Category Scandinavia
Scandinavian Tour Part 5 – Narvik in Norway
The North Atlantic port of Narvik is right at the end of the Iron Ore/Ofoten line from Lulea on Sweden’s Baltic Coast. You can read parts 3 & 4 of my tour to read about our journey there. My fourth visit to the strategically important town was my first from east to west, with my […]
Monday Morning Blues – The af Chapman Youth Hostel in Stockholm
I recently paid a visit to the Swedish capital, known as the Venice of the North. Consisting of a series of islands, it is home to a unique youth hostel, a full rigged steel ship named the af Chapman. Built by the Whitehaven Shipbuilding Company in the UK and launched in 1888, she undertook voyages […]
Scandinavia Tour 2022 Part 4 – From Sweden Into Norway
Kiruna to Narvik When my travelling companion and I were learning geography at school, we were taught all about the Swedish iron ore industry and how a train line was built to Narvik so the ore could be exported. You see, the shallow Swedish Baltic Sea port at Luleå that was the main route out […]
Monday Morning Blues – Riksgränsen in Sweden
I recently passed through Riksgränsen on the train on the way to Narvik in Norway. Riksgränsen is a popular ski resort in Sweden, just 709 metres from Norway. The train station is Sweden’s highest at 1,228m above sea level.
Scandinavia Tour 2022 Part 3 – Iron Ore in the North of Sweden
I left off part 2 with us being stuck in Boden waiting for a rail replacement bus to take us to Gällivare. To our surprise our ticket collector travelled with us and proceeded to give us a guided commentary on the journey. As bus journeys went this was not too shabby! The three-hour journey sped […]
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Scandinavia Tour 2022 Part Two – Luleå in Sweden
Luleå The bus journey from the Finnish border would take 90-minutes and flew past despite the frequent stops, the small settlements acting as brief interruptions from the golden forest and lichen covered rock. We soon found our hotel and then took to the Baltic coastline. Luleå in Norbotten County is a key export centre for Swedish […]
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Scandinavia Tour 2022 Part One – Finland
After over three years of hoping, we finally had to give up on the idea of taking the trans-Siberian Express across Russia. COVID and the unjust & appalling war put paid to our journey from Baltic to Pacific, from Helsinki to Vladivostok. So what to do with our flight to Helsinki? We decided to head […]
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Monday Morning Blues – Train Window View in Norway
I am just back from 18 days touring Scandinavia by train and bus. I have many favourite Nordic journeys and I will blog about my latest travels soon. This particular picture comes from the wonderful Oslo to Bergen line, which takes you right up alongside snowy peaks no matter what time of year that yo7 […]
Monday Morning Blues – The Baltic Sea off Helsinki
To celebrate my planned train trip around Scandinavia, I have gone for a picture from my last visit to the region in September 2019, for this week’s Monday Morning Blues. I had a week working in the Finnish capital and took the opportunity to fly my big sister Jackie over for some sightseeing. This picture […]
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Sunday Photos – Tromso in Norway
Four years ago we ended our tour of Norway in Tromso, high up inside the Arctic Circle. We travelled the last leg by bus from Narvik. Tromso is a beautiful city and a great location to see the Northern Lights (we did not!). It’s also a brilliant place to go if you want to go […]
