UK, Nord Kapp via Russia
 

Hello
I planning on leaving the UK (Brighton) 1st May ish 2018, traveling East through Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia Russia (St Petersburg) North to Murmansk, Norway, Finland, Sweden Denmark and back to the UK. I will be camping as much as possible to keep cost down. I don't have any firm routes and don't plan to make any before leaving. I did UK Mongolia round trip a few years ago so have a bit of experience. Anybody up for all or part of the trip please get in touch.
I will be riding a KTM 1190 (Non R)
Regards
Stuart

Let me know when you're approaching Estonia, I'll show you around a bit. :)

AnTyx
That's great, many thanks for the offer, look forward to meeting you. Shall I contact via the Hubb??
Regards
Stuart

Right now I am thinking about nearly the same trip.
Starting from Germany through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Norway (Northcape), Sweden, Denmark back to Germany.

I have only started to think about such a trip and I am looking for information about visa and vehicle entry to Russia. This is the reason I found this website.

My plan was go May or June depending on my holiday time at work.

I have a DL 650 and my touring experience mainly based on bicycle and kayak trips since I have bought the DL 650 only last year.

I need to think about this idea but maybe it would be a good reason to actually start planning more seriously.

Regards
Daniel

Hello Daniel
If you decide to do the trip, let me know maybe
we can meet up somewhere.
Good luck
Regards
Stuart

Hi,
I intend to make the trip to reach the Nordkapp departing from France mid April.
Can anyone inform whether it is wise to take with me a sleeping bag that can withstand temperatures below zero while crossing Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland around Early May till early June?
The reason I ask is that the price for a sleeping bag may vary from 50 to 500 € depending on the resistance to negative temperatures !
Thank you
Pierre

Hi Centaure.

No you dont need a sleeping bag for temperatures below zero in may and june. More important is a good mattress if you going to sleep in a tent. If it would get cold nights you can rent a cabin with a bed.
Here is a link to AccuWeather where you get some hints of what the temperatures in north of Finland could be during may

If you only want to go to St Petersburg... well, sure you can get a Russian visa and ride. If on the way back you go via the Öresund tunnel and then the bridge from Zeeland to Jutland, you can have the remarkable distinction of having circled the Baltic Sea without the use of ferries!

However, it's worth pointing out that St Petersburg has a special status, if an EU citizen arrives via cruise ferry (and buys a bus tour of the city - which you need anyway to get to the center from the ferry terminal), they have 72 hours visa-free. Leave the bike in Helsinki, take a cruise, see the sights.

Or skip St Petersburg, and don't worry about visas or insurance at all.

It can still get to below zero at night up here in mid-April. Furthermore, there's every chance there will still be snow on the road in Nordkapp then. Honestly it depends on how strongly you feel about wildcamping; I would take normal camping stuff and just have the budget for a cabin or hostel if it's too cold. (Note: there are often no cheap options for Finland or Norway; but you can probably get a hytte on short notice upon arrival.)

One other suggestion I would make to people who want to do this trip: consider the overnight car-train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi or Kolari (goes to different terminals on different days). It is expensive, but you get there overnight instead of in two days of riding, and you'd probably spend as much on gas and accommodation going through boring flat central Finland. (A couple of years ago Helsinki-Rovaniemi with a private sleeper cabin with my own shower, and the bike, cost me ~250 euros. Leave Helsinki at 7pm, offload in Rovaniemi at 7am.)

As mentioned by others, you don't need a visa for St Petersburg. But that's only if you arrive by ferry and for a limited number of days. If you want to ride through Russia, you'll need a visa. For your plans a regular tourist visa should suffice (single entry, 30days)
St. Petersburg is worth a stop imho, we spent a few days there on our way north to Karelia, Finland and Nordkapp.

We came from the Caucasus, but from Latvia on followed a similar route you are planning. You might find some ideas on our blog. The section in the Baltics, Karelia and Scandinavia starts on this page: East and back again… and back again 2016 – Page 4 – Destination World

I will let you know! If I follow your planning actions maybe I can arrange the right time of my trip to make a meeting possible.

This is the plan! Instead of a Ferry from Tallin to Helsinki I prefer the route over St. Petersburg to circumnavigate the Baltic Sea.


I know that there is a single entry visa and I think this will be the best option. Now I have to check the insurance and vehicle stuff.
Thanks for the link! I will read some of your blog entries.

Regards
Daniel

have a look on ebay for ex british army arctic sleeping bag with ex british army goretex bivi bag and you should be toasty.recently bought one and good.less than 80 for both.