Semmes’ Northern Europe Bucket List
My bucket list is a never-ending work in progress. I am continuously adding, altering, changing, and updating it. I love discovering new things, learning about new destinations, being inspired to try something new, etc. So, my bucket list serves as a reminder to me of the massive, exciting, ever-changing world. Do I think I will accomplish everything on my bucket list? I sure hope so! Anything is possible!
Make sure you check out all my other Bucket Lists! Here is my ultimate Northern Europe Travel Bucket List. I break my Bucket List down into countries. I even include links to more detailed city Bucket Lists. Keep in mind that I will be constantly adding and editing items on this list. And, let me know if I should add anything else!
* The numbers refer to the items from Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel book
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Danish
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- ✓ CAPITAL – Copenhagen
- ✓ Eat a Danish Pastry
- ✓ Explore the Tivoli Gardens
- ✓ See the Nyhavn
- ✓ Visit Christiansborg Palace
- ✓ Visit Rosenborg Castle
- ✓ Spot the Little Mermaid Statue
- ✓ Visit Copenhagen’s National Museum
- Visit Christiania
- Dine at one of Copenhagen’s famous foodie spots
- #309. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
- Go to Legoland in Billund
- Cross the bridge to Malmo, Sweden
- Eat Smorrebrod
- Learn about Viking history at Roskilde’s Viking Ship Museum
- Relax on the beaches of the island of Bornholm
- Visit Ribe, Demark’s oldest town
- Practice hygge
Krongborg Castle, home of Hamlet (UNESCO)- Put on foot in the North Sea and one in the Baltic Sea at Skagen
- Attend Roskilde Festival, northern Europe’s biggest music event
- See the white chalk cliffs of Mons Klint
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – English
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- ✓ CAPITAL – London
- Afternoon tea at a fancy hotel
- Eat fish and chips
- ✓ Go to Kensington Palace and Gardens
- Go on a Jack the Ripper guided walk
- Go inside Parliament
- #52. Go to the Tate Modern
- ✓ #15. Go to the British Museum
- ✓ See the Egyptian mummies
- ✓ See the Rosetta Stone
- ✓ #118. Go to St. Paul’s Cathedral
- ✓ Play around Trafalgar Square
- ✓ Picnic lunch in Hyde Park
- Ride a double-decker bus
- Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew (UNESCO)
- ✓ Ride in a black cab
- ✓ Ride down the Thames
- ✓ See Big Ben
- ✓ See Buckingham Palace
- Stand on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich Observatory (UNESCO)
- See a play at Shakespeare’s Globe
- See the nighttime ceremony of the keys at the Tower of London
- ✓ See Tower Bridge
- ✓ See the Crown Jewels
- ✓ See a show on the West End
- ✓ See a British “ceremony”
- ✓ Shop at Harrods
- ✓ Shop at Camden Market
- Stay at the Goring Hotel
- ✓ Visit platform 9 and ¾
- ✓ #239. Visit the Natural History Museum
- ✓ Visit the War Rooms
- ✓ Visit Westminster Abbey (UNESCO)
- ✓ Victoria and Albert Museum
- ✓ #467. Visit the Tower of London (UNESCO)
- Walk across Abbey Road
- Wander around Soho
- ✓ Walk over the Tower Bridge
- ✓ Walk down Downing Street (you cannot walk down it, but you can peer behind the gate!)
- ✓ Watch the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace
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- ✓ Drink a cider at a British Pub
- ✓ See castles
- East of England
- Visit Cambridge (and the University of Cambridge)
- Norwich
- East Midlands
- Leicester
- Nottingham
- Chatsworth House
- See the Magna Carta at Lincoln Cathedral
- The Peak District
- Have a pint in England’s oldest pub in Nottingham
- ✓ London (see above)
- North East
- Durham Castle and Cathedral (UNESCO)
- #398. Hadrian’s Wall
- Newcastle
- Drive along the Northumberland Coast
- #304. Bamburgh Castle
- Spot the puffins on the Farne Islands
- North West
- Cheshire
- Manchester
- Visit Liverpool (UNESCO)
- Take the Magical Mystery Tour
- Stroll around the Royal Albert Dock and Museums
- #36. Visit the Lake District National Park (UNESCO)
- Bolton Abbey
- The Chester Wall
- Go on the Calisle Train Journey
- ✓ South East
- Go to the beaches of Brighton
- Berkshire
- Sussex
- Visit Oxford
- Portsmouth
- Southampton
- Blenheim Palace (UNESCO)
- #219. Visit Canterbury Cathedral (UNESCO)
- ✓ Visit Windsor Castle
- See the White Cliffs of Dover (and Dover Castle)
- Hever Castle
- See the beach huts at Whitstable
- Leeds Castle
- Bodiam Castle
- Visit Highclere Castle, the “Downton Abbey”
- Thorpe Park
- See the Seven Sisters in Sussex
- Break the code at Bletchley Park
- Dress up for the Royal Ascot
- ✓ South West
- Get lost in Cotswold Villages
- Cornwall
- Dorset
- Devon
- Somerset
- ✓ #164. Visit the Roman Baths in Bath
- See Jane Austen’s House
- ✓ #62. See Stonehenge (UNESCO)
- Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (UNESCO)
- Explore the Jurassic Coast, Dorset and East Devon Coast (UNESCO)
- #404. Avebury Stone Circle
- Visit the Wells Cathedral
- Stand on the edge of England at Lands End
- See the Clifton Suspension Bridge
- #281. Experience the Eden Project in Cornwall
- Visit Isles of Scilly
- See the caves at Cheddar Gorge
- Visit The Minack Theatre in Porthcurno
- St. Michaels Mount
- Winchester Cathedral
- Salisbury Cathedral
- Bristol
- West Midlands
- Birmingham
- Staffordshire
- Visit Shakespeare’s house in Stratford upon Avon
- Visit Worcester Cathedral and Friar Street
- Warwick Castle
- Ironbridge (UNESCO)
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- City of York
- Leeds
- Studley Royal Park (UNESCO)
- #189. Visit York Minster, Europe’s Biggest Gothic Cathedral
- Visit Wentworth Woodhouse
- See the coastal village of Staithes
- Visit the Victorian village of Saltaire (UNESCO)
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Estonian
BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September - ✓ CAPITAL – Tallinn
- ✓#112. See Tallinn Old Town (UNESCO)
- Lahemaa National Park with its manor houses and slices of deserted coastline
- Go island-hopping with a stop at Saaremaa Island and Hiiumaa Island
- Go to Parnu, the country’s summertime mecca
- Visit the university town of Tartu
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Finnish and Swedish
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September to avoid the cold or December to February for snow, Santa, and the Northern Lights
- ✓ CAPITAL – Helsinki
- ✓ #311. Temppeliaukio Kirkko
- Visit the Fortress of Suomenlinna and see the relics of Finland’s tumultuous history at the fault-line between Russia and Sweden (UNESCO)
- ✓ Explore the Aland Islands
- Stay in a Glass Igloo
- Pet the reindeers at Salla Reindeer Park
- Visit Santa’s hometown of Lapland
- Participate in in the festival of wife-carrying
- Eat cloudberries and lingonberries
- See the Northern Lights
- Sweat it out in the world’s largest smoke sauna in Kuopio
- Old Rauma (UNESCO)
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Icelandic
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September to avoid the cold or December to February to see Iceland at its iciest
- CAPITAL – Reykjavik
- #93. Take a dip in the Blue Lagoon
- Marvel at the Northern Lights
- Go whale watching cruise
- Visit Puffin Island
- #60. Jokulsarlon
- #145. Vatnajokull National Park (UNESCO)
- #176. Gullfoss
- #211. Borgarfjordur Eystri & Seydisfjordur
- #250. Silfra Fissure and snorkel in between tectonic plates
- #351. Snaefellsnes
- #359. Geysir
- See the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
- See the Skogafoss Waterfall
- Explore an ice cave at the Vatnajökull glacier
- Drive the Golden Circle
- Road trip around the Ring Road
- Go horseback riding on an Icelandic Horse
- Explore the fjords
- Put your toes in the black sands of Djúpalón Beach
- Watch thousands of puffin chics taking flight from Vestannaeyjar (in August)
- See the volcanic wastelands of Krafla
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – English and Irish (Gaeilge)
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- CAPITAL – Dublin
- Go to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day
- Go to the Guinness Storehouse
- #468. Trinity College
- Visit the infamous Kilmainham Gaol prison
- Have a pint at Temple Bar
- Visit Dublin Castle
- Stroll through St. Stephens Green
- Pay your respects at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
- Tour Old Jameson Distillery
- Kiss the Blarney Stone
- Drink at a real Irish pub
- Ireland’s West Coast
- #378. See the Cliffs of Moher
- Visit Galway
- Drive the “Ring of Kerry”
- Explore the Dingle Peninsula
- Go to Kylemore Abbey
- Take a ferry to the Aran Islands
- Bunratty Castle
- Traverse the western coastline along the Wild Atlantic Way
- Scelig Mhhichil (UNESCO)
- Visit Cork
- Visit Limerick
- #224. Bru na Boinne (UNESCO)
- #497. Rock of Cashel
- Visit Ashford Castle
- Visit Kilkenny
- Spend time in the outdoors in Donegal
- Stay in a castle
- Northern Ireland (UK)
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – English
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – April for the driest month and May to September for warmer temperatures
- CAPITAL – Belfast
- #424. Titanic Belfast
- #103. See Giant’s Causeway (UNESCO)
- Cross the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
- Explore the Dunluce Castle
- Strangford Lough’s Castle Ward Estate
- City of Derry
- Explore Ulster Folk Museum
- Surf the Atlantic around Portrush
- Drink and learn about whiskey at Bushmills’ Old Bushmills Distillery
- See where St. Patrick’s mission began and ended at Downpatrick
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Latvian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- CAPITAL – Riga
- Explore Riga’s old town (UNESCO)
- Try different foods around Riga’s Central Market
- Visit the Museum of Occupation and the Freedom Monument
- Experience traditional Latvian Sauna
- Explore the medieval castle complex in Cesis
- Visit Rundale Palace, Latvia’s miniature version of Versailles
- Gauja National Park
- Relax at Jurmala’s swanky spa scene
- See the beautiful Cape Kolka
- Visit Turaida Museum-Reserve
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Lithuanian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- CAPITAL – Vilnius
- Explore Vilnius historic center (UNESCO)
- #387. Hills of Crosses
- #463. Trakai Castle, a fairy-tale lakeside gothic castle
- See Witches’ Hill on the Curonian Spit
- Explore the country’s beloved Lakeland
- Go ice fishing on the Curonian Spit
- Take a dip in the waters of Druskininkai
- Enjoy the sea views at the port city of Klaipeda
- Visit the hip city of Kaunas
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Norwegian
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September for sun and December to February to ski and see the northern lights
- ✓ CAPITAL – Oslo
- ✓ #216. Go to Vigelandsparken
- ✓ #494. Oslo Opera House
- See the Northern Lights
- Sit on the Edge of Preikestolen
- Visit the Lofoten Islands
- #319. Pulpit Rock
- ✓ Ride the Flam Railway
- ✓ See the fjords of Norway
- ✓ Go on “Norway in a Nutshell”
- ✓ Cruise around the fjords
- #135. Geirangerfjord (UNESCO)
- ✓ Visit Bergen
- ✓ #124. Bryggen (UNESCO)
- ✓ Take a photo from the top of Mount Floyen
- See the mining cottages of Roros (UNESCO)
- Spot the Polar Bears in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard
- Travel along the Atlantic Ocean Road
- Take a photo at Trolltunga
- Hike along the peaks and glaciers at the Jotunheimen National Park
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – English
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September and August for the Edinburgh festival season
- ✓ CAPITAL – Edinburgh
- ✓ Explore the old town of Edinburgh (UNESCO)
- ✓ #58. Visit Edinburgh Castle
- ✓ #169. Walk down the Royal Mile
- ✓ The Palace of Holyroodhouse
- Hike up Arthur’s Seat
- Royal Yacht Britannia
- ✓ Argyll & Bute and Stirling
- ✓ #428. Stirling Castle
- #427. Iona
- #490. Fingal’s Cave
- #387. Loch Lomond
- Inveraray Castle
- See the Devil’s Pulpit
- Go to the Isle of Mull
- Inveraray Castle
- Central Scotland (Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Glasglow City, Inverclyde, Lothian, Midlothian, and Renfrewshire)
- Glasglow
- #385. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
- Listen to music at King Tut’s or the Barrowland
- See the giant horses, the Kelpies, at The Helix
- Glasglow
- East Scotland (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, Fife, Moray, and Perth & Kinross )
- The Forth Bridge (UNESCO)
- Get a hole in one at the world’s oldest golf course at St. Andrews
- Aberdeen
- Royal Deeside
- Have tea with the Queen at Balmoral 😉
- ✓ Highlands
- ✓ Drive through the Scottish Highlands
- ✓ Hunt for Nessie
- ✓ #316. See Ben Nevis
- #184. See Glen Coe
- Take a train photo of the Glenfinnan Viaduct, the Harry Potter bridge
- Walk on the West Highland Way
- Pay your respects at the Commando Memorial on Spean Bridge
- See where the Jacobites made their final stand at Culloden Battlefield
- The Isles (Na H-Eileanan Siar, Orkney Islands, and the Shetland Islands)
- St. Kilda (UNESCO)
- #403. Standing Stones of Callanish
- #134. Skara Brae
- #64. Go to the Isle of Skye
- Dunvegan Castle
- Isle of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides
- Hike the cliff tops at Orkney Island
- Southern Scotland (Aryshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Lanarkshire, and the Scottish Borders)
- New Lanark (UNESCO)
- Melrose Abbey
- Stargaze at the Cairngorms National Park
- Wear tartan
- Try whiskey
- ✓ Listen to the bagpipes
- Go to the Highland Games
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Swedish
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to August for some sunshine and December to March to ski
- ✓ CAPITAL – Stockholm
- ✓ #99. See Gamla Stan
- ✓ #206. Vasamuseet
- ✓ Visit Stockholm Palace
- ✓ Walk the halls of Drottingham Palace (UNESCO)
- ✓ Catch a boat ride at sunset
- Enjoy Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum
- Abba: The Museum
- Admire the beauty of Stockholm from Soder Heights
- #162. Stay in the authentic ice hotel
- Stay in the tree hotel
- #486. Foteviken Viking Reserve
- Malmo Castle
- Ride a dog sled in Kiruna
- Abisko National Park
- Spend time on the Bohusland coast
- Visit Glasriket, the Glass Kingdom
- Relax at the picturesque Bohuslan coast
- Lund Cathedral
- Celebrate Midsummer Festival
- Stroll around the story-book villages surrounding Lake Siljan
- Skogskyrkogården (UNESCO)
- Visby (UNESCO)
- ✓ Sail through the Archipelago (UNESCO)
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE – Welsh and English
- BEST TIME TO VISIT – May to September
- CAPITAL – Cardiff
- #181. Visit Snowdonia
- #207. Portmeirion
- #294. Davids Cathedral
- #315. Caernarfon Castle (UNESCO)
- #365. Brecon Beacons
- #373. Tintern Abbey
- #431. St. Fagans National History Museum
- Visit Portmeirion, a whimsical vision of Italian classicism
- See the 200-year-old aqueduct at Pontcysyllte (UNESCO)
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd (UNESCO)
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Travel around the world with Semmes!
xx,
Semmes
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