1M to the Arctic Circle or Bust!

[pscl227]

So for the last few weeks I have been mulling over a big trip to south Europe, to have a sprint on the autobahn and do all the usual suspects when it comes to mountain passes, but with that comes lots of people, busy roads, and expensive hotels.

This got me thinking what about going north! I have visited both Norway and Sweden a fair bit for both work and play, but never done any real driving in either, the ideal target at the end would be Hammerfest, which I have actually visited before, but the reality would probably be Tromso, mainly driving up the east coast of Sweden. Certainly a long way, but epic sights would be guaranteed!



After this, I would drive back down Finland, hop on the ferry across to Estonia then travel via Latvia-> Lithuania-> Poland-> Germany (via BMW Welt)-> then onwards home.



Now obviously this is a huge drive by any measure, but my question is it worth it for the sake of doing something that is different, or should i just climb in my car and point the Tom Tom towards the Alps?!

Edited by pscl227 on Wednesday 29th July 11:03

[pscl227]

I was also considering the ferry to Oslo then up via Norway and back down via Finland / Sweden mainly to cut out the Estonia / Latvia / Lithuania section. I think it will take around 10-14 days to do comfortably providing the 1M doesn't throw up any show stoppers.

Time to order some big PH stickers to maximise any photo ops

Edited by pscl227 on Wednesday 29th July 12:32

[pscl227]

0836whimper said:

With that route I'd definitely take the Hull-Rotterdam overnight ferry, much more enjoyable than the schlep to the South East, the M25 and the dreaded QE2 bridge etc.

This was my initial thought as well but sadly it is £800 vs £120 for Dover - Calais return crossing.

Thanks for the link to the Volvo forum, a great resource

[pscl227]

So after what seems like an eternity of reading I think I have decided on a route which will take me up the majority of the west coast of Norway then down the east coast of Sweden and back through Germany via BMW Welt, this unfortunately will miss out the Finland section, but I think this will provide the most scenic route.

I am planning to do roughly 7-8 hours of driving a day and stay in a combination of hotels and camping in my tent, finishing with a day trip to Nordkapp which is the most northern point on mainland Europe.

The only change I might do is take the Hull - Rotterdam ferry if I can get a good price, rather than having to deal with the Dover - Calais route which is guaranteed misery, so here it is, my route north v1:



Anyone know if you can get your car serviced easily at BMW Welt, would be a good stamp to have in the book!

Edited by pscl227 on Thursday 30th July 09:06

Edited by pscl227 on Thursday 30th July 09:09

[pscl227]

Smuler said:

Brilliant road trip design, use a dash cam and capture some of the experiences.

Go Pro is already warmed up, ready for the Atlantic Road detour

[pscl227]

BoRED S2upid said:

What a road trip that will be. Ferry from hull should be ok you don't need a cabin and you could go any day or time of day so should get a reasonable price over tunnel or Calais madness and the extra fuel. Talking if which it's going to cost a fortune in fuel is it not?

1M is positively economic compared to my old E60 M5, 24-27 MPG cruising, 17-20 MPG when pushing on. Really shouldn't be too bad, especially with the fall in price of the NOK in recent months.

[pscl227]

andy102 said:

You can get a ferry from Immingham to Gothenburg, its manly freight but will take a few cars. I'm off to Gothenburg next week in a my 1M, Harwich to Hook of Holland.
Anything near the Eurotunnel is to be avoided.

Your route looks great, do it, you only live once.

Edited by andy102 on Thursday 30th July 23:18

I think I've decided on hull - Rotterdam now for the way out, hopefully get something for the end of next week.



How ugly does that look!

Here is my v1 route for the way back:

[pscl227]

Boshly said:

We did virtually that exact trip in 5 open top Morgan's in May 2013, including of course the Atlantic Road. We also did virtually the same route back except that we caught the ferry back from Denmark as it was still running then.

Amazing trip and a lifetime memory. The roads were awesome but look out for potholes, big car eating potholes, on some of those Norwegian roads. I'm not sure 7-8 hours a day driving will be enough. It took us 14 days (8 up 6 back from memory) with many long days pressing on. The midnight sun was incredible, the people lovely the views spectacular. Oh, and only one small breakdown (the three wheeler got water in the fuel tank) and only one speeding ticket

Have fun! I'm sure you will.

Well if 5 Morgans can manage it with only one break down

I don't suppose you have a link to the forum where you guys planned it? Just trying to collect as much info as possible at the moment. Did you guys bother making the trek to Nordkapp? Thanks!

UPDATE: Hull - Rotterdam booked for an overnight sailing, I leave next Thursday!

Edited by pscl227 on Friday 31st July 08:44

[pscl227]

Sadly no direct ferry to Norway anymore, but I am now going the Hull - Rotterdam route, this should prove significantly less painful the dealing with Dover.

Since it is the overnight ferry hitting land at 08:30am, this will allow me to cannonball it up to Gothenburg of my first day of driving.

[pscl227]

Boshly said:

Yes we went all the way to Nordkapp. We raised £58,000 as well

Have a look at talkmorgan.com and do a search for Nordkapp you should see plenty on there.

Thursday is close!!! Good luck and keep this thread updated

Edited by Boshly on Friday 31st July 22:36

Well done on raising so much!!

Thursday is very close, but as you can see below, final preparations are nearly complete:




A little more information about myself and motivation for this journey, back in April I was lucky enough to survive a severe fracture to my second vertebrae in my neck, and further more I was incredibly lucky not to damage my spinal cord. Since April I have pretty much been sat still in a chair for 24 hours a day wearing a stiff collar. Roughly 4 weeks ago I got my collar off and started physio, this experience has given me a lot of perspective about what is important in life, and if you want to do something you enjoy, you just need to get out there and do it!!

So this journey will mark the end of my recovery, and the beginning of me getting back into normal life and living ever day to its fullest.