Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB

Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/)

- Europe (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/europe/)

- - Scandinavia 2008 (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/europe/scandinavia-2008-a-32230)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie79 (Post 168386)

Hi!

I'm from Sweden and think I could give you some tips. First of all, Norway is approx 20-50% more expensive than Sweden.
The south(Skåne) is very flat, almost no forest and pretty boring nature but plenty of good MC roads.
If you go along the west coast you must se the beautiful beaches between Halmstad and Falkenberg. The beach in the small village of Haverdal is my favorite. I'll lived there before.
Now I live in Rättvik, whick is about 250km north west of Stockholm. Up here there's more mountains and more forest and almost every house is red with white "corners"(don't know the word in english), real Swedish idyll.
If you hedding this way you can camp in my yard if you want to. I'll get you some swedish meetballs or whatever you english thinks exotic:thumbup1: I can also give you some tips or show you around in Dalarna if you want. Want nothing but a smile in return.
I've a lot of biker friends in Halmstad as well if you want to meet some good people there. They will love to show you around.

In June there's a big motorcycle meeting on Gotland. I've been there a few times, a lot of bike fun and party! But I won't go there this year, saving money for my overland trips.

Skip the big straight roads, and head for the smaller ones.

Here is a link to a page which shows the best motorcykelroads in Sweden!
Only good, curvy roads are marked. Vägtips - Bike

Feel free to ask anything or if you want help with translation, always glad to help an overlander!

I hope you enjoy Sweden! :scooter:

Ronnie,

Many thanks for your above info, the link is most helpfull.

Your offers of a place to camp and of course your time to show us around is very kind of you and once we have confirmed our route (hopefully by late March) I will contact you and let you know our plans!

Many thanks

Adam:thumbup1:

I concur with "INDOORS" I spent 3 weeks in Sweden and i found only one Swede not fluent in English. Now keep in mind this Kiwi was in Kiruna, 250 km above the Arctic circle in Feburary at 10pm in -minus bloody cold looking for the northern lights and this old fulla ambled alond with his ice skate/walking frame.. must have been all of 80 years old! Everyone else i spoke/dealt with spoke great english and were always very helpful!
Amazing country!

Well thats good, although I do try and learn a little bit of the local lingo when travelling - Swedish seems like a particularly hard one!

Cant wait now, I hate having to work all the time in this sodding country, why can't we just spend our lives riding our bikes! Oh the pain of realism!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam1809 (Post 168841)

Swedish seems like a particularly hard one!

Actually, Swedish (and Norwegian) is pretty simple with a lot of words similar to German and English. And it helps to remember the three extra letters and the soft sounds. For example, Jonkoping (my keyboard won't do the dots over the o), isn't pronounced John Coping, but more 'yearn sherping'.

Anyway, it's all a bit of fun to make a fool of yourself for the amusement of the locals (better than falling off), or you could just nip round IKEA before you go and get in some practice (though you might find you've bought a sofa by the end of it).

Now Danish: once famously described by John Cleese as not a langauge, more like a throat disease.

Indoors (who's still got to sell the Harley and find something more manageable for those gravel roads).

Nothing wrong with the Harley. I passed a guy on a V-Rod last summer in Sweden on gravel. Those Swedes, they're crazy!

Sod the gravel for this year, haven't had the VFR long so will be staying firmly on the asphalt!:cool4:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie79 (Post 168386)

Hi!
I'm from Sweden and think I could give you some tips. First of all, Norway is approx 20-50% more expensive than Sweden.

Come again?! 20-50%?? I know it's a bit cheaper in Sweden, but 50%?? Please show me! I'll be over in a sec!

However, you need to realize that it is as all else in life: You get what you pay for. Sweden is cheap - Norway not ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by indu (Post 169355)

If you don't mind me saying guys, I think both countries are rediculously expensive - however, that is not going to stop me visiting them as I hope their tranquility and beauty linked with some great biking roads will more than make up for the expense!:thumbup1:

Just to re-open this thread briefly - Does anyone know where I one can get practical sized maps for biking, i.e ones that fit in a map pocket on a tank bag?

I used a binder style one for France which was fantastic, however, finding one for Scandinavia is proving difficult - they are either huge and simply not practical or tiny witha stupidly large scale and therefore show know windy 'A' type roads just the main highways?!

Your help is as always much appreciated!:thumbup1:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam1809 (Post 170495)

Hi Adam,
On the back of my 1: 1 000 000 Michelin map is listed:-

752 Norway
711 Scandinavia and Finland
753 Sweden

etc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walkabout (Post 170505)

Hi Adam,
On the back of my 1: 1 000 000 Michelin map is listed:-

752 Norway
711 Scandinavia and Finland
753 Sweden

etc

Yeah this is similar to the one I have, however, it doesnt fit in my tank bag map holder without screwing it up into an A5 - A4 sized ball!!

Anyone know of somewhere that does an A5 sized one with a binder like spine?

If you're near London (or Bristol), pop into Stanfords map shop which has maps for everywhere in all sizes and scales.

I did a quick search of their website, this was the only spiral-bound one I could find, but it might be too big.

Scandinavia Road Atlas: Freytag & Berndt - Road Atlases from Stanfords

Or maybe this: A3 Spiralbound Road Atlas 1129: Europe 2008

Indoors (who's in a good mood because Spurs are on their way to Wembley!!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indoors (Post 170522)

Thanks so much for looking mate, I think the best bet is going to be to buy a Spiral version of just sweden and take a fold up of the remaining countries incase we venture into them!:thumbup1:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam1809 (Post 170596)

Thanks so much for looking mate, I think the best bet is going to be to buy a Spiral version of just sweden and take a fold up of the remaining countries incase we venture into them!:thumbup1:

Adam,

No probs, only took five minutes.

Just a thought, but if you have a scanner, why not copy a foldup map onto your computer and then print out the bits you need onto sheets of A4, then it won't matter if they get scrunged up in a tank bag and you can bin them when you've finished with them? Plus foldup maps tend to be cheaper than spirals.

Indoors.

When you come to Sweden. Please visit us. We live in Gothenburg and also can give you a lot of tips regarding roads. Why Stockholm??? There is so many other and better ways to drive. We made a one-day-trip to Oslo (653 km) from here. Oslo is (and Norway) a very scenic country. You should spend moore than one or two days there.

Drive safe and welcome!

FJR Sweden

Juha