This is actually part of a bigger trip. The whole trip is Vail,CO to St. Moritz, CH via Nordkapp. Vail - Montreal - London - Bergen (if still possible) - Nordkapp - Murmansk - St Pete - 3 Baltics - Poland - Czech Republic - Austria - Switzerland.

...or maybe I will just be run over by some drunk uninsured Mexican in Denver, in this case, thanks for your help anyway .

Vail and St Moritz are sister city and I have strong ties with both of them, just in case you are wondering. And no, I'm not a Jet Set Monoski Pretty Boy

I'm planning on leaving the first week of August. I'm pretty behind with my planning as usual, but I'm ok with everything US, Canada, transport,UK.

UK is where the questions start :O). I hope I can get some help from you guys, it would help me tremendously! Thank you in advance!

- I would love to ride up to the most northern point of Scottland, I believe it's John O' Groats, and take a ferry from around there to Bergen via Lerwick. I read that Smyril Lines travels that route, but so far I get completely different info about the length of the trip...from 12 hours to 5 days. I have enough Falco on my Ipod, but 4 days+ would streching it a bit...
Has anyone done this route?

- I have never been to Norway, but read a lot about it now. Unfortunately I'm not only German, but pretty dumb,too, so I forget most of what I read . Anyway, I would like to see a bit of this amazing area, and I'm trying to plan my time from Bergen to Nordkapp. I have absolutely no idea how long it will take me. How many miles does one average a day with all the ferries, taking pictures, ...? I'm really struggeling with this part...

- I'm planning to cross the border in Kirkenes. How long is the drive from Kirkenes to Murmansk? Anything interesting on the way? How is the infrastructure (gas, food, hookers) <-- I'm kidding (maybe not), seriously, is gas available on the way? Is there such a thing as an emergency road service in this area (and no, I'm not talking about the madames)? Are there any interesting things to see on the way to Murmansk?

- Same questions as above for Murmansk to St Pete, most importantly, who long is the approx riding time?

- I heard of a couple Russian GPS maps for my Garmin, but of course I forgot their names :confused1:. Any recommondations? I do have the Auto Atlas.

- What paperwork do I need for my bike at RU border crossing?
- Which is the best SIM card for Russia?

- Is anyone going during this time? I'm riding solo, unless my wife is going to discover the video of me next to some Norwegen top model on youtube and is going to hunt me down ( aren't the Swedish the top models??), or I'm getting raped by some delicate Russian Igor (but for that case I have bearspray with me ) .


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Thank you for helping me, your input is of great value for me!
Markus

Welcome to the HUBB Markus.

I can help clarify a few points for you to aid your planning. The most northerly point on the British mainland is Dunnet Head. There is a plaque there saying as much, which will make a nice photo opportunity. It's just to the north east of Thurso. Just north of Thurso is the port of Scrabster where you can get the ferry to Bergen. But... and it's a big but, Smyril Line run a ferry which calls in here and makes it's way to Bergen, eventually. It's the Iceland ferry and it leaves Scrabster at 0630 every Wednesday for the Faroe islands. It arrives at Torshavn in the Faroes the same day and you have to get off, the ferry then goes off to Iceland. As there is only one ferry you have to wait for it to come back to Torshavn. The ferry then goes off across the north sea to Hanstholm in Denmark before returning to the faroes where you get back on the boat. By now it's midday Monday! The boat pulls into Bergen on Tuesday at 10.00am. So the total time from Scrabster to Bergen using this route is 6 1/2 days! Of course you could go to Denmark and ride up to Norway from there saving yourself 2 1/2 days waiting in the Faroes. The return from Bergen to Scrabster is a "quick" 17 hour boat ride and is a good route home from Scandinavia for me. You'll be heading east though.

A better choice is the DFDS ferry from Newcastle direct to Bergen. The only fly in the ointment here is they've cancelled the route from September 2008!

They don't make it easy do they? Last year I travelled over the English channel on the Dover-Calais route and rode up through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and then into Norway. It was a nice trip but I didn't go that far north as it was September and getting a bit chilly at night. The temperature/weather is worth considering as you travel north and east and then south to the alps.

I hope this has helped you. Norway is a wonderful place I hope you get to see it. I'd fly the bike into Frankfurt and ride up to Norway from there if it were me.

Hi Markus,

Just back from Nordkapp - we were there for midnight on the longest day. Awesome!

It's 1500 miles from Bergen to Nordkapp. The main issue is Norwegian speed limits. 9Okph if you're lucky most of the time it's 60-70. Don't even think about speeding - there are other threads on the HUBB detailing the eye-watering speeding fines!

We took 8 days to get there, the scenery is spectacular and you'll have loads of photo stops. The most direct route from Bergen now involves only 2 internal ferries, but if you've got the time try to see some of the country away from the obvious E6 Arctic Highway route on your way north.

Have fun,

Jojo

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Tours to Morocco, Iceland, Arctic Circle, Portugal, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

Flyingdoc, thanks for the info!!! Btw, do or did you fly EMS? No shit, they really don't make it easy unless one wants to take the Newcastle ferry...I'm scared that if I take the Iceland ferry I will continue on to Iceland instead of getting of at Faroe...Screw these drunk Russian bastards, I'm just gonna have a good time in Iceland, where every woman is a supermodel...at least that's what I hear

I might just ride up to Dunnet Head and then back down to Newcastle...or the channel to Europe.

YoYo, how cool was it in the afternoon and evening. I'm trying to figure out the temps for middle August for the Trondheim - Murmansk area and I'm getting very confusing answers. Everything from freezing to hot...Wunderground.com says it's in the 50's in the evenings. ..

Got back from a Nordkapp trip last weekend. The weather in Norway is completely unpredictable which is why you'll never get a definitive answer.
You can be riding under clear blue skies, and then a few hours later the temperature will drop and you.ll be hit by torrential rain. The temperature at the top in July was around 10c, but can feel a lot colder when the rain comes. I'd expect the temperature to fall off pretty quickly towards the end of the summer.
You'll definately need decent waterproofs, thermals and ideally a heated jacket - Nordkapp is further north than alaska and well inside the arctic circle so expect to get cold. It's a little warmer around Trondhiem, but it will be cold if your going into the mountains - there's still a considerable amount of snow up there, even in July.

When the Newcastle-Bergen ferry goes the only realistic alternative is probably going to be crossing to Denmark instead and doing an extra couple of days riding.

Have just returned from St Petersburg. Following may be of help :

If you intend to enter/leave USSR more than once make sure your visa is suitably endorsed with the number of visits. (top right hand corner, "1" or "2", under the visa number)

It is a paperwork jungle at the entry border. Be sure to get the small imigration sheet. If you don't accomodation will be a problem.

Border entry and exit formalities will probably take hours.

You will need to buy bike insurance at the border crossing. You will also need originals of your driving licence, an International Driving Permit, you bike insurance and your bike papers. If it is not your bike you will need written permission from the individual shown on the bike papers to use the bike.

The roads are generaly in a lousy condition. Apart from pot holes, beware of level crossings, expansion joints either side of bridges and deep ruts from truck wheels. Try not to ride in the dark at night.

If you intend to pay by credit card, check first the (eg) petrol station/hotel will accept them.

Road directional signs (to other towns) are generally in the cyrillic alphabet and gave a problem to read.

At the camp site just north west of St Petersburg, on the main road from SF, we were plagued by mosquetoes. Mind you we we not there a lot of the time, being mostly in the city - by bus and metro public transport.

Gute Reise, Markus.

Thanks so much for your time and effort!!!
I guess I'm going to leave my banana hammock (the speedo; that's how we Germans do in the the summer) at home.

Marc
I decided to take a heating vest with me since it really seems to be unpredictable.

Rydalong
Thanks for the border tips. I will make sure that I have all these papers in order. It's going to be interesting in what condition the road from Murmansk to St Pete is. I tried a Google streetview but that didn't work . It looks like a pretty easy going ride (paved) though from what I have seen and heard so far.

Think you will find nearly all roads in USSR are in a shocking state, Markus. Was in Moscow with the bike some years back. Also then the condition of the roads stood out.

You probably won't need a speedo as your speed will be governed by the state of the roads. Having said that, you may find the Murmask > StP road is perfect as there is always an exception to the rule.

Gute Reise.

Rydalong, I think you missunderstood the term 'Speedo' . A Speedo is, what American refer to as a 'banana hammock'. It's a part of German culture, you can spot Speedos everywhere over there, unfortunately. It's not a pretty sight. It's a basically a g string swim short for men with a big crum
Here is a picture of a speedo:


I'm so sorry that I have to show this picture here :O)

[quote=Playersmarkus;199185]Rydalong, I think you missunderstood the term 'Speedo' . A Speedo is, what American refer to as a 'banana hammock'. It's a part of German culture,. . . .
[quote]

Thanks for the clarification. Ich wohnte für 10 Jahre in D und habe nei davon Speedo gehört.

Eh? I just completed a ride from Chita across Russia to the Crimea, and with very few exceptions the roads where quite good. Not perfect, mind you, but quite good. More often than not I traveled at 100 km/hour or faster. There was only one really BAD stretch of road, about a 100 km section east of Krasnoyarsk--basically not much of a road at all there, just a series of potholes strung together. Pretty fun on the right bike, though.

Two cautions:
1) Even on good stretches of road there are occasional large potholes, so you have to keep on your toes; and
2) Lots of road construction going on, and be very careful around these construction sites: many aren't marked that well, and some involve oil spread on the road, which is VERY slick. One of my traveling mates went down very suddenly on one of these oil patches (but luckily no real harm to rider or bike).

Rydalong
Danke fuer die Hilfe! Ist vielleicht besser dass Du nie von einem Speedo gehoert hast

Motoreiter, thanks for the input. I think I have a pretty good understanding of the road conditions in Russia now. I also found an interesting little movie about a road trip from Murmansk to St. Pete which gave me good road indications.

There's probably going to be a Starbucks, McDonalds and more everywhere by now ;O) God, I hope not. And probably a Legoland on the way from the border to Murmansk. Welcome to Adventure Russia, sucker!

Russia, here I come...This is a photo of me in Russia

Hi,

No worries with infrastructure along road to Murmansk. Plenty of gas and road is in excellent condition.

Check my GPS tracks for speed and times (available here Index of /~earmb ) You can import them into text format using gps babel - a free program.

Petrol everywhere. We never did more than 150 km before finding fuel.

Sights at Murmansk - The big guy. (see attachment), (Note the thing on the big guys shoulder is actually a guy cleaning him)

South of Murmansk there is a town called Kem'. (See MiG photo attached) From there you can go to Solevetski on the ferry. A very interesting place.

There are several other sights too, like Kizhi.

Go around the western side of Lake Ladoga. It's quite nice.

The roads in Russia are mint don't worry. Only place that was a little rough was around Krasnoyarsk, but that's already been mentioned.

In most Russian cities there is a large excess of beautiful women. Murmansk is an exception, the population is largely male due to the military.

A megaphone SIM card gave us excellent coverage everywhere - not the cheapest, but very reliable.



GPS Map - bob's world map. Smellybiker's Wanderlust Worldmap &bull; Index page

Cheers.

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Bartman, thanks for the post. Got your pm, but I need to post 2 more times to be able to reply pm's....

Had to have surgery so I was not able to do this trip this year. I still was able to go in Sept/Oct 08, shipped the bike to Munich and rode down to Istanbul and back. Germany,Austria Croatia,Monte Negro, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Germany and whatever country I forgot...

This trip was not planned at all, a last minute decision to do it, and it was just an incredible trip. I will do the Northcape tour next year, but will make sure that I'm going to spend a lot of time in Russia.

It really were the people who made this trip, even though the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. The women are exceptionally beautiful (except Albania), but they also look like they are high maintenance...

Anyway, I'm still planning the Northcape trip for next year, so please keep the info coming ;O). I'm especially interested in meeting extremely good looking girls with big cahunas who are interested in performing services.

Not really. Well, I wouldn't mind.