# Sandinavia tour 2018



## mid4did (May 20, 2018)

After getting the inspiration off contributors to this site we started our trip nearly 2 weeks ago.It seems like we,ve been rushing around but the speed has been 40-50 all the way.Our route has been up through sweden via Hamburg, denmark to finland and up to Nordkaap.Currently parked up at Sommaroy .
I,ve got our route and some photos along the way here:
"Follow me on Polarsteps"
Polarsteps - Automatic Travel Tracker - Explore. Dream. Discover.
we are slowly heading south bypassing Lofoten as Jan the wife has a docs appointement 12th june.
Pete &Jan


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## mid4did (May 20, 2018)

A bit of a wobble with the link but hopefully working now


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## Wully (May 20, 2018)

Looks like a real adventure ide love to do that trip up there and liked you’re site with photos and interactive map those kind of trips what it’s all about enjoy and thanks


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## Tim120 (May 20, 2018)

That looks like a really good adventure. Very good way of laying out the site with map and photos.
I'm not at all jealous.


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## mid4did (May 20, 2018)

It,s been everything I'd hoped for.Great memories of hamburg fishmarket where they had some great sailing ships etc docked up.Lucky to get a free street parking space and call in again on the way back.Sweden was great , not just trees and not at all boring.Finland and santa claus village was jan,s favorite,all the sounds sights and smells of christmas and free to have a look around the place.Sommaroy was too windy and cold to try some fishing but a great place i should think in the right conditions.Got a couple places in mind on the way down.Also I want to call in Copenhagen,looking for somewhere to park for that one.


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## mossypossy (May 20, 2018)

*Like the app*

I will use it when we go up next year.
Will probably hit the Lofoten area a month later than you. Looks a bit chilly at the moment.


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## mid4did (May 21, 2018)

It is bloody chilly at times but now I,m just below Narvik the sun is out and it's turning out to be a nice day.Just had a go at beachcasting and caught a couple of nice fish.Related to the salmon family so my new german friend telks me.He,s been here a couple days caught 7 and I turn up with some mackeral feathers and get 2 in half an hour.Need to go shopping for some potatoes now Fish and chips for tea.


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## iqofafish (May 21, 2018)

That looks fantastic.  Full on adventure. Thanks for sharing.


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## RichardP (May 22, 2018)

*Scandic trip*

We're presently in Tallinn having driven up through NL,  Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and into Estonia. over the past week. Ferry to Helsinki tomorrow then heading up to Inari, in northern Finland then back South through Sweden. We've about 4 weeks in Scandinavia so any inspiration is welcome.


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## mid4did (May 24, 2018)

Alcoholic drinks are cheaper and better in finland.They have lidl.In sweden the beer seems to be 3.5% maximum,even guiness which is sacrilage 
That sounds a nice route through Poland.


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## RichardP (May 25, 2018)

Chanced upon a booze warehouse place just before the Estonia and border so have a good supply for our time in Scandinavia. I really like the Polar Explorer App and we've started one ourselves as well as looking at yours, so thanks for that!


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## mid4did (May 25, 2018)

.A good thing is that friends and family back home can follow you withought downloading the app.A blog isnt me but this is too easy


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## mid4did (May 25, 2018)

Woops double post


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## RichardP (May 28, 2018)

*Polarsteps*

Really like this app! We were so impressed by yours we've started our own. Now up against the Russia border NE Finland


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## Sandylands (Jun 8, 2018)

*Do's and Don'ts*

Fabulous trip and a great photoblog too. We are haeding up into Sweden in July to visit some friends in Boden in the North. We are going up via the puttgarden ferry then up the east coast. After our visit we are goig to return through Norway. Is free camping acceptable in scandinavia or do you have to find authorised parking places. I've seen that a lot of aires charge 150-250 SK per night. Can I ask you for your top 10 do's and don'ts please. Any hints / tips welcome many thanks


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## ScoutingSquirrel (Jun 10, 2018)

*Free parking in Skåne*

Skåne is the Southernmost county of Sweden, where the Oresund bridge from Copenhagen or the Trelleborg/Rostock ferry comes in.

We're right in the middle, between the Ringsjön / Ring lake and Soderåsens National Park.

Driveway camping is welcome, hook up, loo emptying etc. or we can recommend a few local parking spots . . . 

We're also registered with Couchsurfers and HelpXchange - don't know how much extra security that gives, really, but there are a couple of profiles you can read!

Best wishes, Helen


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## mid4did (Jun 11, 2018)

Well this was supposed to be a one off trip to get it off my bucket list and never to be done again.To be honest we are getting withdrawel syptons already and thinking off doing another trip up to the lofoton islands maybe next year..
This trip had to be cut short as Jan the OH had to be back for a scan,tomorrow and a follow up gynocologist appointement so it was a case of now or never when we set off.I stuck to the original route plan apart from the Lofoton islands averaging possibly 40-50 mph.
When we got to sweden,this put my mpg up to 27 average so a win win from my usual 24 mpg.I found sweden to be very easy to get somewhere to park up for the night,so many possibilities as you drive along and a good well known app to help out for somewhere to aim for.If you like your wine or beer stock up in france or elsewhere before sweden as the strongest I found there was 3.5% and was pretty tasteless.Finland was better as they have lidl so one can stock up there before Norway where you'll pay around £9 a pint.As you go further north you'll be getting 24 hour daylight and waking up to a lovely sunny day only to find it's 3 in the morning! If you need any bits or pieces in sweden there is a great store like b&q screwfix wickes and your local fishing tackle shop all rolled into one called Biltema.
Sweden also have a great supermarket chain called ICA,the ICA maxi being the largest.
The further north we went I found the roads getting very rough in places,reminded me of back home.After hitting a few ruts I soon got the message that they mostly have plastic striped warning marker post beside the rut or hazard but not always.
There were no problems using the ferries,just roll up and get in line ,there are usually numbered lanes 
The lorries and locals far exceed the speed limits but are mostly very courtious and traffic is usually very light anyway I was told by a local these are fish lorries.
You can see a lot of  what appears to be fish farms for mostly salmon I assume in most of the fjords.
Most everyone I talked to spoke english so good for us.
Every stop I made had signs of campfires and quite often there would be piles of wood left behind for the following camper.We kept this up after we left .
I wanted to do some fishing in tromso but the wind was too much and it was bitterly cold so I gave up that idea.
The locals seemed to favour a light spinning rod and I saw some catching with that sort of rig.I took a 12 foot beach caster so probably looked out of place but still got some fish just south of Narvik when I spotted someone fishing from a large gravelled area beside the E6.I used some mackeral daylight lures and got a couple in no time.
We gave in once in a Hard rock cafe in Gothenborg and had to have a pint of guiness,then said sod it and had a couple more,like you do.
I would definately recommend this trip.We saw no GB plates until we paid for our one and only campsite near the birksdal glacier then we met quite a few.
In may there was no problem with flies or mosquitoes although the screen and bonnet seemed to say otherwise.I washed them off a coupe times beside a stream with a soft brush but it took me 2 days when I got home to clean the camper properly.
I topped up the lpg tank once in sweden and again in norway,the norwegian one being a 24hr unmanned self service pump.
Sorry to waffle on a bit but hopefully someone can find this usueful.I put co-ordinates in polarsteps where I thought it could be helpful and currently deciding how to knit together the videos and photos for youtube.
Cheers pete.


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## mid4did (Jun 11, 2018)

One more thing,we saw loads more campers heading north than were heading south so I assume june onwards is going to be a bit more crowded up there.


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## hulio (Jun 12, 2018)

Brilliant and very interesting reading 
:banana::banana::banana:


mid4did said:


> Well this was supposed to be a one off trip to get it off my bucket list and never to be done again.To be honest we are getting withdrawel syptons already and thinking off doing another trip up to the lofoton islands maybe next year..
> This trip had to be cut short as Jan the OH had to be back for a scan,tomorrow and a follow up gynocologist appointement so it was a case of now or never when we set off.I stuck to the original route plan apart from the Lofoton islands averaging possibly 40-50 mph.
> When we got to sweden,this put my mpg up to 27 average so a win win from my usual 24 mpg.I found sweden to be very easy to get somewhere to park up for the night,so many possibilities as you drive along and a good well known app to help out for somewhere to aim for.If you like your wine or beer stock up in france or elsewhere before sweden as the strongest I found there was 3.5% and was pretty tasteless.Finland was better as they have lidl so one can stock up there before Norway where you'll pay around £9 a pint.As you go further north you'll be getting 24 hour daylight and waking up to a lovely sunny day only to find it's 3 in the morning! If you need any bits or pieces in sweden there is a great store like b&q screwfix wickes and your local fishing tackle shop all rolled into one called Biltema.
> Sweden also have a great supermarket chain called ICA,the ICA maxi being the largest.
> ...


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## oldish hippy (Jun 12, 2018)

well you insame town as me now you back hopeappouinment goes well


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## mid4did (Jun 21, 2018)

oldish hippy said:


> well you insame town as me now you back hopeappouinment goes well


Appointements both looked promising thanks,nothing untowards found so fingers crossed for the 2nd gynocologists appointement beginning of august.
We are a stones throw from farmfoods


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