Take a Tour of Scandinavia's Capital Cities

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Scandinavian exports to the world have varied in type over the last century; from Abba to Brigitte Neilson, IKEA to Nokia mobile phones, Scandinavian goods and personalities have continued to spread throughout our everyday culture. Despite this, tourism to Scandinavia has only taken off recently, with more and more people in Europe and beyond braving its weather conditions to enjoy its many beautiful cities and landscapes. An ideal holiday idea for the first-time traveller to Scandinavia would be a tour of all the capital cities - Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki - as a way of fully enjoying the delights of the region.

Denmark, for example, may have been in the news recently for more controversial reasons, but its capital, Copenhagen, is popularly ranked as one of the world's best cities to live in, despite its high cost of living. Established annual events include the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, which supports the flourishing jazz scene that has existed in the city for many years; the city is also very popular with homosexual travellers due to its active gay community. It annually hosts a gay pride festival, as well as the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Copenhagen, held in late October.

Stockholm, Sweden's capital, is often referred to as "the Venice of Scandinavia" due to the numerous water channels running through the city. Stockholm also has a rich cultural past that makes it very attractive to foreign visitors; the "Gamla Stan", or Old Town, is an impressive vestige of the medieval architecture, which includes the Riddarholmskyrkan (the city's oldest building), Stockholm Palace and Storkyrkan Cathedral. Stockholm also has over 70 museums, including the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts, which possesses an extensive collection of fantastic pieces, including works by Rembrandt and Antoine Watteau, as well as many important Swedish artists.

Oslo and Helsinki may not be quite as popular with the majority of mainstream tourists; however they offer much of interest for the potential visitor. Oslo, for instance, is a popular centre for music in Norway, and Scandinavia at large. The world famous Lillehammer Bluesfestival, held every April, is a popular event, as is the Lillehammer Jazzfestival, and the Lillehammer Classic Rock Festival. The Oslo Concert Hall professes to cater to all musical tastes, and The Norwegian Opera is one of Europe's foremost centres of classical opera and ballet.

Finland may have reached the headlines with their Eurovision win this year, through the efforts of rock-shockers Lordi, but this image is at odds with its high brow cultural scene. Helsinki's numerous theatres are widely acclaimed and the capital is also home to various national museums and art galleries. Sometimes known as "the daughter of the Baltic", visitors to Helsinki can also enjoy the Suomenlinna naval fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the open-air museum of Seurasaari Island. Its persistent darkness during the winter months provides a great opportunity for interesting lighting, as in Aleksanterinkatu's famous Christmas street.

Visitors to Scandinavia's capitals will find a selection of affordable and conveniently located independent hotels, as well as the region's largest hotel chain, Scandic Hotels. Make sure you book your tour of Scandinavia now, before the word gets out!

Author of the article is Andrew Regan. For further information check Scandic Hotels.

Getting To and Around Eastern Europe

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Visiting Eastern Europe is an enjoyable step back in time and a top travel destination. Here's the scoop on what you need to consider when trying to get there.

Eastern Europe has been open to travel for roughly 15 years following the fall of the Soviet Union. Much to the delight of travelers, Eastern Europe has proven to be an incredibly beautiful and charming slice of old world Europe. From Prague to Budapest and everywhere in between, Eastern Europe offers much to be admired and prices are cheap.

Catching a plain to the far east of Europe isn't particularly difficult, but it really depends on the exact destination you are trying to reach. Most countries are reached by first stopping in Western Europe, but direct flights can be found depending on your departure location.

The high season is summer, which means prices can be a big concern if you have a tight budget. This may not bother you. If it does, the key to flying on the cheap is to shop across all the online travel sites. They offer dramatically different prices, even for the same flight! Determine a general range of dates you want to leave and come back. Then start hunting. Flights leaving after midnight can be significantly cheaper than flights during normal hours. Since you will be sleeping anyway, it makes sense to save some bucks.

There are two other pricing options that can save you a bundle on high season rates. Consolidators purchase bundles of open seats from airlines for flights that aren't traditionally full. You can save significant money, sometimes as much as fifty percent, buy purchasing from consolidators. The biggest savings occur when you buy from them at the last moment, but you risk all of the seats being sold.

If you are flying during the high season, you can also get a steal by booking a seat on a chartered flight. Chartered flights are small airlines that typically only fly during the high season. They tend to be a bit amateurish, but are definitely cheap. I've paid as low as $450 for a round trip booking to Budapest when an online booking would have run me over $900. If you go charter, try to upgrade to first class while booking in. For $75, I was able to do so on a flight from Paris to Los Angeles. It was the best $75 I ever spent!

Flying domestic in Eastern Europe is not for the faint of heart. The planes are a bit old and, well, they aren't always known for reliability. Most people simply hop on a train. If you must fly domestic, find a local resident to buy the ticket for you. Prices go up significantly when foreigners walk in the door, as much as triple the normal price.

Eastern Europe receives top marks as a travel destination. After 15 years of freedom, jumping a plain to the location of your choice shouldn't be any more difficult than any other location.

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - makers of travel journals to preserve your travel experiences.

Advice For Backpackers Going To Europe

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Backpack in hand, you are ready to head to Europe for some fun and sun. Here is some advice for backpackers from someone who has done it multiple times and made the mistakes.

In my personal opinion, spending a few weeks or months backpacking in Europe should be a mandatory task for every person. Admittedly, it can't really be called a task since you will love every minute of it. Having backpacked Europe more times than I can count, here are some of the lessons I learned which can help you.

The first piece of advice is to limit the number of things you take. Europe is not located on a far away planet. If you can buy it here, you can buy it there. This includes items such as soap, socks, toothpaste, disposable digital cameras and guidebooks. I guarantee that you will take too much junk with you. Don't. One or two pairs of shoes, shorts, one pair of slacks (to get into museums and churches) and a couple shirts is all you need. If you need anything else, you can just buy it there.

There is a lot to see and do in Europe, so most people want to maximize their time. One way to do this is to travel and sleep at the same time. Yes, I am talking about the night trains. When moving from one location to another, try to take the latest train and sleep during the trip. You only have a set amount of time. Taking this approach will keep you from wasting valuable daylight hours on the road.

One of the key pieces of advice I can offer you is to use your common sense. If you wouldn't walk down that alley or into that establishment at home, why the heck are you going to do it in Europe? Europe is very safe and the people are friendly. That being said, every location has its rough spots. Avoid them. Particularly in the Eastern European countries. Trust me on this one!

To maximize your experience, it is best to get off the beaten path. When you visit a city, spend at least a day in a town outside of the city limits. You will discover the real nature of the country. Tourists are fewer, so people tend to be interested in talking with you. There are always a group of older men sitting in a café. Join them and you will be laughing for hours. I did this in Austria and ended up speaking a week in a little village called Halstatt. One of the best times I ever had.

When it comes to tips backpackers and Europe, this final piece of advice is very important. Do not try to see everything. Stick to one country for two weeks, but no less than one week. This lets you get the most out of the visit.

Yes, there are other countries, but you will just have to come back again to see them. Poor you.

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - makers of travel journals to preserve your travel experiences.
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