Sicily via Scandanavia & Baltic States
Ok - I know it was a rather roundabout route! Have just got back after 4 months away. We covered 10500 miles towing a small Fendt caravan (7m) with a Santa Fe. We visited or passed through 9 countries (some twice), went on 5 ferries and stayed in 33 campsites. We didn't really have a definite plan but made it up as we went along.
Very happy to answer any questions on the journey or help in any way.
Comments
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It sounds a fascinating tour, and deserves a full write-up as a story!
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Blimey, that is a tour and a half!!! As Vic says have you thought about making a contribution to the Story Section with any photos you have of the trip? It could be done in sections.
David
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We only got back on 2 Nov and set off the following day for a week of assorted family commitments - so we have not really 'landed' yet. As you can imagine, there is a fair amount of cleaning, repairing and replenishment to do without mentioning the piles of mail. I am not sure that my photos are that great and always thought that what we do would be boring to others but will try and put together a tale once we surface if anyone was interested.
My reason for the post is to just let anyone, who might be planning to visit Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States with a caravan, know that we have been there and could possibly answer questions. When I was looking at the possibility around the beginning of this year, I found caravanning information fairly scant - particularly for the Baltic States.
We get home tomorrow and, if anyone thought it might be useful, I could post our route together with the campsites that we stayed in either in this thread or in 'Stories'.
Thanks,
Bob
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Hi. Great to read your post. We are planning a trip to Norway Sweden and Denmark towards the end of may this uyear 2023 in our campervan. Based on your won experience are there any significant items we should be aware of in advance that we can prepare for? Many thanks. John
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Be prepared for very high prices, Norway is most expensive, followed by Denmark then Sweden, though there is not much between the latter two.
Sweden and Denmark have Lidl and Aldi, or their equivalents, there are none in Norway, but they do have a range of different price level supermarkets. Smaller shops in more remote areas often have a very restricted range of goods, and fresh fruit and veg may not be very fresh.
In general choice in Norway is less than here, and you should check food freshness carefully.
The less expensive supermarkets are Rema 1000 and Kiwi, as far as I can remember, but there may be others.
If you are travelling via Germany, stock up on as much food as you can there, but look out for their deposit scheme items.
There are extensive bottle and can deposit schemes in Scandinavia too, and you can only return these items in the country in which you purchased them.
Eating out is very expensive, drinking even more so, though alcohol in Denmark is more reasonable. Takeaway street food is generally good, and much better value.
Sites in Denmark are generally excellent, also good in Sweden, Norway can be a bit more basic in some areas. Expect to pay for showers in Norway and Denmark, and in Denmark electricity is sometimes metered, and is expensive.
In Denmark, petrol and diesel prices can change several times per day.
Roads in Sweden and Denmark are very good, less so in Norway, and there are lots of road tolls there, especially near/in towns, and for bridges and tunnels.
I presume you know you cannot refill Calor bottles? If you have refillables, you will find some LPG in Norway and Sweden, but generally not in Denmark.
Camping Gaz refills are not available in Norway.
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I can't really add anything more to KjellNN's accurate assessment.
We were there in July 2017. We didn't stop in Denmark as we have been several times - although not camped there for 34 years - and went from Kiel to Malmo over the Oresund Bridge. From there we meandered up Sweden to Umea and then crossed over to Finland. We tend to 'wing it' a bit and did not have any campsites booked. The only problem we had was waiting 5 days for a space to become available in the campsite near Stockholm. However we were in Vadstena on the Vattern Lake with spectacular sunsets - picture below was taken at 10pm - so it was no hardship.
We used the CAMC European site guide and also picked up a "Camping Sweden' brochure at the campsite in Malmo.
If I remember correctly, I don't think we ate out very often but we did make good use of the various Lidls we found.
Sorry - not much help I am afraid. Very friendly people, good campsites and stunning scenery.
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Thank you all very much for the information. Its hard to beat personal experience. The information in the guide books is good but not the information you have provided based on being there. Thanks again and hopefully the trip will go well. I hope any trips you have planned yourselves this year go very well for you. Best wishes. John
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We did a similar trip in 2012, details are in the story section. Enjoy it, long distances but easy driving generally.
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