Holiday Cycling Adventures

In the summer of 2019 we cycled through northern Europe. Our cycling trip took us all the way to the North Cape and back. We started in The Netherlands and visited Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Norway.

After a little more than one week of cycling we made good progress. We needed two and a half days to get through The Netherlands to the German border. We cycled through some nice villages, over forest roads and also on some busy roads. We managed to do about 100 km a day and found a camping at the end of each day. Now we're only a day cycling away from the Polish border. This will be the first time that we will visit Poland for the both of us.

After two weeks of cycling, our progress is still very good! After 1539 km, we are now in Kętrzyn in the northeast of Poland.
During the past six days we traversed the northern part of Poland.
Road conditions here vary between good and appalling (huge potholes). But they lead us through beautiful landscapes with agriculture and forests. Storks are everywhere.
Despite the high temperatures (above 30°C) we were still able to average 100 km per day.
The day after tomorrow we plan tot cross the next border into Lithuania.

After the third week we now have cycled a total of 2117 km. We have arrived in Sigulda in Latvia.
We left Poland and rode through Lithuania.
The route took us through scenic agricultural fields and forests over rolling hills. The secundary roads are mostly unpaved.
The weather is enjoyable. Temperatures are nice and the wind blows favourable.
The day after tomorrow we plan tot enter Estonia.

After four weeks we now have cycled a total of 2840 km. We have arrived in Konginkangas in Finland.
We have gone through Estonia and taken the ferry to Finland.
In Estonia we had soms trouble finding campsites. One night we camped in the forest.
In Finland the cycling is more strenuous because of the higher and steeper Hills.
The next week we will be cycling further north through Finland.

We are now on the road for five weeks and have already done 3516 km. We are now in Sodankylä in northern Finland.
The past week we cycled north through Finland, roughly following highway 4. We are now above the arctic circle.
The scenery still was mostly forest but the hills were getting higher. The temperature has descreased to around 15°C. We also encountered some rain.
The next week we will continue to go north towards the North Cape in Norway.

We are now on the road for six weeks and have done 4164 km. We are now in Honningsvåg in northern Norway.
The past week we continued to go north through Finland and have entered Norway.
This morning we reached the northernmost point of our route: the North Cape (Nordkapp).
Here, this far north, it is chilly but mainly dry.
Tomorrow we will take the Hurtigruten to Øksfjord and from there we will cycle further.

We are now on our way for seven weeks and have cycled 4301 km.
In Honningsvåg we took the Hurtigruten which brought us to Øksfjord. From there we cycled to Alta.
Due to an overstress injury we have decided to rest for a week and to shorten our route.
We drove a rental car to Oslo. Tomorrow we take the ferry to Kiel (Germany), from where we will start cycling again.

We are now on our way for eight weeks and have cycled 4792 km. and one more day to go.
As conclusion of our period of rest, we took the Color Magic from Oslo (Norway) to Kiel (Germany). There we started cycling again towards The Netherlands. We crossed Groningen and Friesland. In Stavoren we took the IJsselmeer ferry to Enkhuizen.

The final stretch home it was a very very hot day and the end of a fantastic cycling trip.

HELSINKI WEATHER
ALTA WEATHER