Travel question

[jimbogumbo]

I'll be retiring soon, and want to see Scandinavia. Any tips on when to go? Also, is it fairly easy for an older English only speaking couple to navigate Scandinavian Rail?

[clean]

Congratulations on the impending Retirement!!! 

Do you have any desire to cruise?  I have been eyeing some cruises in the area to look at the Fjords. 
If interested, let me know and I can send you some links to the specific cruises.  The cruises would be more in the summer.

[Hegemony]

In my experience, 100% of Scandinavians over the age of 7 speak better English than native English speakers. So I would imagine navigating the rail system would be easy. The only challenges might be signage and station announcements. I'm not sure station announcements are ever in English, though I can verify that airport announcements often are.

[jimbogumbo]

Hegemony: thanks! It is the signage I'm worried about, but I'll probably do what I always do, which is the Streetcar strategy of relying on the kindness of strangers :)

Clean: no cruise in my future. The person I've cared deeply about for 40 years is anxious to the point of outright fear of being on/over the water. Will probably have to be near sedation to even attempt the flight.

[Parasaurolophus]

I've only been to Denmark and Iceland, but I'd recommend them both. Iceland, especially--particularly if you've any interest in Scandi history up until the thirteenth century. I can't wait to go back one day. If you go, however, you need to rent a car and go around on your own.

I went around on a bit on the trains in Denmark. It wasn't overly difficult, but also not super clear. You should be clear on your destination's Danish name before you get on. You can always ask someone for help if you're not too shy, however. From what I recall, there are parts of Denmark where signage and announcements are made in German as well as Danish. My German is rudimentary, but I found that quite helpful. Copenhagen is really cool (and their star fort is amazing). And the National Museum of Denmark is a real treasure. There's not a ton going on there, but I loved Odense, on Funen. Most people go there for the Hans Christian Andersen stuff, but the Møntergården museum and the Funen Art Museum were great. Super cool parks throughout the city, too.

[mamselle]

I don't know Scandinavian trains at all, but for Europe, England, Ireland, and all other train systems that work well enough to keep running overall, there are usually translated maps and guides in the stations (usually a rack of free ones near the sales counters) and on sale.

If there are Michelin guides in English, they will have small maps in the text, and large maps in the appendices; you can also always just use Google Maps on your phone to check where you are: If you set it to the bus icon, which is public transportation, anywhere, it will show you the names in whatever language your phone is set to.

I often set up the trip when I get on the train, and follow our progress as we go from time to time, the "Itineraries" option runs in real time and the little blue line traces where you are as you go along.

If you want to check before you go, try doing your route (or any random route) in G'maps and see if it doesn't show up.

Should be fine. The transport systems in almost any other developed country are better than ours.

I can also check with a friend, whose mom goes to Norway and elsewhere most years for a couple of months on end.

I suspect she has very little in the way of languages, and seems to get along well.

But the above poster is correct (just saw that): German should be a help, and many places I've been, it's usually possible (and fun, if you're not in a huge hurry) to find someone who knows the target language and one of yours, and to work a triangular conversation with the salesperson out as well.

German got me by in Prague, in fact, and my German mostly consists of what we learned at the dinner table from my dad (posted there in WWII), a quarter's decent basic grammar, and a vocabulary drawn from the love-song lyrics I sing with my accordion.

Most official transport sales clerks in countries I've visited are usually bi-, tri-or multilingual, often one of those is English, and usually their English is usually much better than anything most Americans can offer in a different tongue unless they've really worked at it.

I'll write to my friend and ask. (ETA: just did)

M.

ETA: Pro tip: be sure to contact your service provider for your phone to find out what you have to do to be able to use it overseas. Mine has an el-cheapo $10/day usage charge for any day in which you use it; I tend to batch calls and travel use for, say, every other day or every 3 days, but you may be able to afford a different plan.

In any case, check before you go, it's easier to get it turned on while you're at home than after you're overseas. - M.

[Ruralguy]

Copenhagen is nice. I mean, its a city, so can be city-ish in certain parts (i.e., raucous, at least for Scandinavia!), but its got nice parts to visit and worth going to if you are going to be in the region anyway. Their subway/city above ground rail  system is not too hard to manage. Most people know English, especially in rail stations, airports and touristy areas.

Norway might be even nicer, especially along the fjords and the towns you can visit on the way through them.

I know technically Finland isn't Scandinavia, but it I rode from Helsinki to Turku, and that was a beautiful ride, and Turku itself was a good little city.

Incidentally, I did all three in mid June, so getting sufficient sleep can be an issue.

[jimbogumbo]

Thanks all! I've got plenty of time to prepare, but I still would like to get started at least thinking about where and how long.

It is a little bit of a puzzle to think about a good "when" as far as seasons/months. I'd like to be not be seriously cold, but would also like to sleep. I may have to concede on one of those.

Para and marseille: my German is limited to what I heard in old movies. Now, If I can get my son and DIL to go he is quite good in both speaking and reading German. He'd be a huge plus.

Aside: think about sending a child to or supporting Concordia Language summer sessions. They were awesome for my kids!

[Parasaurolophus]

The German only helps for Denmark, though, because there's a substantial German-speaking minority.

English is everywhere in Iceland and, so I'm told, Sweden and Norway.

[hmaria1609]

I downloaded WhatsApp on my iPhone prior to my 2018 trip to London. You can make calls and text to other WhatsApp users through the free app.

[Caracal]

Hegemony: thanks! It is the signage I'm worried about, but I'll probably do what I always do, which is the Streetcar strategy of relying on the kindness of strangers :)

I wouldn't imagine it would be much of a problem. Seems like in a decent number of places signs are going to be bilingual. Even if they aren't, EU countries all use a standard set of signs that are more or less self explanatory.

All those countries have pretty small populations so I'm pretty sure tourism is mostly geared towards non natives. When you go somewhere with more people like Spain, you can end up in places where there's a lot of tourist infrastructure, but most of those tourists are Spaniards. But in small countries with lots of tourism, many of those tourists are going to be Americans or British and things are likely to be set up to make things convenient for them.  People from small countries tend to have low expectations for the ability of non-natives to speak their language. My impression is that the attitude is basically "why would anyone bother to learn Danish? There aren't many of us and we all speak other languages."

[zyzzx]

You could go ahead and download the relevant apps for the rail system and public transport of various cities and have a look. These should tell you everything you need to know about getting from A to B, and also sell you the tickets. Once in a train station, there shouldn't really be any signs that you need to interpret since the app tells you the track numbers, train numbers, times, delays, routes, and so on, so the important information is all in number form. You just need to know the signage for toilets and exits!

[mamselle]

I heard back from my friend. She says, per her mom:

"Hi! She's familiar with Norway, not Sweden, where many people speak English well. Not sure if that's the case in Sweden!"

So, one question answered; otherwise, no info.

You might want to watch the original, 'real' "Wallander" series for more background on Sweden, also--beautiful photography.

M.

[mythbuster]

Do you like salmon and seafood in general? I ask because they eat a lot of it, especially during the summer salmon season. On our family tour, my father actually had to ask for an alternative after 3 nights in a row of salmon being the main option for dinner.
   I will also warn you that both the Swedes and the Norwegians are a very boat and water oriented culture. So I would make sure that you won't fell like you are missing out on things with someone who is water phobic. For example, Some Norwegian fjords are only accessible by boat, so that may limit where you go in Norway. Sweden in much more flat land, but the coastal islands are beautiful.
   The train from Bergen to Oslo has quite dramatic views as you go over the mountains.  I agree with the previous poster that all Scandinavians speak very good English. In part, it's because the American TV they got was never dubbed over, just subtitled. It wasn't worth the cost for the small population.
   As to time of year to go, I would vote for either high summer, or Christmas. I would only vote for Christmas if you are really interested in experiencing the Scandinavian traditions. My family is of Swedish/Norwegian decent, so joining the branch of the family who did NOT emigrate for Christmas one year is on our collective bucket list.

[Vkw10]

Sleeping: I keep a large blackout curtain panel and command hooks in my travel bags. I've had too many trips ruined by bright street lights outside my hotel windows, especially in US cities. Many people find sleep masks helpful, but I don't, so I devote a bit of my luggage allowance to blackout panels.

Enjoy your planning and your travel.