Charming Travels Scandinavia

Our charming travels to Scandinavia. Where we visited and what we loved when traveling there.

Zan and I traveled to Scandinavia with Princess Cruises a few months ago. We were so super excited for this cruise since there were some amazing stops in countries and cities we’ve always wanted to see. We were honored to join the 11 day cruise with a group of friends we’ve cruised with a few times before!

Lucky for us, a few of the countries on the itinerary topped the world’s happiest list, so we were excited to check them out and see what they’re all about!

Below are a few highlights from our vacation and some of our favorite stops in case any of you are contemplating a cruise with Princess! We’ve now been on 3 and they are so much fun!

Our first stop was supposed to be Copenhagen, where the ship left from, but we had some major travel and flight issues so we ended up meeting the ship in Oslo, Norway!

I really didn’t get to see enough of Oslo, but we had some time to catch up with all of our friends, have a quick dinner, ice cream and Zan captured this picture which is seriously beautiful!

We took a 3-hour train ride (a bit long!) into Berlin and fit in as much as we could! We loved Bikini Berlin, which is a very cool shopping/hotel/bar concept.

I was pleasantly surprised by the little country of Estonia! I had never heard much about it, but we had such a special day there exploring the medieval castles in Tallin. The city was bursting with charm and we had the coolest experience visiting a real medieval town!

The entire country’s population is only about 1.4 million people, think about how small that is when New York City is about 8.5 million!

We fell in love with the quaintness and the mix of colorful modern architecture mixed in with the old world buildings. Also, a quick fun fact… according to a PISA study, Estonian children and teens are among the strongest in the world when it comes to education and one of the top-rated in Europe! How’s that for a tiny country?!

This was the craziest walk I’ve ever done to get a coffee and pastry! So many tall, steep and narrow steps before we arrived at the smallest, cutest cafe. It was incredibly charming and such a fun little adventure!

Tallin is full of these really unique and stunning doors – all different colors, sizes, shapes and designs. This pink one was my favorite!

In this photo, you can see the colorful architecture mixed in with a more medieval style. This is how the entire town is, it’s very unique and cool!

A view of Tallin… loved all of those red roofs!

Helsinki Finland was our favorite city on the cruise! We had such a memorable day shopping (a stop at Marimekko was a must!), eating and sightseeing!

It even snowed while we were tucked away in a tiny cafe called Juuri! It’s a goal that we go back soon one day with the kids around Christmas time because I can only imagine how magical and beautiful Helsinki is during the holidays!

The Old Market Hall is awesome to visit and we had the best breakfast at a cafe inside called Story. Loved the little shops inside too! Great place to grab a bite and buy some nice gifts to bring back home!

Juuri was our favorite lunch… it’s quaint and cozy and the food was amazing. It’s rated in the Michelin guide and for good reason. We also sipped Lingonberry Aperol Spritzes while it snowed outside.

DREAM! I re-created my own version of a Lingonberry Aperol Spritz, you can see that here! They’re heavenly.

In Stockholm, the highlight for us was visiting Rosendals Trädgård. I wrote a post about how inspiring it was for me and the ideas I got for Sugar and Charm. One day, I plan on adding a glass greenhouse on my property! I just couldn’t get enough of this place! You can see more here!

We did the best of Saint Petersburg excursion with Princess when we visited Russia. You need a travel Visa to travel alone there, so this was a great way to see some highlights of St. Petersburg.

For us, seeing the Russian military take over the city in preparation for a parade was a once in a lifetime experience and for sure a highlight of the trip!

Another highlight from Russia was the boat tour… it was definitely cold, but they had some champagne and blankets to keep us warm! It was the perfect, relaxing way to see the stunning architecture in the city.

We also were treated to a little American comedy routine as my husband was given a chance to play tour guide as our real guide got tickets at an old church. It was fun keeping things light!

We also toured many stunning palaces and museums! Overall, this cruise was such an experience and definitely worth it to see some amazing countries.

My advice would be to not try and fit in a million things at one stop, just check a couple of sights off your list so you can relax and enjoy. We also loved that we get a little taste of each city and country to know which ones we would go back to. Finland is for sure on top of our list!

If you have any questions about this cruise or cruising in general, please reach out!! Happy to answer anything!

Thank you Princess Cruises for sponsoring our trip!