Sabbatical - ideas....

[Spuffington]

Thanks for the advice, chaps. Really useful stuff and all things for me and Mrs Spuff to chew over during the next 14months.

On a positive note, I've had my time off approved by my Line Manager. There will be a bit of negotiation over exact timing, since he wants to take parental leave next year too but I have an inkling that he will want to take July & August, which will work fine for us since we want to take May/June to keep away from peak season but late enough in Spring to avoid freezing temps in Scandinavia.

And that's basically about the only thing we've got fixed in our minds; we want to do Scandi and everything thereafter we'll maybe decide on the hoof. So far the plan is..

- Harwich - Hook of Holland (Ferry)
- Take our time working up through Holland and on to Hamburg.
- Hamburg, Flensburg, northern tip of Denmark.
- Ferry to Kristiansands in Norway. Then either along to Stavanger or Bergen, then on to Oslo.
- Oslo down to Gothemburg, Malmö, Copenhagen.
- Ferry over to Rostock.
- Berlin and then wherever we can squeeze in in the remaining time.

Have no idea at this stage how long it will take us to do the above, although with sufficient time, I think we're probably looking at 4wks. I'll start doing some proper reading up, map reading, planning etc. in the coming months. But reflecting on all the advice here, what I've read elsewhere on the net from blogs etc. and chatting with the wife; it's more important for us to enjoy the time we spend touring than to try and cram in too much over too short a space of time and spend more time driving than enjoying and relaxing.

Now that I've got the in principle approval, it's all seeming a bit real now. Just need to save up for the damn thing now!

Edited by Spuffington on Tuesday 8th March 09:05

[oblio]

Sounds great Spuff

I am planning a trip across through the Baltic states to St Petersburg and back through Finland, Sweden etc for a couple of years time. I think we'll take a couple of months for that one too

[GreatGranny]

Not sure if you will go straight down the coast from Oslo but if you can, go inland to Lake Vanern in Varmland. Its the largest lake in Sweden and is well worth visiting.

[chopper602]

oblio said:

Chopper
Could I ask how you got on touring in Poland and the CR? What kind of places did you stay at?
Cheers

We were wild camping on an airfield in Poland, so off grid completely (World Meeting of the 2CV!). The roads were fine, food and fuel cheap and the motorways flat and smooth. Tram travel around the city we were in was straightforward, it's just all a 'bit foreign' as you don't recognize words or speak any of the language. There were quite a few camp sites around, but the country doesn't seem to be too geared up for tourists (which is nice!), plenty of English language menus in restaurants.
Same in Czech, but different. Fuel even cheaper, food the same. Stayed at a Caravan club recommended site about 5-6 miles outside Prague. Bus stop on the road outside and tickets to be bought on a machine in reception. Language never really a problem, as so many people spoke very good English. Stay off the beaten track in Prague and you can get a dimple mug of 'home brew' beer for 80p or less. We really enjoyed it and are looking to return again.

Nice to see that Germany is also considerably cheaper than France, as we spent quite a bit of our trip last year there.

[oblio]

chopper602 said:

We were wild camping on an airfield in Poland, so off grid completely (World Meeting of the 2CV!). The roads were fine, food and fuel cheap and the motorways flat and smooth. Tram travel around the city we were in was straightforward, it's just all a 'bit foreign' as you don't recognize words or speak any of the language. There were quite a few camp sites around, but the country doesn't seem to be too geared up for tourists (which is nice!), plenty of English language menus in restaurants.
Same in Czech, but different. Fuel even cheaper, food the same. Stayed at a Caravan club recommended site about 5-6 miles outside Prague. Bus stop on the road outside and tickets to be bought on a machine in reception. Language never really a problem, as so many people spoke very good English. Stay off the beaten track in Prague and you can get a dimple mug of 'home brew' beer for 80p or less. We really enjoyed it and are looking to return again.

Nice to see that Germany is also considerably cheaper than France, as we spent quite a bit of our trip last year there.

Thanks Chopper - useful info

On another note...and what a small world: when we stayed in Innsbruck in the summer last year for 2 nights, a really battered blue 2CV pulled in next to us. It was a really hot day and the fella (French chap) had 2 teenage sons with him. They had just come from the same meet as you

I gave the bloke a beer and the lads some cans of Coke as they looked deadbeat and had to put their tents up.

The chap had taken away his engine side panels to keep the engine cool. They were off to Switzerland after Austria prior to going back home

What a summer experience for his lads however in the night there was a hoolie of a storm so not a great camping experience.