Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Rides and Touring => Topic started by: andrewc on 10 April, 2008, 01:43:52 pm
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I've toured in Iceland once and Norway twice but have never been to any of the other Scandinavian or Baltic countries.
Does anybody know what they are like for cycletouring ? I'm thinking of 2 weeks camping in May or June.
I'd prefer to use a ferry to get there, and enjoy wild scenery, quiet roads & beautiful campsites.
All suggestions or advice welcome. :D
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AFAIK wild camping is allowed in Sweden, anywhere out of sight of a dwelling. Swedish campsites are good. Cyclists seem to get less abuse in Sweden than here in Britain.
Shops and garages can be a long way apart, so always travel with at least 24-36 hours of food in your bags.
Don't forget sunburn is a risk, even north of the Arctic Circle.
Buy and use locally available midge repellents.
It is 20 years since I did a solo cycle camping trip from Stockholm airport to the Arctic west coast of Norway...
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...... Arctic west coast of Norway...
I once flew to Bodo via Oslo and then got the ferry over to Lofoten & Vesteralen. That was a beautiful trip. The islands & coast north of there would be another possible destination.
In 2005 I got the ferry to Bergen and toured inland from there. It's not flat!
Pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewclark/sets/72157601944187049/
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hellymedic is right about camping in Sweden, (unless it have changed since I was there over 20 years ago) I think it is the same for Norway and Finland. Just remember not to have an open fire on bare rock.
Denmark you can only camp at sites legally, but I'm sure if you hide away and only stay one night or ask the local farmer if you can camp for the night you be just ok.
As for cycling I take it that the rest of Scandinavia is pretty much like Denmark, plenty of cycle lanes / routes, though the other countries have hills/mountains where as DK doesn't, though DK have the wind.
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I did the flat far north in 2006 - right up to the Finnish/Russian border on the coast near Murmansk. Wild camping was easy and stunningly beautiful, but the mosquitos in summer are scary. However, swimming in the lakes and rivers before brewing up some tea in the evenings was lovely beyond words. Watching naked women climbing out of the lake and strolling to the campsite sauna is good for the soul, too!
I did have a mental problem, however, with the trees. There are trees everywhere, obviously. You can only ever see trees and the road ahead - the horizon is invisible because the land is flat and the trees are so high. It really wore me down after two weeks, although I can do deserts and stuff without any problem. I eventually made a run for the Baltic coast and had a much better time.
Do a coastal route. I'd say.
Edited for stupidity (blame the trees...) the border at the northern coast is Norway/Russia. Finland starts a wee bit further south. Doh!
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Never been to Finland, but have toured in Sweden. Both Sweden and Norway have allmannsretten sp), "everyman's right" which covers access and camping.
Glorious scenery, but often repetitive. Sweden is BIG and covers a wide range of climates. Roads often have wide "shoulders" which are intended for slow-moving vehicles to pull into to allow faster ones to pass. Midges and elk.....
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Midges and elk.....
;D
Is there anywhere you haven't cycled, TT? :o
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America and Africa and Antarctica
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Those are all good valid tips!
There's less tree-farming but more hills on the border to Norway so there most of cyclist heading north ride. But as previous stated much of the centre and northern part are dull and doesn't provide much food for thought.
Unless you go to the upper northern part like the area between the town of Kiruna and Narvik. There is an old serviceroad, called the Navvy road (Rallarvegen N. / Rallarvägen S.), that have been turned into a long bikepath. Here you can ride all night in the midnightsun without any cars or midgets for that matter, as they hatch later in June-July. Along this route there are lots of opportunities to swim and fish or take a day of to hike, climb or ski the peaks:
http://www.icehotel.com/Summer/Adventure/Midnight/
http://www.rallarvegen.no/default.asp?sprak=3
http://www.sognefjord.no/en-GB/PortalObject/662/default.aspx
http://livetmittilivet.blogspot.com/2007/07/i-helgen-var-vi-och-grabbarna-och.html
(http://mistymornings.net/travel/nordsjo/viewdaysix.jpeg)
But with only two weeks focusing on the southern part make for a more entertaining visit.
http://www.trentobike.org/bycountry/Sweden.html (http://www.trentobike.org/bycountry/Sweden.html)
http://brodowsky.home.solnet.ch/privat/e_nordeuropa.html (http://brodowsky.home.solnet.ch/privat/e_nordeuropa.html)
Riding along the Göta canal between Gothenburg and Stockholm or the west coast south to Denmark are both nice route's. I did a list of useful links here:
http://www.anothercyclingforum.com/index.php?topic=48806.0
The island of Gotland is also very beautiful and is popular to cycle among Swedes. Lots of boats just south of Stockholm:
http://www.gotland.net/english/
(http://mistymornings.net/travel/nordsjo/farsund.jpeg)
I have also cycled some in Denmark and found northern Jylland and the island of Bornholm great for cycling.
Did a trip around the Baltic sea in -05 so if you like some info on that let me know and don't hesitate to visit if your in Stockholm!
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Go on.....
Admit it.
De er Svensk.
Men jeg liker Mora og Dalarna.....
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I did part of the Rallarwegen, the final descent was a killer!
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Your right Tony! Dalarna is lovely and I also forgot the southern province of Skåne. Used to belong to Denmark so it is still quite picturesque. And yes, I must admit that "jag är en svensk jävel!"! Except I'm half German... :-[
Andrew, did you do the ride down to Narvik from the border?
Very scenic as so much of Norway is.
Would like to ad that the "Allemansrätten" in Sweden (All Mans Right) is not a really law. It is how ever left unregulated so the old tradition of do's and don't still apply:
http://www.svenska-cykelsallskapet.se/images/allemansratt-eng.pdf (http://www.svenska-cykelsallskapet.se/images/allemansratt-eng.pdf)
It is a bit more strict in Norway. As far as I know your not allowed to camp on some private land, making a fire etc. Sweden and Finland are very much the same except for the self governing island of Åland where wildcamping and fires are prohibited. Good place if you want to cycle from Sweden to Finland:
http://www.visitaland.com/en (http://www.visitaland.com/en)
But as everywhere ells, out of sight, out of mind and leaving no trace behind then nobody cares! ;)