Hi,
I am planning a long bikepacking trip from Tartu (south-east of Estonia) to Liège, Belgium). I have been planning this trip for the past 3 years but for some reason I have only considered going through Latvia, Lituania, Poland, Germany and finally, Belgium (red on the map).
Looking at the map and after bike quite a few time in Estonia, I am thinking about going through Åland, Sweden, Danemark and then Germany and Belgium instead. I would take a ferry between Tallinn and Åland, spend a day or 2 there and then take another ferry to Stockholm (orange on the map) and bike my way to Belgium (blue on the map).
I think the "scandinavian" route is more suited for bikepacking despite being slightly longer than the "continental" route. I also planned on a taking a fish rod with me to relax at the end of the day and I believe the "scandinavian" is more suited for that. I am also worried that the "continental" route would be too boring as it is more flat.
Has anyone biked either of the route ? I would be happy to read your recommendation regarding which route to take or if you have any advice on another route.
by Little_Black_PEA
8 Comments
I think the scandinavian route would be prettier.
I think the Scandinavian route is what I’d choose, plenty state governed free campsites in Sweden and Denmark (like the RMK sites in Estonia). Another benefit is you won’t have to deal with the awful roads in Latvia and Lithuania where the paved road is busy and quite frankly dangerous, but the non paved is basically just always sand.
I would choose the route over Poland, but i would completly Ride the coast line in Latvia, Lietuva and Poland. Did this before and it was amazing. You can ride throuh Sweden on another day but than ride to North 🙂
Hello there! I’ve done it both ways. Since I’m from Finland, I cycled from Spain back home, and that time I went through Sweden. For me, the weather sucked, but everything else the scenery, the food, and the route was better. The only downside was that it was quite a bit more expensive.
On my way to Albania, I went through Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Honestly, I found it pretty boring for cycling, but that’s probably because I’m more into hills and mountains. One thing worth mentioning, though, is that if you use Warmshowers, there are way more hosts in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia at least that was my experience.
I feel like I didn’t really answer any specific question here, but that’s what I’ve got to say!
Haven’t been to Scandinavia yet, but I can really recommend the Baltics. I loved it there. The people are very welcoming, beautiful forests, good food and amazing gravel or paved roads in perfect conditions whatever you prefer.
Polish people are the best, food is great and the baltic coast in Poland is stunning and packed with world war history,as in the baltics as well. (Which is not for everyone, but for me as a gean i felt the responsibility to at least visit a few places and crime scenes.)
Plus the Baltics and Poland are really affordable.
I took a similar route a month ago. Although I’d recommend going through Finland and catch a ferry from Galtby to Aland. Ride from Turku to Galtby is very beautiful. I see you’re planning to take a ferry directly to Stockholm, I chose one from Eckero to Grisslehamn. I figured that, once I’m in Aland, I’ll better see the most of it and it was absolutely worth it. You can see my post to check out my route.
Yesterday on Helsinki – Tallinn ferry there was a guy who had bikepacked from Holland to Helsinki via Scandinavia, and was on return trip via Baltics. So this has been done for sure. 🙂
I would choose the Scandinavian route, but:
– in the reverse direction (from Belgium to Stockholm) because the winds are predominantly from southwest;
– via Jutland (Jüüti poolsaar) and Gothenburg instead of Cophenhagen. There is a ferry from Fredrikshavn to Gothenburg. The most iconic place in Denmark is Skagen, at the northern tip of the peninsula where straits of Skagerrak and Kattegat meet.
– alternatively via southern coast of Sweden, visiting Öland, Bornholm, or Danish islands.
And maybe skip Ahvenamaa as too close to home.
What time of the year you are going would probably make big difference. Difference in temperature can be surprisingly big on those routes.