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We picked up the camper in Mannheim at McRent and drove north to Denmark, stopping in Ribe and Copenhagen. Then we crossed the Øresund Bridge (which was very expensive) into Sweden. We stopped to visit Gothenburg, then Oslo. We tried to get to Bergen but very heavy rains flooded the road, so we stopped for a few nights in Flå to wait for the roads to reopen before going on to Bergen.
From Bergen, we went up the coast, which was spectacular. I'll add details on the stops below. One stop of special interest, which was just before Bodo, was at the Salstraumen Maelstrom. From Bodo, we took a ferry to the Lofoten Islands, which are a major tourist destination. We drove to Narvik for an overnight stop before heading to Sweden. We stopped in Arvidsjaur, Sweden, where we thought there was a major Sami festival with reindeer herding. That was totally wrong. It was just a small, local event, not worth a stop, so we left early and drove down the coast to Stockholm.
In Stockholm, we were lucky to get a camping spot in an urban campground with good transportation to the city center and spent a couple of days seeing the sights. To lessen the drive, we took an overnight ferry from Gothenburg to Kiel, which was a good thing to do. It's not too much more expensive than the tolls on the bridges and saves a lot of driving.
Since we had a few extra days, we went to Amsterdam and camped along the Rhine before returning the camper in Mannheim and taking a train to Paris.
This is roughly the route, although it doesn't show the detailed drive along the coast of Norway. More details are below.
The camper we rented from McRent.
July 29-30. Ribe, Denmark. A pretty town on the western coast of Denmark. We camped at Ribe Camping.
August 1-2. The center of Copenhagen, which was a longish train ride from where we camped at Absalon, was a beautiful place to visit. We took a boat ride, a good way to see the city, which also let us see the Little Mermaid from both the water and the land.
Groucho came along on sightseeing.
Bizarre hot dog wrapped in bread.
Delicious dinner at Restaurant Artikok, near the campground.
From Copenhagen, we crossed the Øresund Bridge into Sweden. As an aside, the tolls for that bridge and the Great Belt Bridge (Storebælt) are very high.
We visited the outdoor Foteviken Museum near Malmo.
We camped for a couple of nights at Liseberg Camping Askim Strand, which is on the water and a bus ride out of Gothenburg. The day we spent walking around Gothenburg was very pleasant and the restaurant where we had lunch even allowed Groucho inside.
August 5-7. On to Oslo, where we camped at Topcamp Ekeberg, which overlooks the city. Oslo is very beautiful with some great architecture. We were exploring on a Sunday and a lot of people were out by the waterfront. One problem we had was with Uber when we wanted a ride back to the campground. As we learned, most Uber drivers will not take dogs. There is an Uber Dog category, but the app did not show any cars that day. Luckily one driver took us.
Around this time it started raining. A lot! As you'll soon see, that caused a problem.
August 8-10. We set out for Bergen, with a plan to stop overnight at a campground along the way. When we were almost to the town of Nesbyen, traffic came to a halt. We knew that the rain had caused flooding, so figured that the traffic had slowed. However, it then came to a total halt. So we turned around and decided to stop for the night. We first looked at a campground, but it was right beside the river, so did not seem like a good idea. In the nearby town of Flå there was a hotel with a good rating on booking.com, so we ended up staying at the Thon Hotel Bjørneparken to wait it out. That took 3 days, but the hotel was very pleasant and had a great staff and a fantastic breakfast buffet.
To get an idea of the flooding, you can watch the first minute of the following video (or this news report).
August 11-12 Bergen, Norway. We stayed at Bratland Camping, which seemed like a good place from which to get to the city. However, it's not. Buses don't come regularly, and the return trip was a mess with an overloaded bus. It would have been OK if we could get an Uber Pet, but there were none around. And there was also a train after the bus.
Anyway, Bergen is pretty. We again got lucky to find a restaurant that would allow Groucho to come in: Lola, with a very friendly staff and good food. You would think that in August we could sit outside to eat, but the weather was pretty bad most of the time, chilly and rainy.
Groucho added a new mode of transportation to his repertoire when we took a funicular to the top of a mountain that overlooks Bergen. He has been airplanes, cars, buses, trains, ferries, elevators, and a funicular.
August 13-17. We left Bergen a day earlier than we'd planned because it was too difficult to get into town. Our goal had become to drive to the Lofoten Islands, which are north of the Arctic Circle, via small roads with great views.
We crossed the Arctic Circle while on a ferry. By the way, the ferry system in Norway is excellent. You register at a website and they bill your credit card automatically via your license plate. The tunnels are also fantastic, and some are very long.
We camped at
Vennesund Camping - there's a nice restaurant next door, Ginas kro.
August 18. We spent the night at Camp Saltstraumen-Elvegård by the town of Saltstraumen where there is a famous maeltrom. Check out the videos in the album below.
August 19-24. We took the ferry from Bodø to Moskenes on the Lofoten Islands, which are a major tourist destination in Norway. The first couple of nights we stayed at the Ramberg Gjestegård Campground, which is right by a beautiful beach and has a good restaurant. Then we stayed at Skårungen Camping, also on the water and with a good restaurant. After that, we camped at Gullesfjord Camping, which was a little out of the way. Then we drove to Narvik on the mainland and spent the night at Narvik Bobilparkering, which is a parking lot right in town. Our purpose was to visit the Narvik War Museum, which is mostly about the World War II battle of Narvik, when the Nazis occupied the city and the allies invaded to free it. The odd thing is that they soon evacuated and the Nazis came right back.
Augusr 24-28. From Narvik we drove to Sweden. Our first detination was Arvidsjaur, Sweden, where we thought there was a major Sami festival with reindeer herding. That was totally wrong. It was just a small, local event, not worth a stop, so we left early and drove down the coast to Stockholm. On the way to Arvidsjaur, we spent the night at Gallivare Camping, and in Ardsvinjaur at Camp Gielas, which was very large but almost closed. Apparently, the previous weekend was the end of the season in Sweden, so no campers. On the way to Stockholm, we spent the night at Camp FriluftsByn, also deserted.
August 28-31. Stockholm was great. We camped at Långholmens Hubilscamping, which is very much in the city, under a large bridge and beside a large and very nice park. It's a short walk to a metro station and just a few stops to the center of the city. Also, we lucked out on the restaurants. The first night we had dinner at Chelas, a Mexican restaurant, where the food was delicious. It turns out that it is owned by some Americans. On another night, we had dinner at Sillkafé, also very good.
August 31. We took an overnight ferry from Gothenburg, Sweden to Kiel, Germany. This was a great way to skip a lot of driving back over the route that we had already taken. The boat was pretty well booked, and there were not many dog-friendly cabins, so we were lucky to get a ticket.
September 1-3. We had a few days before the camper's return date, so we drove to Amsterdam for a couple of days. The drive from Kiel was a bit too long. Amsterdam is, of course, a great destination, but this year it was overrun by tourists, even in September. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like earlier in the summer. We camped at Gassper Camping, which was close to a train station that went to the city.
We stopped overnight at Camping Loreleyblick on the Rhine, which is a huge campground, but right on the Lorelei, so the views are great. Then we returned the camper in Mannheim and took a train to Paris where we spent a couple of days. From Paris, Joanne and Groucho took the direct flight back home and I went on to Belgrade.
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