Lonely Planet Scandinavia 13

by Anthony Ham, Alexis Averbuck, Carolyn Bain

The seductive call of the north is one of wild landscapes, crisp air and cutting-edge city style colored by the epic changes of the Scandinavian seasons. Andy Symington, Lonely Planet Writer
Our Promise
You can trust our travel information because Lonely Planet writers visit the places we write about, each and every edition. We never accept freebies for positive coverage, and you can rely on us to tell it like we see it.
Inside This Book
8 expert authors
77 maps
104 national parks
39 unusual dishes to try
Inspirational photos
Clear, easy-to-use maps
At-a-glance practical info
Natural Wonders feature
Comprehensive planning tools
Easy-to-read layout

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kostan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few places had closed down, but for the most part a very useful and comprehensive review of the best places to visit in Scandinavia. Very helpful.

[Zsa Zsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this helpful for my trip to Scandinavia. It would be easier to read as a physical book, yet I managed with my ebook version. Not sure how updated all the info is, but was good for the general info.

[Lisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's informative and written in a nice way. I'll give this one three stars now, because it's just some very basic information and although I've read the latest version (late 2015 I think), it's already a bit outdated.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

[reviewed via Kindle]

[Delena Willougby]

This was a good reference book.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was ok, did a quick skim. This is from 2013, so it was useful to learn what is stable over time.
Aurora library purchased book.

[Joyce Meijs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good quick overview of interesting spots in Scandinavia.

[Desiree Koh · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Lonely Planet is great company, but not the trendiest or most cutting-edge travel guide, but it's more than serviceable in helping you cover all the bases of going places and squeezing into the nooks and crannies of a new adventure. I did, however, find the section on western Norway and exploring the phenomenal fjords in that region confusing - it was hard to discern a proper geographical game plan for conquering the fjords. Also, the chapters on each major city (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo) can be a bit paltry - it's true that there aren't the tourist tramping attractions of western Europe, so it's not entirely the authors' faults. But, if you are into gastronomical explorations (and you definitely should indulge in Scandinavia) and uncovering the next neo-metal night club, I would suggest supplementing your Lonely Planet research with the New York Times, The Guardian, Time Out, and select blogs. I would have given it three stars, but an extra, because the book truly introduced us to some unforgettable finds.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can never really tell how good a lonely planet is until you go and I have never been to northern Europe so I can’t pre-judge this book.

It is however very readable and strikes me as being a pretty good basic guide to travelling the region, quite basic though, further research is needed for anything but the most basic of tourist visits. The one real failing for me in this book was that while it babbles on at length about jazz festivals and international film festivals it totally fails to mention any music of the metal genera. I gather that the authors are not into it and it is a bit niche in the rest of the world, but seriously guys; Scandinavia and Finland are world leaders in most of the metal genera, they produce a fantastic range of mind blowing music of all kinds – you could have managed at least a nod in the general direction.

Reading it has definitely fired me up to want a trip there – maybe July 2013!

[Bonnie Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the Rick Steves series of travel books. The way that the travel is broken down, his rating system for sights (must see, try to see, etc.). I enjoy knowing that this information is coming from his personal point of view, it hasn't just been extracted from some secondhand source. I like the walking trips he suggests through a few of Denmark's more popular tourist towns. I don't like that there were no maps for those tours only verbal descriptions. I also didn't like that about 90% of the Denmark section was devoted to Copenhagen. Note: I only used this for the the Denmark section.

[Janai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downloaded the chapters on pdf for Sweden and Norway. Both chalets have us some basic information about Stockholm and Oslo. However, when trying to figure out how to find bist cruise in Stockholm, the were the company names listed and no addresses or locations to find them. It was definitely assumed we would have Internet access. The guide was good fit basic ideas about museums but I agree with other reviews that it was much less helpful when trying to design a game plan for how to tour a city.

[DavSchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of places to visit in the Nordic region. This book had plenty of pictures, tips, recommendations from locals and the toolkit pages are really detailed for critical country specific information. I would highly recommend getting Lonely Planets books specific to each country as they contain even more useful history, tips, recommendations and sights to see for smaller cities and islands.

[Terri Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

You just can't beat lonely planet! When I travel I do a lot of research, and the internet is fine and provides a lot of useful information, but when leaving the country, nothing beats a guide like this.

[Kim Lanza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything I need to know to plan an August adventure!

[Leslie Ferrari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a good job in providing information about small towns on the coast that are frequent cruise ship stops.

[Brianna Silva]

This was super helpful. I feel sufficiently armed for my upcoming trip.

[Cathy]

Would prefer it as a hard copy but must say I do like the fact that you can use the links within the book to jump ahead but unfortunately you can’t go back to find the spot you were up to. However, as a bit of clarification, I have borrowed this from the library as an ebook using a Libby by Overdrive.

The content itself is sufficient and gives me good ideas of where to go, activities to do, but like someone mentioned in a another review, is to always take it with a grain of salt as businesses may have either closed down, management has been taken over, different business all together so you just need to make sure you check before heading over.

This also goes for laws and regulations in literally everything there when it comes to driving, visas, what you can and can’t do etc, as at the time writing of this book things can change very quickly.