Northern Europe
Table of Contents: Countries / Other territories / Cities / Culture and History / Travel to Northern Europe, visa requirements / Get around By ferry By train / Northern Europe attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Hotels, youth hostels, lodging / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Northern Europe nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Get out Related articles: : Nakhchivan (city), Narrow Road to the Deep North, Nassfeld, Naturism, Nepali phrasebook, Neringa, Neshisar National Park, Newark, Newcastle, Newell Highway, Newport, New England Highway, New Guinea, New Year holidays in Hungary, New York, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Niagara Falls, Nine days in New Zealand's North Island, Nine days in New Zealand's South Island, Niteroi, Nogales, Noravank, Norfolk, Northern Europe, Northern Islands, Northern Lights, Northwest Airlines, North America, North Pole, Norwegian phrasebook, November, Nuevo Laredo, Nuwara Elya, Nyanja phrasebook, Nyborg |
Northern Europe is a European region in the North of the Baltic Sea.
Countries
Northern Europe comprises
Other territories
- Faroe Islands — administered by Denmark
- Svalbard — administered by Norway
- Åland — administered by Finland
- Greenland is sometimes associated with Nordic Europe, because of its relationship to Denmark and its associate membership in the Nordic Council.
Cities
Culture and History
The terms Nordic countries and Scandinavia refer to different regions in Northern Europe. The Nordic countries are Sweden, Norway and Denmark, Finland, Iceland and sometimes the Faroe Islands and Greenland, whereas Scandinavia, in geographic, linguistic, anthropological, political and historical terms, refers to Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The name Scandinavia comes from the Skandage body of water that lies sandwiched between Norway, Sweden, and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark. The culture of Scandinavian countries are relatively similar, and the languages are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Where the written word is concerned, Danish and Norwegian are approximately 63% identical, differing roughly to the same extent as Scottish & Irish Gaelic. With regard to conversational similarity, the two are still quite close but share a number of notable differences. A Germanic ear untrained in any Scandinavian language can sometimes distinguish with the two. The Scandinavian languages are North Germanic, and strongly influenced by Low Saxon (Ancient German).
Iceland was a Norwegian and later Danish colony until 1944. Icelandic was originally of the same root as the other four languages, seeing as it derived from Old Norse, but the island's seclusion resulted in its isolation and, as a result, it hasn't changed profoundly from the 13th century. The spoken language and its written counterpart are unintelligible to other Scandinavians, but not to the Faroese, who speak a variant of this language that is also unintelligible to Scandinavians with its own lexical base.
Finnish, the native language of Finland, belongs to the Finno-Ugric family and is entirely unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. However, the country retains a 6% Swedish-speaking minority and is officially bilingual.
Travel to Northern Europe, visa requirements
Get around
By ferry
Major coastal cities of the Baltic Sea are connected with ferry lines; e.g. Turku-Stockholm and Helsinki-Tallinn. Many of the ferries are large and quite elaborate. Additionally, travelling among the straits in Denmark is also workable by way of ferry.
By train
The ScanRail pass offers unlimited train travel in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
| Prices in 2005 | ||||
| Validity | Youth | Adult | Senior | Child |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 days in 2 months | 160 € | 230 € | 204 € | 115 € |
| 10 days in 2 months | 215 € | 308 € | 274 € | 154 € |
| 21 consecutive days | 249 € | 358 € | 316 € | 179 € |
The 5-day Flexipass is valid for 15 days if purchased within certain Nordic regions. Outside the Nordic countries, only a 10-day version is available. In addition to free travel in the region, you can also take night trains to/from Berlin (Germany) with the pass.
Northern Europe attractions and sightseeing
City tours
- Relax in a hot spring in Iceland
- See the Northern Lights
- Cruise a Norwegian Fjord, Sognefjord is best
- Go to Legoland in Denmark
- See the famous Tivoli Gardens theme park in Copenhagen
- Go the unusual colony of Christiania in Copenhagen
- Stay in the hostel of the af Chapman, a sailing ship moored in Stockholm, Sweden
- See the amazing Vasa Museum in Stockholm, displaying an entire flagship that sunk in the harbor nearly 400 years ago
Hotels, youth hostels, lodging
Good restaurants and cheap meals
Northern Europe nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.
Get out
Go to another area of Europe! Anywhere else will be profoundly different from Scandinavia
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