Driving trip, Denmark and Finland next summer
Discussion
Inspired by an article in Landrover International magazine we are thinking about a driving trip to Denmark and up into Finland, driving over from Calais in the summer hols next year. We have a folding camper which can be set up in about 15 minutes so will be camping. I have an old Tdi Galaxy which will be towing the trailer which weighs about 350kgs. Two adults and two kids.
Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea, or do I need to have a 4x4 for the roads I am likely to meet? I have no idea where to start looking on the web and google seems to be throwing up commercial sites only. Its about 1000 miles to Oslo, the Galaxy should average 35mpg on level roads, a Disco tdi is likely to give me substantially less.
Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea, or do I need to have a 4x4 for the roads I am likely to meet? I have no idea where to start looking on the web and google seems to be throwing up commercial sites only. Its about 1000 miles to Oslo, the Galaxy should average 35mpg on level roads, a Disco tdi is likely to give me substantially less.
The roads should be fine, I'm not as sure about Denmark or Finland but the roads in Sweden are certainly very well maintained, or were when I lived there. If you're going to Denmark you may aswell go to Sweden while you're at it, in the assumption you'll visit Copenhagen? It's a 25-30 minute trip over the Oresund bridge to Malmo and doesn't cost a lot IIRC. I've never driven over but when I lived in Malmo I used to nip over on the train a lot and it was really cheap.
Just found the prices on wiki. Train takes about 20 minutes
.
Toll charge
In April 2009, the toll for driving the fixed link was as follows (one way trip without discount) in Danish kroner (DKK), Swedish kronor (SEK) and euro (EUR):
Vehicle DKK[1] SEK[2] EUR[3]
Motorcycle 150 215 21
Standard car 275 380 39
Motorhome/car+caravan 550 790 75
Minibus (6-9 metres) 550 790 75
Bus (longer than 9 metres) 1145 1675 157
Lorry/truck (9-20 metres) 795 1170 109
Lorry/truck (over 20 metres) 1190 1755 163
Train ticket[4] 78 98 9
You wont regret going to any of those countries, Scandinavia as a whole is stunning and I absolutely loved my time in Sweden.
HTH
Cassie
Just found the prices on wiki. Train takes about 20 minutes
.Toll charge
In April 2009, the toll for driving the fixed link was as follows (one way trip without discount) in Danish kroner (DKK), Swedish kronor (SEK) and euro (EUR):
Vehicle DKK[1] SEK[2] EUR[3]
Motorcycle 150 215 21
Standard car 275 380 39
Motorhome/car+caravan 550 790 75
Minibus (6-9 metres) 550 790 75
Bus (longer than 9 metres) 1145 1675 157
Lorry/truck (9-20 metres) 795 1170 109
Lorry/truck (over 20 metres) 1190 1755 163
Train ticket[4] 78 98 9
You wont regret going to any of those countries, Scandinavia as a whole is stunning and I absolutely loved my time in Sweden.
HTH
Cassie
Seek said:
lost in espace said:
Inspired by an article in Landrover International magazine we are thinking about a driving trip to Denmark and up into Finland
lost in espace said:
Its about 1000 miles to Oslo, the Galaxy should average 35mpg on level roads, a Disco tdi is likely to give me substantially less.
Not to be a stickler for details but you do realise that Oslo in not located anywhere in the near vicinity of Finland? You're out circa 610km including the small matter of an overnight ferry...You'll want a Stockholm-Turku ferry imo.
Any other questions give a shout.
Seek said:
Not to be a stickler for details but you do realise that Oslo in not located anywhere in the near vicinity of Finland? You're out circa 610km including the small matter of an overnight ferry...
I didn't even notice that when I replied. If you really want to go to Oslo I'd go to Norway and then onto central Sweden and miss Denmark, I beleive there is ferries to Kristiansand? You could then also go over to Finland, via stockholm if you were feeling quite adventurous and as above, on the ferry and shown on the map posted. If you really want to see Denmark then you could stick to Denmark and Skane (south Sweden). Though the former would be much nicer and more interesting! Unless you have a lot of time, then you could follow as that map is.Edited by Cas_P on Sunday 12th September 00:29
In Norway, the drive from Fredrikstad (Nice castle there) to Oslo is just through light forest, then from Oslo out is just rolling fields.
If it's mountains and fjords you want you need to be heading North or West.
Avoid Oslo like the plague during rush hour too. The E6 is parked up bumper to bumper for a good 30 minutes.
If it's mountains and fjords you want you need to be heading North or West.
Avoid Oslo like the plague during rush hour too. The E6 is parked up bumper to bumper for a good 30 minutes.
You won't need a 4x4 in the summer to use the road network and access campsites in these countries. If you want to off-road, the Galaxy may not be the preferred choice, but I don't think you can just strike out across open country anyway. A forum like Difflock will be able to tell you more about off-roading in these places. The road network in these countries is excellent and there are extensive ferry services, + the Oresund bridge between Copenhagen (DK)and Malmo (SWE) to allow you to navigate between them.
Buy or borrow a guidebook or two so you can plan a sensible trip and use Tripadvisor for advice on campsites and destinations.
Don't bother with Dover-Calais, the Norfolkline ferry from Dover-Dunkerque is cheaper, nicer, and is further North than Calais so will take you closer to your destination.
Buy or borrow a guidebook or two so you can plan a sensible trip and use Tripadvisor for advice on campsites and destinations.
Don't bother with Dover-Calais, the Norfolkline ferry from Dover-Dunkerque is cheaper, nicer, and is further North than Calais so will take you closer to your destination.
As mentioned on another thread a while ago I used to do the UK > Northern Sweden (fair few hours N of Stockholm anyway) and return several times a year.
Started off using the Newcastle-Kristiansand-Gothenburg ferry which of course is now discontinued. Then went to the Harwich Esbjerg route which is quite a nice run.
Problem I found with Esbjerg route was that in the summer months the fares get a tremendous hike because of the limited number of ferry routes from Scandinavia to UK, thus they are all full with summer vacationers. I saw return ferry fares of close to a grand at times just for a car, never mind a people carrier plus trailer.
Then on top I had a few nightmare crossings where it was so rough that basically you just wedged yourself into your bunk and hung on. Crossing is eightenn hours which is a long time for those conditions unless you have a cast iron gut. There were a fair number of occasions where there were only a dozen of us made breakfast. I only failed once when I suspect the ferry stabilisers had also stuffed up, never had a worse crossing, ever.
So then started investigating crossings further South and driving up through Belgium, Germany, Denmark, across Storebælt and Øresund toll bridges then up through Sweden.
The crossing I ended up settling on was Harwich-Hook which was economical, decent ships, even better as they have two new superferries now. Also I tended to use the overnight crossing so you offloaded about 6am after a decent night's kip and buffet breakfast and ahead of the morning traffic. Also the cabin meant I "saved" time spent in one night's hotel as it is too far to do in one day. That is the route I would still choose today if doing it.
However, as the OP has a camper, then I would go further south and the best crossing has already been mentioned, Norfolkline Dover-Dunkirk. I'm using them in a couple of weeks time to go to France for a short break, top short channel crossing operator without question to my mind.
To get from Denmark to Sweden have mentioned the bridges, you can use ferries as it might seem as if the bridges are expensive and they are, there are two, but they are pretty damn good pieces of engineering and worthwhile crossing in at least one direction.
Øresund cash tolls
Storebælt cash tolls
My advice for your trip would be, over bridges DK > SE on the way out, then on the way back over the Swedish and Norwegian mountains into Norway from SE. Just my 2p.
Unfortunately OP I can't help you with suggestions on campsites for en route as no experience. I just know of the ones near where I am and they seem OK but of course never stayed at them just use the site and beach cafes at lunchtime in the summer and at weekends when the weather is hot.
Some less couth than I may from time to time refer to the above as a tit safari...
Started off using the Newcastle-Kristiansand-Gothenburg ferry which of course is now discontinued. Then went to the Harwich Esbjerg route which is quite a nice run.
Problem I found with Esbjerg route was that in the summer months the fares get a tremendous hike because of the limited number of ferry routes from Scandinavia to UK, thus they are all full with summer vacationers. I saw return ferry fares of close to a grand at times just for a car, never mind a people carrier plus trailer.
Then on top I had a few nightmare crossings where it was so rough that basically you just wedged yourself into your bunk and hung on. Crossing is eightenn hours which is a long time for those conditions unless you have a cast iron gut. There were a fair number of occasions where there were only a dozen of us made breakfast. I only failed once when I suspect the ferry stabilisers had also stuffed up, never had a worse crossing, ever.
So then started investigating crossings further South and driving up through Belgium, Germany, Denmark, across Storebælt and Øresund toll bridges then up through Sweden.
The crossing I ended up settling on was Harwich-Hook which was economical, decent ships, even better as they have two new superferries now. Also I tended to use the overnight crossing so you offloaded about 6am after a decent night's kip and buffet breakfast and ahead of the morning traffic. Also the cabin meant I "saved" time spent in one night's hotel as it is too far to do in one day. That is the route I would still choose today if doing it.
However, as the OP has a camper, then I would go further south and the best crossing has already been mentioned, Norfolkline Dover-Dunkirk. I'm using them in a couple of weeks time to go to France for a short break, top short channel crossing operator without question to my mind.
To get from Denmark to Sweden have mentioned the bridges, you can use ferries as it might seem as if the bridges are expensive and they are, there are two, but they are pretty damn good pieces of engineering and worthwhile crossing in at least one direction.
Øresund cash tolls
Storebælt cash tolls
My advice for your trip would be, over bridges DK > SE on the way out, then on the way back over the Swedish and Norwegian mountains into Norway from SE. Just my 2p.
Unfortunately OP I can't help you with suggestions on campsites for en route as no experience. I just know of the ones near where I am and they seem OK but of course never stayed at them just use the site and beach cafes at lunchtime in the summer and at weekends when the weather is hot.
Some less couth than I may from time to time refer to the above as a tit safari...
baxb said:
Do you have to go down to Calais ? I'm over to Copenhagen next August & going via o/night ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg.
We don't have to but how much is that ferry? Dover Calais or similar will be about £80 return. My car runs on veg oil so the extra costs of the fuel will be lowish, assuming I can get supplies easily from supermarkets. We live near Stevenage so are not too far north.lost in espace said:
baxb said:
Do you have to go down to Calais ? I'm over to Copenhagen next August & going via o/night ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg.
We don't have to but how much is that ferry? Dover Calais or similar will be about £80 return. My car runs on veg oil so the extra costs of the fuel will be lowish, assuming I can get supplies easily from supermarkets. We live near Stevenage so are not too far north.made a quick test galaxy plus 2.2m long trailer (guessed at length) plus one adult 3 kids, all in cheapest 4 berth inside cabin, no meals, >600 notes.
Also not in high season, see what I meant when said they milk the prices? Plus the ship Dana Sirena is nowt special tbh, it's a converted ro-ro freight carrier, ok the commodore cabins are nice, but don't expect a lot of facilities in steerage.
edited to add, sorry just spotted it's two kids, effectively no real difference to price anyway.
Edited by F i F on Monday 13th September 15:28
Thanks Fif
http://naturetravels.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/wild...
Camping is a public right in Sweden and Finland, but illegal in Denmark. We did Harwich Hook in 2008 and it was over £400 then, without the trailer tent. My Galaxy runs on veg oil so the extra miles should be cheap assuming I can get oil in supermarkets cheaper then derv. We live in Stevenage so are fairly south anyway.
http://naturetravels.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/wild...
Camping is a public right in Sweden and Finland, but illegal in Denmark. We did Harwich Hook in 2008 and it was over £400 then, without the trailer tent. My Galaxy runs on veg oil so the extra miles should be cheap assuming I can get oil in supermarkets cheaper then derv. We live in Stevenage so are fairly south anyway.
Good breakdown of Allmannsrätten that. Very fair.
If I remember next time I'm in the supermarket I'll take a look at oil prices, presumably you want to buy it in the biggest quantity drums you can get hold of. Majsolja = veg oil ie maize oil. That sort of stuff?
I'm going on my 4 weeks hols in a day or so, so if I forget before then get back to you in a month. Hope that's OK.
If I remember next time I'm in the supermarket I'll take a look at oil prices, presumably you want to buy it in the biggest quantity drums you can get hold of. Majsolja = veg oil ie maize oil. That sort of stuff?
I'm going on my 4 weeks hols in a day or so, so if I forget before then get back to you in a month. Hope that's OK.
F i F said:
Good breakdown of Allmannsrätten that. Very fair.
If I remember next time I'm in the supermarket I'll take a look at oil prices, presumably you want to buy it in the biggest quantity drums you can get hold of. Majsolja = veg oil ie maize oil. That sort of stuff?
I'm going on my 4 weeks hols in a day or so, so if I forget before then get back to you in a month. Hope that's OK.
Many thanks!If I remember next time I'm in the supermarket I'll take a look at oil prices, presumably you want to buy it in the biggest quantity drums you can get hold of. Majsolja = veg oil ie maize oil. That sort of stuff?
I'm going on my 4 weeks hols in a day or so, so if I forget before then get back to you in a month. Hope that's OK.
lost in espace said:
baxb said:
Do you have to go down to Calais ? I'm over to Copenhagen next August & going via o/night ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg.
We don't have to but how much is that ferry? Dover Calais or similar will be about £80 return. My car runs on veg oil so the extra costs of the fuel will be lowish, assuming I can get supplies easily from supermarkets. We live near Stevenage so are not too far north.Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff