My sister and I plan to fly to Paris, rent a car and drive to Netherlands then on through the Scandinavian countries. We have only 10 days. Any advice?

Well it's a doable trip but you will spend a lot of time in your car if you can't take the plane out of the scandinavian countries. I know the trip from Antwerp to Kiel is a 8-10 hour drive with just one dinner stop, with Antwerp about 1 hour from Netherlands border and Kiel similar distance from Danish border. From Kiel you've got ferries to Oslo as well as Goteborg. Or you can drive on up Denmark and take the ferries there further north... But you need to supply more info to give any decent advise....

Cobos

Hi

I used to drive across Europe as part of my job.

Paris - Amsterdam = 5 hrs

But you have choices with Holland to Scandinavia. It's a question of ferry times v roadtimes.

1) From Antwerp follow 's hertogenbosch, apeldoorn, enschede, osnabruck, bremen, hamburg, kiel (or puttgarden). Take ferry.

2)As (1) but continue through to N Denmark to take Sweden / Norway ferries.

I used to reckon 6 hrs Brussels - Kiel via route (1). So say 4 - 5 hrs from Amsterdam.

From Frederikshafn to Antwerp was 8 - 9 hrs.

My favourite route was to Kiel, then 14hr ferry to Gothenburg. It left at 19.00 and arrived at 09.00.

The other advice is time of year. In winter you need to think about winter tyres in Sweden & Norway. And winter = bad weather = holdups.

Avoid Koln and the other major cities in that area because the German autobahns are very busy. You'll generally achieve better average speeds in Belgium, France and Holland.

Of course it's different at 03.00 in Germany !

Peter
The Languedoc Page
http://tlp.netfirms.com

MrsL,

There are several possibilities to get to Scandinavia from Germany (you will have to cross Germany)- I will try to list a few of them:

Germany- Denmark:

- Ferry from Puttgarden to Rödby:
Transfer time 45 min., Ships leaving every half hour 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. www.scandlines.com
From Rödby about 3 hours to Copenhagen

- Ferry from Kiel to Langeland
Transfer time about 2.5 hours, ships leaving twice a day, but unsure whether they take up the service again- currently it is off service.
www.langeland-kiel.com

- By car on the Autobahn (A 7) via Hamburg/ Flensburg into Denmark (150 km from Hamburg, equalling about 1,25 hours) and on to the island of Fyn (Odense), from there to Copenhagen

- Ferry from Rostock to Gedser (about two hours), from there to Copenhagen about 2.5 to 3 hours. www.scandlines.com

From Germany to Sweden:

- Again the routes mentioned to Denmark and then crossing at Helsingör via the bridge or by ferry. Packages for ferries available from Scandlines- www.scandlines.com

- Ferry from Travemünde (close to Luebeck) to Trelleborg. Transfer time about 7 hours- very comfortable ships with night (and cabin) passages available. About four departures daily.
tt-line.de

- Ferry from Rostock to Trelleborg. Transfer time about 5 hours. tt-line.de or scandlines.com

- Ferry from Kiel to Gothenburg. Transfer time about seven hours, not sure, though. Night passages on comfortable ferries available. www.stenaline.com

Germany to Norway:

Ferry from Kiel to Oslo.
Transfer time 1.5 days, I guess.
Comfortable ships. www.colorline.com

If you care for infos for a stop in Hamburg on the way, I will gladly provide info. Do post, if you have any more questions regarding driving routes and transfers, too!

Have a merry Christmas
hsv

I think you need to focus on what you mean by "through the Scandinavian countries". Which countries/cities are you interested in? I don't see how you can cover it all in 10 days unless you do nothing but drive from one place to another never stopping. While driving in France/Netherlands is easy, with high speed limits allowing you to cover a lot of territory, once you hit Scandinavia this will change. Many places (Oslo for example from Denmark) are reachable only by multi-hour or overnight ferry - or very long drives aruond the various bodies of water separating the countries. Also, some places don't have highways but only local type roads where speed is limited. I would pick the places you really want to see and do some in-depth work on maps and distances to see what's realistic.

Sorry! Another thought. Have you checked on drop-off charges for renting a car in Paris and dropping off in Stockholm or Oslo? They can be very high when dropping off in non-contiguous countries - I've seen charges of $500+ for Scandinavia.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Sorry for being so vague in my original post. We had to change our plans due to flight availability. We will arrive in Frankfurt, Germany on July 14 and travel by car to Amsterdam, Netherland. From there, we want to travel to Denmark, Norway and Sweden. We will fly home from Stockholm on July 25. Has anyone taken the ferry or ship from Copenhagen to Oslo? We might leave the car in Copenhagen. The Norway in a Nutshell looks interesting. Any travel tips?

The ferry from Oslo to copenhagen takes about 12 hours (overnight). I don;t know if the one that does the reverse trip is also overnight. The ferry resembles gigantic cruise ship (10 decks?) with some levels for cars or trucks only. there are restaurants, bars, shops etc. to amuse yourself with. Outr trip was part of a package so I don;t know the exact cost but there are all different types of accomodation - from large outside cabins with portholes to small inside cabins to none at all. I beleive you can rent easy chair type seats in a large enclosed room (aparently a lot of the truck drivers do this) for a minimal charge.

As you have now outlined your itinerary, I would suggest that you cut back into Germany from Amsterdam by taking the Dutch A1 (in Germany labeled A 30, I think) in direction to Osnabrueck in Germany. There, make it North on the A1 in the direction of Hamburg. Proceed on the German A 1 in the direction of Luebeck and Puttgarden. Take the ferry there and cross the Fehmarn Belt in 45 minutes. As stated in my earlier post, these ferries run 24/7 every half hour. Proceed on to Copenhagen.
We are talking about 770 km here, estmiated travel time approx. 8 to 10 hours.

You might want to consider a stop in between. Hamburg and Luebeck might be some worthwile options.

Regarding the ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo, it is almost cruise ship standard (have not used it myself, though). It is operated by the Danish shipping company DFDS. Ships are Pearl of Scandinavia (which is the bigger, and said to be the more luxurious one) and the Crown of Scandinavia (not at all a bead option either, and actually huge in size, too).

For info on timetables and prices, try the following links:

http://www.dfdsseaways.com
http://www.dfdsseawaysusa.com/

Please excuse the spelling errors- should be "estimated" and "bad".

Should you require any more info regarding your trip, also regarding options for a stop in Northern Germany on your way to Copenhagen, do post- I'll try to help!

I would actually think twice about leaving your car in Copenhagen. Norway is best seen from a car although the nutshell is a good substitute. Instead drive through Denmark and visit Skagen at the Northern most tip and take the ferry to Kristiansand in Norway. The ferry takes a couple of hours and is served by www.colorline.com From Kristiansand follow road no. 9 though Setesdal valley, continuing to Odda, Hardanger Fjord and Bergen. If driving to Oslo in a day I would choose road E16 taking you to Voss, Flom, Borgund Stave Church and Fagernes. Using two days, drive to Sogndal and on to the Lusterfjord (right next to the Jostedal Glacier) stay there for the night or continue driving over Jotunheimen Mountain crossing to Lom. From Otta you have the choice of: 1. Going northeast to the Mining town of Roros. Crossing into Sweden next day and the Siljan Lake District to Stockholm or 2. Driving Southeast to Oslo continuing to Stockholm next. Time is limited but you sound like you like driving long distances.
Time frame: Copenhagen to Skagen 1 day. Kristiansand to Bergen 1 long day, nice scenery though. Bergen to Oslo 1 long day. Oslo to Stockholm 1 long boring day.

My comments reflect a recent conducted tour (with Grand Circle) leading me to say that you've bitten off quite alot of travel time in ten days which will cut into your sight-seeing time at certain destinations. Especially since you are actually starting out in Paris and then driving to Netherlands which I don't think makes sense.

Scandinavia covers lots of territory, as several point out. nytraveler, hsv, helen have good advice on practical routing. Regarding the Copenhaven-Oslo overnight ferry, I hear that the car transport is expensive, but it is a good way to go...and no one mentioned the fabulous smorgasbord! And I would recommend the Norway in a Nutshell if going to Bergen which in my book is a neat place. But this is without car.

Bill at [email protected]