9 Important Things To Know On A Scandinavian Trip

1.  They have different currencies.

Norway has Norwegian Krone (NOK), Iceland has Icelandic Krona (ISK), Denmark has Danish Krona (DKK), Finland accepts Euro and Sweden has Swedish Krona (SDK).  It would always be better to get these currencies from your own countries instead of exchanging them in airports and local forex.

2.  Avoid scheduling Monday tours.

As I have been used to weekdays being business-as-usual from where I came from, I didn’t bother checking when some of the tourist spots in these countries are closed.  It was unfortunate that several of them are closed on Mondays, and that was my 2^nd day of touring one of the cities.

3.  Don't be fooled by the sun.

Oslo (upper left); Helsinki (upper right);
Reykjavik (lower left); Stockholm (lower right)

As someone who comes from a tropical country, the sun is a sign of a fair and relatively warm weather.  This is not the case in all these cities, so always be ready to bring your jackets and sweaters, of course still depending on your cold temperature tolerance.

4.  You only get 1 passport stamp.

I only got one arrival and one departure stamp at my point of arrival, Oslo, as I wasn’t required to go through immigration with the rest of cities even if I travelled on air.  I guess, this is because they are all Schengen territories and have well coordinated systems eliminating such unnecessary step.

5.  Your phone cameras won't take decent 

Aurora Borealis shots.

Unfortunately, these are the best shots
my iPhone can take

Regardless where you are hunting the northern lights from, it is important to remember that to get a decent, post-worthy shot, you should have a DSLR set in the following:  2.8 aperture, ISO 800 and 15s shutter speed.  If you don’t have the patience to carry one, just download the ‘Northern Lights Photo Taker’ app (IOS) for your phones as an alternative.

6.  Don't book a Northern Lights tour without checking the weather forecast.

Whether or not a Northern Lights tour will push through or not is always dependent on the weather forecast.  Aside from safety, all tour operators don’t want to waste their customers’ time and get them disappointed if the sky is covered by clouds.  Most, if not all tour operators re-schedule these tours just like what happened to the tour a day before and after ours (I really got lucky on the date I chose). 

7.  Never bring your dog on a trip to Iceland.

One of my tour companions asked our guide why we haven’t seen anyone walking their dogs in Reykjavik (capital) and the response surprised us – they don’t consider dogs as domestic animals or pets in Iceland. 

8.  Avail a hotel drop-off airport transfer option in Iceland.

 Although hotel drop offs will cost a little more, 

take advantage of that service as navigating around the city to find your hotel can be a challenge.  

This is the view from the airport to city
coach transfer.

Unlike most cities (even capitals) in Europe, Reykjavik has no train or subway transport and the only option to travel from the airport is through a coach service.

9.  Carry on baggage weight restriction is not a big deal.

As I travelled without check-in baggage, I was so anxious about making all of my stuff fit in my baggage plus the varying limits per airline. But no need to worry as I never encountered any airline even bothering to check my baggage’s weight (I guess just as long as the baggage isn’t too bulky).