Scandinavia Travel Planner
Copenhagen's best smørrebrød & heritage design, navigating Norway’s “Troll's Road,” charming island villages near Stockholm, plus saunas, northern lights, and answers to all your questions
I’m so excited about this week’s post—it’s been a couple of years since I was in Copenhagen (when I visited my brother and his family who were living there, and went to Noma for the last time since it’s closing its restaurant in a few months); more than five years since I was last in Norway, and over ten since I was in Sweden. We decided to tackle Scandinavia as a whole for this Planner, since many of you may visit more than one country in a single trip (though we left out Finland, since the consensus seems to be that it is not Scandinavia, though Nordic, and anyhow it would be too overwhelming to do it all in one post!). We received a lot of great questions from you via our comments and DM, and since several of them had a family element to them, I went back to my old travel blog, Travels with Clara (yes the stories are still there!), to remind myself of some of our favorites. Of course, that took me down a big memory rabbit hole–some of the things I was most impressed by were how nobody cares about the weather—I can’t remember who said there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear—and how as a young parent I was so impressed to see little kids being given hammers and saws in Junibacken, the Pippi Longstocking museum. Matt fell in love with the antiquing in a few towns way outside of Stockholm, and we still live with the furniture we shipped back.
I adored the idyllic town of Mariefred and our stay at the Gripsholm Vardshus is still one of the best trips in memory. But one of my favorites was the children’s driving school called Ladbilslandet in Nykvarn (about 45 min from Stockholm), where little kids pick out their car or truck, drive it around the track, and get a “driving license” at the end In a time when parenting culture has grown so over-cautious, it was refreshing. I’ll say the same about cultures that believe in real candlelight, even in the most historic of wooden structures. I’ll be happy if I never see a fake flicker in the States ever again! But enough about my nostalgia. Let’s get to your questions and our incredible contributors’ answers. —Y.E.
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
Amalie and Cecilie Moosgaard are twin sisters and the founders of LIÉ STUDIO, a Copenhagen-based jewelry brand.
Andrea Belck-Olsen is a Scandinavian travel expert who has been director of sales at Nordic Hotels & Resorts and The Thief in Oslo. Now she’s the managing partner at Nordfolk Travel, where she tailors itineraries for visitors to Norway.
Anna Moller is a freelance photographer originally from the US, who now lives in Stockholm with her partner and two daughters.
Charlotte Linnea Björklund is the founder of Linnea Lund, a Paris-based “conscious cashmere” brand that draws inspiration from her Swedish roots.
Eduardo Plaschinski is co-founder of niddo in Mexico City and an avid traveler who loves all things Scandinavian.
Ellen and Maja Dixdotter are the Swedish-born sisters who took the reins of Danish womenswear label By Malene Birger in 2020 as CEO and creative director, respectively.
Emma O’Kelly is a British freelance journalist who writes about design, architecture and travel for various publications including Wallpaper*. We love her recent book, Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat, which explores sauna culture in Scandinavia and beyond.
Hilary Robertson is style director of Feel Free magazine, author of seven books and designer of products, sets and interiors for ABC Home, Bloomist, and Crate & Barrel. Her latest book, Nomad at Home, examines the lives of creatives who have left their countries of origin for somewhere else.
Ilenia Martini is a creative director and writer based in Gothenburg, Sweden. She is the editor at large for design and communication at Scandinavian MIND and also writes weekly personal essays on her substack, Appia.
Irene Edwards is a former magazine editor who lived in Copenhagen with her family for four years and led communications at MAD, the nonprofit launched by René Redzepi of Restaurant Noma.
Jason Edwards is a private chef, now based in the Hamptons outside of NYC, who spent four years in Copenhagen immersing himself in Danish food culture by cooking in some of the top kantines around town.
Jonas Sundstrom is the Swedish-born founder of New York clothing brand En Passant and designer at J. Mueser. He keeps a Substack for the joy of writing.
Lean Timms is an Australian travel and lifestyle photographer who loves to explore and has visited the Faroe Islands several times.
Liza Laserow is the co-founder and creative director of the Scandinavian textile company Nordic Knots, with a strong background in interior design and 17th- to 19th-century Swedish antiques.
Louise Roe is the founder of innovative interior design brand Louise Roe in Copenhagen.
Marie Kristine Schmidt is the chief brand officer at GUBI, a global design house based in Copenhagen.
Mats Klingberg is the Swedish-born founder of Trunk Clothiers, a menswear brand with stores in London and Zurich. Before moving to London, he lived in Stockholm for seven years and still goes back several times a year.
Noona Smith-Petersen is a PR officer and communications manager whose clients have included the likes of Armani, Valentino and Calvin Klein. She spent much of her childhood in Rungsted, Denmark, and now runs her own firm in Milan.
Sarah Fuchs is a Norwegian photographer and art director now based in Berlin.
Sophie Riddervold is a Norwegian interior architect based in Oslo, who often embarks on sourcing trips across Europe for her company, Joy Living.
Tina Seidenfaden Busck is the founder of The Apartment—a chic apartment and design gallery in Copenhagen that’s fully shoppable.