Europe Trip 16 - Scandinavia and NordKapp

[CaliforniaCylus]

Spent too much time already on this one so if you want to read about our 3 days in Copenhagen, it's in the attached link.

Eurotrip 16, 2026 – Days 4-6, Three Days in Copenhagen – Caravan Ramblings

 

[BayCatOne]

Looks like you're having a good time, enjoy our tall country!

In Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark you don't need cash, appart from the top of Galdhöpiggen last time I visited. Can barely remember last time I paid in cash in any of these countries and I visit all regularly.

Don't forget to stop at VW Campercentrum Amersfoort on your way back.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Looks like you're having a good time, enjoy our tall country!

In Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark you don't need cash, appart from the top of Galdhöpiggen last time I visited. Can barely remember last time I paid in cash in any of these countries and I visit all regularly.

Don't forget to stop at VW Campercentrum Amersfoort on your way back.

We are enjoying your lovely country and thanks for the Campercentrum tip. Just in case we've any money left after buying very expensive Scandinavian beer!!

We've found cash necessary at a couple of sites / Stellplatz. One would have taken Swish but I think that's out of bounds for us foreigners. The other I suspect might have taken a card but had a very strong preference for cash...

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Eurotrip 16, 2026 – Day 11 – 12, Harnosand -> Skeppsmalen -> Vallen​

Summary
Wednesday was a relaxing drive from Harnosand to Skeppsmalen. 108 miles driven including views of the High Coast Bridge (aka Sweden’s golden gate) and a detour for lunch at the Rotsidan nature reserve. Rotisdan is a 4km coastline with beautifully polished and flat diabase rock, framed by windswept coastal pines.

We arrived mid-afternoon at Skeppsmalen where there is a Stellplatz near the harbour. The sun was strong, temperatures reached a barmy 22C and we enjoyed a coastal walk and a fish BBQ in the evening.



In contrast, the forecast high temperature for Thursday in Skeppsmalen was 12C so we decided to head further north where counter-intuitively the weather would be a little bit warmer.

We left Skeppsmalen at 09:30, stopped for lunch at IKEA in Umea (why wouldn’t you?), refilled with beer at the Systembolaget near to IKEA and stocked up with groceries from the Co-Op.

Just before Pitea we refuelled with Diesel at sub £1.50 per litre.

233 miles and we finally arrived at Vallen around 16:30.

We had originally planned to stay Friday and Saturday nights at West Coast campsite in Pitea but given this weekend is mid-summers celebrations, and a bank holiday to boot, we decided to head into the sticks instead.

We reserved a pitch at the rather rustic Vallens Turism och Fritid camping. This site really is remote and perhaps rather more rustic and basic than we imagined. But the sanitary facilities are clean and given the bank holiday weekend, we have a pitch! Obviously our preferred direction of parking was not allowed. Nor our second or third orientations which would have maximised our solar gain; however, given that there is only a pitch price including electricity, we decided to hitch-up and we’ll be able to avoid using the diesel heater.



We nearly abandoned the site altogether when we found out there was no campsite WiFi. We hadn’t had any mobile signal since Umea but just when we were thinking we’d need to find another site, our mobiles kicked into action.

The temperature is around 14.5 C and sunset is at 11:49 pm with sunrise at 01:49 am. The sky just doesn’t get dark in the couple of hours the sun sets.

You can find the full write-up on our blog below and there's an option to sign-up for new posts sent via email...

https://www.caravanramblings.co.uk/?p=8803

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Eurotrip 16, 2026 – Day 15 – 16, Onwards and Upwards​

Summary

With our batteries re-charged after 3 nights at Camping Vallens we had a relatively early start on Sunday morning. Crossing the Arctic Circle at the rather underwhelming Juoksenki, we decided on a change of plan and just kept heading North.



A nice site greeted us at Sonkamuotka but we just hadn’t appreciated the Mosquito problem. We knew of issues in Sweden but Finland represented a whole new challenge!

Today’s mileage was 255 but we lost an hour entering Finland…



Monday was a relatively short 155 mile journey to Camping Alta Strand at Alta. We arrived before noon because we’d re-gained our lost hour from yesterday. In the afternoon we caught the bus into Alta and looked around this rather bleak town, albeit with a nice harbour.



Full write-up with pictures and option to subscribe here:

https://www.caravanramblings.co.uk/?p=8873

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

And the final segment of our Northbound journey.

We reached the Nordkapp area yesterday in the early afternoon and had planned to take it easy and visit Nordkapp today. However, yesterday was a lovely bright and clear day so we bagged a pitch at Nordkapp camping and set off to Nordkapp.

There's no doubt this is a very popular trip. I likened it with the missus to the queues for climbing Everest! A steady stream of motorhomes and campervans heading up and down the highway to NK. When we arrived, the plateau was very busy with tourists and this was mainly down to 2 cruise ships docked at Honningsvag.

The lady at the entrance said there would be a lull between 5pm and 6pm when the current cruise boats would leave to be replaced by others.

She was spot on and the plateau rapidly became much quieter. The views are spectacular and it's a very cool place - in more senses than one!

We returned to the campsite in the evening, sorted out some laundry and dinner and settled down to watch the England game. Groan....

After the game, the sun was still shining brightly in the sky and the midnight sun was starting to play havoc with my time clock. It was so bizarre at 1:00am walking around the campsite in the sunshine. Memories which will stick around for some time.







https://www.caravanramblings.co.uk/?p=8893