Fuel
 

Hi chunkylover,

Make sure you have a creditcard with a pincode. Then you can get fuel day and night because most gasstations have an automat to pay with a card.
A 300km range should be no problem if you stay on main roads.
If you go exploring the smaller (dirt) roads, it may be wise to carry some extra fuel.

Also, when I'm away from home, I make sure to fill up at the next gasstation when my tank is more then half empty.

You do as you please, of course. I wouldn't bother. Never was I problem when I lived up there (for a total of 10 years). Just fill up before entering whatever road you want to try out. Usually you can't venture too far off road due to limitations and regulations. The nature is kind of fragile up there, so off-roading is somewhat limited.

Selfishly butting in
 

Sorry to butt in like this, but I'm planning (dreaming of?) a journey north through Norway & Sweden to Nordcap and back through Finland & St Petersburg to Tallin & home through the Baltic countries and Poland.

My current bike is a Honda Pan European, which works for my usual type of travel, and I'll be two up as my wife won't trust me alone and doesn't have a licence (dodgy eyesight - if you could see me you'd understand more :( ).

Is this practical or should I thinking about something along adventure tourer lines?

Ta

For all roads I have been riding on my trip to the NorthCape, any bike will do fine. I don't know about Russia and the Baltic states but Scandinavia should be no problem.

Mark E, your bike will be fine for the journey both in Scandinavia and Russia. The roads in Russia can be very poor quality, potholed, missing drain covers etc but your bike will be fine - I would not suggest you go off into the very small back roads as these do often end up as long forest drives or gravel roads. I would however forewarn you that the roads in northern Norway are often under repair in the summer and you will encounter short gravel sections and the like. If you continue towards Kirkness some of the side routes can be Gravel or poor condition - but with CARE are all managable on almost any bike
Have a good one.
PS I can recommend accomodation in central St Petersburg if you like -far cheaper than Hotels clean and secure. (the Hotels are very expensive as the Tourist companies buy up all the rooms for Guided tours etc) PM me if you need any more info Jake

Thanx guys
 

Jake & Jan

Thanx for the info :thumbup1: - you've moved the dream a step nearer being a plan. The biggest thing left to plan is how to finance the trip, which I'm working on at the moment.

Looking forward to starting the blog when I get rolling.

M

Baltic
 

quote=MarkE;130414]Sorry to butt in like this, but I'm planning (dreaming of?) a journey north through Norway & Sweden to Nordcap and back through Finland & St Petersburg to Tallin & home through the Baltic countries and Poland.

My current bike is a Honda Pan European, which works for my usual type of travel, and I'll be two up as my wife won't trust me alone and doesn't have a licence (dodgy eyesight - if you could see me you'd understand more :( ).

Is this practical or should I thinking about something along adventure tourer lines?

Ta[/quote]

The roads in the Baltic states are not too bad. Your bike is ok! About the roads on the Russian side I don´t know, I think the main roads are ok too!
The problem is the traffic. Don´t expect any western rules.:mchappy:

hi Horsedribble
imo the best time to do this trip is late June. Can you imagine all night long sun on the sky? Its amazing, I do it every year. This summer going from Newcastle to Stavanger 8 of June. Let me know if your trip will be at the same time, we can do cup of coffe somewhere ;-) Kind regards from Warsaw - Romek

Re: Garmin Routes
 

Hi Fredrik

Don't suppose you have a file of this trip as a track on Google Earth, do you?

Thanks for taking the trouble to post the road book routes and reader software.

Alan

Hi Alan,

No sorry, no track in Google earth but I think I can arrange some overview maps for you if you are interested?
I'm are going take this trip in beginning of June. From Stockholm up to Övertorneå and then over to eastern Finland and then down to Helsinki( Finland part is not in roadbook format yet, only for GPS). Approxmiate length of trip will be about 4000km. Pure gravel :thumbup1:

I rode north on the Arctic highway to the Lofotens, then back south along the coastal Route 17. Lots of ferrys on Route 17.

DO get a ferry schedule before you go. It will save you some time sitting and waiting for the next ferry :)

Scandinavia
 

Norway is without a doubt the most spectacular of these 3. But if I was coming to Scandinavia for the 1st time, I wouldnt miss Finland. Ive got some Italian friends who first came here some 10yrs ago, and keep coming back ever since. They do like Norway and Sweden as well, but they love it here.

If I had 3 weeks, id get a boat to Helsinki, then start off northeast into the lake district, the best time to do that would be mid-June to mid-August. Statistically speaking, that is... you´ll just never know, when the short summer will arrive each year! And do bring plenty of anti-mosquito stuff!! From the SE part of the country I´d head straight up into Kuusamo and into Lapland, then go Northcape, and from there start following the Norwegian coastline all the way down. Norway is VERY slow, even on the main roads, could take me 1,5-2 weeks just to do that.

Those who say Finland is boring, have probably done the main highways south/southwest, indeed they are just that (a bit like some parts of southern Sweden), but its a totally different story when you go more eastwards, into smaller roads, into the lake area, and futher up when theres more and more forested hills. Its NOT like Norway, but its simply wonderful in its own way, not to be missed.

Sweden has some similar attractions like Norway and Finland, and also of its own especially in the north, but the problem may be it lies between these two regions so going there is always a detour. Especially when the most beautiful fjords in Norway are in central/south part of the country. Thats why, for 3 weeks i´d skip Sweden, or trade Northcape for northern Sweden, theres nothing so special about the Cape. I´d need more than 3 weeks to see all these 3 countries, so eastern Finland and western Norway would be the 2 main attractions for me.

Those are the are one of the most beautiful in the world.
If you are fond of beauty, nature and taking pictures that period can never be enough.
If you don't spend much time anywhere which you like, don't feel lazy and time killer cen be enough.
To me, 3 weeks can never be enough.

It seems so many people going to Norway this summer :) We also having same plan, actually a trip around Baltic sea. The problem is that living in Scandinavia doesn't make it too attractive comparing to some more exotic places in south. But this year we need to keep lower profile as usually. Your comments encouraged to forget my prejudices, thanks :)

See you guys on the road soon :thumbup1:

And should any of you guys need a place to crash (figuratively speaking) for a couple of days, a garage to service your bike in or any other assistance, please drop me an email or mail the HU Community in Oslo. We'll be more than happy to assist.