The Norway city nobody talks about (and why we chose it)

I just booked countries 20, 21, and 22.

Denmark. Norway. Sweden. One trip. May.

When I tell people we're spending two weeks in Scandinavia with a baby, I get one of two reactions. Either "that sounds incredible" or "why would you do that to yourselves."

Both are valid.

Here's how we built the itinerary, why we skipped the obvious cities, and the booking trick that saved us real money.

Why these three countries

Norway was my wife Tori's pick. She'd seen photos and that was basically it. If you've seen photos of the Norwegian fjords, you understand. It looks like Switzerland decided to add water.

Denmark I've been reading about for years. There's a whole genre of books about Danish culture -- the happiness, the lifestyle, the taxes, the concept of hygge. Helen Russell's The Year of Living Danishly is the best of them. I wanted to see if it's real.

I had Scotland for golf and Sweden booked in 2020. COVID had other plans. Six years later, we're finally getting there even if it's just one night in Lund as a stopover. (only a 40 mins train ride from Copenhagen Airport).

Why we skipped the capital cities

Oslo didn't excite me. Bergen sounded too touristy. We wanted somewhere that felt real.

We landed on Ålesund, a small coastal city on Norway's west coast that most Americans have never heard of. It sits across several small islands with the Sunnmøre Alps rising behind it and the North Sea stretching out in front. On a clear day the light hits the water in a way that makes you stop mid-sentence.

Here's what most people don't know about it: the entire town center burned down on January 23, 1904. Over 850 buildings gone in a single night. In just four years, the whole city was rebuilt in Art Nouveau style -- young architects filled the streets with stone and brick buildings covered in turrets, spires, and medieval flourishes. The result is one of the most architecturally distinctive small cities in Europe. And almost no Americans go there.

If you want to go deep on the story before you visit, the Jugendstilsenteret Art Nouveau Centre is worth an hour of your time.

The booking hack that actually worked

Most people would book this as a multicity itinerary. We didn't.

We booked two separate roundtrips instead -- one from LAX to Copenhagen, one from Copenhagen to Ålesund. It came out cheaper than any multicity option we found. Worth running the comparison on Google Flights before you assume multicity is the move.

On nonstop options from the US to Scandinavia: more cities have them than most people realize. SAS flies nonstop to Copenhagen from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, LAX, New York (JFK), San Francisco, Washington DC, and Miami (seasonal). Delta flies nonstop from JFK to both Copenhagen and Stockholm. East Coast, you have real options. West Coast, LAX to Copenhagen is your best bet.

On SAS fees -- read this before you book.

We booked one step above their cheapest fare, Economy Standard. Worth it for families. Here's why.

Their base tier, Economy Light, does not include a checked bag even on transatlantic flights. Add one at the airport last minute and it can cost up to $85. Book it online at least 8 days out and it drops to around $40. Economy Standard includes one checked bag and assigned seats -- which matters when you're traveling with a baby and can't risk being split across the cabin.

Seat selection on Economy Light runs $6-$24 per seat per one-way leg. For a family that adds up fast. Stepping up to Standard takes that off the table.

One more thing nobody mentions: the lap infant fee. We paid roughly $150 for the roundtrip. It covers the boarding pass and a bag. It doesn't show up prominently during booking, you only see it when you dig into the fare details. Budget for it before you start comparing prices.

Bottom line: price out Economy Standard from the start. The upgrade from Light is usually $50-$80 per person and saves you the nickel-and-diming on the other end.

Traveling in Europe with a baby is a logistics puzzle

Finding a place to stay that actually works with a baby took longer than booking the flights.

Our requirements were non-negotiable: close to a train station, kitchen and fridge for bottles, a pack and play available, laundry for the 7-night Norway leg, and under $275 a night.

We didn't bring our own pack and play or car seat. For the car seat, I called Hertz Norway directly and sorted it out in about two minutes. Cost me $4 in international call charges. Done.

Copenhagen ended up being a hotel that checked most of the boxes. Ålesund we found an Airbnb with laundry, a kitchen, a pack and play, and a location walkable enough to get coffee and hit a farmers market without a car. Lund was one night near the train. Simple.

The goal the whole time was to be close enough to feel like locals but close enough to home base to bail when the baby needed us to.

What we're actually going to do there

Honest answer: not that much. On purpose.

Ålesund is 7 nights. We want to drive the fjords, catch a local soccer game, walk the Art Nouveau streets, and do what I call Kobe-style travel -- put down Google Maps and stop wherever looks good.

My mom and I did that in Japan once. We found the best meal of our lives that way.

That's the whole plan.

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Until next Thursday,

Jeff