A TA STE OF SCANDINAVI A

Mandy and Andy Lawrence

Wildcamping alongside Hardanger Fjord

Forests, Fjords, Lakes and Sunsets

There may be some Funsters toying with the idea of a trip to Scandinavia, attracted by all those pictures of stunning fjords but concerned about the cost ….everyone says it’s SO EXPENSIVE! So, I thought that maybe I could confirm the splendour of the scenery and put the expense issue into perspective. This is based on our 8 week tour a couple years ago, but I’ve checked the internet to bring the costings up to date, any prices quoted are for 2020.

The first thing that makes Scandinavia easy is that the locals all speak perfect English! Let’s start by giving you an idea of the ground we covered, on a trip that didn’t feel at all hurried. We travelled between mid June and mid August in Katy, our 6.4m Carthago Compactline, carrying bikes for local exploration. Having crossed to Dunkirk, we initially covered ground quickly using motorways to reach Denmark but then slowed down on lesser roads. We stayed two nights on a delightful aire in Schleswig (Germany ) and on day six reached Grenna for a Stena ferry to Varberg in Sweden, a cheaper option than using the bridge to Copenhagen, so a good option at least one way. It’s a four hour crossing passing the massive Arnholt wind farm with its 111 turbines.

From Varberg we worked our way across country via Lake Vattern to Stockholm and up the east coast as far as Soderhamn. From there we moved northwest to Ostersund, and then south via Gutenberg to Varburg. On our return trip we took more time to drive the west coast of Denmark to the Elbe delta, and followed the Dutch coast to Amsterdam with two nights each in Ghent and Brugge on our way back to Dunkirk. An unforgettable trip with a huge variety of scenery, stunning views, interesting cities and friendly people. Starting and ending in Somerset, we drove 7824km (4861 miles)

The season is short in Norway with many roads under snow until May/June. Locals told us there had been a cold spring before our arrival and the thaw was still in progress, so the Norwegian roads were all clear, but at altitude snow was sometimes piled high alongside, and lakes still frozen. All very scenic and the rivers and waterfalls were spectacular!

The weather late June/early July was mixed but with more good than bad and the shorts and T-shirts had plenty of outings. My diary reminds me that on July 3rd we were in Ostersund where it reached 30°C+ and at 7.30am the catch on the window was so hot, I could hardly touch it!

Campsite Balestrand

We saw the mountains veiled in cloud and fjords sparkling in the sunshine, the great contrasts in mood only adding to the magic. I’m drawn to an entry in my diary describing waking up beside an inlet after a night of rain and looking out the window first thing “ there was misty rain and twenty shades of grey, even the water had silvery streaks through the slate-grey surface. And the silence! The only sound was the gentle plop of fish jumping out of the water” proving you don’t need to have sunshine for a magical memory.

With days that never seemed to end, light beyond midnight, there was plenty of time to appreciate our surroundings.

Touching now on the practical things and some of the costings.

If you eat out in Norway your wallet is going to be shouting “ouch!’ rather frequently. We filled the freezer, fridge and cupboards at a German supermarket, and topped again before leaving Sweden, and catered mostly for ourselves. Anecdotal information had us believing prices would make it a dry trip but when we visited the well-stocked, government liquor store in Ostersund (only government shops sell liquor) we found a decent Rioja or whisky no more expensive than at home. Fuel was a pleasant surprise too, about the same price as home and a recent check shows this is still the case. LPG is available and locations/prices for LPG stations can be found on mylpg.eu.

Bakklandet, Trondheim

Another main expenditure is, of course, campsites. In Denmark we used campsites and official aires. In Sweden and Norway we added wild camping to the mix. Sweden is a land of woodlands and lakes and many lakeside and coastal marinas have aires with toilets, showers and electric for reasonable prices.

Wild camping is perfectly acceptable providing you keep a reasonable distance from houses, stay just one night and leave the place pristine. In Norway too, wild camping is perfectly acceptable, in-fact encouraged, with many fuel stations offering fresh water and grey/black water disposal, either free or for a small payment. In addition we found plenty of road-side service points offering the above free of charge. We spent many nights in lay-byes with stunning views over fjords and rivers with few cars passing after about 6pm. The campsites we did use were also reasonably priced. The most we ever paid was about £26 in Grenna.

By having so many free camping nights the overall cost of the trip balanced out nicely. Vicarious Books’ “All the Aires, Benelux and Scandinavia” seems to be out of print now but the Campercontact App provides many locations for overnight stops and service points, and we made use of our ACSI book too. Quite a few campsites in Scandinavia require you to have a Camping Key Europe Card which members of the Caravan & Motorhome Club can obtain for £5. City aires had varying facilities but those we used were all quite acceptable with public transport and/ or cycling routes into city centres.

The aire we used in Trondheim no longer exists but there is a large one available. We caught a bus from Nordic Camping Citycamp on the edge of Stockholm where there is a large aire and campsite adjacent to Lake Flaten, within a large area of parkland with miles of footpaths, cycleways and a sandy-beached swimming lake. Most of the aire’s 48 pitches have hook-ups and costs £23.50. I believe there is another, less attractive, aire closer to the city centre.

Bergen’s Bergenshallen aire is functional rather than attractive, a tarmac carpark, but situated alongside the tram station which makes it very convenient for visiting this lovely city. It costs £17, with electricity on some of the pitches, on a first come basis. The modern tram takes about 15 min- utes into Bergen. Oslo’s large aire has 250 pitches beside the marina and costs £25.50 including electric.

A bus or tram will take you into the city but we enjoyed using the cycle path along the waterfront. Oslo’s famous and strange Vineland Sculpture Park is also within cycling distance. We used the Liseberg Aire at Skatas to visit Goteberg. Its in a quiet spot 5.5km from the city centre and a 10 minute walk from a bus stop for the city.

Once again we followed a cycle route. The cost here was £21 including a hook-up. All these cities have plenty to offer but we particularly enjoyed Stockholm and Oslo. Stockholm with its islands, bridges and impressive waterfronts, the activity on the water and its many open-air restaurants on its quays. Oslo also for its interesting waterfront and impressive Ballet & Opera House.

Aire Ostersund

From the driving point of view (says me, the passenger) the driving experience varies. Sweden and Denmark are easy driving with little traffic and few hills. Main roads in Norway are good but some older roads along the fjords need to be driven with care since some are quite narrow and in some places the surfaces aren’t great. We did, however, find them to be fairly quiet. Tourist honey spots can attract lines of six wheeler coaches bringing tourists off cruise liners but, to be fair, this only really happened once whilst negotiating the 11 hairpin bends leading to the top of Trollstigen, the Trolls Staircase, but nobody was travelling at speed and all drivers were very courteous.

Norway does, however, have more than its fair share of hairpin bends if you venture inland, as further reading will show.

Sweden and Denmark do not have road tolls and the Norwegian systo tem for collection was overhauled in 2019. Vehicles under/over 3500kg are charged equally, but those over 3500kg require a tag.

You need to pre-register your vehicle and open an AutoPASS account online which debits your account when you pass under toll gantries or pass through tolled tunnels (at a 20% discounted rate). All the details are in English on autopass. Note: If you don’t register you WILL still receive a bill but be charged at the full rate. There is now a similar system for ferries which gives discounts of 50% if you pre-register your vehicle and pay in advance online. Details in English on autopassferje.no.

Registering with autopass.no also gives discounts on Swedish ferries and Danish and Swedish bridges. So thats the practical stuff. There are many routes you can follow but I’m sure any you take will have more than its fair share of stunning views. Sweden I remember for its vast stretches of woodland, and beautiful lakes.

Norway for views down majestic fjords, magical frozen lakes, thunderous waterfalls and tunnels (I counted 27 one day). Denmark for its miles of sand dunes and all three for a profusion of wild flowers. You might wish to travel further north or to see more of the coast. We decided to cover less ground and to meander our way with many stops to take in views and explore. I’ve decided to describe a few times/places we particularly remember which I hope will give you a flavour of our journey.

Wildcamping beside Lake Tinnjso

We enjoyed Vadstena on the banks of Lake Vattern, Sweden’s second largest lake, where we secured a place on its rustic aire that overlooked the water. The facilities, including showers and washing machines, were shared with the marina, a short walk away, but on the way we walked under the town’s impressive castle surrounded by a moat. A pretty marina, an attractive town, and an abbey gave us plenty to visit.

From the 14-15th centuries the abbey was an important point of pilgrimage and we found the light and airy abbey church, the Klosterkyrke, a very calming place to sit awhile.

We watched craftsmen blowing glass and visited a shop selling lace and lace patterns “ladies were buying paper patterns, used as a guide to place the many pins required”.

We also enjoyed seeing the “Trafic”, a beautiful steam boat that arrived with a blast of its horn and moored up next to the aire. Andy spoke with its volunteer crew and discovered she was built in 1892. My diary notes “she was coal-fired and left a sooty plume as she left”. We were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of 100 plus American cars and bikes, a mixture of ages, that parked up close to the aire, evidently a Wednesday evening event throughout the season. Berwicks, Dodges, Mustangs, Corvettes, Harleys and a band performing Shadow’s songs.

The Swedes are passionate about their American cars and over the weekend we witnessed several long cavalcades, with many more parked outside of houses. Evidently, Americans come to Sweden to buy American vintage cars to return them to the States.

On Sweden’s east coast we particularly enjoyed a stay at the marina at Sandarne, which was small and peaceful, looking out to several islands, with a pleasant coming and going of small boats. The yacht club housed toilets, showers and a kitchen. I remember sitting outside Katy on a warm evening, reading a book at 10.30pm, soft pinks and oranges in the sky, the water mirror-like. There was also a particularly pleasant foot/cycle path that ran from the aire through woodland, over heathland and then alongside the water to a lovely nature reserve. From a tall hide we enjoyed watching, canada and barnacle geese, curlew, whimbrel, redshank, oyster catchers, black-tailed godwits, mergansers, ruff and common terns, herons and gulls. In the woodland we watched willow warblers, spotted fly catchers and willow tits.

Also memorable were the swathes of beautiful vetches and crow berry.

One of our most dramatic days for me, was the day we set off for Geirangen Fjord. By late morning we had already enjoyed a ferry crossing between Linge and Eisdal and stopped to experience a river forcing its way through a narrow squeeze in the rocks, the noise was extraordinary!

Wildcamp in Fanby. Sweden

We had driven along a stunningly beautiful and very green, glacial valley with silver birches climbing its sides and ferns everywhere and then found ourselves looking down over Geirangen Fjord, one of those brochure views with a cruise ship just off Geireanger way, way below. I counted 12 hairpin bends as we descended to the fjord and then 8 more as we climbed back out, stopping at a viewing point for another perspective.

Then through 12 more hairpins up into a quite different landscape, all black rock and white snow. It was amazing! We stopped for lunch at the top (1038m). My diary describes the scene “it was very chilly and bright, but after a while cloud crept up from behind us, creeping along the road like smoke and veiling the hills around us”. Moving on we stopped again at Djupvasshytta where we found ourselves looking over a frozen lake. “It must have been a couple kilometres long. All white except where water had melted on the surface to create small pools which were crystal clear and blue”.

The snow beside the road was higher than Katy. Descending we passed through a series of quite narrow tunnels, coming to a halt in one to squeeze past a wide load, and then more hairpins as we made our way towards Stryn.

A week later the Haukelister Pass was equally impressive “the road was like a causeway between small lakes and we were soon seeing icebergs floating, the water aquamarine between them. It was a magical place” If you enjoyed the film “The Heroes of Telemark” with Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris trying to blow up hydro-electric plant producing heavy water in German-occupied Norway, you will enjoy a detour to Rjukan, where it all really happened. The E361 leads through miles of woodland, rivers and along Lake Tinnsjø to Mael. There on the side of the water we found two steamships moored, one with two old trains on board.

These steamship-ferries are sisters to the “Hydra”, the one that was deliberately sunk in the story of the film. The old station house now acts as a museum.

Further up the valley Rjukan is all timber houses in shades of soft green, coffee, blue and red, built by Norsk-Hydro 1905-16 when they constructed large hydro-power stations to feed large fertiliser factories in the valley. Five miles beyond, Vemork power station, site of the heavy-water production, sits impressively above Killya ravine reached by the suspension bridge you will remember from the film. It was closed in 1971 but you can wonder amongst its immense turbines where films and boards give the full history of the real Heroes of Telemark. Returning along Lake Tinnsjø an elevated lay-by provided an overnight stop. “It turned out to be alongside the very spot where the Hydra was sunk, an orange buoy marking the spot where the ferry still lies”.

One afternoon in Norway, in the middle of nowhere, we came across a small home-made sign pointing down a narrow, leafy lane to an aire. Intrigued, we squeezed down the lane for about a kilometre and then found “a series of grassy bays amongst trees with a composting toilet in a very cute little shed, fresh spring water, waste bins and an honesty box.

Alongside, a fast flowing river and above us, steep mountain sides and waterfalls. The flowers were exquisite, thick swathes of cranesbill, buttercups, red campion and orchids” The air was full of the sound of water, crashing past and crashing down. For lovers of nature it was paradise….and we had it all to ourselves!

After miles of sand dunes on Denmark’s west coast we popped into Hvide Sande for a change of scene, parking alongside the harbour where fishermen were mending nets.

Amongst the many boats on the quayside were three identical trawlers, all red and cream, and from them came Irish voices. It turned out their hulls had been made in Poland, they had been towed to Hvide Sande to be fitted and their Irish crews were due to sail “Comcille”, “Western Isles” and ‘Marie Rose” to Killy begs in Eire next day. Two years later whilst touring Ireland we visited Killybegs and found them moored alongside each other in the harbour, called “the triplets” by locals.

Rather than driving all the way back to Hamburg we used a small ferry to cross the River Elbe between Glukstadt and Wischhafen, watching avocets and ruff feeding on the mudflats as we waited for the next ferry to arrive, the van rocking in the wind.

The lights turned red just as we were about to load, which placed us first in line for the next ferry, but watch ing the spray rushing across the front of the incoming vessel, where we would soon be, Andy quickly re-joined the back of the queue and we found ourselves loaded mid-ship.

The crossing took about 20 minutes passing between large tankers heading to and from Hamburg, one barge so fully-loaded and so low in the water that I seriously thought it was sinking!

Times and prices in English at elbefaehre.de. The night previous to our crossing the Elbe had been spent at Brunsbüttel which sits at the mouth of the Elbe and the Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostersund Kanal) taking shipping to the Baltic Sea.

The canal is the most heavily used artificial seaway in the world with about 90 ships a day passing through. From the aire we walked around a headland with beautiful views and then along the canal to watch container ships and barges passing through the massive lochs. “As soon as the loch door started to slide sideways one of the barges shot through and when it had opened fully, the others followed”.

In conclusion, I would say that a trip to Norway and Sweden is worth every penny you spend, but that needn’t be too much. By complimenting campsites with free/ cheap official aires across Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands and camping wild in Sweden and Norway, our 8 week trip cost us no more than an equivalent period in France or Spain. Thank god for digital cameras. Allow yourself plenty of time for the views, sunsets and scenery … many of them priceless!!

Words and Pictures by Mandy and Andy Lawrence

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