A Week in Scandinavia
After spending time with our family in England, the boys headed back to Brooklyn to see their dad, and Freddie and I stayed to visit friends in Scandinavia. What a magical place! Here are a few photos, if you’d like to see…
Right before leaving London for Stockholm
Our first stop was Stockholm. Have you ever been to Sweden? (Or are you lucky enough to live there?) I’d never visited, and damn was it gorgeous. When I think back on the week, my mind fills with images of sparkling water and green grass and blue skies.
My friend Jen, who lives there, highly recommended the hotel Ett Hem. It was definitely a splurge, but since we’d stayed with family for most of our trip, we decided to go for it.
The hotel wants guests to feel like they’re staying with family friends — and we really did. Every corner offered a cozy nook for reading books or playing games, and they had honesty bars set up around the hotel so you could pour yourself a glass of wine. They also had an open kitchen where you could help yourself anytime to afternoon cake.
The breakfast, which was included with the stay, was extraordinary. Our first morning, we sat by a big bookcase, and the plates just kept coming — farm fresh scrambled eggs, sliced cheese and ham, lettuce and tomatoes with flaky sea salt, and bread rolls with butter. This isn’t sponsored — it was just an incredible place!
After breakfast, we biked to the ABBA Museum (big fan) and the Vasa Museum, which features a giant warship that sunk…20 minutes after setting sail. A real example of hubris, gahh. Also, while biking around town, I was struck by how closely people followed the rules. In New York, where I’ve ridden bikes for 25 years, it always feels like a bit of a free-for-all where you could tumble off at any time — car doors open unexpectedly, pedestrians walk in bike lanes, delivery trucks block pathways. I’m used to it, but in Stockholm, the system just ran…according to plan.
Our second day, we took a ferry into the archipelago, a stunning group of 30,000 islands in the Baltic Sea. Public transportation can get noisy, but people were surprisingly quiet on the ferry — and I thought about lagom, a concept in Swedish culture where people live together with moderation, fairness, and simple satisfaction. Apparently, the Swedish proverb “lagom är bäst” means “the right amount is best.”
Side note: I loved these girls’ braids!
We then met up with my friend Jen, her husband Nik, and their twin boys. She’s American, he’s Swedish, and they moved to Stockholm a few years ago. We went to a classic restaurant called Pelikan for meatballs, potatoes, and lingonberries and played a rip-roaring game of Ono 99. (The other restaurant we loved during our stay was Bar Nîmes.)
One sweet moment? I was talking to her lovely boys, who speak fluent English and Swedish, about their first day of school. “What is your teacher’s name?” I asked one of them. He paused, and when his dad encouraged him to answer, he said, “We call her Lena, but I don’t know how to say it in English.”
For the second half of our trip, we headed south to Copenhagen, Denmark, which is a five-hour train ride.
The design of everything, even the bike racks and airport carts, was beautiful.
Everyone had advised us to get pastries — especially cardamom buns — so we went to Juno. Soooo good. Another day, we had delicious folded eggs at Studio x Kitchen.
We also biked to La Banchina, an all-day café, where you can also swim in the harbor.
We then headed to our friends Maz and Lee’s house, where they live with their two boys. She’s Danish, he’s American, and they’re splitting their time between Copenhagen and Queens.
While snacking on apple cake and coffee, their older son told us about school in Denmark. “We learn math and science, of course,” he said, “But we also learn life skills. We went mountain biking this week, and we’re learning to sew by hand and with a machine.” And the coolest part? Teachers recently asked the students to come into school wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants over swimsuits. “We learned how to fall into water and take off our clothes efficiently,” he said. “Because if you unexpectedly end up in water, you’re usually fully dressed.”
Their younger son picked more apples.
Our final day, we walked around town and peeked into little shops…
…and spotted a pacifier tree, where toddlers hang up their pacifiers when they’re all done.
That final evening, we had dinner with my friend Miriam. The boys and I visited her family a few years ago, and they now live in a different house with a wild garden. “We considered putting up a sign saying it was on purpose, so our neighbors wouldn’t worry,” she laughed.
Miriam and her husband Morty now have four kids, and we played in the garden before dinner.
She made a delicious meal, including smashed beef with cucumber yogurt. It was a magical night, and even as we were there, I felt nostalgic for our trip.
And apparently Freddie juggles!
Have you ever been to Copenhagen, Stockholm, or anywhere in Scandinavia? I’d love to hear any more insights or anecdotes. I fell so hard for both cities and am still pinching myself for the time we got to spend there! Thank you so much for reading. xoxo
P.S. The weirdest best part of trips, and four things I always pack for a trip.
Tags: personal
Comments
98 commentsTotally off the wall and not relevant to this wanderlust post, but I’m 4 days over due with a baby boy and we’ve been searching for the perfect M name. We also love the Z sound with our last name… is Maz short for something? Tell me it’s fate so we can name him and he can make his debut!
I visited Stockholm and Copenhagen this summer, too! As my 30th birthday present to myself, I took myself to Europe for three weeks in July, all solo until London. The itinerary was: Oslo -> Stockholm -> Goteborg -> Malmo -> Copenhagen -> London, mostly by train. I had been to Stockholm before when I was a teenager, so I knew I would like it, but I was so impressed by everywhere else I went. I am still constantly thinking about the dinner I had at Kødbyens Fiskebar in Copenhagen, which was absolutely one of the best meals of my life.
Oh this is so amazing! I recently learned that my ancestors are Danish so I immediately started planning a trip there (and the rest of Scandinavia) for next years. These recommendations are so helpful! I can’t wait to go see where “my people” are from! I already want to move there after reading about how civilized the society sounds/is. Such a dream…
I love Scandinavia! Stockholm and Copenhagen are marvelous, but if you ever get the chance, spend a few days (or more) on the Faroe Islands. They belong to Denmark, but they’re in the Arctic Circle. I can honestly say it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been and I long to return. You can drive through undersea tunnels, including through the world’s only undersea roundabout. Everywhere you look, there’s more stunning beauty to behold. How lucky it would be to live there!
I love Denmark so much, I#ve been to Copenhagen once and about 5 or six times to Bornholm, a beautiful island in the Baltic Sea. It’s my place of longing. And your photos of the luggage carts and the bike racks! I love love love that in Denmark, everything just seems to be beautiful, even the most ordinary thing. That fills my heart so much every time. And I try to adapt this to my own daily life (washing up is much more pleasing when the utensils are nice-looking!).
I found out I’m five percent Swedish from an ancestry test and discovered their word, Lagom, and its meaning shortly after. I decided to make it my word of the year when New Years came around.
Oh this is so clever, I hadn’t considered words from different languages for my word of the year. Perfect when English just may not have the exact sentiment. Thanks for the idea!
Could you share the recipes for Miriam’s dinner? Looks incredible!
I’ll ask her!
We spent 10 days in Denmark in August with my partner and 3 children (7, 5 and 2YO). We enjoyed it a lot and I was thrilled after each kids-friendly visit. I also loved the bread, the cardamom buns, icecream everywhere, and the seaside. We stayed few nights in Vejle to be close to Legoland (main goal of the trip for my kids lol), and visited the Jelling UNESCO site. Then we rented a sommerhus in Tisvilde to be close to the beach (walking distance through the forest, such an amazing location). We spent one day in Copenhaguen (my kids loved the children museum in the national museum), one day ar Kronborg castle (probably the best castle visit we ever made, fun and interesting, with actors playing scenes from Hamlet in the castle with humor, a creative room for children with Legos and drawing material..) , one day in Sweden (we took the ferry to Helsingborg and drove to Kullaberg : beautiful place, interesting visit of the naturum, best fish soup at the restaurant..). And we enjoyed calm days on the beach. And looked at the eclipse from the beach before eating icecream from Tisvilde strandkiosk. Truly magical holidays and cannot wait to come back !
Stockholm and Copenhagen both look wonderful, but I especially liked the details about everyday life rather than just the usual tourist attractions. The ferry through the archipelago and cycling around Stockholm sound like the kind of experiences that make a trip genuinely memorable.
My family and I just went in July to Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. Stockholm was by far the city that I enjoyed the most – gorgeous buildings, cobblestone streets, the prettiest rainbow art in a subway station, smørrebrød, a fun Viking themed restaurant, the stunning achipelago, the Vasa museum, cycling everywhere, the glisten of the sea, and beautiful people. However, it was Iceland that was truly magical. The scale, the changing biomes, the contrast between the beauty and harshness of the environment. As Australians, we laughed at how people come to us for the whitest beaches and we had travelled to the other end of the word for black beaches. We stood on a cliff in Vestmannaeyjar and felt like we were in Middle Earth; we stood in a lava field with nobody else around and felt like we were on the moon. The puffins were also extraordinarily cute.
25 years ago during a summer when I was in college, I travelling with my tient boyfriend to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. It was such an amazing experience! I really hope to go back soon. Copenhaguen is my favorite city there.
I went to Copenhagen solo in 2019. Loved it all but had a particularly perfect day there – started with a poppy seed bun at Brød that changed my life, then visited the Glyptotek museum (free entry that day) before jumping on the train down to this incredible public pool built in the sea – Kastrup Søbad. After that I headed back into the city to La Banchina where I spent all afternoon sipping wine and eating a delicious salad and reading my book and jumping into the freezing perfect water (top five swims of my life). Then I met some friends for an evening dip and some snacks in the center of the city and headed back to my airbnb via Apollo bar. Would love that day over again if I could!
Oh wow. They should put you on the tourist board for both countries….they look magical–although I’m sure it wasn’t hard to find great shots in such photogenic places! I am lucky enough to live in the quaintest, loveliest region of the US (New England; I am biased ;)), but after seeing these photos, I am even more excited about visiting Scandinavia in the future!
Same here Meggles. I live in very picturesque Maine but still love visiting Europe’s “another level” quaint villages and cities. It’s almost like magic overdose when I see these places. But still grateful (and definitely biased about our special bubble here)…
I’m from Finland, but live in the UK with my Canadian husband (we met in Toronto, Canada about 30 years ago). I spent a year in Stockholm, Sweden after high school as a barnflicka (nanny). I love the Nordic countries, especially Denmark, and the older I get, the more I miss the lifestyle. Copenhagen is one of my favourite places! I love how there are more bicycles than cars:) Our plan is to move back to Finland once the kids have graduated university in about five years time.
We are trying to plan a trip to Sweden next summer! Not gonna lie, that paci tree made me choke out a little sob at the sweetness. My kids are all teenagers now, but dang do I love a toddler and just imaging having that tree to visit at that milestone – oh my heart!
Same response! (sob sob)
As a pre-“starting to try to get pregnant” last hoorah, my partner and I cycled/camped all the way from Bergen to Copenhagen (via Oslo and down to Helsingborg, across the ferry to Helsingor then down to Copenhagen). It was such a glorious/challenging adventure and Copenhagen was the perfect place to end 12 days of beast-moding it! The culture, the food, the energy was amazing and I cannot WAIT to go back. I still dream of the cheese we bought at La Fromagerie in Copenhagen…. mmmm stinky cheese.
Years ago, my husband told me to pick a trip to go anywhere I wanted. I chose Copenhagen and Stockholm. We flew into Copenhagen and enjoyed a few days walking around the city and then took the train to Stockholm where we spent a majority of our time. I loved the cities and culture, architecture, food and nature. We also took a steam train from Stockholm, to Marifred to see the castle there. We stayed at an incredible Inn, which was the oldest public guesthouse in the country. What I appreciated most about this trip was the fact that people seemed to move at a slower pace enjoying their experiences and the people they were with. I especially noticed how patient parents including dads were with their young children. I spent my life as a preschool teacher and observing kids and their parents is second nature to me. Because they have parental leave and time to bond with their babies and young toddlers, parents seemed more connected and less frustrated even though the emotions babies and toddlers display in universal. The Scandinavian culture values children and families and it shows. I wish our country truly valued children and families in the same way by supporting them with time and financial, emotional, and caregiving.
As Rufus Waingwright sings: “I am so tired of America” (right now)… I know, the grass is always greener but it seems pretty much inarguably more civilized (in so many respects) in Scandinavia.
I did a 23 and Me DNA test this year and got the results back as 50% Danish. I knew I had some ancestors from Denmark, but I didn’t expect to be fully half genetically Danish! Honestly makes so much sense, I’ve always felt such a pull toward Scandinavia, this post is making me want to hop on a plane today!!
From Stockholm, lived in the US for 26 years and married an American, now back in Sweden!
Argh! I was in CPH and we also took a quick train over to Malmo to spend the wknd at a spa close to there this past June.; a dear friend from High school lives there and also splits her time between CPH/NYC My 2nd time and I have to say…CPH is truly one of my favorite places. Now more than ever I notice the stark contrasts between our ‘quality’ of life here in the US vs. there. It’s somewhat freeing to be there, even if only briefly, but makes it even more depressing to come back here. La Branchina is such a dream! If you haven’t yet visited Louisiana Modern Art Museum or Odrupgaard museum you really need to next time! Unreal!
I’m curious what spa you went to. I’ll be doing the opposite in November, spending a few days in Malmo with a girlfriend, and she wants to go over to Copenhagen and up the coast to her favorite spa in Denmark. And YES to Louisiana- we love it last summer!
I did my PhD in Stockholm and this makes me so “homesick” for Scandinavia. Signed, an American who is just so sad about our country right now.
Sad here also. Thankful there are still civilized places left on the planet (like Scandinavia)
I love Sweden and Denmark. I’ve never been to Stockholm, just Southern Sweden, but I love it. Juno’s great. Biking’s great. Everything is great. What I’m really here for, though, is to ask for the recipe for that apple cake, please! It’s almost my birthday, and I would love to make that. :-)
Our family just got back from 12 days in Norway, where we explored so much of the country: Oslo, Bergen, Kristiansand, fjords, football, playgrounds, hikes, saunas and so much good food. I have traveled a lot but have never imagine a better family vacation than Norway! Highly recommend!
I just got back from a 9 day trip to Denmark which was spurred by one of your readers who had commented on the Marina Abramovic installation at the Cisternerne in Copenhagen. I spontaneously decided to go solo and absolutely no regrets! The show was very intense and I loved it and the Louisiana was outstanding. Plus I ate all the cardamom buns. Such a great time.
Hadley, I appreciate you posting this – I have been reading through every comment here to see if anyone has anything to say about traveling solo as a woman and now I’m excited about going to Denmark by myself.
My favorite thing in Stockholm when we went several years ago was the Skansen island. You walk all around and there are animals roving all over as well as in a small zoo. If you’re an animal lover, it’s a definite must!
Spent three days last year in Stockholm and still try to plan some more and more..its sooo amazing and yummy😉
When I was in middle school, my family went to Norway to visit my mom’s good friend, who spent a year with her as an exchange student. After arriving in Oslo, we headed to the island where she and her family live. We spent a week there, biking, hanging out in their garden, and eating the most delicious food (including reindeer!!). I was in peak middle school angst years and totally didn’t appreciate it at the time; I still dream about going back!
Of course Freddie juggles! What a lovely trip. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing pictures from your trip, it looks like you had a very nice time. I have followed CoJ for more than a decade and it feels crazy that you have been visiting Denmark and I didn’t know about it 😉 I live very near the center of Copenhagen with my husband and three kids, and I think it’s really fun to see my own neighborhood through your eyes – I must admit I never pay much attention to the bike racks in my daily life 😊 but it gives a nice sparkle, so thank you. The hype about cinnamon buns is crazy (and so are the prices). If you come by another time, I can recommend Københavns Bageri (in Carlsbergbyen), which is also close to two nice areas (Frederiksberg and Vesterbro), where you find a lot of nice coffee shops, shops, restaurants, bars etc. and are free from the most touristy places.
Opened this and said to my family “ok Guys, get ready for me wanting us all to go to Scandinavia”. I was not wrong. What a lovely trip!
Please, please try to get the apple cake recipe for me. My grandmother, Sophie, used to make me an apple cake for my birthday every year. It was dense, not sweet, and full of cinnamony apple goodness. It is a cake meant to be eaten for breakfast. My Polish great grandmother used to make it for my great grandfather for breakfast. It is my childhood baked into a Bundt pan and my earliest memory.
You might enjoy these: https://smittenkitchen.com/2012/01/apple-sharlotka/ https://food52.com/recipes/82496-apple-cake-from-dorie-greenspan
I was fortunate to spend a year living in Turku, Finland, between high school and undergrad on an exchange program! It changed my life and, 20 years later, I still consider it another home. I gained so much independence and the way of living there is more balanced (less go! go! go! and more – go to sauna, go to the woods, go to a lake). I got to experience ice fishing, sailing, staying on a reindeer farm, visiting Santa’s village up in the north, exploring different cities (Helsinki, Savonlinna, Tampere…), gathering mushrooms and berries in the woods, jumping in frozen lakes, and navigating day-to-day life with my wonderful host families. I also go to visit Sweden, Denmark, and several other countries on a euro tour! Anyway, Scandinavia holds a big piece of my heart and I am hoping to go back for a visit in the near future (I promised my host mom I’d be back and I intend to keep that promise, though it’s taken longer than I would like). :)
Hello from Finland! So excited to see you in my neck of the woods! I moved here two years ago after seven years on Long Island and a number of years in the UK before that. I sometimes miss NYC, but I do appreciate the peacefulness and just being. Also, having trail runs just outside my front door is amazing! Helsinki is a lot more diverse than it was 20 years ago, when I last lived here, but of course the history is totally different from NYC, so I can’t expect it to be the same. Around 20% of the population in Sweden is foreign-born (compared with roughly 15% in the US), but the Nordic countries have a much shorter history of substantial population diversity. That relatively rapid demographic change has unfortunately also been met by a significant right-wing populist backlash, including ugly rhetoric around immigration and people perceived as foreign. So there is tension between increasingly diverse societies and a political current that wants to define belonging much more narrowly. I certainly don’t want to minimise that side of things, but I also don’t think the loudest anti-immigration voices reflect what everyday life here is like. My family is biracial (and binational- if that is a word!) and so far we are happy living here.
Josy, thank so much for your input! It is super interesting and I would actually love to hear (read) much more on that topic from voices like yours.
I was lucky to grow up with Danish neighbors in Maryland. Everything Danish permeated into my childhood. I spent so much time at their home. Visiting them in Copenhagen in 2017 (for my Danish “mom”’s 80th birthday!), I felt so at home. I had been living in Denmark in my dreams since my 70s childhood!
This trip looks amazing, and your friends are so stylish. I’d love a “What everyone is wearing in Scandinavia” post, like the ones you’ve done for Paris. I’ve never been, but it’s high on my list of next vacations to take, and I find myself knitting and listening to a lot of Scandinavian folk/coffeehouse playlists once the weather starts to turn cold.
Just spent a week in Lofoten earlier this summer! Loved it. Also enjoyed Oslo for a night. Wish I had eaten even more buns than I did. We love Iceland and the Faroe Islands, too!
Ok story time… I first went to Scandinavia at age 19 after dropping out of college and went to a sailing/farming/craft folk school in Norway for a year. Most treasured year of my life (so far!)— the people, nature, joy and “home” feeling opened my eyes to that world. Then three years ago, my husband and I quit our jobs, put our stuff in storage and moved to Sweden for me to go to the country’s premier craft school. We had hopes of finding work after my program and staying there for a while (maybe a long time!) but, as other people have noted, their immigration policy is very strict — and convoluted by design, I would add. Even though we were ready to learn and speak Swedish, work (in areas that were about Swedish history & culture!), and contribute to society, the didn’t want that. Now we’re back in the US and I’m not so jaded about this country any more. Having left it, and come back refreshed, I can love it for the good parts (and work hard to change the not good parts). And, I dream of having a summer cabin “opp i fjellende” (up in the mountains) someday, where I can visit with those beloved folk I met on my adventures. <3
My husband and I went to Stockholm and Copenhagen for our honeymoon. My dad has this ridiculous dad joke the whole family rolls our eyes at, and the punchline refers to “Thor’s hiney.” When we were in Stokholm, we did a boat tour and crossed under a bridge with statues of some Norse gods…and the Thor statue had a strategically draped cloth that exposed his backside. Cue my new husband and I racing through Stockholm at dusk to make it in time to take a picture of Thor’s hiney for my dad before the sun went down. That’s one of my favorite memories from our honeymoon!
I can’t believe this! I was in Stockholm at the same time and we also went to the Vasa Museum! I fell in love with the breakfasts too and have been trying to replicate them since we arrived home. We were later in a more rural area with my family near Karlstad and then spent time in Oslo. I’m so glad you had a good time, I wish we had run into you!
I am in Copenhagen right now! It is beautiful and the sense of design here is perfection. Many parts of the countryside here remind me of my home in New Brunswick, Canada with its proximity to the ocean , so much natural beauty and also a similar climate
Very random, having literally just returned from 2 weeks in Sweden with our kids. We sailed for a week with Swedish friends and lots of the rocky islands in the Stockholm archipelago have their own Bastu (sauna) which the children (and us) loved! Also enjoyed staying at the Hotel Curiosa in Göteburg. Hotel has a slide running into the lobby and a carousel, along with a huge breakfast buffet! That along with Fika, think we all want to move to Sweden!!
oh my gosh, that slide looks amazing!
I live in Stockholm, and I absolutely love hearing my hometown described so beautifully. It gives you a whole new perspective on everyday life here. We’re not crazy here in the north… but actually, maybe we are. When my son was 15, his school took the students to a lake where they cut a hole in the ice. Every student had to jump into the freezing water fully clothed, stay in the water until they could count to ten, and then climb back out. The idea is to practise what to do in case they ever fell through the ice. Long-distance ice skating, for example, is a pretty normal weekend activity here, so it’s genuinely great safety preparation. And at the same time… completely insane.
💙💛💙 you’re so talented in capturing the moments, Jo, so glad to see Stockholm and Copenhagen through your beautiful photos and writing. The way Stockholm city spans across the little islands is truly stunning, yes? I also love Oslo, with its beautiful architecture, the pace is a tad more laid back, and one mustn’t miss the Vigeland sculpture park. Oh and driving the scenic routes in Norway, every turn is breathtaking. The Atlantic Ocean Road and around Lofoten (off peak season) are my favourites.
Oof, I am too broke to relate to this particular post and comment section. Love you though, Jo!
Chuckling at this comment. In the same not-moored- anywhere -near-these glorious places- and never – will- be boat. But yeah neat to read about ! :)
Same and also navigating caring for aging parents.
Haha same. Love reading about it though and living vicariously.
Hahaha I get that. Let’s treat ourselves to the swedish tradition of fika instead: https://www.thekitchn.com/what-in-the-world-is-fika-an-intro-to-the-swedish-coffee-break-the-art-of-fika-219297
Today was probably the last summer day in Oslo. So I went swimming in a lake in the woods after dinner, 7 subway stops and a short hike from where I live, just as the sun was setting and the light was perfectly late summer soft. Not pictured: something disgusting the dog ate before I could stop her, and loud teenagers camping across the lake.
I’ve visited Stockholm in the spring season 10 years ago (Fika!!) and Copenhagen, just this past January. Both beautiful countries, full of fashionable and friendly people, impressive bike culture, superb museums and the food is so fresh! I keep telling my husband that I could live in Denmark in a little one bedroom cottage, no problem. Friends live here (originally from the U.S. and they say the quality of life is tops). We were in Copenhagen when the winter was the coldest it had been in 16 years. People were still out and about, biking, walking their dogs and cold plunging/sauna-ing. No one jay walks! The pastries are amazing; we partook heartily in the Fastelavnsboller season. Lucky to have visited and it would be a privilege to go back!
Just popping in to say there’s a Russell Freedman children’s book about the Vasa: The Sinking of the Vasa: A Shipwreck of Titanic Proportions, 978-1627798662 and your library probably has it
Excited to check that one out, Caroline! We’ve really enjoyed Jo Arnold’s “Atlas of Shipwrecks” also in Children’s Non-Fiction (J 910.452 Arno.)
We bought a gorgeous children’s book at the Vasa gift shop a few years back – telling the story through the eyes of a little piglet! https://www.amazon.com/Vasa-Piglet-Lindboms-Adventures-Warship/dp/9129659051
including the ISBN for a book recommendation! love
We’ve been to olso and Bergen, and hope to see Sweden and Denmark!! This looks lovely!!
I went to Copehagen and stayed with a bicycle blogger who collages Copenhagen cycle chic and goes all round the world advocating for safe cycling. We went to the museum of the resistance which was amazing, but then burnt down. Another time I went I had an eye infection and after seeing a doctor happened upon an incredible bar where I had the best strawberry daiquiri and meat and cheese platter of my life. I couldn’t find it again but it was a magical evening.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jpNADYGlQ80 Swedes: “Let us take a look.”
I first went to Stockholm as a teenager with my dad — I was obsessed with fashion design and visited my first H&M and the clothes were so well made. The food was sublime and everyone was friendly and happy — The vasa stuck out as truly special example of history and identity (no one blamed anyone for the mishap). Cut to prob 20 years later and I went back and to Denmark too for an exploration of hygge — the Scandinavian countries left such an impression on me — the politics, cycling, fashion, family friendliness, way of life AND all the divine sweets and cafe culture. Would beam myself back in a heartbeat. Glad you were also taken with this part of the world, J!! It’s so special.
That picture of the boy in the apple tree is absolutely incredible. Iconic!
My mom was an exchange student in a small coastal town in Denmark in 1961. A few years ago, my son and I traveled with her to Iceland and Copenhagen, and we also visited her town (near Røsnæs). We found people who remembered her, and they invited us in to tea! We had such a fun time in that rather random place.
I’ve lived in Stockholm for 9 years (and have been reading CoJ for maybe 15 years?!) and can’t believe you came to my home island, Södermalm! Would have been so fun to run into you. Glad you had an amazing visit!
How dreamy! Can I pick the collective Cup of Jo hive mind? My kid will be 8 next summer and we’re ready to do a big, international trip. We live in Los Angeles and my heart is pulling me towards France or Italy. I have some local friends who are planning similar trips so we could meet up with other families. If I can swing it, we’d love to go for 2-3 weeks (working part of the time, but taking 1-2 weeks off). A friend recommended a lovely camp in France that has childcare part of the day, teachers your kid cooking, has a pool and we could share a little cabin/house. But another friend was like you could do something similar in California why go all the way to Europe for that. That friend wants to do more of a city stay and get more culture. Obviously preferences are so personal, but I’m trying to get clarity on what would be worth it and what it is I want out of this trip. When I think about a dream family, European trip, my mind goes to the dinner scene in Before Midnight, the farm house holiday in Normal People and reading by the beach, exploring quaint towns and eating yummy local food. I guess my key words would be relaxed + connection + nature + culture. Two big considerations are kids for my kid to play with and budget. Any recommendations? Merci
I don’t have lived experience (my baby is a baby still!), but I will push back on your friend who asked ”why go all the way to Europe for that”! I think it will be such a rich experience for your kids! The all knowing algorithm recently gave me some accounts of families who take their kids to European summer camps and it seems so awesome to me. My own trepidation would be making sure that there’s not a big language barrier. Otherwise, it really seems like a magical way to travel!
Strong disagree with your friend here! What you’re envisioning sounds absolutely magical!
We just got back from 2 weeks in the UK with our kids, 5 and 9. Honestly, 10/10 to take kids abroad! This isn’t totally answering your question, but a few things that helped us: 1. We didn’t want to do a big trip like this with a stroller, so we waited until we were confident 5 could walk everywhere on his own. We are Coloradoans, so he’s used to hiking, but WOW did this pay off. We walked many miles a day and he kept up beautifully, minus a few tired, mad moments. 2. We chose the UK because we have friends and family in London. It was so great to mix activities and tourism with chill time at a pub with the uncles or in a friends’ home for the day. If you have friends overseas who would welcome your visit, I’d start there. 3. Get your expectations right. We went into this big trip with the spirit of experimentation and curiosity. We said “let’s see how we do, let’s show the kids a place we love and see how it goes!” I cannot emphasize enough how key that was! If you’re looking for a perfect trip where everyone is always well behaved and every day is Insta perfect, no trip will ever go well. If you understand that travel with kids is a little slower, a little more prone to the afternoon melties or someone getting under the weather, then you’ll be just fine. When our son got sick in Edinburgh, we traded out who went adventuring with 9 and who stayed in the flat and watched Shaun the Sheep and rubbed 5’s back. But it was totally ok because life is still life, no matter where we go. Knowing what you’re after, I’d recommend places that are really family friendly and little kid inclusive. London and surrounding areas – kids everywhere, they’re welcome at pubs, tons of parks. It’s delightful! I would also recommend Greece! Little kids are rockstars in Greece – everyone just loves a baby and is super kind. Ditto Japan, where small children are rare due to their low birth rate. I felt so safe and welcomed in Japan. We can’t wait to take our kids there someday soon. I’d take them to either place in a heartbeat. I hope you end up going overseas and have fun with it!
Go to Copenhagen! It was so fun to take my kid there and the playgrounds are INCREDIBLE. Cool design and wine bars or coffee shops right there.
We did our first trip to Europe with our kids last summer. They were five, nine, and 11. The 11 year-old has significant disabilities, so we wanted somewhere that felt comfortable, decently accessible, and kid friendly. We did Copenhagen and other parts of Denmark! So obviously I loved this post. We did six nights in Copenhagen, three nights in Aarhus, and three in Vijle, for Legoland. The kids enjoyed the whole trip, as did both of us parents. We still mention something about Denmark almost daily. And now I’m actually going back this November for a few nights with a girlfriend. My only complaint about the family trip was I didn’t get enough end food and shopping time! Ha ha. So my girls trip will look different, but equally enjoyable! Next summer, we are planning another trip. This time we will fly from Chicago to either Madrid or Paris for a few nights, and then we are going to head towards Bordeaux and the southwestern coast of France. I’m already so excited for that trip!
What great timing! At the airport in ATL waiting to board a flight bound for Stockholm then Copenhagen!
My Nana took me to Stockholm and Copenhagen for my 14th birthday. It was such a special trip, especially bc my mother had a Swedish exchange student live with her family in high school who she stayed friends with and I had 5 Swedish au pairs when I was little — so there were a lot of people to visit! I really hope to take my son for a visit when he is older. Truly one of the most beautiful parts of the world and the kindest people.
I love that you made this vacation two-part. Even when we visit my family, I will get us a hotel night away in the middle of it to give everyone a break (and to eat food in bed!).
Loved this post! I have had dreamy trips to Copenhagen and Stockholm, I can’t wait to go back.
I’m so glad you had such a lovely trip, and oh, how wonderful it feels to reunite with little pieces of your heart in new-to-you places! (That goes for friends and resonances, really.) My husband and parents and I visited Copenhagen, then Stockholm two years ago and did the same one-two punch of the ABBA museum and the Vasa! Both majestic in their ways, and wow, my mom was much more game to perform at the former than I’d expected; Jeanne for Eurovision 2027?? One of my favorite things about Copenhagen was the extra-low-key thrifting: one charity shop we visited just had a register and a scanner, so you could ring yourself up for whatever you purchased. (I got a gauzy, mysterious cape and wore it to the opera that night.)
We’re lucky enough to live in the Stockholm archipelago and can confirm, it’s glorious! Also, I laughed out loud at the kid trying to translate a name – my English-swedish 4-year-old has said the exact same thing to me, and CONSTANTLY corrects our pronunciation of Swedish words (and names, lol). Today she offered to translate for me when I had to take a phone call in Swedish (I also speak Swedish, she just doesn’t believe me because we only speak English at home) 😂💀
This brings back some fun memories for me! In college I studied in Paris for a semester, and during that time I went to visit a friend studying in Copenhagen for a weekend trip. It was December – cold and rain/sleet, but I remember it as such a lovely time. She lived in a homestay with a family that lived in a scandi-hygge fever dream of a house – white fluffy rugs, white and gray cushy sofas and chairs, low moody lighting but candles everywhere, and so on. We visited sites in the city, highlights including Tivoli gardens in the dark (it got dark early of course, but the lights are gorgeous and we had lots of hot chocolate) and walking through decorated streets and doing some christmas shopping at a fancy big store. I later visited Sweden and Norway during the summer – first we stayed in Uppsala (a wonderful university town) and Stockholm, walked all around the harbors and old city, and did a day trip to a random island on the ferry just as described. Then to Oslo, bopping around the city, then rented a car to drive through fjordlands and as north as Alesund. The scenery was lovely of course, and we encountered great hospitality at airbnbs with hosts leaving us pancakes with jam! We had the unfortunate realization though that it was quite hard to find food and restaurants on the road. It was a real reminder of how sparsely populated some parts of Norway are. In one town, we had just rolled in at 7pm to the only restaurant (located in a small hotel) and were told the chef had just gone home. In another spot, the lodging we stayed in advertised a restaurant, which we found was just the small check-in area where the host prepared some food in a back room and gave us beers from a mini fridge. Another day, we were excited to see a sign for a real restaurant in the area where we were driving, and the parking lot had a few cars already. But when we parked and got out, a man came out waving his hands, upset at us, saying “no no! no food! this is a funeral!”. Sigh.
A pacifier tree — that killed me. How sweet is that? Crying at my desk, thanks menopause.
I got to spend my entire 14th birthday at Tivoli! We were there when they opened the gates, and we had tickets for a concert (youth orchestra) that went late into the night. Absolutely magical memory!
We went to Stockholm this summer and loved it. Used tons of Jen Mankins recs from her newsletter, including Pelikan, so fun to see her in your pictures. We stayed at Hotel Rival and it was great (and also had an incredible breakfast!). We took a boat up the archipeligo to Artipelag, a very cool museum with amazing outdoor sculptures. Then we took an overnight cruise ship to Helsinki. It was all amazing and I would totally go back to Scandinavia!
Love this! My aunt is Swedish, and it only took 30+ years, but we finally made a trip this summer. Stayed a bit outside of Stockholm, and the thing that impressed me the most was all of the trails! I’m a runner, and it was WILD to me that I could run on incredibly well-maintained, gorgeous gravel trails basically forever. A trail that starts in the town we stayed in goes all the way to Finland! For a country with a lot of winter, I love the embrace of the outdoors. And as a side note, I’m from (and now live) in Maine, and Sweden felt like the Maine of Europe to me! Lots of cultural and geographic similarities, so I’m not surprised that both places speak to your soul, Joanna.
Hi Erica! Fellow runner here! I’m curious about this trail. Can you tell me more?
It’s the Roslagsleden trail! https://www.naturkartan.se/en/roslagsleden. I only did the first 7ish miles, but it’s dreamy!
How do you know so many people Joanna?! It’s so lovely that you have friends dotted all over the world!
My friends Jen and Lee and Maz moved abroad from New York — so I knew them from back in New York :) And I met Miriam when I did her house tour! I adored her from the start and then we hung out the last time we were in Copenhagen and I felt like we were long-lost friends who had known each other forever. So amazing when that happens!
Omg, I just went to Copenhagen for a DREAMY 9 days in April, and these photos made me want to immediately go back! We stayed at the perfect Kanalhuset and cannot recommend it highly enough.
We’re honeymooning in Stockholm! We’re in in Paris, and my criteria was accessible by train, not hot, disability friendly, and LGBTQ friendly. My fiancée and I are getting married in September, but with the war in Iran we decided to postpone our honeymoon to next year, we go in October via Germany.
The “,if you’d like to see” is so endearing. Jo, WE ARE HERE TO SEE
Right? Please, give it all to me. All the details. All the photos.
Literally waiting to see…..