Adventures in Scandinavia

[SteveM]

We have been inspired by many of the other posts on here and it seems like there is a lot of interest in touring Scandinavia, so I thought I would capture our experience, providing details of our route and campsite recommendations.

On Thursday evening we set off in the Cali; roof box, cool box, and bikes packed for a month with the children in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.


The trip was several months in the planning, and due to the fact that there is no longer a ferry direct to Denmark, we decided to take the Harwich - Hook of Holland ferry, drive up through Germany and Denmark, and cross over into Norway for the bulk of the holiday, travelling down the west coast of Sweden, and then over to Denmark, then back down through Germany to the Netherlands for the return ferry.

The overnight ferry crossing was smooth. We managed to get away by around 9am, and set off through Germany. Despite a lot of traffic around Hamburg (should have checked on here first as there was a post about the roadworks!), we arrived just over the Denmark border to a little campsite in Krusa (Krusa camping) around 5pm. It was surprising how aggressive and erratic the driving was in Germany - we had expected order and efficiency!

I worked the following day in the camper while hubby and the kids swam and played. We used our MiFi with EuropaSIM for internet which worked well.

I’d really recommend Krusa Camping for a stopover - the kids loved the outdoor pool, big playground and mini golf, and the toilets were clean. It really doesn’t have much to do in the surrounding area, so best for just a stop over. They also provide a quick stop for folks just wanting to stay from 8pm - 10am.

Later in the afternoon we set off for the overnight ferry from Hirtshals to Kristiansand and had a smooth journey through Denmark, although the roads were still busy.

The overnight catamaran to Kristiansand ran a little late and we arrived to a busy Saturday night town centre. We had a camper spot located and a map printed, and we happened upon it rather by accident when the satnav didn’t pick up the address. We didn’t get much sleep as it was pretty central to Kristiansand and quite a few partygoers were still around until 5am.

When we left in the morning, we noticed that there would have been plenty of places to stay just 15 minutes or so outside of Kristiansand (camper stops, and places just by the road), so would suggest you just get on the road, and stop where you see somewhere rather than trying to find a specific place (especially at that time of the morning!).

 

[Hotel California]

So if i understand it wel , your on the road now...?
Have a good trip!
Did you read my experience from last months trip....?
http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/three-weeks-south-and-mid-norway.10354/

 

[SteveM]

Yes absolutely we are underway. Your posts we read when planning our trip, even so we are learning as we go.... there are various camping cultures that you discover.

Soph.

 

[larrylamb]

I can recommend the original Legoland in Billund if you are passing. I have been to Jutland many times, there are lots of beautiful beaches and towns but not many hills.

 

[SteveM]

We did Legoland (Billund) last year .... we will be coming through Denmark on the loop back home. Kids would love to do it again but we might need to check the budget! .... having just spent £25 on fish and a few potatoes served on a paper plate we may have underestimated!

Anyhow next installment:

We headed off around 9am on the Sunday, set for Odda. We arrived around 3pm at 'Odda camping' after a few stops en route. We travelled the E45 route which was amazing in terms of scenery - mountains, lakes, snow - and some quite hairy tunnels (particularly as hubby had put the light deflectors on so well that we really didn’t have much light at all!).



Odda camping was a somewhat strange site - breathtaking views of the mountains and waterfalls from the site, on the edge of a beautiful lake and with an amazing rock smack bang in the middle of the site, however no-one seems to stay more than one night.



I’d recommend the site in terms of location - there is lots of do in walking in cycling distance, although they really cater for passing traffic and do not stock much other than drinks in the shop, and have very few toilets and rather erratic showers.

We needed to recoup our energy (after a manic few days of packing, bad sleep and travelling) so stayed three nights, and every morning the site was deserted, and every evening it was full again, with tiny tents squeezed into the most bizarre little spaces.

In terms of things to do, we cycled up the 'glacier' road (although not up to the glacier itself), hiked through the woods and the kids clambered over every rock on the campsite. All in, we are now in the holiday mood!

Soph.

 

[zeratul]

You seem to have the maximum possible luggage space extension with that towel bar luggage box and the roof box combined. How many kids are travelling with you?

What do you store in the roof box? Are you taking weight limits into account or ignoring the official limit (which seems low, as long as the roofs not open..)

I'm also considering to make the same journey - this summer or the next.
With 3 kids. Without towel bar, but a with a roof box...

 

[SteveM]

So we only have the two (8 + 11) rather than three kids. Also worth mentioning ours is a Beach with the three seat bench. The roofbox is low profile so holds just four thule bags. We each get a bag for our clothes. They are not packed to the max either (We will need to wash at some point!). To get the roof up we have to remove the bags all together (going either in the front foot wells or in a storage tent if staying longer). Even with just the bars and box we get a bit of roof drop overnight. (Its manual and on gas struts only). We have checked before and the weights (bars/ bags/ boxes) are there or thereabouts in terms of max weight.

The big white box on the thule towbar carrier is our food box (costco big american cool box). The max weight on this is 45kgs so we had to be clever in what we packed. This is really helping us keep the food cost down. You can't go too heavy with tins etc. We also have a big waeco fridge in the main van and I vac packed loads of meat etc. Then in the boot we have everything else - tent, chairs, shoes + other camping stuff.

Bike carrier has four 26" wheeled bikes and is a tight fit. We have taken photos of the optimum pedal positions!

My husband also went a bit mad finding additional space... moving the jack to under the bonnet next to the battery, that enabled six wine bottles to go in its space around the wheel arch! We also have loads of stuff under the drivers seat after relocating the wiring holder a bit!

We have kept the back seat in the bed folding position and the stuff in the boot at a level to enable us to setup without moving things. This is probably overkill, so very possible to do if you stack stuff up higher than this or move the seat forward further when travelling.

Hope that helps!

Soph.

 

[SteveM]

Next instalment...

By Wednesday we felt ready to hit the road again. Options were Bergen or Flam, and as the forecast for the weekend was rain, we decided we’d go to Flam in the mountains for a few days while the weather held, and then see how things planned out for the Bergen city visit at the weekend.

A few miles out of Odda and we had a bit of a drama! An Italian motorhome came way too close to us and took out the wing mirror. As we pulled over to a layby, we realised that the motorhome had done the same thing to the Dutch Westphalia in front of us!
We managed to retrieve the wing mirror casing and proceeded on our way.

Flam Camping was a lovely site, feeling quite private as camping was in tiers up the hill. The location was amazing for both fjord cruises and the Flam railway, both in short walking distance. Wifi was free too.

We stayed a few days, and headed off when the weather turned wet, on our way to Bergen.
We had planned to stay at Bratland Camping, but on arrival it seemed quite exposed to the road. We drove around a bit, and ended up at Lone Camping, a bit further out of Bergen.
It proved to be an excellent choice - a little dominated by motorhomes, but next to a beautiful lake and with the cleanest bathrooms we’ve seen. The bus into Bergen was very easy too, and being 5 minutes up the road form the other campsites meant that we always got a seat on the bus.

 

[SteveM]

We wanted to see Oslo next, but didn’t like the look of the Oslo campsites, so we decided to go to Moss (south of Oslo), which would give us a good train route in to Oslo, whilst being on the coast.

To break up the long drive, we left Bergen in the early evening, and decided to stop somewhere en route for a bit of wild camping. We drove around 2.5 hours into the mountains, and found a great spot where the girls could build snowmen, and we were lucky enough to see an amazing sunset over the lake and mountains. Hubby checked the kids a few times in the night to make sure they weren’t frostbitten, but all was fine!

We arrived in Moss early afternoon the next day at Nes Camping. Unfortunately not a campsite I would recommend. The staff were lovely, and toilets clean (also free showers), but packed to the gunnels with static caravans - not quite our cup of tea.
However, the train into Oslo worked well - we were around 7km from town, and cycled in and then took a 40 minute fast train into Oslo. Train prices are really reasonable - around £11 per adult.

 

[ArcticMatt]

Sounds like a great trip so far. We stopped in that site in Odda last year waiting for the weather to clear for Trolltunga which thankfully it did.

Are you still in Norway? Here's a few from last year in my old Syncro http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357485&page=4