An eight week + journey that took us across 12 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After\n taking the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam we drove north via Germany\n and Denmark and across the famous Bridge to Sweden. On two of our \nprevious trips we had been to the northernmost coast of Norway and \nSwedish Lappland and had seen a lot of northern Scandinavia; this time \nwe took the Baltic coast road in Sweden, taking a couple of days out to \nvisit the island of \u00d8land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Polar](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Pic-1-Sweden-Polar-Circle-28.07.17_IBR1835.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nSweden \u2013 Polar Circle <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once\n again we crossed the Arctic Circle and spent a few days in Swedish \nLappland before heading east to Finnish Lappland. In this part of the \nworld it is relatively easy to find a forest hideaway to park overnight.\n We much prefer to be \u2018off piste\u2019 \u2013 which is becoming increasingly \ndifficult to do in most of central and southern Europe, and indeed in \nScotland. We do accept that, if there is no alternative, we will use \ncampsites and we have been in a fair few: the good, the bad and the \nugly. However with our small solar panel we can remain independent \nindefinitely. You won\u2019t find much on main roads, of course, so the \nsecret is to explore minor roads and become familiar with the land usage\n and pattern of settlement of the region you are travelling through. \nJust bear in mind that wherever there is a track, you must assume \nsomeone will be using it, no matter how overgrown it looks at first \nsight. The golden rule is never to block any track, however obscure. You\n would be surprised how often when parked up in little forests, hidden \nfrom view, we have had (almost always) friendly encounters with locals \nwho happen along. Always be scrupulous about parking sensibly and leave \nNO TRACE WHATSOEVER of your stay when you depart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sweden \u2013 Forest Camp<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another\n useful accessory is our little 12 volt water pump and short hose so we \ncan fill up from streams even without access to mains tap water \u2013 this \nwas especially useful in the far north of Scandinavia. A tip here: it\u2019s \nuseful to have a wide-necked plastic jerry can from which to decant \nfresh water by this means. The pump has to be dropped into the water \ncarrier \u2013 so the neck must be reasonably wide. Incidentally one of our \nhouse rules for stopping overnight is never to park in sight of anyone\u2019s\n dwelling and, where possible, to be completely hidden from public view.\n This is one of the reasons we have enjoyed travelling in the far north \nof Norway, Sweden and Finland. If only some of the legion of \nmotor-homers who tour the north west highlands, where we live, followed \nthese principles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finland \u2013 Russian border zone <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Back\n to last year\u2019s epic road trip \u2026 We came south through the Finnish \nforests, keeping close to the Russian border before crossing their \nfamous lake land \u2013 though there are so many trees you don\u2019t see that \nmuch of the water. After returning to the Baltic coast for a few days we\n headed back east to Helsinki from where we took the ferry across to \nTallinn in Estonia. Here we had our first of three \u2018city breaks, putting\n the van in a hotel carpark and becoming tourists for the day. This is \nreason enough to drive a small van with an expanding roof. We have \nmanaged to use underground carparks and pass under 2 metre barriers that\n are very common in cities. Thanks to the internet and my trusty iPad I \nwas able to pre-book both ferry and hotel from a forest site in western \nFinland so there was no stress in arriving at a strange city in the late\n afternoon \u2013 with a bit of help from Sat Nav.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Estonia \u2013 Tallinn <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\n explored a bit of the northern Estonian coast on the Gulf of Finland \nwith its well preserved forest reserves. Here there are one or two free \ncamping areas; elsewhere all camping is strictly forbidden. Next stop \nwas the town of Narva where the river forms the border with Russia. The \ntown itself is still very much ethnically Russian. Next we drove along \nthe shore of Lake Peipsi, so big it\u2019s like an inland sea. Our route took\n us back and forward across Latvia and Lithuania, mainly through very \nrural landscapes. We did visit the Curonian Spit though that we thought \nwas rather overhyped and spoiled by commercialised tourism. But where \nisn\u2019t these days? The best things that happen on trips like this is \ncoming across something you didn\u2019t know anything about. Our second \u2018city\n break\u2019 was in the old town of Vilnius where we did discover a very fine\n restaurant on our walkabout which made a nice change from our regular \nvan diet. (We tend to keep things very simple \u2013 strictly no frying \nindoors.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lake Peipsi, Estonia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Poland\n was next and, once again, we kept mainly to minor roads \u2013 some almost \nas rough as Scotland\u2019s or worse. We saw something of the ancient \nforests, the last remaining remnant of the old European forests that \nonce covered huge tracts of the continent. Alas, there is illegal \nlogging going on there and we thought it prudent not to engage in \nenvironmental chat with the foresters or park up deep in this particular\n area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our third city break was in Krakow, another city steeped in\n history, before going south to Zakopane which is now a very busy little\n town at the foot of the High Tatras. You have to make an early start to\n be sure of getting up on the one cable car to the high ridge but it\u2019s \nwell worth it for there is fine walking and quite a few climbing \nchallenges for those who are brave enough. The border with Slovakia runs\n along this ridge, so you can literally have one foot in each country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poland-Slovakia, High Tatras<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our\n last chance to camp \u2018in the wild\u2019 came in the central valleys of \nSlovakia. After that it would be campsites and, let\u2019s own up, a few \nguest houses \u2013 and far too many schnitzels \u2013 as we looped our way home \nvia Hungary and across Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally we faced the long drive \nback to Amsterdam through Germany but we decided to break this journey \nup by visiting the ancient towns of Bamberg and Aachen where Charlemagne\n had his Imperial Palace in the early 9th century \u2013 reminding us of the \nfirst great post-Roman unification of Europe where Charles employed \nteachers and scholars from the British Isles to re-educate Gaul. Changed\n days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The above is the briefest summary of a 8,000+ mile road trip that was packed with points of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finland \u2013 on the Arctic Circle -Forest Camp<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not really. We knew what we wanted and Jerba delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poland \u2013 High Tatras<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jerba\n will build you a van which has been carefully thought through in every \ndetail and is exceedingly practical. They will also provide excellent \nafter sales service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n West Mainland Shetland, Littleure<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\n found them on the internet and rang Simon. After talking with him we \nknew we had found the right converter and when we visited the workshop \nprior to committing, we were even more sure we had come to the right \nplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Italy Dolomites, Passo Fedaia <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re\n just back from a short (a month is short for us) trip to the Dolomites.\n Usually it takes a few weeks for the next idea to gestate. Whatever we \ndo it will be hard to top the seven long trips we have already done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part\n of our thinking in undertaking our European tours was the threat that \nsuch freedom of travel we have enjoyed may not last forever so we, being\n Europhiles, believed this was something we had to do before history \nturns back on itself. We hope that doesn\u2019t happen \u2013 but what better way \nof getting to know our neighbours than a long road trip in a Jerba \nCampervan? So many interesting encounters, so many fascinating places, \nso many beautiful nights in the nordic forests. What\u2019s not to like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Italy Dolomites- Sassolungo from Col Rodela <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this article Iain tells us about their mighty 8,000 mile road trip to the Baltics last year and provides us with his best tips for wild forest camping. At the end of this article we asked about Iain about his Jerba experience and we are very appreciative of his lovely comments! Spectacular inspirational travel photos throughout this article!\u2026over to you Iain!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-5158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jerba-adventures","tag-jerba-adventures"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"sweeden](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Pic-2-Sweden-Forest-Camp-2-24.07.17_IBR1819.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"finland](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Finland-Russian-border-zone-Fiona-30.07.17IMG_0777.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"estonia](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Pic-4-Estonia-Tallinn-09.0817_IBR1905.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"lake](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Pic-5-Lake-Peipsi-Estonia-15.08.17_IBR2065.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"poland](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Poland-Slovakia-High-Tatras-Iain-30.08.17-IMG_0836.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"finland](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Pic-7-Finland-on-the-Arctic-Circle-Forest-Camp-8-30.07..jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nHas anything surprised you about your campervan that you just didn\u2019t expect?!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Poland](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Poland-High-Tatras-Fiona-30.08.17_IBR1535.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat would you say to someone who\u2019s considering buying a campervan?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/West-Mainland-Shetland-Littleure-27.08.16_IBR1573-.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhy did you choose Jerba Campervans?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Italy](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Italy-Dolomites-Iain-Passo-Fedaia-10.06.18-IMG_0861.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s next?! Where are you planning to go in the months and years to come?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Italy](\"https:\/\/www.jerbacampervans.co.uk\/JerbaStaging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Italy-Dolomites-Sassolungo-from-Col-Rodela-14.06.18-DSF040.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n