90 days Norway & 8 Country Tour. (1 Viewer)

[paddymcc]

Found it , you have to pay a small toll to get there but well worth it. You could wild camp nearby when we went in 2015.

 

[cyberyacht]

Hi cyberyacht , thanks. Is that the Fantoft, which is a replica in Bergen itself. The original burned down in 1992 I think. We may go into Bergen this week and will try to find it if we can find good enough parking. We have visited two really old ones today about 800 years old. Amazing structures.

That's the one. The original dated back to 1150, only about thirty years younger than our parish church. We visited whilst on a cruise and went by bus. GoogleEarth shows fairly cramped parking unless not busy.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Hi all, just published this week's blog:
Week 7 where we journey onwards to Stavanger.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

If anybody reading this knows of good places to visit South or East of Stavanger we would love suggestions, we still have 5 weeks left. We can investigate Denmark of course and even a bit of Germany. We don't like museums and the like very much. Mainly outdoor things.

 

[Barti Ddu]

If anybody reading this knows of good places to visit South or East of Stavanger we would love suggestions, we still have 5 weeks left. We can investigate Denmark of course and even a bit of Germany. We don't like museums and the like very much. Mainly outdoor things.

If you're after the great outdoors, then this is an hour east of Stavanger -

A photo of the day thread

Perhaps he didn't want to get up early tomorrow. Not the smartest of moves then…those of us in the nearby car park can snooze until 45 mins before departure while this guy will get moved on in his underpants as soon as the gate he’s blocking opens at stupid o’clock, if not earlier.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

And this is about 2 hours east of Stavanger -

A photo of the day thread

Perhaps he didn't want to get up early tomorrow. Not the smartest of moves then…those of us in the nearby car park can snooze until 45 mins before departure while this guy will get moved on in his underpants as soon as the gate he’s blocking opens at stupid o’clock, if not earlier.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

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[OldAgeTravellers]

If you're after the great outdoors, then this is an hour east of Stavanger -

A photo of the day thread

Perhaps he didn't want to get up early tomorrow. Not the smartest of moves then…those of us in the nearby car park can snooze until 45 mins before departure while this guy will get moved on in his underpants as soon as the gate he’s blocking opens at stupid o’clock, if not earlier.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

And this is about 2 hours east of Stavanger -

A photo of the day thread

Perhaps he didn't want to get up early tomorrow. Not the smartest of moves then…those of us in the nearby car park can snooze until 45 mins before departure while this guy will get moved on in his underpants as soon as the gate he’s blocking opens at stupid o’clock, if not earlier.

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Thanks very much. But as I said in the Blog at over 80 and after her Stroke Judy is not up to that sort of hike. She does as much as she can but a couple of hours up hill is just too much. We wanted to do it though.

 

[Rambleon]

Hi
Thanks for your posts, have read all of it and found very interesting. We are currently on day 29 and still heading north. Currently at UKK National Park, about 25km south of Inari in Finland, and still enjoying the 'midnight sun', just, I believe the sun sets again in two days and a few more days at Nordkapp. As you say, Scandinavia is fantastic for this sort of travel, this is our 7th trip, summer and winter, north and south. Our plans are to go as far north and east as we can in Finnmark, across to the Barrents Sea coast. And then, our tick trip to Nordkapp (our first time!).

Have not decided yet, our trip south but probably across to Alta/Tromso/Semja/Lofoten, then Bodo and back into Sweden. We will monitor how busy it is in Lofoten and decide later. We do have another 7 weeks so hoping it will quieten down a bit when the schools go back in mid August.

Since our crossing from Stockholm to Turku (via Aland Isles which I highly recommend for a few days), we have not seen a single UK vehicle. Our journey north has been up the east side of Finland (generally following the Russian border) and this has been quiet most of the way. Mainly just Finnish motorhomes.

Enjoy the rest of your travels and have a safe journey, and thanks for the info. I will definitely look at your links as we begin going south.

If you manage to get to Alta the Tirpitz museum might be of interest, We intend to visit if we manage our Norway trip next year.

 

[Barti Ddu]

Thanks very much. But as I said in the Blog at over 80 and after her Stroke Judy is not up to that sort of hike. She does as much as she can but a couple of hours up hill is just too much. We wanted to do it though.

If you are wanting to explore the great Norwegian outdoors on more of a road trip than a hike, then the Norwegian Public Roads Authority have created a series of 18 Scenic Routes or "Nasjonale Turisvegar". I don't know if you have seen about them. There is a fantastic printed version from Tourist Offices with stunning photos and all English text. You can also access the information online.

The Scenic Routes

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

East of you in Stavanger is this one -

Ryfylke

A drive in the borderland between the archipelago and the highland moors, from Lysefjorden to Sauda and over the mountain pass to Røldal.

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

South of you is this one -

Jæren

A journey through distinctive cultural landscapes and idyllic coastal towns along the North Sea.

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

As well as being beautiful routes in an amazing environment, the Public Roads Authority have commissioned architects to produce interesting and unique rest stops and viewing platforms along the each route, which is an added attraction.

By the nature of the terrain, the roads are often narrow, steep, and bendy. Even when single track we've found that the frequency of passing places makes them not too onerous.

We're planning on this one tomorrow, heading up from Sognefjord on the Sognefjellet - described as the roof of Norway, as it's the highest pass in Northern Europe at 1,434 metres (4,730 feet).

Sognefjellet

The Scenic Route travels from the cultural landscape in Lom across the highest mountain pass in Norway to the innermost part of Sognefjorden.

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

If you are wanting to explore the great Norwegian outdoors on more of a road trip than a hike, then the Norwegian Public Roads Authority have created a series of 18 Scenic Routes or "Nasjonale Turisvegar". I don't know if you have seen about them. There is a fantastic printed version from Tourist Offices with stunning photos and all English text. You can also access the information online.

The Scenic Routes

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

East of you in Stavanger is this one -

Ryfylke

A drive in the borderland between the archipelago and the highland moors, from Lysefjorden to Sauda and over the mountain pass to Røldal.

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

South of you is this one -

Jæren

A journey through distinctive cultural landscapes and idyllic coastal towns along the North Sea.

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

As well as being beautiful routes in an amazing environment, the Public Roads Authority have commissioned architects to produce interesting and unique rest stops and viewing platforms along the each route, which is an added attraction.

By the nature of the terrain, the roads are often narrow, steep, and bendy. Even when single track we've found that the frequency of passing places makes them not too onerous.

We're planning on this one tomorrow, heading up from Sognefjord on the Sognefjellet - described as the roof of Norway, as it's the highest pass in Northern Europe at 1,434 metres (4,730 feet).

Sognefjellet

The Scenic Route travels from the cultural landscape in Lom across the highest mountain pass in Norway to the innermost part of Sognefjorden.

www.nasjonaleturistveger.no

Thank you, yes we have driven most of the scenic routes, should be doing the 44 Jaeren one on Wednesday. We are a bit east of that at the moment exploring some places along the 45 heading for Svartevatn. If you are working your way south I can thoroughly recommend the 520 from near Røldal to Sauda which I described in our blog last week. Only about 47 km and a little buttock clenching in places but some of the best views although not many stopping places with a large vehicle. But it will take a morning.
We are now south of Stavanger and seeking out good scenery. As we still have 5 weeks left and may run out of Norway. Trying to decide whether to do some of south Sweden or perhaps Denmark If we can’t find enough to excite us in southern Norway.

 

[paddymcc]

The coast SW of Oslo has some interesting scenery with lots of low lying islands and marinas. We had our inflatable canoe which aided access but I think it's still an area worth exploring.

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[BobilG600]

If you want to do the most southerly point in Norway to complement Nordkapp, you can park overnight at Lindesnes Fyr (lighthouse).
For an entrance fee you can visit the lighthouse and a small museum.
N 57.9851, E 7.04948

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

If you want to do the most southerly point in Norway to complement Nordkapp, you can park overnight at Lindesnes Fyr (lighthouse).
For an entrance fee you can visit the lighthouse and a small museum.
N 57.9851, E 7.04948

Going there tomorrow if it stops raining.

 

[BobilG600]

Looks ok late morning onwards.

Langtidsvarsel for Lindesnes fyr

Værvarsel for Lindesnes fyr de neste 10 dagene.

www.yr.no

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Hi all, just published this week's blog:
Week 8 we sadly reach the end of Norway & move on to Denmark next week.

 

[Kilroy]

Great stuff. Thanks for posting your pics & information.

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[OldAgeTravellers]

Hi all, just published the final blog for this tour:
Week-13 The End!
Any questions? Don't hesitate to ask them here or on the blog.

I have done a round-up of our costs for those interested in doing a similar trip.
But for those not wanting to visit our blog I have copied it here:

Round up of costs for the 90 day trip.

Our total distance travelled was 13,757 km ( 8,548 miles)

Total Diesel used was 1,510 lt

Average consumption of 25.74 mpg or 10.97 l/100km

The total cost of diesel was £2.462 averaging £1.63 a ltr a little higher than the current UK cost.

Food Shopping = £1,025 perhaps a little more than in the UK

Ferry’s, Tolls & Parking was £529

Gas used £105

Internet = £80

In the whole 90 days we only paid for three nights camping charges at a Marina in Norway so we could use their washing machines – £22 and at the last Stelplatz in Germany €6.

So a total cost of £4,223 for a 90-day or 13-week holiday! And we enjoyed every single minute. Three months of staying in the motorhome was no trouble at all, even with some of the rainy and cold days we had had.

We could have stayed at campsites, but in Norway especially, there is no need. Motorhomes are welcome to stay almost anywhere.

​

We felt very safe everywhere.

Our Google Timeline for the trip can be seen here >>.

The Oresund Pay account and the Biz which is the bleeper tag attached to the windscreen was very important as it took care of all the tolls on the roads and on the Storebælt and the Øresund bridges. The tag was only ever used on those two bridges but the account gave at least 20% discount and also enabled linking of the AutoPASS for Ferje account for automatically paying for all the ferries. It needed approximately £150 deposited with them initially but gave a full 50% discount on all the ferries. The balance not used will be returned to my account as soon as I claim it. I used our Revolut account to send this money and will get the balance returned there so it is easy to transfer it to Pounds at the best rates.

Lessons Learned.

If/when we go again we will take it very much slower. We didn’t miss out on anything but did rush the first and probably most important part of North Norway.

We would go through Denmark and take a ferry to Kristiansand in Norway, travel Northwards through Norway then return via Sweden which can be done as fast or as slow as necessary, but we did miss most of Sweden and quite a bit of Finland. But then both countries are vast so deserve a separate holiday in each.

Carry some Norwegian coins. We spent no cash at all, everything was on a card, even entry into a small Stave Church so we had no coins for the various roadside stalls selling cherries, honey etc. which was a shame, all were honesty boxes so there was nobody to give change. Also, Aires and Stelplatz and parking in Germany, France etc. needed euro coins so it was a lot of scrabbling about to find the right money. So we must gradually accumulate a collection of euro coins.

 

[Peavy]

Thanks for sharing. There's a lot of valuable information in here

 

[Fat Albert]

I experienced a feeling of Deja Vue when reading your travel blog posts. We travelled from Holland to Kristiansand and returned Kristiansand to Denmark, spending 85 days in country. As you stated, AutoPass for Ferje is a must. I had an AutoPass tag tied to the Ferry. Didn't it make it hassle free. 8 weeks into the trip, we had to go onto war rations with the G&T's , as our secret stash of Gin was being depleted and we were still above the Artic Circle.
I thank you both for taking us on your fantastic journey. Will we go again, I certainly hope so.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

I experienced a feeling of Deja Vue when reading your travel blog posts. We travelled from Holland to Kristiansand and returned Kristiansand to Denmark, spending 85 days in country. As you stated, AutoPass for Ferje is a must. I had an AutoPass tag tied to the Ferry. Didn't it make it hassle free. 8 weeks into the trip, we had to go onto war rations with the G&T's , as our secret stash of Gin was being depleted and we were still above the Artic Circle.
I thank you both for taking us on your fantastic journey. Will we go again, I certainly hope so.

Yes we rationed the wine and G&T's but rationed it so much that I can't remember when it ran out. Bought some more wine at the first Lidl in Denmark.
Thanks for reading, glad you enjoyed it. Return is certainly a must and from what our neighbours say we didn't miss the summer, that never arrived.
Must sort out watering some plants for next time. We nearly killed our two Jade Trees in the house but luckily after a bit of water, they revived as long as the shock doesn't do for them.

 

[enark]

Thanks for this post and your blog.

Going to Norway next year, so so much great info from your endeavours.

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[rolosroller]

for sharing your adventure

. Good value for money

. As you would have spent money at home on shopping +Gas & electric.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

for sharing your adventure

. Good value for money

. As you would have spent money at home on shopping +Gas & electric.

As we have a solar system at home all run by HomeAssistant the house was merrily making me money while we were away so we returned to a positive balance of a few hundred pounds in our Octopus account to help with the small cost during winter. Yes, normal grocery costs need to be deducted from the shopping figure. I just put it in as is to show that it was not as expensive to live as we thought.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Thanks for this post and your blog.

Going to Norway next year, so so much great info from your endeavours.

Do look at the Autopass account, especially the ferry pay account. We are over 3.5 tonnes so have to have an account in Norway. We are also over 6mtr so the ferry charges double so the discount is very much worth it. As long as you are registered with Autopass as type M road tolls are the at the 3.5 tonne rate in Norway. I am sure you will have a fantastic time. We may go again next year.

 

[jennywren]

Hi all, just published the final blog for this tour:
Week-13 The End!
Any questions? Don't hesitate to ask them here or on the blog.

I have done a round-up of our costs for those interested in doing a similar trip.
But for those not wanting to visit our blog I have copied it here:

Round up of costs for the 90 day trip.

Our total distance travelled was 13,757 km ( 8,548 miles)

Total Diesel used was 1,510 lt

Average consumption of 25.74 mpg or 10.97 l/100km

The total cost of diesel was £2.462 averaging £1.63 a ltr a little higher than the current UK cost.

Food Shopping = £1,025 perhaps a little more than in the UK

Ferry’s, Tolls & Parking was £529

Gas used £105

Internet = £80

In the whole 90 days we only paid for three nights camping charges at a Marina in Norway so we could use their washing machines – £22 and at the last Stelplatz in Germany €6.

So a total cost of £4,223 for a 90-day or 13-week holiday! And we enjoyed every single minute. Three months of staying in the motorhome was no trouble at all, even with some of the rainy and cold days we had had.

We could have stayed at campsites, but in Norway especially, there is no need. Motorhomes are welcome to stay almost anywhere.

​

We felt very safe everywhere.

Our Google Timeline for the trip can be seen here >>.

The Oresund Pay account and the Biz which is the bleeper tag attached to the windscreen was very important as it took care of all the tolls on the roads and on the Storebælt and the Øresund bridges. The tag was only ever used on those two bridges but the account gave at least 20% discount and also enabled linking of the AutoPASS for Ferje account for automatically paying for all the ferries. It needed approximately £150 deposited with them initially but gave a full 50% discount on all the ferries. The balance not used will be returned to my account as soon as I claim it. I used our Revolut account to send this money and will get the balance returned there so it is easy to transfer it to Pounds at the best rates.

Lessons Learned.

If/when we go again we will take it very much slower. We didn’t miss out on anything but did rush the first and probably most important part of North Norway.

We would go through Denmark and take a ferry to Kristiansand in Norway, travel Northwards through Norway then return via Sweden which can be done as fast or as slow as necessary, but we did miss most of Sweden and quite a bit of Finland. But then both countries are vast so deserve a separate holiday in each.

Carry some Norwegian coins. We spent no cash at all, everything was on a card, even entry into a small Stave Church so we had no coins for the various roadside stalls selling cherries, honey etc. which was a shame, all were honesty boxes so there was nobody to give change. Also, Aires and Stelplatz and parking in Germany, France etc. needed euro coins so it was a lot of scrabbling about to find the right money. So we must gradually accumulate a collection of euro coins.

Hi all
As a comparison, we have also just come back from an 11 week Scandi trip. I can agree with pretty much all what Judy and Steve have said above and thought it may be of interest to note our costs etc. We tend to record this on a spreadsheet but I will list in the same order as Judy and Steve, just to make it more meaningful.So, 76 days door to door,

7845 miles. Route: (sorry, have not logged it on Google), Cumbria/Dover/Dunkerque/Granaa (port in Denmark)/ferry to Halmstad (Sweden)/Drove to Kapellskar (just N of Stockholm)/ferry to Aland Islands (mid way between Sweden and Finland, and highly recommended for a few days)/ferry to Turku (Finland)/drove across to East of Finland and then north, generally following the Russian border (within a matter of yards at times!) to Kirkenes and Grense Jacobselv (far eastern bit of Norway)/ across to Nordkapp/Senja/Lofoton/down through centre of Sweden/Swedish west coast islands of Orust and Tjorn/Trelleborg/ferry to Travemunde/Germany/Hook of Holland/ferry to Harwich/Cumbria.

Total diesel used 1188 lt. Total Cost £1687. Average cost £1.42/lt. Cheapest we paid was £1.26 in Sweden, most expensive £1.66 in north of Finland. Average consumption 30.18 mpg.

Food shopping £1248. Using supermarkets, we do not find Sweden and Finland much different than UK. Norway, a little more expensive (especially alcohol) but much more in line with UK (and EU generally) than it used to be. I would suggest that Scandi is not 'expensive' for food shopping, but you will notice the difference if eating out in restaurants and/or most things where there is a high labour input.

International ferries, Dover/Dunkerque, Granaa/Halmstad, Kappelskar/Aland Isles, Aland Isles/Turku, Trelleborg/Travemunde, HoH/Harwich totalled £544.

Domestic ferries, bridges, tolls, parking etc £37.00. We tended to make great use of 'yellow' highway ferries, these are free and considered part of the road system in Scandi. The Norwegian Govt. have also introduced 'non-paying' ferries for routes that have less traffic than 100, 000 units pa. Therefore, if you are a bit canny, you can save significant money here. We crossed to and from Lofoten for example completely without cost. It may mean (sometimes) that you cannot take the direct or shortest route but as per the post above, the ferry journies in Norway can often be the best bit. There is a Norwegian website that lists these 'non-paying' ferry routes, it is quite extensive at present but I believe is subject to change.

Gas used £58, (approx 27kg). We are not high users of gas. Plenty of lakes to swim (and wash!) in both Finland and Sweden, Norway too, but due to depth and glacier/snow runoff, not always quite so warm. We also made good use of the wood bbq's for cooking.

Wifi: £144, about 320Gb used. Mixture of EE card, IQ data cards (£20 pcm for 100Gb, no roaming costs), local (unlimited usage) sim in Finland (Telia 25euro per month). Non-swedes are not allowed to purchase data sim cards in Sweden (without a 'personal number') and local sims in Norway are very expensive.

Like Judy and Steve, we tended to camp 'wild' majority of nights. Generally, very easy in Finland and Sweden. It is also easy (and often encouraged!) in most of Norway too, albeit, Lofoten is becoming a bit more restricted as are some of the small islands, Vaeroy (to south of Lofoten, where there is a blanket ban). The Aland Islands was 'easy' to wild camp, the Swedish islands of Orust and Tjorn and the Gothenborg Archipelago, there are some restrictions, still totally possible, you just have to be a bit more selective. The ease of 'wild' camping is one of the many things we like about Scandi. For overnights, including laundry (Sweden does not really have the typical UK type launderette), we paid the grand total of £77, on 'cheap'/donation only sites, 6 in total.

It is interesting to note Judy and Steve did about 700 miles more than us and that is without touching much on Finland. Whereas, we travelled the whole length of the Finland/Russian border (including an extra 400 mile detour for us back into Finland to attend a dentists appointment), and, therefore, covered a greater geografical area. I think this difference in mileage helps to illustrate the circuitous Norwegian west coast and fjordland etc, most of which, we did not do on this trip.

We averaged about 100 miles per day (which is definitely on the high side for us). Our average in just Scandi alone (excluding UK and N Europe etc) was closer to 80 miles per day. This figure is also high for us as we tend to base our itineries on about 60-70 miles per day max.

Hope this may be of benefit to someone. We, absolutely, love Scandi (soft spot for Sweden) and would highly recommend for motorhomers, we have been several times and always come home with the feeling we want to go again. This time, going to Finland (first time with the van) made it a bit different from previous trips. It is flat (flattish!) and Yes, there are alot of trees (and lakes!) but it most certainly is not boring as a Norwegian couple suggested it was (jokingly, I think!). Norway will win hands down for its dramatic coastal/fjordland scenery (few places can compete with this) but these areas can often be busy with tourists (and cruiselines!) but Sweden and Finland has so much to offer, absolute wilderness (yes, Norway has some of that too!) and often near-empty roads. I could go on...

 

[Barti Ddu]

I thought I'd add my two penneth to what has been previously said, although I agree with everything written.

We're still in Scandinavia. Been here 10 weeks. Three more weeks until we return home.

Like previously stated, we're finding the day to day living costs not to be as bad as feared. Norway is noticeably dearer than Sweden for pretty much everything, but costs are not too eye watering even there.

Service industries tend to be expensive, due to the high cost of labour.

Interestingly, consumer durables are often cheaper than the UK. A replacement phone was needed in Norway (distress purchase for Mrs BD - when she dropped hers down a mountain crevice - I kid you not)! A basic Motorola Android replacement smartphone cost £72 in Norway (UK price £99).

DIY materials, fishing tackle, new shower hose, etc., have all cost the same as the UK.

Diesel is noticeably cheaper in Scandinavia than the UK. We've generally paid the equivalent of £1.38 per litre in Norway, and £1.25 in Sweden.

Autogas is around £1 a litre. Adblu from the pump is only 65p a litre!

Food in Sweden (Willy's and Lidl) is comparable with the UK. In Norway, it's clearly dearer, but using Rema100 and Kiwi supermarkets it's still not outrageous.

Eating out is very expensive, especially in Norway. However, coffee and cake is not dissimilar to UK Costa prices.

Alcohol is significantly dearer in Norway. Beer can be purchased from supermarkets, but anything stronger is only available from state liquor stores.

However in Sweden, alcohol is similar (sometimes cheaper) than the UK. Swedish lager (Lucky Bait 5.4% ABV) is around 70p for a 330ml can. Wine starts from around £6.50 a bottle. Again, all alcohol stronger than 3.5% has to be purchased from the government monopoly liquor store. The state liquor stores are beautifully laid out with knowledgeable staff and a massive selection including imported British beers and ciders. Even drinking out is not prohibitive. A 400ml glass of local draught beer at some of the neighborhood bars can be under £3.50. At the Bishops Arms chain of pubs (in most Swedish towns and cities) it's around £6 for 400ml. Anything imported is still pricey.

We've spent very little on campsites. You can wild camp everywhere. It's not just motorhomes, but caravans, roof tents, youngsters pitching ordinary tents in lay-bys next to their cars, and a lot of car sleepers parked overnight before getting up in the morning to hike. Motorhome service stops are all over the place in Norway, in lay-bys, affiliated to motorhome dealerships, or next to filling stations. Free to dispose of grey and black, and take on fresh water. Similar exist in Sweden but are harder to find. The main exception to free camping is in cities. We've paid nearly £30 a night to stay in the centre of Stockholm - decent showers / toilets / EHU, etc. so not bad value in the centre of an expensive major city, 5 minutes walk from a tube station.

Public transport is the same cost as the UK.

Launderettes are hard to find, but no dearer than the UK.

Tolls are pretty much non existent in Sweden (just a couple of bridges). They're plentiful in Norway however. They are not expensive though. We've spent £55 on road tolls (mainly around cities and through tunnels) - we tend to avoid main roads / motorways, and £95 on ferries - both figures after the discount from having an Autopass agreement.

We've used our various UK Lebara and O2 SIMs for roaming without issues and without incurring any additional cost during the trip - so far - fingers crossed!

The exchange rates for both the Swedish and Norwegian Krona against Sterling are at recent highs, which is why the costs don't seem to bad.

We've not visited Finland on this trip, and only quickly drove through Denmark, but will be spending longer there on our way home.

Anyway, enough about costs! Scandinavia is a fascinating place. It's beautiful and wild. Fantastic for hiking. It's unfailingly friendly and welcoming. It's also got fantastic public services, superb roads and infrastructure, modern cities and an overall "sheen" about the place that is sadly lacking in the UK and much of Europe.

I've not got a blog, or a separate Scandinavian thread running on MHF, but I post regularly in the Picture of the Day thread, and occasionally on the Photo of you Camping last Night thread, if you want to see some of the amazing places Scandinavia has to offer.

We're already planning another trip by motorhome, and maybe a couple of weekend city breaks too. Stockholm is fantastic. We've only arrived in Oslo this evening, but looking forward to exploring that too over the next couple of days.

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[jennywren]

I thought I'd add my two penneth to what has been previously said, although I agree with everything written.

We're still in Scandinavia. Been here 10 weeks. Three more weeks until we return home.

Like previously stated, we're finding the day to day living costs not to be as bad as feared. Norway is noticeably dearer than Sweden for pretty much everything, but costs are not too eye watering even there.

Service industries tend to be expensive, due to the high cost of labour.

Interestingly, consumer durables are often cheaper than the UK. A replacement phone was needed in Norway (distress purchase for Mrs BD - when she dropped hers down a mountain crevice - I kid you not)! A basic Motorola Android replacement smartphone cost £72 in Norway (UK price £99).

DIY materials, fishing tackle, new shower hose, etc., have all cost the same as the UK.

Diesel is noticeably cheaper in Scandinavia than the UK. We've generally paid the equivalent of £1.38 per litre in Norway, and £1.25 in Sweden.

Autogas is around £1 a litre. Adblu from the pump is only 65p a litre!

Food in Sweden (Willy's and Lidl) is comparable with the UK. In Norway, it's clearly dearer, but using Rema100 and Kiwi supermarkets it's still not outrageous.

Eating out is very expensive, especially in Norway. However, coffee and cake is not dissimilar to UK Costa prices.

Alcohol is significantly dearer in Norway. Beer can be purchased from supermarkets, but anything stronger is only available from state liquor stores.

However in Sweden, alcohol is similar (sometimes cheaper) than the UK. Swedish lager (Lucky Bait 5.4% ABV) is around 70p for a 330ml can. Wine starts from around £6.50 a bottle. Again, all alcohol stronger than 3.5% has to be purchased from the government monopoly liquor store. The state liquor stores are beautifully laid out with knowledgeable staff and a massive selection including imported British beers and ciders. Even drinking out is not prohibitive. A 400ml glass of local draught beer at some of the neighborhood bars can be under £3.50. At the Bishops Arms chain of pubs (in most Swedish towns and cities) it's around £6 for 400ml. Anything imported is still pricey.

We've spent very little on campsites. You can wild camp everywhere. It's not just motorhomes, but caravans, roof tents, youngsters pitching ordinary tents in lay-bys next to their cars, and a lot of car sleepers parked overnight before getting up in the morning to hike. Motorhome service stops are all over the place in Norway, in lay-bys, affiliated to motorhome dealerships, or next to filling stations. Free to dispose of grey and black, and take on fresh water. Similar exist in Sweden but are harder to find. The main exception to free camping is in cities. We've paid nearly £30 a night to stay in the centre of Stockholm - decent showers / toilets / EHU, etc. so not bad value in the centre of an expensive major city, 5 minutes walk from a tube station.

Public transport is the same cost as the UK.

Launderettes are hard to find, but no dearer than the UK.

Tolls are pretty much non existent in Sweden (just a couple of bridges). They're plentiful in Norway however. They are not expensive though. We've spent £55 on road tolls (mainly around cities and through tunnels) - we tend to avoid main roads / motorways, and £95 on ferries - both figures after the discount from having an Autopass agreement.

We've used our various UK Lebara and O2 SIMs for roaming without issues and without incurring any additional cost during the trip - so far - fingers crossed!

The exchange rates for both the Swedish and Norwegian Krona against Sterling are at recent highs, which is why the costs don't seem to bad.

We've not visited Finland on this trip, and only quickly drove through Denmark, but will be spending longer there on our way home.

Anyway, enough about costs! Scandinavia is a fascinating place. It's beautiful and wild. Fantastic for hiking. It's unfailingly friendly and welcoming. It's also got fantastic public services, superb roads and infrastructure, modern cities and an overall "sheen" about the place that is sadly lacking in the UK and much of Europe.

I've not got a blog, or a separate Scandinavian thread running on MHF, but I post regularly in the Picture of the Day thread, and occasionally on the Photo of you Camping last Night thread, if you want to see some of the amazing places Scandinavia has to offer.

We're already planning another trip by motorhome, and maybe a couple of weekend city breaks too. Stockholm is fantastic. We've only arrived in Oslo this evening, but looking forward to exploring that too over the next couple of days.

Enjoy the rest of your trip. If you are taking the bridge/ferry etc from Gothenburg /halmstad/trelleborg/malmo etc, I certainly recommend the swedish islands (orust, tjorn etc, and the archipelagos), that you will pass. All the ferries are foc.
Enjoy whatever you do. Like you, we shall certainly be returning again, probably next year in the van. For quite a few years now, we try and do a winter trip (not in the van) to the north of Sweden, a magical place that time of year.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

My Thanks to jennywren & Barti Ddu for their great additions, Their diesel costs were more like I was expecting so I went back and checked my spreadsheet and I had put the Ferry from Kristiansand to Hirtshals in the wrong column which vastly inflated the fuel price. And a couple of prices had not been carried to the totals. Unfortunately I can't edit the post above so the corected figures are:

The total cost of diesel was £2.193 averaging £1.45 a ltr a little cheaper than the UK cost when we left.
Ferry’s, Tolls & Parking was £861.84
but that includes the tunnel to Europe and the Ferry back.

Sorry for my mistake in my defence my iPad decided to pack up a few days ago and the spreadsheet was on that so I had to recreate it. The annoying thing is I back it up to the NAS at home so as we have been away I have no backup for the last three months. Hopefully it has been backing up to the cloud but I can't remember if I switched that off to save data while away.

We also encountered a number of FREE ferries in Norway mainly around the Lofoten Islands. So I think it is better to break the ferry costs down as your choices may be different These were ours, as you can see the ferries & tolls in Norway are negligible in the scheme of things:

The Tunnel to Europe £178.00
the Storebælt bridge £ 68.39
the Øresund bridge £114.37
The Ferry from Kristsand £242.73
The Ferry to Dover £102.00

Ferries in Norway £ 89.60
Tolls & Bridges in Norway £ 64.26
Parking £ 21.49

So a Total of £861.84

We are over 3.5 tonne and 6mt which makes a big difference on the ferries, so if you are under 6mt your Norwegian ferry costs will be half ours as long as you sign up for the AutoPASS for Ferje discount scheme.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Route: (sorry, have not logged it on Google)

The Map I published was a screen grab from my Google Timeline which Google produces automatically by noting where your phone is seen by a router somewhere or maybe a mast. You may have it switched off if it is possible. I quite like it though, after all I am being tracked by my credit card and ANPR cameras so why not have access to some of the tracking, it may come in handy some time if your number plate is cloned and you get a speeding ticket which is not yours.
I found it spooky at first when I went on to the website of a Motorhome dealers in Spain I visited once. On the website it said, "You visited this place on 15th March 2020" Google now sends me an email once a month with a link to it.
I also track my route with Autoroute running on an old small laptop on the dash. But that has a limit and slows the map down so on a trip like this I had to reload the map each week initially.
Try Googling "My Timeline" you may have a similar map showing where you have been.