Scandinavia in the "cool" part of the year

[braumeister]

I got confirmation on my trip in mid-March to take delivery of a new Volvo. Decided to make a ten day trip out of it so maybe someone has a suggestion or two?

Anything suggested here in the last year is already in my notes, so no need to repeat those comments, but our itinerary is like this:

• Fly to Copenhagen for three days.
• Fly to Gothenburg to pick up the car and spend three days in western Sweden.
• Turn it in for shipment home and take a train to Stockholm for three days, then fly home.

I have the Rick Steves Scandinavia book and a fair bit of tourist literature on the Gothenburg area.

I was only in Copenhagen once about 40 years ago. I remember thoroughly enjoying the weekend I spent there and thinking it reminded me very much of Reykjavik. Neither of us has ever been to Sweden.

 

[Bamaman]

My first thought about March in Denmark is the weather. Copenhagen sees 13.5 days of precipitation that month. Average highs are 41 degrees and average lows are 31 degrees. Looks like the water keeps them "warm" for being so far north.

Have you considered taking delivery in May and spending more than 3 days driving your new car? We just love the region even if travel there is deadly expensive.

 

[braumeister]

No, cold/rainy weather doesn't bother us nearly as much as it does most. And there are other reasons for doing it in March. Just looking for any ideas I may have missed in my planning.

 

[cathy63]

I also did most of my planning from the Rick Steves Scandinavia book, so this may not be anything new ...

For Copenhagen, we definitely enjoyed visiting Rosenborg Slot and the gardens, though they might be less attractive in March than they were in August. Rick Steves' self-guided walk is very interesting, and it will take most of a day if you stop at Christiansborg Slot and also take the extension that goes all the way to the Little Mermaid. For hotels, I'd recommend the area near Nyhavn. We were by the train station, and I thought it was too far out.

For Stockholm, we stayed at The Haymarket by Scandic and really liked that area. There's a farmer's market out front in the plaza and an indoor market with stalls offering all kinds of gourmet foods. It's in the middle of a pedestrian mall with lots of stores, some of which you'll know and some are more unique. I thought the HoHo bus/boat combo was a good way to get an overview of Stockholm and we also used it as transit to get to the areas we wanted to see on foot.

 

[omni550]

Don't know if you'd be interested in cultural-type things...a March timeframe is part of the season of concerts (orchestra or choral), ballets, operas, etc. etc. Often the cultural season is over when summer vacationers abound.

omni

 

[Freedom56]

I got confirmation on my trip in mid-March to take delivery of a new Volvo. Decided to make a ten day trip out of it so maybe someone has a suggestion or two?

Anything suggested here in the last year is already in my notes, so no need to repeat those comments, but our itinerary is like this:

• Fly to Copenhagen for three days.
• Fly to Gothenburg to pick up the car and spend three days in western Sweden.
• Turn it in for shipment home and take a train to Stockholm for three days, then fly home.

I have the Rick Steves Scandinavia book and a fair bit of tourist literature on the Gothenburg area.

I was only in Copenhagen once about 40 years ago. I remember thoroughly enjoying the weekend I spent there and thinking it reminded me very much of Reykjavik. Neither of us has ever been to Sweden.

I've been to Copenhagen several times as well as Gothenburg in the 90's. Not a great time of year to go. My first trip was in late February and it rained the entire week. I was on business and rented a car in Gothenburg (from the airport). I drove down to Copenhagen and used the ferry to cross from Malmo to Copenhagen. You can take the ferry and train to Gothenburg if you want to see more of Sweden instead of flying. I have also driven from Gothenburg to Stockholm, but that was in the summertime. I liked Gothenburg much more than Stockholm. The food was very good both in Sweden and Denmark. But then again, we splurged on the food since we were on company travel. This is an unusual way to buy a car. Why don't you just buy it from a Volvo dealer?

 

[6miths]

We were in Copenhagen and Stockholm last summer and the weather was decent but DW was born in UK so we never expect too much from northern Europe. Both great walkable cities but take some decent rain gear for March and a couple warm layers for underneath. We took the train from Copenhagen to Stockholm and back and it was very nice. Took 'First-Class' which isn't really much of a difference from regular. Trains were clean and fast. We booked prior to leaving and got a much better rate than our traveling companions who booked at the time of travel.

 

[Scrapr]

This is an unusual way to buy a car. Why don't you just buy it from a Volvo dealer?

We did this trip in April. You do buy the car through your dealer. Then take delivery in Sweden. Drive it (or not) then the car gets put on a boat and you wait for "2nd Delivery"at your dealer. Volvo flies you over & back in Plus. Then one night in the hotel. Transfers included.

It was fantastic. Volvo treats you very well. Don't do it for a car at a discount. Do it for the adventure. Are you ever going to tell your kids....Hey you should have seen me work the dealer on that car in '82. I got 7.5% off! It took me weeeks

But you can always tell your Grandkids about picking up your car in Sweden

 

[alaska55]

Volvo Car Corporation or Volvo Cars – a manufacturer of automobiles owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

 

[Scrapr]

Volvo Car Corporation or Volvo Cars – a manufacturer of automobiles owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

Who rescued it from Ford Motors. The cars have all been redesigned and upgraded. The rollout of the new designs is almost complete. Something FMC would not do.

All in on All electric
which is a lot of ad agency hype. But got Geely held Volvo a day at the top of the headlines

Volvo coming with a plant to South Carolina too. Our delivery woman really wanted to get transferred to SC. I'm like...you may want to take a trip to SC first...

 

[Danmar]

This is an unusual way to buy a car. Why don't you just buy it from a Volvo dealer?

Because it is so much fun to pick one up in Europe. You get to drive a very nice car around Europe for a while then ship it to North America for about the same price as buying it straight from a dealer. Most European manufacturers have this type of program. I picked up a sporty BMW in Munich a few years ago and spent 2-3 week’s driving through Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. It was a blast. Actually ended up being a bit cheaper doing it that way.

 

[NgineER]

That time of year will have about the same amount of daylight as the US, so no extreme dark days or bright nights. Weather is always up in the air that time of the year, so you've got to bring layers and a waterproof shell. Sweden is rather long, so you can expect no snow on the ground in southern/south western Sweden, whereas if you were to take the train all the way up north, you'd still be in mid-winter. Stockholm is a very walkable city with plenty of museums, shows and good food. You can also take a steam boat ride into the archipelago and see that as well, interesting nature, but probably best explored in the summer.

 

[braumeister]

Update:
We had a very pleasant couple of days in Copenhagen. Some things were just as I remembered them from my last visit 40 years ago, but of course much was new. Enjoyed it all. Then we spent a really delightful few days in Gothenburg and environs where I took delivery of a new Volvo XC60. It really hurt to turn it back in for shipment to the US.

The weather was cool but really pretty good. We’re big on walking and that helps to keep you warm. We enjoyed Gothenburg immensely, even more than Copenhagen.

Currently in Stockholm for a few days. Much colder here but an interesting city and well worth the visit.

Biggest surprise was that my trusty Schwab debit card is utterly useless in any Swedish ATM. They are all Bankomats and simply won’t take it. Credit cards can be used for everything so it’s only a minor nuisance (but have a few 10 SEK coins in your pocket for toilets).

Another surprise was how DW fell in love with a Volvo XC40 at the factory. I can see another trip in our future!

 

[Bamaman]

Glad you are having a good time. Google's European delivery program is in a class of its own. And Volvo is a company in transition to hybrids and electrics starting next year. Most owners will love their hybrids--the cars of the future.

We are heading for London, France and Ireland in a month and pray the Spring rains will be gone by then.

 

[cathy63]

Biggest surprise was that my trusty Schwab debit card is utterly useless in any Swedish ATM. They are all Bankomats and simply won’t take it. Credit cards can be used for everything so it’s only a minor nuisance (but have a few 10 SEK coins in your pocket for toilets).

That's interesting. I used my credit union debit card at the Bankomats in Stockholm with no trouble last summer. It has MasterCard, Co-Op and STAR logos on it. I wonder what's different between that and the Schwab card.

 

[Koogie]

Google's European delivery program is in a class of its own.

huh ?

 

[Bamaman]

There is no better European Delivery Program than Volvo's orogram. Other European auto manufacturers' programs come up short. Volvo is essentially giving buyers a free trip for 2 to Europe.

 

[flintnational]

I am jealous. Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy the new car.

 

[NW-Bound]

This is something to keep in mind when we want a new car.

Having done a 6-week driving trip in Europe last year, I would not mind doing an even longer trip. Maybe 2 months or more?

 

[Scrapr]

Update:
Another surprise was how DW fell in love with a Volvo XC40 at the factory. I can see another trip in our future!

Mrs Brau talked to Mrs Scrapr didn't she After doing our OSD for my V60 wagon she decided she wants an XC60. But.....the XC60 is now moving to China build. So no XC60 OSD after this year. Looks like you got it just in time.I haven't told her yet. I now have to make.....errrrr interest her in the XC40.

Dealer is supposed to get some in the end of the month. Salesman has me on speed dial. I have told Mrs Scrapr you don't have to buy a car to go to Europe

How was SAS? We really liked them. On the way back we switched carriers to United in Chicago for the last leg home. Wow. Culture shock there

 

[braumeister]

How was SAS? We really liked them. On the way back we switched carriers to United in Chicago for the last leg home. Wow. Culture shock there

SAS was great. And everything else about the trip. But I agree — our United flight from CVG to ORD was awful and we’ll be repeating that on the way home. I don’t ever want to fly that airline again — we’ve been spoiled by Delta.

My XC60 is due to me at the end of April so it will be a long wait until second delivery!