North-Scandinavia Trip 2021

[bvddobb]

We hope to leave for a North-Scandinavia trip later this week. We had wanted to do this trip last year, but, long story short, Covid closed up Finland and Norway a few days before we wanted to leave. That year we did an Auvergne and Westalps trip instead.

So, a second try this year! As we often do, we prepared for ourselves an interactive inspiration map on Google Maps, where we have been gathering info and tips about routes, places to stay and see, etc.:



We hope to sail from Travemünde in Germany to Helsinki in Finland later this week, then do a big counter-clockwise arc to Bergen in Norway, from where we want to sail back to Hirtshals in Denmark.

We wil try and maintain a trip report here, when we are underway.

 

[kurienp]

Awesome. Love these trip reports. Now following !

Enjoy the trip and have a great time. I Am sure we can look forward to some videos as well.

 

[kave]

Nice, but beware of Norway, they changed the rules yesterday again. Netherlands is now dark red and requires quarantine hotel.

 

[ThomasHJ]

Nice, but beware of Norway, they changed the rules yesterday again. Netherlands is now dark red and requires quarantine hotel.

-If you are fully vaccinated-, this is not the case, according to both the Norwegian directorate of immigration and the Dutch government.

 

[bvddobb]

-If you are fully vaccinated-, this is not the case, according to both the Norwegian directorate of immigration and the Dutch government.

Indeed. And we are. Moreover, by then we will have been at least 10 days in Finland. But yes, we will always need to monitor Covid regulations continually. Like everyone, going on holiday anywhere…

 

[ThomasHJ]

Looks like you have a great trip ahead of you @bvddobb. Hope you have a great time. And thanks for sharing the (my-)map. It will give us some inspiration even though we just returned from Scandinavia 2 days ago ;-)

 

[bvddobb]

even though we just returned from Scandinavia 2 days ago ;-)

We noticed your van was back…

 

[BrugseB]

Well, hope no borders being closed during coming days this time! Have a good trip and enjoy (closing this post with envy )

 

[bvddobb]

Thursday July, 12 - Saturday July, 14

We start by taking the ferry from Travemünde to Helsinki. The trip from home to Travemünde was quite uneventful and easy, apart from all the roadworks in Germany, on the A1 (Good Lord! These have been going on for at least 20 years! Will they ever be finished?).

We made good time, so we thought we could dine out somewhere north of Hamburg, in one of the towns off the motorway, before continuing to Travemünde. Wrong idea! It turned out restaurants in that part of Germany are still not allowed to serve inside, and many think it isn't worthwhile to open with just the terrace. The very few that aren't closed, are reserved full. The only option is a McDonald's/McDrive here and there, with long queues! No way!

So, we decided to prepare a meal ourselves in a nice remote spot:

Boarding was quick, around 23:00. The wait for the cabin, once on board, was long, supposedly because the cleaning was so much more thorough, due to Covid.

The boat trip itself was on a calm sea:

Disembarking in Helsinki took a long time, because of the Covid-checks the Fins were doing.

Our experience with the Covid checks thus far:

• On the Dutch-German border: nothing;
• Embarking in Travemünde: nothing the check in clerk gave us a form that we would need supposedly upon arrival in Helsinki;
• On board: extra cleaning of the cabins, the ferry was booked to only 30% of its capacity, so no issues keeping distance. Staff were waring face masks, passengers were advised to do so, but many didn't, and they weren't addressed or corrected by the staff;
• Arrival in Helsinki: all passengers were thoroughly checked whether they had accepted prove of recovery or full vaccination, on the basis of the the EU DCC. They had no means to read the DCC QR code, so we were happy we brought the prints as well. They were scrutinized line by line, compared with our passports, before we got a "Welcome to Finland". Those who had only negative test results to present were sent into quarantaine to be tested on day 3 again, those who had nothing had a choice: re-embark, or test negative here and now, and go into quarantine for 3 days and test again.

 

[kurienp]

So, we decided to prepare a meal ourselves in a nice remote spot:

ha ha! nothing can stop a dedicated traveller with a Cali and a kitchen

Arrival in Helsinki: all passengers were thoroughly checked whether they had accepted prove of recovery or full vaccination, on the basis of the the EU DCC. They had no means to read the DCC QR code, so we were happy we brought the prints as well. They were scrutinized line by line, compared with our passports, before we got a "Welcome to Finland". Those who had only negative test results to present were sent into quarantaine to be tested on day 3 again, those who had nothing had a choice: re-embark, or test negative here and now, and go into quarantine for 3 days and test again.

O wow! not sure this is going to change ... and there is still no news if they will accept the NHS Covid Certificate. Anyways, if we do plan to travel, then multiple copies of printouts are definitely on the list of documents.

Did you get a chance to check if they would accept the NHS cert, or was there anyone on the ferry from the UK that you were aware of?

 

[bvddobb]

Did you get a chance to check if they would accept the NHS cert, or was there anyone on the ferry from the UK that you were aware of?

To be honest, we didn't bother to ask: their English wasn't great, and there was a lot of stress around already, not a good mood for a friendly chat about Covid measures and such...

We saw no UK people on the boat, nearly only Germans, and several Polish and Russian truck drivers.

 

[bvddobb]

Saturday, June 14 - Tuesday, June 17

The first stage of our trip we roamed a few days through the Finnish Lake District. As a basis we use some tracks we downloaded from a motor cyclist's site from which we have used tracks earlier. It seems we share the same views as to which routes are attractive or aren't. We are not disappointed: the route is a nice mix of backroads with a good proportion of unpaved, dirt and gravel trails.

It has been a few years since we have been to Scandinavia, and we had never travelled Finland before, so there are a lot of 'firsts' this first week:

The first waterfall:

The first moose warning sign:

The first swim:

The first camping spot:

The first hike:

And the first blueberries:

the only good use of a fence mask in the woods:

Like said, this is our first more extensive Finland trip, and we noticed a few things:

It is very quiet. We encounter hardly any traffic on our route, and no tourists at all. The few campers (white giants) we see (maybe 10 in 3 days, extremely few compared to our Norway experiences) are all Fins, and we saw a German couple in a Cali and a Swiss couple in a Mercedes van. That's it. Is it due to Covid, or is Finland always this quiet, this time of year?

Then the lakes. Our idea of nice wild camp spots on the shores of Finnish lakes turned out to be an illusion. It is a bit like the Italian lakes: you just can't get to the shores! Whenever there is a little road (and there are many), it is private, leading to a cabin, and with a little postbox on the road... No access! Only along the main roads, here and there, one can find larger 'organized' parking spots, with bathing facilities, toilets, barbecues, etc. And always close to the road. Not really what we're into...
So, when hiking it is different, but wild camping with your van (we do not mean sleeping on parking lots) in the Finnish Lake District is a bit of a problem. Therefore, we stayed on campsites, which are fewer than expected. Perhaps the situation wil be different up north.

And they drive extremely slowly! We really have to get used to it. The maximum speeds are very low as well, much lower than at home. And on a crossing where we would have crossed 5 times already, they wait very patiently until really NO ONE else is in sight, before they cross! If these good folks would have to drive in the London or Amsterdam urban area, they would freak out completely!

 

[Eber123]

Wonderful information - please keep up with it - and I am so yellous.

Since 2x years we plan and hope to do our Scandinavia trip, but as we all know there are problems. We hope that we can go next year.

Our plan was to get onto the continent from Rosslare to Cherbourg, drive over to Denmark, cross over to Sweden over the bridge and than point the GC towards Norway going up to the north. From there through Finland crossing the Baltic Sea from Helsinki to Tallinn and, if there is time left, making our way to Germany Frankfurt/Main. From there up to Cherbourg and back home. We have 5 or 6 weeks for this trip, fully aware it will be an "overland tour" meaning travelling almost every day.

Save journey
Eberhard

 

[bvddobb]

You may also follow our trip on:

• Marga’s photo album on Facebook
• Polarsteps

 

[bvddobb]

And another first today: the first free running reindeer (still have moose, bear and wolverine to go...):

 

[bvddobb]

Wednesday 18 - Thursday 19 August

After our first few days of wandering through the Finnish lake district, we decide to make some miles up North. We plan an 'adventurous' route (TomTom option) on back and dirt roads to Rovaniemi, via Oulu on the Botnic Gulf.

Driving is a bit slower than TomTom calculated, so we don't make Oulu on Wednesday. We end up on an activity campsite (kayaking, swimming, climbing. cycling, a beautiful open air theatre on the river) near Muhos.
The next morning we drive to Oulu, where we do a city walk, guided by this website.

We visit the old market hall for a coffee:

That afternoon we drive to Rovaniemi on the Polar Circle. WE meet our first free running reindeer (see above) and end up at Napapiiri Campsite near Rovaniemi. Beautiful spot, excellent facilities, but very expensive, in our opinion: obviously one pays a premium for Santa's proximity...

 

[bvddobb]

Friday, Aug 20 - Monday, Aug 23

We park our van at Rovaniemi Airport ("Santa Claus' Favourite Airport") en fly back to NL for a long weekend, to attend our eldest son's wedding in Lage Vuursche:

 

[kurienp]

Friday, Aug 20 - Monday, Aug 23

We park our van at Rovaniemi Airport ("Santa Claus' Favourite Airport") en fly back to NL for a long weekend, to attend our eldest son's wedding in Lage Vuursche:

O wow! That would have required some planning - aligning a trip with a wedding in between. Enjoy the wedding and looking back to you then continuing with your journey!

Beat wishes for the wedding couple!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[bvddobb]

Oh oh: Norway’s latest view on the Covid situation around them:

 

[BrugseB]

Funny as the "all first times" in Finland brings back some (old) memories: drove from south to north in a Renault R4 back in de '90... After 3 weeks, coming back south, it was like "oh dear, another lake, another small church, another bunch of pine trees..."
Hope Norway lets you guys in!

 

[two-saabs]

Funny as the "all first times" in Finland brings back some (old) memories: drove from south to north in a Renault R4 back in de '90... After 3 weeks, coming back south, it was like "oh dear, another lake, another smal church, another bunch of pine trees..."
Hope Norway lets you guys in!

Love that old Renault 4, goes for big bucks!

 

[bvddobb]

Running miles...:

 

[kave]

If a trip is planned through scandinavia (and Finland) I would say Finland dont give you anything special. There are lakes everywhere in Sweden, if you want to be without people Dalsland is fantastic.

 

[bvddobb]

If a trip is planned through scandinavia (and Finland) I would say Finland dont give you anything special. There are lakes everywhere in Sweden,

Our original plan, last year, was to travel up through Sweden. We had our ferry booked. Then the Covid situation made Sweden a no-go at that time, so we changed for Finland. Only days before we would sail, Finland AND Norway closed, so we had to move everything to this year, and were stuck to the then chosen ferries, due to our ticket type. That’s how we ended up in Finland! But that’s OK: we had travelled Sweden several times before, but Finland hardly!

In general, though, we think we agree!

 

[Arnoob]

We cycled through Finland via the Via Finlandia (https://www.bikemap.net/en/o/2128685/#5.06/61.87/24.8 ) and liked the idea of seeing al the different forms of Finnish landscape pass by.