n3m3515

Hello bikeforums.net community!

So my friend and I have decided to take quite a grand cycling tour through Scandinavia, starting from Stockholm, through Oslo, to Bergen, then to Stavanger, then by ferry to Hirtshals port, then through Denmark to Copenhagen, then back to Sweden to Gothenburg and finally back to Stockholm – it’s quite big, maybe too big cause we have less than one month (but that’s a bit complicated)

So first of all I should say that I’m a student on an exchange program currently in Kuopio, Finland, and my plan is to move out from Kuopio completely now on Saturday (so that I don’t have to return back after the tour), so I would need to have my stuff to be kept somewhere in Stockholm for like one month (nothing really valuable, but then again I need it ), so my first question is how to do that? I thought to find someone via Couchsurfing, what do you think?

The second and the biggest problem is that my friend has an exam on 23rd of June, so as I have to return to Stockholm, one option we are considering is for her to depart earlier, e.g. in Copenhagen (the first option is to cut the route somehow).

But my biggest question is – what do you think of the route? ^^ Here’s the photo of the route (Ive used Mapmyride.com, I cant get the link of the map)

We are both so busy with the studies that we still haven’t planned much, only somewhat the Norway part. And also as we plan to travel as cheap as possible, by camping and preferably couchsurfing, so we would need to rearrange the route according the hosts available. Most of the parts of this route is just from-to on Google maps, so I guess it’s not really the prettiest route we can take. Is there something that we’re missing, that we must visit? Do you know some nice cycling roads we can use? Any advices are very welcome!

And also this is actually my first cycling tour ^^, so I’m quite a noob, but I cycle a lot (stamina is my least problem) and my friend already had two 2000km+ tours like this.

We would be really very thankful for any answer, and for any advice on anything (from bike maintenance to camping)!!! ^^

P.S. What do you think about crossing the Oresund Bridge on bike? It has a tunnel part, but it’s about 4km only ^^

imi

Hej!
Some quick thoughts.

How many kms is the whole trip?

Wild camping is, as you probably know, allowed in both Sweden and Norway, but not in Denmark. In the forests you don't have to be "stealthy", a tent by a lake won't be given a second glance. I've often slept on beaches in Denmark as well though.

You can't ride the Öresund bridge; motor vehicles and trains only.

Have you looked at the Göta Canal (Götakanalen) as an alternative route from Gothenburg to Stockholm.

The west coast route from Gothenburg to Oslo is really pretty, (but not on your route), whereas the stretch from Malmö to Gothenburg, less so. One option to shorten the route would be take the ferry from Kristiansand to Hirtshals, ride to Fredrikshaven (either straight across or -better- up over Skagen) and take the ferry to Gothenburg from there. That's almost cutting out the Denmark part of your route completely, although Skagen is a really cute town. It would be expensive though with all the ferry tickets of course.

Be prepared for mosquitoes

Let me know when you'll be arriving in Gothenburg. /Timi

MichaelW

Denmark has plenty of very low cost or free camping. Get the booklet from tourist info :
Overnatning i det fri


In Stavanger you can take a trip to the spectacular Preikestolen, and easy ferry/bus/climb, no boots needed. The city has a campsite at MOSVANGEN lake.

fietsbob

Only done a UK ferry to Stavanger to Kristiansand , ferry to Hirtshals then a Baltic ferry to Poland Pomeranian coast, from CPH. it was 1991.


yes if you are exposed to the wind , the Mozzys wont be swarming around your head, like they are when sheltered in the forest trails.