Norway - August for 2 - 3 months. How best to do it pls?! (1 Viewer)

[Mleabon]

We travelled up the west coast "Arctic Road" in July then carried on North, eventually to Nordkap which is a must. En-route we did Lofoten but weren't impressed, thought Senja was much better. After Nordkap we returned to Tromso where we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights in early October. By then the snow line was getting lower down the mountains each morning so it was time to leave! We crossed over into Sweden at Narvik then headed for the East Coast before heading south. Crossed back by ferry to Denmark then another to Germany before travelling through Holland and Belgium back to Calais. Booze is very expensive in Norway but not too bad in Sweden so we did a couple of "booze cruises" across the border and back to stock up. You need to plan your route to get LPG refills but, perhaps more importantly, toilet emptying out of season is a challenge! Water is easy, just ask at a fuel station.
We went "the long way round" across Germany, all around Poland then up through the Baltics and across to Finland before crossing to Sweden, a great trip of over 12,000 miles involving new tyres and batteries en-route!

I think a lot of locals dash across the border to shop in Sweden especially for alcohol.

 

[jennywren]

We travelled up the west coast "Arctic Road" in July then carried on North, eventually to Nordkap which is a must. En-route we did Lofoten but weren't impressed, thought Senja was much better. After Nordkap we returned to Tromso where we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights in early October. By then the snow line was getting lower down the mountains each morning so it was time to leave! We crossed over into Sweden at Narvik then headed for the East Coast before heading south. Crossed back by ferry to Denmark then another to Germany before travelling through Holland and Belgium back to Calais. Booze is very expensive in Norway but not too bad in Sweden so we did a couple of "booze cruises" across the border and back to stock up. You need to plan your route to get LPG refills but, perhaps more importantly, toilet emptying out of season is a challenge! Water is easy, just ask at a fuel station.
We went "the long way round" across Germany, all around Poland then up through the Baltics and across to Finland before crossing to Sweden, a great trip of over 12,000 miles involving new tyres and batteries en-route!

Good point made by 'We three' about LPG. Not so many LPG stations in the north of Norway or Sweden (but just enough to get by). More importantly, except for one LPG 'shop' in Helsinki, there are no stations in Finland. Lulea, just over border in Sweden does have a LPG station. Also, there are a few LPG 'shops' (not self service) in Sweden that will fill up calor bottles for you but not always easy or convenient to find so definitely best to have self fill bottles.

 

[bilM]

The last LPG we got in North Norway was in Alta.

 

[GrahamPye]

Doesn't seem, however, to be a way around reducing the cost of the bridge from Denmark to Sweden, ferries are very similar.

If you're a MH rather than a Camper (which seem to be priced as cars) then it's (slightly) worth buying an ØresundGO discount agreement (aimed at frequent travellers) which costs DKK359 (£41) reducing the bridge price from DKK910 (£105) to DKK350 (£40) i.e. a total of £81, a saving of £24.

Ferries, we tend to do Harwich to HoH or Hull to Rotterdam (often quite pricey but saves mileage if from up north!).

We're in Scotland,, which is a long way North, but the Hull or Newcastle ferries are ridiculously expensive at the moment so we've decided it's worth going to Harwich even though it's a longer journey and possible an extra day's travel. It's also a shorter crossing and not overnight.

Regarding the return home from Sweden, we've concluded that taking the Öresund and Great Belt Bridges and driving through Denmark is more predictable/flexible than taking the Rødby to Puttgarden Ferry and although the mileage is higher, it's about the same cost.

Thanks to all the contributors so far - as you may have guessed we're doing this trip end May to mid July too, and lots of useful information here.

 

[Bailey58]

Useful list of motorhome service points.

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