Hopefully no Scandi drama for us, tak tack takk (1 Viewer)

[Jenben]

We are in our final few days in Norway and heading along the coast.

We have a nice overnight at Sannidal (camper contact 50134) parked by a fjord

We then head to Mandal (camper contact 19928) where we park by the side of the river, it's a great spot with well marked walking routes to the coast and a fantastic look out point

Last night we parked at Lindesnes by the lighthouse (camper contact 18958), the most Southern point on mainland Norway.

This one is for @jumartoo

 

[moulin 87]

If the weather remains like that we'll be heading south enough..

 

[Jenben]

One last night in Norway above the harbour at Kristiansand and we catch the first catamaran of the day to Denmark.

We have had a great time in Norway, I think a couple of people were interested in our costs, was it @Debs and @Langtoftlad ?

In terms of our overnights costs we did use a couple of campsites on our trip, the most we paid was £25. The rest of the time we made use of camper contact for our spots plus looking at where the Norwegians parked

We stayed 13 nights for free , some overnight spots charged either using an honesty box or simply a pay and display ticket. As a result our overall accommodation cost for 23 nights works out just over £7.50 a night.

I will post toll and other costs when I work them out.

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[jumartoo]

loving the reports, just trying to console myself with the similarity between Lofoten Islands and Western Scotland, if I keep squinting a bit I am sure I will cope

Western Scotland, in good weather!, is fantastic. In its own way equal to Norway.

Our Norwegian friends visit Scotland every December as a type of country exchange. They love it! They send the Christmas tree to Edinburgh. Not them personally, but Bergen!

 

[Bailey58]

Last night we parked at Lindesnes by the lighthouse (camper contact 18958), the most Southern point on mainland Norway.

You didn't happen to see anything of Lindesnes Trekkspillkubb by any chance? An accordion band who we saw in the Faroes a few year back and later bought cd's and videos, yeah sad! They tour all over and play some wonderful music and include a lot of fun stuff in their concerts. Give the second one 30 seconds before you switch off!

 

[Jenben]

You didn't happen to see anything of Lindesnes Trekkspillkubb by any chance?

Sorry to say that we didn't, wow who knew about accordion bands ! I may add them to my Spotify playlist . Are they actually from Lindesnes as it is such a tiny place ?

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[Bailey58]

Sorry to say that we didn't, wow who knew about accordion bands ! I may add them to my Spotify playlist . Are they actually from Lindesnes as it is such a tiny place ?

From Vest Agder the county in general as far as I can discover but they centre a lot of their videos around Mandal and the lighthouse. They are very well travelled too with connections with Norwegian ex pats in the States where they have toured several times. Their signature music is Vigelandvalsen after a town in the county. We plan to check on concert dates when we tour Norway next year.

 

[The Dudess]

I will post toll and other costs when I work them out.

I would be really interested to see your costs. Hubby desperately wants to go to Norway - I so DON'T want to go as I'm sure it's too cold for me, however, looking at your photos maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Jenben]

From Vest Agder the county in general as far as I can discover but they centre a lot of their videos around Mandal and the lighthouse.

Mandal is a really nice spot @Bailey58 , we stayed right by the harbour front in the town centre on a motorhome parking spot. I have stuck some photos from Mandal below.

We parked just past the big orange ball which is an art installation.

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[Jenben]

I would be really interested to see your costs. Hubby desperately wants to go to Norway - I so DON'T want to go as I'm sure it's too cold for me,

I think it's a great place to visit, the Norwegians love their motorhomes. From talking to them a lot of them had boats but then changed to a motorhome as the season is much longer.

It hasn't been cold @The Dude , a couple of damp days when we had the heating on in the evening is all. It has been in the high teens low 20s most of the time , my fleece jumper is still unworn.

 

[Jenben]

We are enjoying a few days in Denmark, we stay at a lovely campsite near Skagen recommended by @big map .

Bike riding and Skagen ice cream sampling as the weather is lovely.

We then head towards Silkeborg which is an area that is called the Danish lake District. We don't find anywhere we like enough to stay but notice a place called Norre Snede a bit further South.

This is a free camperstop (cc 27809) by the side of someone's house, what a great spot.

We are on our own, there are picnic benches and a little summer house if you want to sit inside.

I think @Kevinthecat had a thread the other day about the kindness of people, this is a great example. The generosity of the hosts means that people leave lovely messages in the visitors book and even do a watercolour painting of the site.

Not to let the side down we are carrying a postcard from our village at home that we leave along with our note of thanks

 

[jumartoo]

The postcard is a nice touch @Jenben. I've got some of Phil's motorhome cards with me if I want to leave a note for someone!

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[Bailey58]

We spent a month on a fishing holiday at Voervadsbro a few years ago. Lovely part of Denmark around Skanderborg and Silkeborg and don't forget one of the highest points in Denmark not a million miles away, Himmelbjerget.

 

[Jenben]

Lovely part of Denmark around Skanderborg and Silkeborg and don't forget one of the highest points in Denmark not a million miles away, Himmelbjerget.

Thanks for that , not very high though at 147 metres !

 

[Speve]

We stayed at Sindal on the way out on this trip Skagen not to far away and what a lovely place it's also worth popping over to Hirtsalls there is a bunker museum there by the lighthouse.

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[Jenben]

A final stop before leaving Denmark and we spent a few nights on the island of Romo. It's not a very big island and is linked to the mainland by a causeway.

A fantastic beach along one side of the island goes on for miles, I can't imagine it would ever feel full. You can even take vehicles on it, a few campervans were parked up when we were there.

The rest of the island is taken up with bike and walking trails in the pine forest. Well marked cycling routes take us to the harbour where we have fish and chips for lunch.

Eating out opportunities have been rare on this trip, we have missed fish and chips ( and curry , and pizza ).

We are staying at Oasen Romo (camper contact no 23968). It's a purpose built camperstop built around two small ponds. It has space for more than 100 vans, as we are so near Germany it was just us and 49 German vans this week.

Sad to leave Denmark , we have enjoyed both our stays in the country, it's well worth a visit.

 

[Anthea M]

Thanks for sharing Jen the photos have been stunning!!!
Back to wI bake offs and crafty stuff !!
But I've enjoyed your holiday my too thanks both of you!!!

 

[Jenben]

Thanks for sharing Jen the photos have been stunning!!!
Back to wI bake offs and crafty stuff !!
But I've enjoyed your holiday my too thanks both of you!!!

Oh you are very welcome Anthea, it's a good way of remembering where we have been.

Was someone looking for somewhere to ride a horse on a beach ? I can't remember who but anyway Romo would be perfect, lots of marked pont trekking trails and that massive beach too.

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[Jenben]

Back to wI bake offs and crafty stuff !!

Yes, the WI are providing afternoon tea at a garden party event when I get back, they seem to have sold 200 tickets

 

[Anthea M]

Ben will be cleaning and fettling the van and you will be baking!!!!

 

[Jenben]

A final few nights of this trip, first in Germany where we stopped overnight on a small harbour. We are just off a channel of the Elbe at Neufeld (camper contact no 19116 ).

We are now in the Netherlands, our first stop is at a little farm, Pleisterplaats Rabo Scheele, Hertme ( camper contact 6566). Park where you want, we choose some shade as it's been a bit warm.

Our final Netherlands stop sees us parked in an orchard where they have a lovely camperstop De Plantage, Kruiningnen (camper contact 23643). Our spot has a row of plum trees at the front of us and pear trees at our side.

A great little farm shop where they bake a loaf of bread for me and I pick up a punnet of cherries from their orchard.

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[Jenben]

Back home now, the van is unpacked and we have had an opportunity to tot up the costs. I think it was @Langtoftlad and @Debs who wanted an idea of the finances?

A brief summary of our costs
Mileage 4000 miles done over 7 weeks. Fuel prices varied across countries and day of the week in Norway. We get about 27 mpg so nearly 150 gallons of fuel for this trip, it's fair to say this is the main part of the trip costs at c £700.

Ferry fjord costs - we caught just 3 fjord ferries there were on average £20 each, none of these trips were long but as we are over 6 metres it's double the price. Shorter vans will pay quite a bit less. £60

Toll costs - about £75 in total

Ferry cost to Denmark c£90 (Rodsby Puttsgarden), ferry back from Kristiansand to Hirtshall was £170. If you were super organised you could book further ahead and save money, we booked on our trip as we honestly weren't sure which way we would go (or return).

Bridge - purchasing the bropass meant the Oresund bridge was £80

Accommodation costs - a mix of camper stops, (mainly) free spots and campsites, costs overall were about £520, averaged at just over £10.60 per night.

Food and drinks - we didn't really eat out much on this trip and carried a bit more wine than we were allowed. It's pretty expensive to eat out in Norway and so we just didn't bother. We have the benefit of a good sized fridge and freezer, our cupboards were full. I honestly don't think we spent any more on food than being at home and so I have left this cost out. We bought fresh fruit,veg, milk and bread as we travelled, there are lots of supermarkets, our average cost per item was about £2 but again we weren't buying any meat/fish etc.

I haven't included a ferry to Calais as we used a Tesco voucher deal .

Adding all this up and we come just short of £1700 (excluding food and drink). Just under £35 per night.

 

[Debs]

Thanks Carolyn, really appreciated. Somewhere I'd love to visit. X

 

[big map]

Pack your van up and go with @Anthea M

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[Jenben]

Thanks Carolyn, really appreciated. Somewhere I'd love to visit. X

You are welcome Debs.

Pack your van up and go with @Anthea M

I was just about to say I bet you could organise a trip with others in a mini convoy and Andrea beat me to it !

 

[jumartoo]

You are welcome Debs.


I was just about to say I bet you could organise a trip with others in a mini convoy and Andrea beat me to it !

Don't start another mini meet thread!!!

We're not going to even think about the expenses for our trip. We're doing a bit more mileage than you, so don't want to know the cost.

 

[DavidG58]

Many thanks for the summary, Bev has more or less agreed to the trip and taking around 5 weeks, although she does keep mentioning 28 nights

Tonights whittle is will there be washing facilities?

From your experience on this trip, did the sites you used have washing machines?

Anything that you struggled to get or sort, please give me a heads up before we meet at Shrewsbury

Any guide books, maps available to borrow very gratefully received, will be returned by post on our return, unless we happen to be able to bump into you again this year

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[Jenben]

Don't start another mini meet thread!!!

We're not going to even think about the expenses for our trip. We're doing a bit more mileage than you, so don't want to know the cost.

Judith you will be doing it over a larger number of nights and so I suspect your average cost per night will be less. You can take the woman out of accountancy but you can't take accountancy out of the woman.....

 

[Jenben]

Many thanks for the summary, Bev has more or less agreed to the trip and taking around 5 weeks, although she does keep mentioning 28 nights

Tonights whittle is will there be washing facilities?

From your experience on this trip, did the sites you used have washing machines?

Hello David, you are very welcome. I think all the campsites we stayed at had washing machines and driers. In fact, we also stayed at some ports / harbours which had washing facilities available to use. Tell Bev not to fret.

These ranged in price from free (that Swedish camperstop which could have been made by Carlsberg). To eye wateringly expensive (that campsite in Copenhagen with the fancy kitchen).

Can you guess which one I used ?

 

[jumartoo]

@DavidG58 to lessen the risk to your trip why don't you buy Bev one of those washer spinner machines .

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