For those interested in my itinerary, I hammered this out a few weeks ago sitting late nights on the computer. Leaving Phoenix May 26 to fly to Sofia, Bulgaria. The first 12 days will be a part of a choral concert tour by the Flagstaff Master Chorale in Bulgaria in 3 locations and ending up in Istanbul. Then I will set off on my own 4 week trip by flying to Venice, spending 2 or 3 nights in each if these locations and traveling by train: Venice, Siena, Florence, Interlaken, Lucerne, Basel, then overnight on train to Copenhagen. 2 nights there than overnight ferry to Oslo, then train to Bergen. Have booked 3 nights of a 13 night Hurtigruten coastal fjord cruise to Bodo. Then return on sleeper Bido to Trondheim, and then to Oslo Airport. Return on July 7 to US.
I somehow missed this thread until now, but your itinerary looks interesting, and during the past two years I've traveled on several of your routes, most recently was back in February on City Night Line train 472 from Basel to Odense (a few CNL stops before Copenhagen). I believe the train still runs daily, but it has slightly different schedule during weekends (at least in the opposite direction). During three weeks this summer the train will terminate in Flensburg in northernmost Germany due to track work in Denmark, but this shouldn't affect you.
Here is a page with a typical train consist:
http://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.php?zeme=DB&cislo=472/1272&rok=2014&lang=en - in Hannover the train is joined by CNL 40457 from Amsterdam and CNL 40456 from Prague. If you have baggage to store at Basel SBB (not to be confused with Basel Bad, by the way) while waiting for departure, there are baggage lockers in the basement below the main hall. Across the street from the station you'll find additional places to eat, and a few more shops including a Coop supermarket, just as busy as the Migros inside the station. Downtown is a 10-15 minutes walk away, or you could get on a streetcar.
The dining car is in the Basel section of the train, but I've preferred to eat before departure, and in the morning make do with the not very exciting breakfast delivered to your room by the attendant. The breakfast for passengers in the deluxe sleepers is slightly better, though. Be aware that the numbering of the sleepers in the double decker cars is non-sequential, i.e. quite confusing. Most of the economy rooms are downstairs, while all of the the deluxe ones are upstairs, with both kinds sharing the same corridor. The deluxe sleepers have two big windows, and you can look across the noise screens along the track. Book early to get the best price.
If you are awake early on the train in the north of Germany, you can experience the train traversing the rail loop over the town of Rendsburg, until finally having gained enough height to cross the Kiel Canal, which connects the North Sea with the Baltic Ocean. The Rendsburg High Bridge also features a suspension ferry, but I'm not sure whether you can see it from the train.
Shortly before the stop at Kolding in Denmark, you can get a quick glimpse of the Koldinghus castle to your left (red building on a hill top). A short while after the stop at Kolding, the train runs a short distance next to the fjord to your right, however it's
nothing like the Norwegian fjords you'll experience later. Some time after Kolding, the train crosses the narrow Little Belt strait; on the far side of the strait to your left you can see the town of Middelfart (no jokes please
). Also to your left, at the opposite end of the town, you can see the other bridge across the strait.
15 or so minutes after the stop at Odense, the train goes through Nyborg (not a CNL stop), afterwards to your left you can catch glimpses of the beach before the train starts crossing the wide Great Belt strait. The first half is on a low bridge next to the motorway, while the second half, after having run a short distance on the extended Sprogø island (look quick to your right for the lighthouse), the train enters a tunnel while the cars run on a suspension bridge which you may be able to glimpse while on the low bridge.
Watch out for pickpockets at Copenhagen Central Station (and elsewhere), and keep close track of your belongings, as the platforms and the station building get very crowded. The pickpockets also enters trains at the platforms, but that's mostly a problem for passengers on departing trains. You should have plenty to do in Copenhagen, but if you feel like a quick trip to Sweden, the city of Malmö (the third largest in Sweden) is only 34 minutes away by the Øresundståg train; they run every 20 minutes during peak hours. The trains are often crowded between the two cities, as they serve the Copenhagen International Airport. After the airport, the train crosses another strait, again using a combined bridge and tunnel link, the Øresund Bridge.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions about what to see in Copenhagen or elsewhere. As this post is getting large, I'll skip comments about Norway, even though I've been to all of the places mentioned in your itinerary (but I haven't been on the Bergensbanen trains, nor on the Hurtigruten ships). My photos from Norway (and amongst your stops, also Venice, Interlaken, Basel, and Copenhagen) can be seen here:
http://www.nightcall.dk/foto/index/category/norway
