Sweden/Finland - Any advice/experiences?

[Tim]

I am heading to Finland and Sweden for 2 weeks this summer (cycle touring). I've been punting around the internet reading up on them both and cycletouring in them but wondered if anyone had any good/bad experiences/advice?

nicklouse

take good mozzy spary.

which areas of the two contries are you looking at?

[Tim]

Essentially I fly into Helsinki and have a week to see helsinki and cycle to Turku for a friend's wedding and then a week to get to Stockholm for my flight home. The second week might involve a stop off in Arland or possibly just ferry from Turku to Stockholm and the a few days in and around Stockholm before flying home.

I've been told the mossie situation can be pretty bad!

tyremark

Hey Tim,

I cycled from Helsinki up and around and ended up in Stockholm about 3 weeks later last summer. I didnt for the whole thing by bike, got a bus and a train at different points, and had a pretty good time.
They are both pretty quiet contries as far as people go, specially if you are cycle touring, so be prepared to have a quiet time socially unless you actively seek people or are going with someone, but if your ok with that then its perfect.

As for practical advice, the roads or good, and almost all towns have cycle/ski paths which are great, but stay of the main roads through the countries, the drivers arnt brilliant with bikes and there is little hard sholder so it can be a bit hairy on the main roads. In fact, actively seek out remote places and roads, some of the best and most peaceful riding you will ever do.

Free camping laws and great campsites make camping easy, although a litte pricey if your on a budget, but if your happy camping a little rough they are perfect countries, clean water to drink and wash.

Nature is amazing, but it is just forest and lakes, a few ants to worry about, mozzy precautions are a must, were talking full head net if you head further north, sun is strong. people are great, although the sweeds are a little less shy than the Fins, 20 hours of light a day was great, but take eye mask if you cant deal with the light

Take a Hammock, perfect country for it, warm enough and very comfy!

Have fun! e-mail me if you wanna chat more.

Mark

Check out my cycle trip to Kenya if you have a bit of time

dvlrnr

Hello Tim,

As a Finn who lives in Turku, I wish you welcome to tour in this part of the world. I don't know the Helsinki area all that well, outside the city centre, but I'd recommend heading either west down to Tammisaari/Hanko or east to Porvoo and beyond. Going north to Lahti and lake Päijänne would most likely also give you a chance to see the 'real' Finnish countryside.

From Turku to Stockholm, why not go island hopping with the small ferries connecting the archipelago with Åland? From Kustavi there's a ferry to Brändö, the next one takes you to Kumlinge and the last one to Vårdö.

For any questions, please feel free to pm me.

Thomas

ThatGuyOnABike

i was there in a motorhome once and visit there due to family connections. mosquitos and ants are an issue so the hammock suggested above is a good idea. roads are very peaceful and seem to be heavon for free camping, along the road you can find diners that serve amazingly cheap food. try the bean soup and pirakka's (i hope my spelling is not too off).

have a good time!

kmahony

For info, you can't take a bike on a train in Sweden

Also avoid draft beer. For some odd reason nearly everwhere messes around with it in Sweden. Bottles are fine.

psmiffy

I flew to Stockholm last summer – Took Arlanda express train from airport into Stockholm (beware of arriving on midsummer’s day everything closed) raining very hard then ferry to Turku – supermarket open in afternoon on Sunday – cycled to Umea (weather extremely variable) Ferry to Vassa – Cycle back to Stockholm – Train to airport

Topography is too flat and there are way too many trees, but people are friendly (when you can find them) and campsites are adequate – where there are not too many trees it can be quite beautiful – took head net and half a pint of mozzie repellent – did not use either. Forget the hammock when it rains it rains and there is not enough space between the trees to set one up. Wild camping can be a bit tricky where there are trees – just too many - Towns (the areas where there are just the right number of trees) are a bit standard concrete western european – interesting preserved areas in some small towns

Cannot have been that bad as I am going to do west coast of southern Sweden in a couple of weeks time as part of Calais to Stavanger

nicklouse

kmahony wrote:

For info, you can't take a bike on a train in Sweden

Also avoid draft beer. For some odd reason nearly everwhere messes around with it in Sweden. Bottles are fine.

you can but it costs. and yes it does your head in.