didn't realise that you actually walk on the roof. . .it's a great building, although the view isn't that great.

Look!

Casually walking on the roof!

Other attractions include the National gallery which houses the famous Scream painting by Munch (but this was closed for a week from the day we arrived - so unfortunate!), the Nobel Peace Museum (the other Nobel prizes are in Stockholm though) and the Ice Bar.

Then there is Carl Johans Gate which is the main shopping and restaurant street, and that leads up to the Royal Palace. The street is nice, it has a mix of high end stores like Chanel as well as everyday favourites like H&M. The Palace isn't very pretty, but it's worth seeing.

 Carl Johans Gate

The Royal Palace

We managed to see the changing of the guard!

One of the main highlights of Oslo is the Vigeland Sculpture park. It's about 20mins walk from the city centre, but it is really worth it. I am not interested in art, but this was very pretty and really interesting (and some of them were funny).

On closer inspection, the pillar is a mass of bodies. . .

 And here are just some pictures of around the city:

Nice street

Nice fountain

Norwegian Parliament

National Gallery

So Olso was nice, it wasn't fantastic but it was a nice city and I had an enjoyable time there, and would recommend a visit. If I had to pick a favourite out of the four cities, I would probably say Copenhagen, then Stockholm, then Oslo, then Helsinki (although I only spent a few hours in Helsinki, so maybe I didn't see enough to like it!).