Ingrid's world adventure - Germany and Scandinavia

Staff member: Ingrid // Trip date: Nov 2011

We travelled to Berlin by train from Olomouc in the Czech Republic. It is an easy train ride. A local Czech train from Olomouc to Prague then a train on to Berlin from there. The trains between Prague & Berlin are actually surprisingly frequent and only take a little over 4 hours. We decided to reserve our seat between Prague & Berlin as we wanted to be sure of a relaxing trip. Whilst the train was quite empty in Czech as soon as we crossed the border it quickly filled up so we were glad we had our seats secured. When we arrived we were slightly surprised, and delighted, by how inexpensive the German capital was. Much cheaper than the rest of Western Europe, and the rest of the major German cities that we have visited for that matter.

Six days we had put aside for our time in Berlin, and we had no problem filling them to the brim. There is so much to see and do in Berlin; you could literally spend months or even years there.

Our days were filled with museums, art galleries, city parks, shopping and another walking tour.
The Pergamon Museum is one of the most unique and awe inspiring in Berlin. The German History museum is also a must. Alongside obvious concentration on the happenings surrounding the two World Wars, the exhibits also give you an insight into the other aspects of German history, most of which is quite positive however not often talked about.

There are many monuments, memorials and tributes to the victims of not just the holocaust but of all war and tyranny throughout Berlin. All are quite moving, and respectful. A couple of these we visited and think are very worthwhile would be the "Topography of Terror" & "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe."

After our time in Berlin we took a train to Sweden. It pretty much took the whole day to get there but I wanted to spend my birthday in Sweden so that is what we did. We had to first take an ICE train to Nykoebing in the South of Denmark. This train provided us with a coupon for free tea & coffee & a free snack (chocolate bar) in first class. The train crosses over to the Danish islands via a ferry boat which is definitely an experience. You are not allowed to stay on the train whilst you are on the ferry. So everyone alights and can enjoy some duty free shopping on the ferry boat as prices in Denmark are much more expensive than Germany so you can find some bargains for your travels. We then took a local Danish train from Nykoebing to Copenhagen. Usually the train from Berlin would be direct to Copenhagen but due to some trackwork we had to change. This was very clearly displayed on the train as well as being advised by the train conductors numerous times on where we would need to change and which platform our train to Copenhagen would be waiting for us on. We then had to change trains again in Copenhagen to get to Malmo. This proved slightly more confusing due to a mix up by the train staff regarding which end of the platform the train would be departing from. The platforms at Copenhagen train station are very long and sometimes two or three different trains might be leaving from the same platform just different parts of it. They are all signposted with letters along the platform and these correspond to the electronic screens which will display both the platform number & letter that the train will depart from.

From Malmo we took an overnight train to Stockholm. We splurged a little here and booked a private room on board with breakfast included at a hotel in Stockholm on arrival. What I loved about this train is that even though the train arrives in Stockholm at 6am they don't wake you until 6:30 and then you don't have to leave the train until 7am which means some extra sleep in time in the morning. Our cabin had a private ensuite with both shower & toilet. No toiletries provided though, just some towels & sheets & blankets for your bed. This was a really spacious cabin and we had a very comfortable nights sleep. Plus a hotel buffet breakfast to start the day was great.

Our time in Stockholm introduced us to the fast approaching cold weather of Europe. In fact I don't think the temperature rose much over 4 degrees the whole first day. When we were in Stockholm we used a 2 day Stockholm card to get around (these are available to purchase at the tourist office). They provided us with free entry to many attractions and free public transport for 48 hours.

We stayed at a B & B about 10 minutes by metro south of the city centre. So the free public transport definitely came in handy as Stockholm metro system is extremely expensive. During our time in Stockholm we visited a beautiful new photography gallery, the Outdoor museum and zoo called Skansen, the famous Viking ship museum, the biological museum, an aquarium, the medieval museum & did a tour of the city hall where the Nobel peace prize gala dinner is held each year. Despite the poor weather we also decided to go up the Erikkson Globe which gave us great views over Stockholm (on a clear day it would anyway). All of these were included in the price of our Stockholms card so it was nice to play tourist and save a bit of money at the same time.

On a bit of a whim we decided to stay an extra day in Stockholm and take an overnight ferry cruise out to the islands near Finland. It was basically a big cruise ship where we got a buffet dinner & drinks included and we could just chill out for 24 hours and enjoy the fresh (cold) sea air.

Once we were back at the harbour it was time to catch a train across Sweden to Gothenburg. We travelled on the X2000 which is the Swedish high speed train. This train is compulsory to reserve and is also quite expensive so even though we have first class passes we opted to just travel second class for this journey to save some money. If we had travelled first class we could have enjoyed free tea & coffee & free wi-fi on board. On longer journeys between Sweden & Denmark they also include a meal in 1st class. We just had a short overnight stay in Gothenburg before taking a morning ferry to the north of Denmark. We took the Stena line ferry to Frederikshavn and got 20% off because we had Eurail passes. We had to book at the local ticket office to get our discount though. Perhaps we could have also booked over the phone but we didn't try that.

We spent three weeks in Denmark staying with friends so during that time we basically spent a lot of time wining & dining and enjoying staying in a house rather than hostels & guesthouses like we have for most of our trip so far. It was very relaxing. During our time in Denmark we took a couple of trips across Denmark to Copenhagen with the Danish railway system. Danish trains are lovely. They are not compulsory to reserve however many people do book as we discovered on one trip where we had to get up and move seats four times throughout the journey. So if you don't want to be doing that I would suggest perhaps to reserve your seats before you get on board. First class on the intercity LYN trains provides you with a free small breakfast or snack (depending on the time of day) and free tea & coffee is always available at the end of every first class carriage. It is on a self service basis so you can take as much as you like.

From Denmark it was off to the South again, next stop Amsterdam.

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