www.FelixSalomon.net » Blog » Tour de Scandinavie

Back home!

Felix — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:08:28 +0000

After four weeks travelling in Norway and Sweden I’m back home in Konstanz! Just for a little while as I’m already preparing the next trip. This time to the south whith hopefully a bit more sun … I’ll keep you posted!

Tour de Scandinavie, Stage 7: Stockholm – Öland – Lund

Felix — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:04:16 +0000

For our last night in Stockholm we didn’t have accommodation but actually managed to get a free bed in the hostel and obviously two in the camper. After Danny had taken his plane back to Munich Jörg and I started the final part of the trip, heading south towards Lund with a stop on the island of Öland near the southern end of Sweden | See the pictures
Öland is connected to the main land with a bridge of a length of 6 km. And you don’t have to pay any toll! First we drove north to visit the city of Borgholm with its huge castle ruin and the nearby summer residence of the Swedish royal family, castle Solliden.
Along the way up north to the light house “Långe Erik” there are many wooden wind mills and some nice little villages. The northern part of the island is rather covered with forests whereas in the south everything is flat, there are hardly any trees and you can see lots of ruines of old houses. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too nice again so we didn’t really stop anywhere for a longer stay.

Back on the main land we drove past the city of Karlskrona which is known as Sweden’s only baroque city and is host to Sweden’s only Naval base. After a short stop we managed to arrive in Lund just in time to get the keys for one of Jörgs floor mates in the student residence where we’d left some of the luggage three and a half weeks ago. Together with some friends we had a funny last night in Sweden and started our way home through Germany the next day.

Getting washed away on Grinda

Felix — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:23:13 +0000

After two nights in the city we’d spend the next one on an island called Grinda about 2hrs by boat off Stockholm. The weather forecast was perfect for the day so we started early to get the ferry by 9.30h | See the pictures
On arrival we first got a bit worried when we heard that apart from us there was hardly anyone on the Island that night! Only a few couples and an old guy with his wife and dog. So we changed the initial plan and hired one of the four bed cottages instead of the four bed rooms in the youth hostel area. A bit more expensive but definitely nicer.
A good decision, we had a very calm and lazy afternoon at the beach, laying in the sun. The water was clear and cold and every now and then a wave flushed my feet which felt actually really good. Well, until one of these waves decided to grow bigger and bigger and without warning completely flooded my part of the beach, including me, my camera, mp3 player, wallet and mobile phone. I managed to throw all items up onto a rock when I spotted my calendar swimming a few metres in the sea. And then Danny yelled out “Joerg, your socks” – he’d put them in the sun to dry them and the wave flushed his shoes and socks away. So Joerg was the only one of us who went swimming that day. My calendar came back by itself, a bit washed/out but no major losses. But the mobile still doesn’t work anymore …
After the incident we decided to explore the island and walked to the restaurant and bar in the central part but didn’t go in because the crowd looked a bit too classy. Instead I started collecting fire wood and got the camp fire burning while Joerg and Danny began to kill our drink reservoir. It was a funny night, sitting around the fire, eating famous Swedish “Köttbullar” (meat balls) and listening to music.
Stupidly I managed to hit my knee on a rock and since than I haven’t been able to walk properly but now three days later it seems to get better.
When we got up the next day the weather was back to normal: rainy and cloudy, so we left the island with the next boat to get back to Stockholm and find accommodation for our last night in the capital.

Getting frostbitten in Stockholm

Felix — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:06:26 +0000

Wednesday night we picked Danny up from the airport Arlanda north of Stockholm. Danny is a friend of Joerg, they met during a practical term in Tokyo a couple of years ago. For the next four days we’d be three to explore the bars and places of Stockholm | See the pictures
We checked into the City Backpackers right next to the station; there was even a parking just round the corner. The same night we went out for some drinks in several bars but most of them close already at 1am.
The next day we first visited the tourist information to find out about accommodation for Saturday night. Due to the soccer match Denmark vs. Sweden all hostels had been booked out when we had rung them weeks ago and they actually still were full but the lady behind the counter gave us her private number. So in case we wouldn’t find anything we should call her and she’d make room for us in her apartment – pretty cool!
The cultural program started in the famous Vasa museum where they tell you the probably most embarrassing chapter in Sweden’s history when the royal man-of-war sank on its maiden trip – not even leaving the Stockholm bay. Many people died and the show-piece of the Swedish armada didn’t fire a single shot … After a spectacular recovery of the wrack scientists restored most of it and now you can visit it and learn about the history. It’s highly recommended to watch the 30 min movie shown in the museum as well.
After the museum we strolled back to the hostel where we had dinner (free pasta provided) and then headed for the Absolute IceBar where you get to wear a coat and gloves and enter a room entirely made of ice. Even the glasses are just frozen water. The first drink is expensive because you pay the entry fee with it but the refills cost only half of it (still not cheap but he, we’re in Stockholm!). So you could actually buy only one drink and refill it for the rest of the night. Bookings are also recommended, we were pretty lucky to get in at all without a reservation. After this cool experience we had a look into the Cliff Barnes Bar which according to the Lonely Planet guide was supposed to be a crowded and nice spot with a party crowd and people dancing on the tables. Not quite accurate, however, it was empty, but we finally got a drink in another bar before we walked back to the hostel where we sat in the lounge, having a chat with Simon from Adelaide and Josh from Britain.

Tour de Scandinavie, stage 6: Swedish border – Idre – Uppsala

Felix — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:32:28 +0000

Shortly after cossing the border of Sweden and Norway you come past Idre and should take the road up to the Nipfjället where the Nipman palters with tourist or rather their cars. At a certain spot you can see your vehicle rolling up the hill! Pretty funny and quite surprising | See the pictures
Here we also saw the first wild reindeer which didn’t really take any notice when I approached it to take a photo – it probably knew that given its pretty big and pointy antler I would be the one running for my life.
All of a sudden we spotted a sandy beach at a lake and decided to stay there for the night – hmm, the sand was somehow pretty nasty and it took a while to get out of it again. But therefor we were rewarded an amazingly colorful evening light of the setting sun. This time we even started a fire (although it’s forbidden in Sweden to light a fire till the end of September) but there was water just a few feet away and no-one could see us (maybe the more important fact).
Looking for internet? The library in Älvdalen offers 30 minutes per user and day. That night at a small lake a fox tried to get hold of our Flintsteak (the name comes actually from the Flintstones – when you see it you’ll know why, it somehow reminds you of a dinosaur). Probably pissed off that he didn’t get what he wanted the fox came back during the night and spread our rubbish that we had stupidly left outside the car all over the place.
In Dala you get to see some of the famous red “Dalahäst”, horses made of wood, that used to be a typically Swedish item before they decided that an elk is somehow funkier and made them become there symbol.
In Uppsala I can highly recommend the Greek restaurant Tzaziki near the church – the perfect location, snappy waitresses and good food. If you need a free parking head for the adventure bath “Fyrishov”. Nearby in a residential area there are enough free parkings and it’s only a short walk into the city. The bath itself is also nice, we spent about three hours in the hot spa and sauna but also swam 1 km. The old city of Uppsala, “Gamle Uppsala” offers grave mounds of old kings and a museum (apparently not worth visiting).

Tour de Scandinavie, stage 5: Trondheim – Dovrefjell – Lillehammer – Swedish border

Felix — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:29:37 +0000

In Trondheim there’s actually the Nidaros church worth visiting. Again the library offers free internet. To recharge our batteries and get a hot shower we booked the camp site Flakk a bit outside the city right next to the sea.
After a very slow morning with scrambled eggs and potatoes we headed inland, leaving the coast of Norway | See the pictures
The weather was sort of getting better, at least not that wet anymore but still cold and often overcast. But we managed to go for a hike on the Dovrefjell along the “Gamle kongeveien” which means old kings path in a beautiful environment.
Another rest area near Dovre offered hot showers before we briefly visited the stave church of Ringebu (not the nicest one) and arrived in the former olympic city of Lillehammer. A quick coffee and we went on, taking the “Birkebeinerveien” that leads through a lovely fjell – but costs NOK 100! Having thought initially to be able to get away without paying because we didn’t have any coins and the toll machine didn’t accept credit cards, we soon had to accept that the Norwegian toll system is pretty fucking well-established – in the middle of nowhere they put a gate and a house where you have to pay NOK 50 for the road that you were just taking and then another 50 to get out of the bush again. What sort of makes up for it though is first of all the beauty of nature and a nice camp site which is included in the price. So after all it’s actually worth taking that way if you can … And the last kilometres before the border to Sweden also offers a very nice road passing many little lakes.

Tour de Scandinavie, stage 4: Stavanger – Bergen – Trondheim

Felix — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:25:56 +0000

As good as the weather had been during the first week of our trip, as bad it would get from now on for the next couple of days. But first there was still hoping that the sun would break through the thick clouds when we started the hike from the parking at the foot of the Preikestolen where they actually charge you a parking fee of NOK60 which seems to be a full-on rip-off. But the nicely prepared track leading through swampy land and nice plateaus makes up for it in the end | See the pictures
As for the sun it didn’t really show up that day, only a couple of minutes in total maybe. But still it’s an amazing spot, several hundred metres above the fjord, looking down the vertical and overhanging wall.
Having not fallen off the cliff we took the walk down to the parking (I should actually mention that the way up took us only 1 hour and 5 minutes to get to top instead of the suggested 2 hrs *proud*). Taking another ferry we made our way up north and picked up a hitch-hiking couple from Czech Republic on the way. In Røldal we saw the first stave church and the sun was shining just long enough to take a picture.
Past Odda at the Sørfjord there’s the Låtefossen waterfall where two streams are almost flooding the road. In Voss we dropped the hitch-hikers off and went to sleep in pouring rain (it had been raining most of the day) shortly before reaching Bergen.
Next day in Bergen it was still raining, not too badly but enough to make us keep the visit short. And we were planning to catch up with a couple of Joergs friends a few days later to go hiking in the Jotunheimen region (in case of good weather) so that was another reason to speed up the visit. The amusement arcade with internet access mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide book doesn’t exist anymore but we found (slow) internet in a MIX shop for NOK 40 per hour.
Driving out of Bergen there was a Police control and Joerg had to do a FST which he survived with zero! On that occasion we noticed that we had forgotten to take the car documents with us but the cop let us go with a “You have it? Cool. Drive save!” while I was still pretending to be searching for them.
The Sognefjord is Norway’s deepest and longest fjord, stretching more than 200 km inland with a maximum depth of about 1300 m.
Trying to settle for the night a very impolite guy came by and told us something about blocking a fire fighter thing and that we had to leave. So we did him the favour (hoping that he’d call the police and the wouldn’t find anyone there anymore) and spent another night at a rest area – actually much better since there we had warm water and a toilet.
In the village of Dragsvik we left the fjord and loads of hair pins lead up onto the Gaularfjell with lots of waterfalls and crazy sheep.
In Ålesund rain and hail awaited us but nonetheless we took the 440 steps leading to the viewpoint Aksla high above the city. At night it almost snowed down to the car park near Molde, the next morning all the hills around us were white at their summits.
From Molde (where you can find free and fast internet in the library) to Kristiansund you should definitely take the impressive route 64 called “Atlanterhavsveien” (Atlantic road). Initially planned as a railroad the road is 8 km long, connecting eight islands with bridges. In 2005, Atlanterhavsveien was elected “Norway’s Building of the century”.
Kristiansund itself is not really worth a visit given the ferry that you have to pay for as well as a toll of NOK 98 for a bridge that you don’t even cross when going on to Trondheim (like we did).

Tour de Scandinavie, stage 3: Oslo – Kristiansand – Stavanger

Felix — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:09:29 +0000

So, it’s been a while since I last wrote about the trip. Not that nothing has been happening or we started arguing or so – but somehow I just haven’t had the motivation and time for more than uploading photos … and actually in Stavanger I lost about half an hour of work because my computer crashed right before submitting the post. But now I’ll try to make up for it and bring you up to date | See the pictures
From Oslo we took E18 along the coast down to Kristiansand. Close to Kragerø, a town called the “St. Tropez of Norway”, we found a nice spot to stay over night at a little beach. The next morning we got up really early, about 8ish (I think so far it has been the earliest wake-up) and went on to Kristiansand. With 80000 habitants it’s actually the fifth biggest city of Norway! In earlier times as well as today the city plays a very important role for Norways shipping traffic. After a short stop it was already time to find the next spot to camp which we found in Røsstad. A nice little bay with little colorful houses along the coast. Not even the cleaning of the local cloaca right next to our bus and the temporary, well, smell could harm the beauty of this place (oh my god, I should stop drinking immediately!).
Anyway, after some trouble finding the right road to get back to the E18 (we must have passed some of the smallest roads in Norway!) we stopped in Mandal with its white sand beaches and a very nice camp site (not that we needed one but there were showers – pretty cold but showers) in a forest next to the beach. Swimming and sunbathing messed up our itinerary a bit as we’d discover later. But we HAD to to take advantage of the warm weather. Who knows how long it would stay like that …
Instead of following the E18 we left the Europastrasse in Flekkefjord to take the small and windy R44. The first half leads through along the rough fjord and then over mountains whereas the second half looks almost Scottish or Irish – at least that’s what I guess it must look like over there. Roundly washed stones and pebbles, green hills and pretty flat – another side of Norway which we didn’t expect to exist.
Due to our excessive laziness in Mandal we arrived pretty late in Stavanger and didn’t really have time to explore this nice little town. Definitely a place to come back to with more time (and more money – a general thing here in Norway). An Irish guy runs an internet cafe with good tea and coffee and a fast internet connection.
Since we wanted to visit the landmark of Stavanger, the famous rock plateau of the Preikestolen at the Lysefjord we camped close to a ferry we had to take in the morning.

Gallery Update

Felix — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:49:56 +0000

Some photos from Stavanger to Trondheim. And there are new pictures in the old albums | See the new pictures

Gallery Update

Felix — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:54:35 +0000

More photos from the trip from Oslo via Kristiansand at the southern coast to Stavanger | See the pictures