🧮 Three countries in one trip: a 10–14-day budget for Denmark, Norway and Sweden

Many travellers dream of “doing Scandinavia in one go”: fly into Copenhagen, pop into Sweden, see Norway’s fjords — and come home feeling like you’ve seen all the essentials. In theory it’s perfect. In practice it often ends like this: two weeks disappear into trains and airports, and the budget somehow ends up almost doubling.

Below we’ll break down two clear routes (10 and 14 days), estimate a realistic budget (from budget to more comfortable), lay out the transport options, and show where saving is sensible — and where it becomes a risk for enjoyment and safety.

We assume the warm half of the year — roughly May to September — excluding New Year and the most expensive festival dates. The entry point in the examples is Copenhagen, but the logic holds for other flight options too.

📍 Which routes we’re calculating

There are hundreds of ways to do “three countries”, but to avoid drowning in options we’ll use two simple frameworks. Within them you can easily adjust details, cities and night counts.

Route 1. Denmark + Southern Sweden + Oslo

A gentler option in both budget and logistics. More cosy cities, coastline, green parks — and only a light touch of Norwegian nature.

Example (10 days):
— 3 nights Copenhagen: city centre, waterfronts, one day trip to castles and the coast of Zealand (Sjælland) or to Malmö.
— 3 nights Southern Sweden: Malmö + Lund, or Gothenburg + the Halland coast.
— 3–4 nights Oslo: the city, museums on the Bygdøy Peninsula, island walks and/or a short fjord tour.

Example (14 days):
— 4 nights Copenhagen with a couple of day trips around Zealand (Sjælland).
— 4 nights in southern or western Sweden: small towns, beaches, forest walks.
— 5–6 nights in Norway: Oslo, plus 1–2 days for the Oslofjord, the Marka forests, or “wilder” nature within a couple of hours.

Route 2. Copenhagen + Norway’s fjords + Stockholm

A classic: a capital, “postcard” fjords, and Stockholm’s island city. People travel for exactly this — but the price of that picture is higher than in Route 1.

Example (10 days):
— 3 nights Copenhagen.
— 4–5 nights Norway: Oslo, train towards Bergen, the famous branch line to Flåm, one or two fjord cruises.
— 2–3 nights Stockholm: the Old Town, museums, a short trip to the archipelago islands.

Example (14 days):
— 4 nights Copenhagen.
— 6–7 nights Norway: enough time for the Oslo–Bergen “loop”, fjords, light trekking, plus a buffer day for bad weather.
— 3–4 nights Stockholm with the option of Uppsala or a full archipelago day.

📌 How to compare the routes quickly

Route 1 = more cities and coastline, fewer “big” fjords.
Route 2 = more Norway, fjords and mountains, less time in Sweden.

If it’s your first trip and you’re wary of tight logistics, it’s easier to start with Route 1. If the dream is specifically fjords and you can accept a higher total, go with Route 2.

💶 Average daily spend by country

To understand the price scale, it helps to know an approximate per-person daily budget in each country (excluding flights into the region). These figures assume you’re not in a hostel dorm, but also not in luxury; you eat partly in cafés and partly via supermarkets; and you’re not buying expensive tours every day.

Denmark (Copenhagen and coastal towns):
— budget: roughly €80–€100 per day,
— comfort: roughly €150–€200 per day.

Norway (Oslo, Bergen, fjords):
— budget: roughly €90–€120 per day,
— comfort: roughly €160–€220 per day.

Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, the south):
— budget: roughly €70–€90 per day,
— comfort: roughly €140–€190 per day.

Fjord days in Norway are almost always more expensive than “normal” days: scenic trains, boats and paid viewpoints can easily add €150–€250 per person on top of your usual daily spend.

If you average everything across the route, a three-country budget option rarely drops below €100–€120 per person per day. A comfort option — with proper restaurants and a couple of “expensive” activities — commonly lands in the €180–€220 per person per day range.

📊 Route budgets: 10 and 14 days

Below are indicative ranges, excluding flights “from home and back”. This is not a fixed price list — it’s a framework so you can see what scale of money we’re talking about.

Route 1. Denmark + Southern Sweden + Oslo

Budget option:
— 10 days: about €1,000–€1,300 per person;
— 14 days: about €1,400–€1,800 per person.

Comfort option:
— 10 days: about €1,700–€2,200 per person;
— 14 days: about €2,400–€3,000 per person.

Route 2. Copenhagen + fjords + Stockholm

Budget option:
— 10 days: about €1,200–€1,500 per person;
— 14 days: about €1,700–€2,200 per person.

Comfort option:
— 10 days: about €2,000–€2,600 per person;
— 14 days: about €2,800–€3,600 per person.

For a couple, you can roughly multiply the per-person total by 1.8. Accommodation is shared, but food, transport and paid activities are still individual.

In practice that often looks like:
— a couple doing Route 1 (budget) for 10 days: around €2,500–€3,000 total;
— a couple doing Route 2 (comfort) for 14 days: around €5,000–€6,000 total — just for “on-the-ground” costs.

🧮 How to estimate your budget in 10 minutes

1. Pick a route and duration: 10 or 14 days.
2. Multiply the number of days by a rough daily amount:
   — €100–€120 per day per person for a budget option;
   — €180–€220 per day per person for a comfort option.
3. If you have a fjord cruise or scenic train in the plan, add another €150–€250 per person for each such “expensive day”.
4. For a couple, multiply by roughly 1.8.
5. Add a 15–25% cushion for unexpected costs: a taxi after a delayed flight, an extra museum on a rainy day, a spontaneous dinner in a great restaurant.

If, after this, the number still feels painful, cut not the days spent enjoying a place, but the number of transfers and expensive activities first. Very often one extra flight or fjord tour costs about the same as two calm days in Denmark or Sweden.

🚆 Trains, ferries and low-cost flights

Between Denmark, Norway and Sweden you typically move in three main ways: trains, ferries and low-cost airlines.

Trains:
— Copenhagen has direct links to Malmö, Gothenburg, Stockholm and Oslo.
— Oslo and Stockholm are also connected by rail.
— The Oslo–Bergen line and the branch to Flåm are “headline” pieces of many itineraries.

Pros: beautiful views, no airport-style screening, and you arrive straight into the city centre.
Con: on long legs, the travel time is often similar to a flight — and sometimes longer.

Ferries:
— the overnight Copenhagen–Oslo ferry;
— various routes between Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Pros: you combine travel with “a night in a hotel”, sometimes with a stunning fjord arrival.
Cons: you’re tied to departure times, storms are possible, and you must check whether a cabin is included in the price.

Low-cost airlines:
— a quick way to connect, for example, a fjord region and Stockholm;
— sometimes the ticket costs no more than the train, but you add airport transfers, baggage fees and security time.

A practical rule of thumb:
— short legs (Copenhagen–Malmö, Copenhagen–Gothenburg, Gothenburg–Oslo): train;
— long diagonals (e.g., Bergen–Stockholm): most often a flight;
— if there’s a scenic ferry route, it can be worth taking at least one overnight ferry instead of a train + hotel night.

🎫 Rail pass or individual tickets?

The idea of “buy one pass and stop thinking about tickets” sounds relaxing — but it doesn’t always pay off.

A pass is more likely to make sense if:
— you plan 4–6 major train journeys;
— you want the freedom to change plans on the fly;
— you travel a lot within countries, not only “capital to capital”.

Individual tickets are more often better if:
— you have only 2–3 long legs;
— you’re happy to buy tickets 1–2 months ahead;
— your main transfers are covered by low-cost flights or ferries rather than trains.

A good approach is to list all your planned legs, check the early-fare price ranges for each, and add them up. If that total is clearly below the pass price, the pass isn’t worth it.

🛟 What you shouldn’t cut

Even on a tight budget, there are a few things you should treat as non-negotiable.

— Insurance. Not just the minimum Schengen policy, but coverage that includes hikes, boat trips, and basic winter activities if you’re travelling outside summer.
— Season-appropriate gear. A waterproof jacket, a warm mid-layer, decent boots — plus a hat and gloves even in July. Fjord and sea winds can turn “summer” into “feels like +8°C”.
— Safe operators on water and in the mountains. Saving money on fjord tours by choosing sketchy “classified ad” options is a bad idea. Better one proper cruise than three questionable ones.
— Time buffers. Tight “flight → train” or “train → ferry” connections in a region with changeable weather almost guarantee stress. One spare evening can save you hundreds on new tickets.
— Decent accommodation after heavy travel days. A miserable bunk after 12 hours of transport can wipe you out for the next part of the trip.

📋 Checklist before you buy tickets

— Do I understand my main priority: cities, fjords, “ticking off countries”, or simply resting?
— Does my chosen framework (Route 1 or Route 2) match that priority?
— Am I comfortable with the total after adding a 15–25% cushion?
— Do I have at least half a free day mid-route that can absorb bad weather or schedule changes?
— Am I ready for the “pace” part (number of transfers, early starts, overnight ferries)?
— Are my gear and insurance sorted, or will part of the budget go on buying warm things on the spot?

If you answer “no” or “not sure” to several questions, simplify the route: remove one country, reduce transfers, or shorten the Norwegian fjord block.

🎯 How to choose the right route for you

Route 1 tends to work best for first-timers. It’s gentler on both cost and logistics, more about cities and seaside promenades, and less about “big mountains”. Families with children, people who dislike frequent moving, and anyone not keen on demanding hikes usually find it far more comfortable.

Route 2 is for those travelling specifically for fjords and mountain views — and who accept paying for it in both time and money. The pace is higher and distances are longer, but the feeling of “I really was in Norway” is much stronger.

A clever (and honest) approach: make your first trip the gentler Denmark + Sweden framework, then do a second, fjords-focused Norway trip once you know how you handle the weather and the prices.