Skandinavia
 

My wife and I were chatting over Sunday dinner yesterday and she asked where my next big trip was going to be. And at my age I'd better get a move on as there wouldn't be many years left. I'd ridden the US in 2002 and 2006 with Austria and Spain in between, so we got talking about Norway/Sweden/Finland. Ideally I'd like to ride across Canada to Alaska and back but I wince at the cost of my flight and shipping the bike.

So this is the brief plan. Dover to Calais then up to Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway. Sweden, Finland then back to Denmark, etc.

Any 'must sees'? Anything I should know? Cheap motels?

Touring By Bike in Sweden & Norway

http://www.mc-addict.com/budgettravelinnorway.htm

Buy this book:

http://trailblazer-guides.com/images...ic-highway.jpg

There's a chapter on routes to and from the highway itself.

Stockholm
Wasa
Kiruna iron mine
Abisco
Saltstraumen
Nordkapp is total rip of , not worth it.
Copenhagen
Lousiana art museum, humlebaek.
Elsingor, kronborg castle.

Agree..North Cape is ...now.. A rip off. Sarek and area is worth all and everything...!!!
You have to visit Geiranger Fjord and Preikestolen in the south part of Norway..fantastic.

South of north cape - Alta museum, the helle ristninger. Further south, Karasjok, Kautokeino - and Jookmokk in north Sweden, Sami communitys and museums....if you want to now more about sami people..

Ädelfors gold fields in the south of Sweden...great campground where you can wash gold...and you will find some...just a question of how much.

Skagen, north DK is worth the visit, so is...if you are into viking stuff, Roskilde museum near Kopenhagen or/and Århus Moesgaard Museum, and the Old Town of Århus.
North of Århus - the Mc Camping ..for bikes only. Or Rømø Camping on the westcoast if you want to take a nice ride direct on the beaches of Rømø..and for the rest, i agre on the above mentioned places in Skandinavia aswell.....

'Norway's Arctic Highway' looks like my sort of read but secondhand prices on Amazon range from £30 to a whopping £130. Clearly printed on gold leaf.

I wasn't too bothered about the North Cape. In what way is it a rip off? Excessive high tourist prices?

To Skandinavian countries have chains of budget motels such as Formule 1 or Motel 6 as I have no intention of camping.

Alcohol seems terrifically high. Is buying from an off licence cheaper?

Do all Skandinavian countries have the Euro?

Thanks for the advice; there will be more questions, I'm sure. I am off to the library to see if I can borrow the book ;-)

Later - Ah, I've just bought the book for £12.25 plus postage ;-D

Re: Skandinavia
 

No. Most have their national krona. I think it is only Finland that has Euro.

Ah, that book is out of print and pretty expensive through Amazon. I also discovered that it covers the road north from Moh I Rana to the North Cape whereas I thought about reaching the Arctic Circle then heading east into Sweden. But thanks for the tip.

Alcohol is only expensive in Sweden and Norway. Tobacco is very expensive in Norway.

There are no cheap hotels in scandinavia :-)

But if you go to the larger campsites, they usually rent small cabins for a fairly decent price.

Expect prices around 100-150USD for a cheap hotel room (2ppl).

Eating out is also expensive. A McD meal cost around 15USD and prices are around 30-50 USD for a cheap restaurant visit (pr person)

In northern Norway restaurant prices are insane. 30 USD for a really crappy pizza is not uncommon.

So I advice that you start camping and learn how to cook :-)

Or perhaps try couchsurfing or airbnb for free/cheap options.

Funny thing; it´s my wife telling me where our next trip is going to :-)

Why not take the Newcastle - Stavanger ferry and be done with highway riding?

Cheers
Chris

Hi Paul,

Here is my tripreport of my trip to the NorthCape.
Maybe you find some usefull information in it.
http://jkrijt.home.xs4all.nl/trips/n2g/index.shtml

There is no ferry to Norway from Newcastle