Rick Steves' Scandinavia

by Rick Steves

Who but Rick Steves can tell travelers the best way to see Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinski, Tallinn, and the Norwegian fjords? With Rick Steves€™ Scandinavia, travelers can experience the best of everything Scandinavia has to offer—economically and hassle-free. Completely revised and updated, this guide opinionated coverage of both famous and lesser-known sights, friendly places to eat and sleep, suggested day plans, walking tours and trip itineraries, and clear instructions for smooth travel anywhere by car, train, or foot. America€™s #1 authority on travel to Europe, Rick€™s time-tested recommendations for safe and enjoyable travel in Europe have been used by millions of Americans in search of their own unique European travel experience.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Rick Steves is an American travel writer, television personality, and activist known for encouraging meaningful travel that emphasizes cultural immersion and thoughtful global citizenship. Born in California and raised in Edmonds, Washington, he began traveling in his teens, inspired by a family trip to Europe. After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in European history and business, Steves started teaching travel classes, which led to his first guidebook, Europe Through the Back Door, self-published in 1980.
Steves built his Edmonds-based travel company on the idea that travelers should explore less-touristy areas and engage with local cultures. He gained national prominence as host and producer of Rick Steves' Europe, which has aired on public television since 2000. He also hosts a weekly public radio show, Travel with Rick Steves, and has authored dozens of popular guidebooks, including bestselling titles on Italy and Europe at large.
Beyond travel, Steves is an outspoken advocate for drug policy reform, environmental sustainability, and social justice. He supports marijuana legalization and chairs the board of NORML. He has funded housing for homeless families and donates to anti-hunger and arts organizations. In 2019, he pledged $1 million annually to offset the carbon emissions of his tour groups.
Steves is a practicing Lutheran with Norwegian ancestry and continues to live in Edmonds. He has two adult children and is in a relationship with Reverend Shelley Bryan Wee. Despite health challenges, including a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2024, Steves remains committed to his mission of helping Americans travel with greater purpose, empathy, and understanding of the world. His work reflects a belief that travel, done right, can be both transformative and a force for peace.

Reviews

[Jack Hrkach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just wrote a longish review of the Rough Guide: Norway, so I'll try to kept this short. I will write what I do about any guidebook - that I find Rick Steves and Rough Guides the only really worthwhile series worth looking at before, during and after you travel to a foreign land. Steves packs a lot into this guide, which includes a short-ish section on Tallin Estonia, as it is a short ferry ride from the Eastern-most Scandinavian country, Finland.

I focused on Norway, as I want to do the "Norway in a Nutshell" experience, but read about just about every area except Denmark, because I've already traveled there (and Mr Steves was very helpful on that part of Scandinavia when I used it back in 2011 I also looked fairly closely at Sweden, particularly the area around Stockholm, as it is a dream of mine to visit the Drottningholm, an 18th c theatre marvelously preserved. As long as I was planning on a trip to Norway I couldn't have forgiven myself had I not tried to get to Stockholm as well.

Alas I ended up not going this summer, but am holding on to my Kindle version of this as I am firmly resolved to get there before I get too old to enjoy Scandinavia. I will be 70 in January, and while spry am not quite the fellow I used to be - hope I remain spry enough to see it within the next few years, If I do, this guide will be essential to my travels there (along with the Rough Guide - the second half of a perfect combo of guidance.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

[2009.07] Bought and brought with us on the Scandinavia portion of our Spring-Summer 2009 Europe trip. We liked the book for its walking tours of various parts of the cities and of some of the attractions. We also appreciated Helsinki and Tallinn being included in the book. Our standard use of guidebooks that we bring with us involves cutting them up into chucks, so we have less to carry in the daypack, and sometimes we leave the bits we've finished with other travelers who might find them useful. And our standard bit regarding RS books: The book has good info but exact prices for attractions can be outdated. Traveling the RS way is by no means cheap, so to get the best of both worlds (good info + less money), read his book for the information, but take his accommodation suggestions with a grain of salt (google for the couple of good bed&breakfast (i.e. private accommodation) websites catering to different areas of Scandinavia). And the eating suggestions? Grocery stores! Eating out in the Scandinavia region is *very* expensive, even for locals.

[Tatjana · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the heck happened to Rick Steves?
He has so seriously gone off the "Europe through the Back Door" that Lonely Planet is more cutting edge than his stuff. If you are looking for the back door stuff of legend, you won't find any more than a lot of Americans wandering around with their noses stuck in his books.
No really. Spend the extra money and get the respective countries from Lonely Planet and you will get more information and a better/wide range of suggestions. Not only that, but he misses so much good stuff! I thought it was only Germany, but it's not. I will probably not buy any more of his books, unfortunately. I can get better information from the people who write on his Graffiti wall.

[Becka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rick Steves's guides have always provided me with great, common sense (and sometimes nonsensical) suggestions for forming my travel plans. For example, the Denmark chapter in this guide recommended lodging in a private home in Copenhagen, as it is actually less expensive than a hotel and more comfy than a hostel, not to mention a much more enriching cultural experience. However, I hesitate to follow Steves's itineraries to the detail, as I recall wandering the Cinque Terre and running into hordes of other Americans clutching his book on the region. Egad. I'd stick to Lonely Planet or TimeOut Guides as primary print travel resources.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, great tips for traveling as a temporary local--accommodations beyond the big box hotels, clear maps, tips on how to save $ in an expensive part of the world. I find Rick Steves' guide books to be the best for my kind of travel: moderately priced while maximizing experiences over shopping. He doesn't cover every single city and town-- he focuses on the best places for travelers and the best experiences.

Please note this refers to the edition from 2010. I think people were not so happy with previous editions.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will do almost anything Rick Steves tells me to.

However, this guidebook was not really that exciting. His maps are pretty crappy and he only recommends things he likes- he doesn't let you know what else there is to see. Plus, he wrote four pages about Oslo's national gallery, which I thought was really boring. Whatever!

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dumped this book at the Danhostel in Copenhagen after Rick's advice led me astray one too many times. (Including his advice to stay at the Danhostel - a huge place with no character.)

I enjoyed Rick Steves' guides when I was very new to traveling and went to Italy. Now I find the more comprehensive guide books (Moon, Lonely Planet) and the Internet to be better resources.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Ricky! What would I do without you? Your books make my travels so much better and less stressful. You've gotten me safely around Europe many times, and now we are off to Scandinavia. Keep in traveling!

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update: After actually travelling to Scandinavia, I have increased my rating to 5 stars, since, thanks to Steves' advice, my trip went almost entirely smoothly!

OP:
I bought this book because I travelled to Europe a few years ago with Steves' Best of Europe and found it much more useful than the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides books I'd used on earlier trips - whilst Steves sometimes goes too far with the kid-gloves, I like that he errs towards assuming that you don't know things (RG, and even more so LP, err the other way).
This book is quite similar to BoE, with largely the same strengths and weaknesses:
- there's lots of depth, but not much breadth - he covers only a small number of Scandinavia's cities and towns, and he says little about things he isn't interested in (such as fine dining and contemporary art, two things Scandinavia is known for!)
- the information on trains is not very detailed (though thankfully it is more detailed than in BoE, which is very important because the usual authority on trains, seat61.com, has little information for Scandinavia)
- the hotels and restaurants coverage skews heavily towards cheap options (this annoyed me in BoE, but in this book I love it because the cheap options in Scandinavia are the only ones I can afford!)
One thing that's different from (the 2015 edition of) BoE is that specific prices for different types of rooms aren't included, as a solo traveller who wants to know which hotels have cheap single rooms I was very annoyed about this!

[Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a guidebook. I read the Norway parts in preparation for a business trip. I always like to plan in advance to be prepared to see what I will try to pack in if i have free time. This met my needs for that: it directed me to the Viking Ship Museum as a top priority in Helsinki (the only three complete Viking Ships excavated to date) and the Norwegian Resistance Museum in Oslo, and those were great. It didn't give enough attention to the Fram Museum (the Norwegian museum of Arctic Exploration), which I thought was great. It was much less useful outside Oslo, as I headed north, but honestly, I don't know that I needed to know anything other than 'the views are amazing' for the north. Met my needs, short enough for quickly finding what I wanted (one of the advantages of a guidebook for all of Scandinavia), relevant and up-to-date for a 2019 visit.

[Janene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially appreciated the self-guided tours. Using this book and a little bit of leg power, you can easily get an overall feel for little cities, skipping the tourist traps, saving time and money too. (But really looking like a tourist with your handy dandy book!) :o)

It is a good idea to get the updated books, this one was a little out of date and the prices were significantly more. Most museums in Sweden are no longer free.

[J.R. Dodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd been planning a trip to Scandinavia, and had read and re-read this book several times during the planning process and throughout traveling. As typical for Rick Steves, it is really well done and is a great starting point for the planning process. This book is not as strong as his typical guides in regards to directions on walks and organization of the material itself, but it was still very useful and helped make our trip easier and more memorable.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll wait until I return from my trip for a rating and review, but initial impressions... did not enjoy this as much as other RS books. Many of the passages were dense, boring. There is a very modest selection of recommendations for hotels and restaurants compared to western European books. We'll see....

[Kim Lanza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can remember the first Rick Steves guide book that I read - it was for a trip to Italy. It opened my eyes to a way of traveling - with a back door philosophy- that has framed my travels ever since. Any time I am traveling to a place he has reviewed, I use his recommendations along with the Lonely Planet guide. It is a killer combo!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finland is quite lacking. He gives the most attention (in order) to Copenhagen, Norway, and Sweden... in this book, Finland is essentially Helsinki, but he does include Estonia (in the form of Tallinn), which I appreciate.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

these are fantastic travel books! I love that he lists the more local hotels, so you don't feel so removed from the culture you are in. I also enjoyed the walking and driving tours that he suggests. When we plan a trip to Europe, we always get one of his books.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purchased in preparation for our trip to Scandinavia - especially Norway. It was a good investment. Our trip was a guided tour with free time, so the book wasn't our essential guide, but it was, nevertheless, very helpful to keep us oriented.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful for prioritizing what to see among many countries depending on your trip length. Super helpful guides in optimizing time. found tips helpful more so than other R. Steves books. scandinavia felt overwhelming to plan without the book.

[Bonnie Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked : personal point of view by someone who's been there not secondhand info, recommendations (must see, try to see, etc.), layout (by area), suggested walking tours.

What I didn't like : no maps outlining suggested walking tours, 90% of the Denmark section devoted to Copenhagen

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Planning our trip .. his suggestions are similar to many other books & online sources. However, the walking tours are valuable. I'll be photocopying many of these to take with us.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has information I will use when I am in the ports of Arhus, Denmark; Oslo, Norway; and Bergen, Norway. Geiranger, Norway is not included.

[Margy Houtz · Rating 2 out of 5]

fair

[Herb]

Reading this guidebook was almost like being there in Scandinavia.

[Smkelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information. Relevant and up to date. Helped in determining sites to visit and restaurants.

[Julie Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick Steves - my Travel Agent.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only a few of the areas of Norway. Would love to see a book that covers all of Norway by Rick Steves.

[Brita · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general, a good guide about travelling in Denmark and Norway. However, Scandinavia does not consist of only these two countries. Sweden and Finland (Helsinki) were presented only in a very hasty manner and there was a tiny paragraph about Estonia (Tallinn).

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously dated, but a great overview of the different Scandinavian countries to get the vacation planning started. I was a little overwhelmed by which country to zero in on. This book helped me better understand what each country has to offer.

[Mskychick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always like Rick Steves’ books. This one doesn’t have much for each country outside of the main city, though. So I’ll be buying a Fodor’s or a Frommer’s dedicated to just Sweden.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough book. I've discovered than I like listening to Rick Steves much more than I like reading him.