Sweden 2014

OUR JOURNEY BEGAN IN DENMARK: Denmark 2014

The ferry cost 77 euros per motorhome including 2 people. The gas must stay switched off during the entire crossing, and the gas locker is also sealed. Unfortunately you're not allowed to stay in the vehicle, so we had to leave it straight away on the ferry. 4.5 hours later we were already arriving in Sweden (Varberg).

The lovely weather didn't make the crossing, and Sweden greeted us with rain and noticeably colder temperatures.
In Sweden we headed straight for Gothenburg. There are warnings about vehicle break-ins in the Gothenburg area, so we went to the Skatåsvägen motorhome pitch in Gothenburg.

When we arrived at the pitch, the first thing was to empty the grey water.

Unfortunately there are no drains or other ground inlets. Fortunately our vehicle is always emptied via a waste water hose, which we could hang into the toilet emptying point of the service station. Other motorhome owners use their toilet cassette to carry the water and run back and forth several times accordingly.

We immediately noticed that in the evening there were mosquitoes flying around us all the time. So Sweden lives up to its reputation on that point at least.
You pay at the parking machine with cash or a debit/credit card: 240 SEK for 24 hours including electricity. That's about 28 euros – a hefty price. Art lovers shouldn't miss the Gothenburg Museum of Art, which exhibits art from the 15th century to the present day.

The museum is on Götaplatsen and, being right next to the city's main shopping street, is hard to miss. The landmark of Gothenburg: Poseidon with his fountain. One of the most important places that every visitor to Gothenburg simply has to see is the long Kungsportsavenyn, or "Avenyn" for short. This grand boulevard is the main artery of the city centre. Then on to the Haga district. A visit to the old town, the city's historic picture-book quarter, is an absolute must. The little cobbled streets invite you to stroll at leisure. There are lots of shops in Haga, ranging from antiques, clothing, books and jewellery to second-hand goods. The 137-hectare Slottsskogen park lies south of Gothenburg's centre and is the ideal place for a little break.

There are numerous green spaces and footpaths where you can explore nature. On your walk you'll pass little huts and typical Swedish wooden houses, some of them dating back centuries.

In the evening we went for a little walk through the forest. Suddenly there was a moose in front of us.

It first came towards us, as a jogger had run away from it and fled into the bushes.

Fortunately the moose stopped just in front of us, apparently surprised that we were simply standing there (probably thinking: these clueless tourists).

On Thursday we moved on to our next destination: a small campsite on Lake Bolmen. We didn't take the motorway for the 205 kilometres, as we wanted to see a bit more of the countryside.

From Varberg we took the country road to our destination. A short time later we passed the village of Ullared and saw a huge shopping centre. So indicator on and off we went shopping. Before our holiday we had often heard about a shopping town with its own hotel and campsite – and suddenly we were right in front of it.
Even the parking area for the shopping trolleys shows the scale of the centre. We didn't really need anything, but in the end the trolley was full anyway.

We reached the campsite we had chosen in "Löckna" via tiny main roads.

We hadn't even arrived at the campsite when a woman came running out of a house towards us, waving her hands. The agitated lady turned out to be the owner of the campsite and told us that she isn't always on site in the pre-season. She explained (in good German) which pitch we could take, gave us a key and said she would drop by later.

As we had unfortunately forgotten tomatoes, she promised to bring some with her straight away, as the nearest supermarket is 16 kilometres away.

Our allocated pitches were right by the water, on grass with a view of the sandy beach.

Less than 20 minutes later we were standing bravely on the beach in our swimming things and slowly went into the water. The water temperature had dropped considerably, as the constant wind had churned up the water. But never mind, we went in anyway and it was wonderful and refreshing.
In the evening there was a proper shower and we had to retreat into the motorhome. On Friday morning the day began for some with a refreshing swim in the lake (not for Pitti or Micha), and then the bikes were made ready.

Our destination was the village of Unnaryd, about 16 kilometres away, which has a shop and a cash machine. Interesting paths through beautiful countryside led to our destination. You'd think Sweden would actually be very flat – but no. The whole ride was just up and down. Luckily we have e-bikes – at least half of the group does. The site itself costs 210 SEK in the pre-season including electricity and water. There are plenty of showers, with areas for women and men, as well as some family showers.

A bit of swimming in the lake, and our last day of holiday in Sweden was over.
On Sunday we tackled our last stage in Sweden. In Trelleborg the ferry to Travemünde was already waiting for us in the early afternoon.

The pre-booked ferry from Trelleborg to Travemünde for 7.30 metres cost only 99 euros. If we had driven over the Øresund Bridge, we would have paid 90 euros for that too, plus the diesel for the journey from Denmark to Germany. So we set off in a relaxed mood on the eight-hour ferry crossing to Germany.

We arrived in Travemünde in the early hours of Monday morning (12.30 a.m.). We covered the last 350 kilometres straight away, and with that our Denmark/Sweden tour came to an end.