Scandinavian Explorer

Day 2 Oslo

We’ll start the day by exploring Oslo’s most celebrated landmarks in the company of an expert local guide. The walk takes in Karl Johans gate, the city’s main shopping street, along with the commanding Akershus Castle and Fortress and the colonnaded Royal Palace, set within its own parkland.

We’ll then make our way through some of Oslo’s prettiest neighbourhoods to Vigeland Park. Sculptor Gustav Vigeland spent more than two decades creating the works that fill it. Over two hundred sculptures in granite, bronze and cast iron, draw visitors from the monumental bridge to the towering monolith at its summit.

The afternoon is free for you to explore independently.

Day 3 Oslo to Örebro

After breakfast, we leave Oslo and head into Sweden, crossing a landscape of forests, lakes and open farmland as we make our way to Örebro, in the very heart of Sweden.

Örebro is dominated by its medieval castle, which rises from an island in the Österå River and dates back to the 13th century. The town centre offers a mix of historic buildings and a lively market square. We’ll arrive with time for you to explore independently this afternoon.

Day 4 Örebro to Stockholm

Today we travel on to Stockholm. Few European capitals feel quite as gracefully situated, built across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea.

On arrival, you’ll have time to begin finding your bearings – perhaps a stroll through Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s atmospheric old town, with its narrow-cobbled lanes and ochre-painted facades. The city is endlessly explorable, and this afternoon is yours to discover it at your own pace.

Day 5 Stockholm

A full day in Stockholm, begins with a guided city tour that takes in the highlights - Gamla Stan and the Royal Palace, the graceful City Hall, where the Nobel Prize banquet is held each December, and the island of Djurgarden, which sits at the heart of the city’s cultural life.

Our first museum visit is the Vasa. This warship sank on her maiden voyage in 1628, slipping beneath Stockholm harbour before a watching crowd. Remarkably preserved by the cold, dark water, she was raised in 1961 and now sits in her own purpose-built museum, the gilded carvings on her stern still vivid after nearly four centuries.

We’ll also visit Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum, where historic buildings from across Sweden have been reassembled on a hillside overlooking the city, alongside a collection of Nordic animals and traditional craftspeople at work.

Later we’ll experience Stockholm from the water on a cruise that passes under 12 bridges and travels through the lock that connects the Baltic Sea to Lake Mälaren.

Day 6 Stockholm to Jönköping

After breakfast, we head south passing through the province of Småland as we make our way to Jönköping. The journey itself is part of the pleasure – the landscape of dense pine forests, red timber farmhouses and glinting lakes is quintessentially Swedish.

The city carries two rather different but equally compelling nicknames. Locally it is known as the ‘Pearl of the Lake’. An entirely fitting description for a city hemmed in by water on three sides, with Vättern to the north and two smaller lakes, Munksjön (Monk’s Lake) and Rocksjön (Rock Lake), sitting within the city centre itself. It earned a second and more unexpected reputation as the ‘Jerusalem of Sweden’, becoming a centre of the free church movement in the 19th century and producing missionaries and religious organisations in numbers far exceeding its size. A legacy still visible in the unusual concentration of churches representing different denominations across the city. The town also has a quietly industrious character – it was once the home of the safety match industry, a detail commemorated in a small but engaging museum by the waterfront.

The lakeside setting of this city makes for a pleasant evening stroll, and there’s a good selection of restaurants to explore independently.

Day 7 Jönköping to Copenhagen

Today we cross into Denmark and make our way to Copenhagen, the Danish capital and one of Europe’s most consistently admired cities.

On arrival, there’s time to begin exploring city at leisure. Copenhagen is compact, navigable and full of character, and has a habit of exceeding expectations. It’s a city that manages to feel both grand and intimate at the same time. At its historic core you’ll discover royal palaces, Renaissance castles and the colourful canal-front of Nyhavn. It’s contemporary reputation rests on world-class food, thoughtful design and an enviable cycling culture. The Danes' concept of hygge, a quality of cosiness and convivial warmth, feels genuinely lived rather than performed here. It's a city that rewards wandering with almost every corner unveiling an inviting café, an independent bookshop or a quietly beautiful courtyard you hadn't expected.

Day 8 Copenhagen

A morning guided tour takes us through Copenhagen’s most celebrated landmarks. We’ll pass Christiansborg Palace, home to the Danish Parliament, and the Royal Theatre before passing by the baroque Rosenborg Castle. The tour continues to Amalienborg and the Gefion Fountain, one of the city’s most dramatic monuments, and take in the famous Little Mermaid statue by the harbour promenade, a modest but curiously compelling figure that has drawn visitors since 1913.

The afternoon is free for you to revisit any corners that caught your eye, browse the designer shops along Strøget or simply settle into a café for a coffee and pastry.

Day 9 Copenhagen - UK

After a final Scandinavian breakfast, we’ll transfer to the airport for your return flight to the UK.