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Overlanding in Northern Europe in winter (2) | Around the Baltic Sea

We left on October 5, 2021 The Netherlands that was getting ready for the fall. 8 months later we returned to Etten-Leur. We then have a journey through NorthernEuropa made a tour around the Baltic Sea, 10 countries in winter. We then drove and sailed more than 26.000 kilometers. Quite a lot actually…

However, we have also been through a lot. This blog discusses the first part of our winter journey, around the Baltic Sea: Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Poland.
We see autumn scenes in Denmark en Sweden. Early snow and ice in Norway. Deep fjords and high mountains. It northern Lights above the Arctic Circle. Bare cold at the North Cape. Infinite snowy forests in Finland. Alternating spring and winter in the Baltic States and Poland.

A chapter apart is our Iceland-trip. The turbulent crossing to Iceland. The primal forces and rawness of Iceland. And the special climate of the Faroe Islands.

The winter trip | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
The winter trip | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

Below we give some highlights of our trip around the Baltic Sea, more extensive reports can be found in our blogs at www.miladylandy.nl.

Denmark

Nature

The weather is still good when we are on the island romø arrive. It is good to stay in the sun, out of the wind. And of course it is nice and exciting to be able to drive on the beach.

The nature of Central Denmark welcomes us with beautiful autumn scenes in which we can walk and cycle well.

Autumn in Denmark | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Autumn in Denmark | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Autumn in Denmark
Autumn in Denmark
Autumn in Denmark
Autumn in Denmark
Autumn in Denmark
Autumn in Denmark
Autumn in Denmark
Autumn in Denmark

Cities

We visited the cities, among other things Ebeltoft en Copenhagen.

Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Copenhagen | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Ebeltoft | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Ebeltoft | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

Sweden

Øresund bridge

We take the Øresund bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo. As a civil engineer I always find it special to be able to drive so high and so long over such a special bridge.

Autumn

In Sweden it is still autumn, the endless forests turn red, yellow and brown.

Autumn in Sweden | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Autumn in Sweden | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Autumn in Sweden | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Autumn in Sweden | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Autumn in Sweden | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Autumn in Sweden | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

Båstnäs junkyard

's junkyard båstnäs near the border with Norway is definitely worth a visit, we wander around in amazement for a while and imagine ourselves in another time.

Båstnäs . junkyard
Båstnäs . junkyard
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Båstnäs Junkyard | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

Norway

Just a little more autumn

Step by step we experience winter. One morning when we wake up we suddenly find ourselves in the snow.

Morning in the snow | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Morning in the snow | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Morning in the snow | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Morning in the snow| Around the Baltic Sea in winter

real winter

When we later de hardangervidda As we drive up, we experience that it can also be quite wintery in mid-November. We spend the night in a parking lot and the next morning we are glad that we are not snowed in.

Camping on the Hardangervidda | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Camping on the Hardangervidda | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

Fjords and mountains

We drive along fjords and go high into the mountains, the landscapes are spectacular and incredibly varied.

The Geirangerfjord
The Geirangerfjord | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
the Geirangervegen | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
The Geirangervegen | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

Above the Arctic Circle

The ultimate goal of our journey through Scandinavia is of course the North Cape, but it is still a long way off. We cross the Arctic Circle on November 16, 2021, the visitor center is not accessible due to the snow.

The visitor center in the snow | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
The visitor center in the snow | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

It was getting more and more winter, the roads were alternately slippery from the rain and the snow. On the Lofoten the weather really turned and it really became winter. The island Senja was completely covered with snow.

Camping in Lofoten | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Camping in Lofoten | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
The island of Senja | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
The island of Senja | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

The days became shorter, the light became more diffuse. It seemed to be dark almost all day. We approached true north and near Tromso we see the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis, for the first time.

The Northern Lights | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
The Northern Lights | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

The dance of the Arctic light is difficult to describe, but we thoroughly enjoy the spectacle, outside in the cold.

The North Cape

And then, on December 8, 2021, we reached the North Cape. The snowy roads didn't stop us, the temperatures down to -28ºC couldn't stop us, we were at the northernmost tip of Europa.

we are on the North Cape | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
We are on the North Cape | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Milady Landy on the North Cape | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Milady Landy on the North Cape | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

In this video we give an overview of our journey through Norway:

Finland

The drive south took us through Finland. We drove hundreds of miles on snowy roads, through white forests and past frozen lakes.

Also read: 5x beautiful national parks in Finland & travel by train! † guest blog

Frozen Lake in Northern Finland | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Frozen Lake in Northern Finland | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

This is Lapland, or Sapmi as the locals call it.

Miles of frozen roads
Miles of frozen roads

We are going to visit the "real Santa" in Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle in Finland. Funny for a visit, but a bit too touristy for us.

Visiting Rovaniemi | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Visiting Rovaniemi | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

In Helsinki we visit Tuula, Sonja's Finnish friend who invited us for a belated Christmas party.

Sonja and Tuula
Sonja and Tuula

The Baltic States

On New Year's Eve 2021 we will sail from Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia.

Estonia

It was still winter in Estonia, we even experienced the New Year's Eve in Tallinn with a small snow shower and fireworks.

The landscapes resemble the Netherlands, sometimes very much.

Landscape in Tallin
Landscape in Tallin

Latvia

Also in winter, also cold and very hospitable. The Highlight is our visit to Riga, the capital.

Riga | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Riga | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
With a number of cafes where they have delicious Belgian beer.
With a number of cafes where they have delicious Belgian beer.

Lithuania

We camped on the Curonian Spit. Here it seemed as if winter had ended and spring had arrived.

The Baltic Sea beach of the Curonian Spit near Nida
The Baltic Sea beach of the Curonian Spit near Nida | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

The town of Siauliai has a town link with Etten-Leur, where we lived. We were warmly welcomed by Zofia and Aloyzius Kairiai and later by Odeta and Germantas. They let us fully enjoy the Lithuanian hospitality.

Sonja with Zofia and Aloyzius
Sonja with Zofia and Aloyzius
Odetta and Germantas guide us through Vilnius and surroundings
Odetta and Germantas guide us through Vilnius and surroundings

Poland

Like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Poland has a rich history of domination and territorial change. Germany, Russia and Lithuania have occupied parts of present-day Poland. The cities of Poland we visit bear the traces of this.

Also read: Eastern Europe | The 'Eastern Bloc' is so much hipper than you think!

Warsaw | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Warsaw | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Krakow
Krakow
Gdansk | Around the Baltic Sea in winter
Gdansk | Around the Baltic Sea in winter

But next to these cities, the former concentration camp Auschwitz, in the place Oswiecim, most impressed us.

Auschwitz
Auschwitz

It is February 3, 2022, walking over this memorial we say to each other: “how beautiful it is that the European borders are fixed, that there is no more war".
3 weeks later, Russia invades Ukraine!

Gert Jan

Hi world travelers,
I am Gert Jan and together with Sonja we drive around the world with our Milady Landy. Overland, full-time and with no fixed destination, we Travel to the Horizon.
Our Milady Landy is a Land Rover Defender 130 from 1998 that we have equipped ourselves as a camper, she is our residence, our tiny-house-on-wheels.

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