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Route Planning Where to go, when, what are the interesting places to see
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 2 Oct 2017
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Romania-Russia-Nordkapp-Germany-Romania with kids, by car

As the summer is over I'm planning for next one. The plan is to take my kids to the Nordkapp next summer. So there will be me, and the two sons: 9yrs and 6yrs by then. As we are three will be travelling by car.
Wherever I can the plan is to camp, taking a break each4-5 days. I know wildcamping is a good option for northern countries and campsites is an option for Germany-Poland-Hungary. As for Ukraine and Russia I don't know if camping is a good option and help would be appreciated.

Our goal is to see nature, people and cultures. As I'm with the kids I don't plan to spend much time in big cities, I would like to see more the country side, national parks and wildlife wherever possible. Moderate hiking suits us better than large cities.

The raw itinerary is starting from home:
- Romania: Cluj (home) - Suceava
- Ukraine: Chernivtsi - Kiev - M02 - would be happy to add some points worth visiting
- Russia: Moscow (Red Square, Cosmonautics Museum), St Petersburg (Ermitrage) - proabbly a lot of stops to add in Russia, too
- Finland : only point now is Rvaniemi (Santa Claus Village, for the kids)
- Norway: Nordkapp, Lofoten (Uttakleiv Beach, Kvalvika Beach and just wandering), The Atlantic Road near Karvag
- Sweden: Stockholm, Malmo
-Denmark:Kobenhavn
- Germany: Haburg, Berlin
- Poland: Wroclaw, Krakow
- Slovakia: Kosike
- Hungary: Debrecen
- Romania: back home

Any recommendations to travelling, itinerary or places to see is much appreciated
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  #2  
Old 4 Oct 2017
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I would say... if you are starting from Romania and going into Ukraine, gotta visit Odessa. That also gives you a trip to Moldova and through Transdniester, which will be some kind of experience.

I guess you gotta do Moscow to check it off your bucket list. But it would not be my first choice of tourist destination.

From Moscow to St Petersburg you can go in one day probably, but consider a stopover in Velikiy Novgorod, one of the great medieval Russian trading cities.

St Petersburg is definitely worth a lot of your time, especially if you have your own car. Hermitage is just one thing, but there are loads of interesting museums and places there, you can go to Peterhof and Kronstadt as well, etc. I would budget more time here than in Moscow for sure.

Vyborg can be an interesting point, to see what happened to a city that was Finnish until WWII. Then compare it to the cities across the border.

Crossing the border to Finland in the south means you are in a more expensive place, but safe, better roads, etc. Not really any outstanding cities in the south, maybe Savonlinna.

Lofoten: I would suggest a base in Harstadt. It seemed really pleasant. As opposed to Narvik, where I stayed before going onto the archipelago, and which was industrial and boring. But there are loads of camping spots all over Lofoten, no problem there. Ideally I would say, go Nordkapp-Tromso, then via Senja island and the ferry to Andenes. All the way down to Moskenes and take the fast ferry to Bodo.

The Atlantic Road is kind of overrated IMO, but again, I guess it's a checkpoint. Heading south from there, be sure to do Trollstigen and Geirangerfjord.

Stockholm is very worthwhile. Malmo - not really. Go see the twisty skyscraper, there's a nice enough old town, but Copenhagen is much more interesting.

One option is to skip the expensive Oresund tunnel and take a ferry from Helsingborg over to Helsingor, with Kronborg castle - very cool place, even if it had nothing to do with the historical Hamlet.

Hamburg is not terribly touristy. Maybe leave out Odense and go from Copenhagen straight south to Lubeck, which is very nice. But if you do go via Hamburg, then try to go south via Hanover - some serious Prussian grandeur there. And it can be a cheap place to stay overnight, it's a big convention city with lots of hotel space that is deeply discounted out of season.

Dresden is surprisingly worth a stopover.

I assume you've been to Budapest before, if not, then it's definitely worth stopping there.

Hope it helps!
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  #3  
Old 4 Oct 2017
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Romania-Russia-Nordkapp-Germany-Romania with kids, by car

Forget the Eremitage with young kids, it's too boring for them.
As AnTyx says: Peterhof is better.

Norway is dear, go to Kiwi supermarket for your food, but it is by far the best for your outdoor plan.

They'll probably enjoy the Wasa Viking ship museum in Stockholm a lot more!

Don't forget your fishing rods: in Norway the average time to catch a mackerel was 60 seconds!!
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  #4  
Old 6 Oct 2017
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Thanks ! I added some more points on the route!
@wickychicky: probably they will get bored in big museums, I will surely check Peterhof.
@AnTyx: probably I will skip Transdniester an I heard it's not that easy to cross that "border". Especially for me as I'm Romanian it might be harder as we are helping Moldavia against them.
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