Scandinavia is known for being one of the most expensive regions in the world. The three weeks I spent in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark did not do much to dispel this notion for me, personally. To give you an idea of the costs of travel in Scandinavia, I wanted to share my personal expenses over the 22 days I spent there. I’ve broken down my expenses by individual countries, and also given a total for all of Scandinavia. I hope this helps you plan your travel budget with a little more accuracy!
Note: All prices are reflected in US Dollars. The prices listed are AFTER any split charges have been divided. (For example, if I bought a $20 bottle of wine and split it between 4 friends, I would list the price as $5 split 4 ways).
I caught a sale on the Eurail passes for 15 days that was around $637 USD, or $42/day it it ended up being cheaper for me than a typical ticket for the train from Oslo to Bergen. If you’re doing travel through multiple countries in Europe outside of Norway, the Eurail pass might be your best bet. in There are also discounts for seniors and children, so check for those when booking your tickets!
Costs of Travel in Norway (13 Days)
The first six days in Norway I was with a group of 7 others from my work organization. We stayed in an AirBNB in Fredrikstad all together and shared a rental van for the week. These two costs were covered through work. We also did some group shopping for groceries and cooked most dinners together.
Costs during this time were much lower than they would have been if I’d had to pay for accommodations and/or travel, or we’d been staying in Oslo and had the opportunity to eat out more frequently. My “per day” average in Norway without this week would have been closer to $121 a day.
Get Inspired: Norway Photos Gallery: 26 of my Favorite Photos from Norway
Accommodations: $324.12
| Airbnb in Oslo for 1 night (split 5 ways) | $26.55 each |
| Airbnb in Fredrikstad for 6 nights (covered by work) | $0 |
| Airbnb in Oslo for 1 night (split 3 ways) | $49.97 each |
| Airbnb in Bergen for 2 nights (split 2 ways) | $89.60 each |
| Trolltunga Hotel in Odda for 2 nights (split 2 ways) | $158.00 each |
*Costs listed are for queen rooms.
Eco-friendly accommodations in Bergen
- ($144) Thon Hotel Orion (in city center near iconic waterways of Bergen)
- ($118) Thon Hotel Bergen Airport (very near airport)
Eco-friendly accommodations in Oslo
- ($121) Thon Hotel Linne (close to business districts)
- ($192) Thon Hotel Opera (close to major public transit stops)
- ($160) Thon Hotel Rosenkrantz Oslo (voted best breakfast in city 3 years in a row)
- ($311) Hotel Continental (luxury hotel with world class food options)
- ($73) Smarthotel Oslo (free bicycle rental, plus late check out on Sundays!)
All the Thor hotels in their chain are Environmental Lighthouse Certified, a standard popular in Norway indicating they meet stringent environmental sustainability standard.
Food and Drinks: $394.54
| Oslo food total: $102.30 Tacos at Los Tacos – $10.49 Brunch (smoked salmon & coffee) – $30.14 Panini at train station – $7.25 Dinner in Oslo (gnocchi appetizer & a beer) – $23.00 Panini & OJ – $11.44 Coffee & croissant at train station – $3.07 Chips on train – $4.80 Pizza Dinner – $12.11 |
| Bergen: $114.30 Dinner (mussels appetizer & seafood plate, split 2 ways) – $37.00 Seafood Baguette – $12.30 Reindeer Sausage – $8.00 Sushi dinner (split 2 ways)- $28.5 Coffee – $5.90 Double espresso – $2.95 Glass of wine on the plaza – $12.17 Snacks/groceries – $7.48 |
| Odda: $126.96 Burger & fries $18.81 Haddock dinner – $35.17 Groceries/food for Trolltunga hike – $20.72 Deer stew dinner and glass of wine – $52.26 |
| Fredrikstad: $50.98 Lunch downtown (Salmon kebab lunch) – $21.75 House groceries – $26.40 Smoked Haddock Pudding in Fredrikstad- $2.83 |
Travel: $239.83
Public transit is widely available and it’s easy to get to the city center from the Oslo airport with the tram.
If you’re not using a Eurail pass, here are a few options for buying train tickets in Norway:
- Rail Ninja – you can purchase individual tickets here.
- Norwegian State Railways (NSB) – purchase your tickets here.
- Rail CC – purchase your tickets here.
- Purchase tickets at the train station. You’ll find ticketing centers around the station, which accept credit card and cash in most cases. (Norwegian currency is the Kroner, which is currently about 0.12 USD per 1 NOK.) A quick search brought up prices between $439-$939 NOK which is between $53 and $114 USD. Last minute tickets are more expensive.
Don’t miss this post: Oslo to Bergen: A Train Ride To Remember
| Train from airport into Oslo | $23.45 |
| Train from Oslo to Bergen | $0 (covered with Eurail pass purchase) |
| Boat from Bergen to Rosendal | $48 |
| Bus from Rosendal to Odda | $7.25 |
| Taxi to Trolltunga Hotel | $6.58 (split 2 ways) |
| Taxi to/from Trolltunga hike – | $73.78 (split 2 ways) |
| Bus from Odda to Oslo – | $80.77 |
Attractions: $6.14
The only thing we paid for attraction-wise was our Floibanen tram ticket in Bergen to get to the viewpoint on the top of the mountain. Very much worth it, though we opted to walk down for a little exercise. There’s so much to take in just walking around this breathtaking country. Here are some of your options in Norway and what you might expect to pay:
Costs of other popular attractions in Oslo
| Oslo Pass | $48 |
| Winter bike tour | $58 |
| All inclusive beer tour | $95 |
| Fram museum (Polar exploration museum) | $13 |
Costs of other popular attractions in Bergen
| Segway day tour | $82 |
| Bergen Viewpoint cruise | $200 |
| Hop on Hop off bus | $40 |
| Fish market Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf Walking around Mt. Floyen | FREE |
Costs of other popular attractions in Norway
| Northern Lights Chasing | $150+ |
| Reindeer visit & Sami Culture lesson | $118 |
| Snowmobile safari | $200 |
| Oslo Fjord Sightseeing Cruise | $36 |
Miscellaneous: $25.04
Airbnb Cleaning Fees – $12.34
Public Bathroom Use – $1.23
Foreign Transaction Fees – $7.53
Postcard purchase – $1.23
Mailing postcard – $2.71
TOTAL NORWAY EXPENSES: $989.67 / PER DAY AVERAGE: $76.12
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Costs of Travel in Sweden (6 Days)
As you might notice, food and drinks were the most expensive part of this leg of the trip. Den Gyldene Freden is the world’s oldest tavern still in its original location, dating back to 1722, so we splurged on a nice dinner there. (Worth it, and highly recommended). We also spent a lot on drinks that night, and my regular coffee purchases didn’t do me any favors either. However, we didn’t hit up very many museums in spite of Stockholm being one of the most museum-dense cities in the world so we could have done worse on attraction costs.
Accommodations: $122.65
Airbnb in Karlstad for 1 night (split 2 ways) – $26.65
Interhostel in Sweden for 5 nights (paid per bunk) – $96.00
*Costs listed are for rooms with 1 full bed or queen bed.
Eco-friendly accommodations in Stockholm
- ($138) Victory Hotel (located inside Gamla Stan, the iconic Old Town)
- ($240) Nobis Hotel (luxury hotel on the city center square)
- ($161) Hotel Kung Carl (dog-friendly)
Check out this website for the Ecoswan label, which lists 255 hotels in Sweden certified as sustainably by their rigid regulations.
Food and Drinks: $181.18
| Stockholm: $165.01 Breakfast fruit/yogurt bowl – $9.50 Espresso and croissant – $6.49 Coffee & croissant – $9.57 Espresso house coffee – $4.09 Groceries – $9.59 (split 3 ways – covered 2 breakfasts & 2 dinners) Dinner at Den Gyldene Freden (Herring app split 2ways, Seafood soup & glass of wine) – $59.42 Drinks at the Limerick – $45 (split three ways – oops!) Tacos at La Neta – $11.13 Hot dog & Ice Cream – $10.22 |
| Karlstad: $16.17 Ice cream cone – $3.78 Caprese salad lunch special – $12.39 Croissant sandwich – $4.42 Burger and fries at Phils Burgers – $11.12 |
Travel: $42.83
Bus from Oslo to Karlstad to visit a friend I’d met in Guatemala several years earlier – $10
Reservations on train to Karlstad and back from Stockholm w/Eurail pass – $17.29
Attractions: $14.76
There are a plethora of intriguing museums in Sweden. The one we settled on was the Vasa Museum, featuring a ship recovered from the ocean floor, restored and on display in the entrance. My ticket was $14.76. I’m always down for a good museum and I would definitely recommend this one to get a taste of Swedish sailing culture several hundred years ago.
The Vasa Ship in the museum in Stockholm.
Costs of other popular attractions in Stockholm
| Royal Palace | $17 |
| 3-hr brunch cruise | $76 |
| ABBA Museum | $26 |
| Food walk | $90 |
Miscellaneous: $20.28
Linens rental at hostel – $5.70
Laundry – $3.76
Postcards (purchase & mail) – $9.68
Bathroom use at fast food restaurant – $1.14
TOTAL SWEDEN EXPENSES: $381.70 / PER DAY AVERAGE: $63.61
Costs of Travel in Denmark (3 Days)
Again, food costs were my biggest expense here. I bought coffee everyday if not twice a day, and we splurged on a night out spending a lot on drinks. We dined at Host, a Michellin star restaurant in Copenhagen which was expensive but one of the most beautiful meals I’ve ever eaten. I highly recommend trying it out if you like fine dining and seafood! Again, we did really well hitting up free attractions and spending the bulk of our time exploring on foot and taking in the sights of the city. If you do a better job than I did keeping food costs down, you could spend a lot more on attractions and come out about the same.
Accommodations: $118.20
Globalhagen Hostel in Denmark for 3 nights (paid per bunk) – $118.20
Globalhagen is a super eco-friendly hostel with lots of amazing community initiatives going on as well. I even wrote a post about it: Globalhagen Hostel Review
*Costs listed are for queen rooms.
Eco-friendly accommodations in Copenhagen
- ($184) Copenhagen Admiral Hotel
- ($213) Crown Plaza Copenhagen Tours (one of the leading sustainable hotels in Denmark)
- ($151) Hotel Scandic Webers (very near Tivoli gardens and other major attractions)
- ($110) WakeUp Copenhagen Budget Hotels
Food and Drinks: $410.47
| Groceries – $10 Chips – $2.85 Sandwich – $5.35 McDonalds – $4.09 Brunch – $12.20 Brunch – $24.97 Dinner at Host – $141 Dalle Valle Buffet – $36 Wine bar & Drinks – $120 Drinks – $34.94 Wine – $5.52 Coffee – $3.94 Coffee – $3.15 Coffee – $3.15 Coffee $3.31 |
Travel: $8.30
Reservations on train to Copenhagen from Stockholm w/Eurail pass – $8.30
Attractions: $0
We also spent the majority of this trip walking around exploring on foot, taking advantage of food, summer weather, and free attractions. I also met up with a woman I’d featured in my Woman of the Week series, Kelley, who lives in Copenhagen.
Like Oslo and Stockholm, there are plenty of things to spend your money on in Copenhagen if you want. But we found walking along the waterways, taking in the tall, uniform yet unique streets, and Scandinavian quirks captivating enough.
Typical costs of other popular attractions in Copenhagen
| Tivoli Gardens | $20 |
| Pub Crawl | $25 |
| Guided Walking Food Tour | $35-60 |
| Botanical Gardens (a personal fave) | Free admission |
| Day trip city tours | $60-150 |
Miscellaneous: $3.94
$3.94 razors (it was the start of a long trip and I’d forgotten mine. Who knows, maybe this is helpful for you…)
TOTAL DENMARK EXPENSES: $528.67 / PER DAY AVERAGE: $176.22
Read this next: Train from Oslo to Bergen: An Awe-Inspiring, Unforgettable Ride
Note: These costs do not include any pre-travel purchases (gear, travel insurance, snacks brought on the plane, etc.) and I’ve left out my flight since I’m only traveling one way. (It cost about $350 one way from Chicago to Oslo). They also exclude any expenses incurred for work purposes that I would not have made otherwise (train rides on the way back from dropping off our rental car, for example).
I also purchased a Eurail pass which allowed me to use the Eurail approved trains on any 15 days over a 2-month period. That covered my train ride from Oslo to Bergen which I would have otherwise purchased separately. It cost me $610 for the pass (which I purchased during a promotional sale). I also purchased travel insurance, which cost me around $350 as well, though this covers six months of travel rather than just the 3 weeks figured here.
GRAND TOTAL: $1900.04 ($86.37 per day)
| Accommodations | $564.97 (An average of $25.68 – not sure I could have beat this easily.) |
| Food & Drinks | $986.19 (One Michellin star restaurant, one historic diner, and way too much booze and coffee.) |
| Travel | $290.96 (Our taxi to and from Trolltunga skewed this for us.) |
| Attractions | $20.90 (Food was our main attraction, plus other free places.) |
| Miscellaneous: | $49.26 (only souvenirs purchased were postcards!) |
All told, I spent about $400 more than I was hoping on this leg of the trip, though I can mostly trace that back to the Trolltunga Taxi and two fancy dinners we enjoyed in Stockholm and Copenhagen. All experiences that I don’t regret in the slightest, but no small sum and it kind of threw my budget off for the rest of my round-the-world trip.
Hopefully this gives you a better idea of what to expect in terms of costs. Dining out is quite expensive and traveling to and from cities isn’t particularly cheap, but there are definitely lots of ways to make this a more affordable journey.
Let me know how this compares to your experience and your favorite tips for saving money!
Ready to travel? I’m ready to help!
I’m a travel advisor who helps busy, eco-conscious people have once-in-a-lifetime adventures in breathtaking locations like Norway, Scotland, the British Virgin Islands, and Uganda.
I handle everything from daydreaming to departure and only work with tour companies who respect the planet and locals, so you can enjoy your getaway knowing you’re having a positive impact.
Schedule a complimentary vacation planning session and let’s talk about your next trip.
