Eastern Europe to the Nordkapp
 

Morning all,
We are looking for advice and suggestions, we have been on the road since 2nd March, starting in Spain and travelling to Morocco before coming back to Spain and making our way through France, Italy, Albania and up the coast to Croatia before the weather gods turned and the rain set in. We have made a run to Slovakia and are looking to go to Ukraine, Poland and moving north to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, before turning towards the Nordkapp. so the suggestions, advice and recommendations we are looking for are places to stay and visit along this route. We have mainly been camping but its not so much fun in the rain:stormy: also places of interest as we do not know this part of the world and looking for interesting places to see.
thank you in advance.
Neil and Steph
aka the talking monkeys

Church of bones in Kutna Hora, Sedlec Ossuary, Czeck republic is a unique place. A church with deciration made if human bones of several thousands of humans. https://sedlecossuary.com/
Then Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in Poland. For the sake of history and all those who where killed there.

Then the capital cities in the baltic stated are really nice, especially Tallinn in Estonia.

In Finland take the road that goes relatively close to the russian border called the Via Karelia. When in Ivalo and further north take the provincial route 971 and cross over to Norway at Neiden. Then visit the Kirkenes, the bordertown to Russia. Then Vardø and Hamningberg - the latter an abandoned fishing village but with many people living there during summer. A great spot for camping btw if the weather is on your side.
And then continue to Nordkapp....

If I was starting from Slovakia, I'd do the Lower Tatras, then go north to Zakopane/Krakow and head up to Lithuania from there.

But, if you want to go east first... you'll be going through Lviv, which is definitely a worthwhile tourist stop. Then it depends if you want to go for a Belarussian visa - you can skip a lot of the paperwork using a tour agency's letter for a visa-on-arrival to the Western Belarussian regions around Brest and Grodno - personally I think the last communist state of Europe is a more interesting experience than northeastern Poland.

Lithuania: I've not spent time in Kaunas but heard it's worthwhile. Vilnius is worth a bit of a stop, but not for too long. See Užupis, the Gediminas tower, the Cathedral, eat some cepelinai. On your way north, check out the Hill of Crosses just up past Šiauliai. If you get a Russian visa instead of a Belarus one, you can go check out Kaliningrad and then cross the border on the Kursh spit at Nida, there's wonderful camping all around there on the LT side, and a quick ferry to the mainland. Klaipeda itself is not worth seeing, but I hear Palanga is nice.

In Latvia, obviously your main destination is Riga. I'm not too familiar with the south and western parts of the country, but north towards Estonia, your choices are the westerly route along the coast (check out the beaches at Saulkrasti) or easterly via Sigulda/Turaida, the Gauja National Park and Cesis - all worth seeing.

With Estonia, again it depends which route you took. If you went west and crossed at Ainaži/Ikla, you'll reach Pärnu (get some legendary pizza at Stefani) and then you can head west to the big islands. There is an inter-island vehicle ferry, so you can go from the mainland to Saaremaa, then take a short hop to Hiiumaa and come back to the mainland at Haapsalu, another coastal resort town with a nice castle ruin.

If you went east, there's loads I can recommend in Southeast Estonia, and you'll eventually reach Tartu, which is very nice. From there you can take the highway to reach Tallinn quickly, or head north via Jõgeva, Järva-Jaani, and join the Narva highway just outside Tallinn (near the Jägala waterfall if you want to stretch your legs). You can also camp in some very nice places on the northern coast, in the Lahemaa National Park.

Tallinn, as mentioned above, is a great tourist destination. Send me a PM when you get here, I'll show you around.

In Finland, Snakeboy's advice is good. The main roads north, via Oulu and Rovaniemi, are fast, straight, safe and boring. It's a two-day ride to Lapland, but I would actually recommend taking the overnight car-carrier train if you are short on time. Hotels in Finland are expensive, but wild camping is allowed, and private campsites with cabins (mökkyt/hytter) are reasonably priced - 30 euros would get you a cabin for two or four, guaranteed dry, comfy beds, usually with a kitchenette (but no shower).

In the far north/northeast of Finland, I recommend stopping over at Inari (just north of Ivalo), where there is the Sami cultural center. If you are following the western road from Oulu along the Swedish border, then I recommend the Harriniva campsite just south of Muonio - they have cheap comfy huts, lots of extra activities like whitewater rafting, and a huge sled dog center. In the summer the dogs have puppies, and since these are working dogs who need to be comfortable around strangers, they use tourists for this - you walk in, pay your six euros for a tour, and they give you a husky puppy to play with. :)

The biggest tip about Nordkapp is: get there in the morning, before 11am, and you don't have to pay for the ticket. (The barriers are open before the ticket-sellers arrive there.) It's kind of an open secret. :) If you are too cold or tired to camp, the Vandrerhjem in Honningsvag is the only semi-affordable accommodation option around Nordkapp, all the other hotels are stupidly expensive.

Have you thought about your trip back down? If you have time, I really recommend following the Norwegian coast via Alta/Tromsö to Senja and Andenes, then going down the Lofoten archipelago and taking the ferry from Moskenes to Bodo at the southern tip. Then you can either keep going via Norway (gorgeous, expensive, stay away from the E6 main highway), or cross the mountains to Abisko/Kiruna and head down via Sweden (cheaper, fast, easy, boring).

Lithuanian Sea Side
 

If anyone will search this topic just wanted to tell you guys more about Sea Side of Lithuania :thumbup1:

So starting in Klaipėda (3rd biggest City in Lithuania) you can find anything you need starting from really intresting museums to night clubs to party in. bier

Anyways going towards real treasure, you should Visit Nida or check Curonian Spit.

So you can go through the water with ferry and its not that expensive (about the prices you can read here more in my blog though :innocent: ) You can go with bicycle, on foot or with a car (the ferry prices might different).

So secret gems:

Parnidis Dune, Nagliai Educational trail, Hill of Witches, Death Alley, Thomas Mann Museum, Fisherman's museum and such on,

Just google it :)

I hope I helped ?c?