Len Gow

Will post this question again - without the typing mistakes.<BR><BR>Flying in to Copenhagen mid September for 2 weeks. Would welcome any suggestions on possible Sweden and Finland tour.<BR><BR>Enjoy driving so distance not a problem.

Frances

Some 5 years ago we drove to Finland from the U.K.It was something we had wanted to do for a long time and we felt that the time was right and that our children would enjoy it. The object of the exercise was to spend a week with friends in Finland but to see a lot on the way there and back.<BR>We sailed to Hamburg and spent the night outside Leipzig then drove the next day thro'(East) Germany to Rugen and from there we caught a ferry to Bornholm. This was somewhere I'd wanted to go for years and it was enchanting.We stayed in a youth hostel there and after 3 nights crossed to Ystad in Sweden and drove to Stockholm. We spent one night on the way in a cabin in a campsite which we'd pre-booked.<BR>We crossed overnight from Stockholm to Turku which I think is one of the most lovely voyages ever and the boat has an excellent cold table restaurant.In finland we visitd Naantali and Turku and Rauma- we didn't go any further as our friends live in this corner of Finland.<BR>On leaving we sailed overnight again to Stockholm and spent the morning in the Skansen open air museum, but many of the buildings were closed.I'm told this is quite common even in high season.That night we stayed in Orebro and visited more friends.The next day we drove to Oslo and after 4 days there made our way back to Gothenburg spending another night on route in a cabin in a campsite.<BR>I realise that this is not on all fours with what you want to do but if there's any detail you want please come back to me.

Len Gow

Thanks Frances - interesting trip. <BR><BR>I can check the Sweden-Finland ferry rates on the internet but would you say the ferry was expensive (even allowing for the fact that it was a few years ago) and would you say that the effort and expense of getting to Finland was worth it?<BR><BR>Comments welcome from other people who have driven to Sweden and Finland.

minna

Hi Len, I´m a Finn myself so I really cannot tell if it´s worth coming here or not, but just a few notes: <BR>- Autumns can be rainy, but even then Lapland should be beautiful in September. The norther you go the better colours you will find. That´s why autumn is traditionally kind of high season there - the second one after the skiing season. Think about that option, if you do like nature and don´t mind driving.<BR><BR>If you want to see professional photos about the Finnish nature in September, check this: http://www.metsahallitus.fi/kurkista/ then choose the second link on the left (edellisten viikkojen kuvat) and roll down to year 2001 and year 2000. It´s the picture archive of the Finnish forest authority. They have dates there so you see what September is like.<BR>English pages http://www.metsahallitus.fi/natural/index.htm gives information about national parks and nature in general.<BR><BR>- other links: <BR>http://virtual.finland.fi<BR>http://www.hel.fi/english/index.html<BR><BR>- Ferries: www.silja.fi and www.vikingline.fi. Links to English pages on the front pages.<BR><BR>Silja in generally considered a bit more upmarket - slightly more expensive too, but in my opinion the restaurants are better and - on the route to Helsinki - ferries more luxorius. Both companies do have different promotions. Midweek is cheaper and somewhat quieter. Not that many drunkards then, but possibly some on Fridays and Saturdays -sadly. Fine ferries, anyway. I would pay for Silja although their terminal in Stockholm is not in the prime location like Viking´s.<BR><BR>If decide to come, consider the day tour to Turku for at least one direction as then you get to see the wonderful archipelago in daylight.<BR><BR>Sorry this was so long.<BR><BR>Minna

Daniel

The ferries between Sweden and Finland are not expensive, because they earn money from tax free, bars and restaurants. <BR>If you rent a car in Denmark, remember that you have to pay a small fortune for the bridge to Sweden.

elina

I wrote this earlier today, but just forgot to post it. Anyway, this is what I wrote few hours ago:<BR><BR>I live in Finland, so I am a bit biased to comment anything about is it worth it. But I can comment about ferries between Sweden and Finland. (Check www.silja.com/english) They are not expensive, if they were, they would not be so popular. They are not ferries in the same sense as ferries in the Med, they are more like huge cruise boats that have shops, restaurants, night clubs, discoes, pubs, saunas, swimmingpools, casinos and so on. If you take one, try to get a cabin with windows to the sea even if it costs more, because the archipelago on that route is considered to be one of the most beautiful ones in the world. And if you land in Helsinki, make sure that you are on the deck when that happens. The wiew is great, because ships from Sweden land in the center of the city, not to some far away industrial harbour. You could also land in Turku, and continue driving from there. <BR><BR>In that case I recommend so called King´s Road. It is an old road that linked Turku to St.Petersburg already in 1600´s. It follows the southern shoreline (a little bit inland through small towns and villages, manor houses and so on) all the way to the Russian border. The King´s road is marked with a yellow crown on brown bottom -signs. Anmyway, it is better to use smaller roads, because mainroads are cut where it is most efficient, and that means you would drive a lot in the middle of forests.<BR><BR>From the eastern border you should start north to the lakeland. Finnish lake area is the biggest one in Europe. It is a huge labyrinth of lakes and islands, and would be best seen from a boat, but you would get an idea also from a car. In the summer there are old steamboats that cruise in the lakes, but I´m afraid they stop at the end of August. <BR><BR>From Imatra near the eastern border up to Punkaharju (an area that the czar of Russia already almost 200 years ago declared protected because of it´s beauty), the town of Savonlinna and it´s medieval castle, up to Joensuu and the spectacular wiews over the lake Pielinen from Koli, Kuopio, Jyv&auml;skyl&auml; and so on.<BR><BR>More info:<BR><BR>www.finlandforyou.com<BR>www.mek.fi

Len Gow

Thanks to everyone who responded.<BR><BR>The info and web site addresses are most helpful.<BR><BR>I will now get down to some serious internet trolling and come up with a routing.<BR><BR>

Frances

I can't actually remember the cost of the crossing from Stockholm to turku because we booked all the transport arrangements thro' Scandinavian Seaways. However it was our choice to do this journey because I am so fond of that particular crossing-I think I have done it 3 times now.You are really paying for the luxury of doing something you want to do because with the deal we can get on flights to Finland it costs the same from Manchester to Stockholm or Helsinki.<BR>I thought longingly of the archipelago last year when we flew this time and made Stockholm to Helsinki in 30 minutes!<BR>I agree with the comments made about the weather above but what the heck!