• Ian Stewart
  • Emma-Jane Stanbridge
  • Ian Stewart
  • Emma-Jane Stanbridge

Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023

Et 93-dagers eventyr av Ian & Emma-Jane Les mer
  • Reisens start
    12. juli 2023
  • Ypres

    17. juli 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Ypres, the staging zone for the allied forces in WWI before heading to the front lines of the Western Front. A very sombre place with many soldiers buried unidentified.😔

  • Altenbrak in Harz Mtns, Saxony, Germany

    24. juli 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We stopped in a little village called Altenbrak in the Harz Mountains for 2 nights. This place was really quaint and reminded us a lot of alpine skiing villages in its charm. A lot of the houses had witch statues/ornaments associated with them as this area was heavily involved in the witch hunts of the 1500-1600s. We also did an 18km through the mountains which were very reminiscent of the Magoebaskloof mountains near Tzaneen.Les mer

  • Berlin - Germany

    25. juli 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    What a place! Very interesting both culturally and from a historical point of view, but yet very grungy and completely covered in graffiti. Seeing historical places such as the Berlin wall, Tempelhof airport, Brandenburg gate, Hitler's death place.Les mer

  • Lübeck - Germany

    27. juli 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Stayed a night in a backpackers here...a place with amazing medieval 'fairytale' like spires and architecture.

  • Denmark: Camping on the West Coast

    30. juli 2023, Danmark

    Our first time camping on our trip!! We stayed at a place called Nissum Fjord Camp grounds. The Danish West Coast can be summed up as MILLIONS of MOSQUITOS 🦟, long sandy beaches 🌊, endless rolling dunes and THUNDERSTORMS ⛈️ (of which we got caught in whilst hiking) and gourmet camping meals. A good 3 nights!Les mer

  • Denmark: Copenhagen!

    2. august 2023, Danmark

    Copenhagen! Probably our favourite city so far! We stayed 2 nights here in an epic hostel! The first night we met a fellow South African (Tinashe) and a guy (Milo) from Maine in the hostel bar. The next day, slightly hungover, we went and checked the Viking exhibit at the National Museum. That evening we went to a place called Reffen to meet up with Wout and Line (some friends we'd met from a festival) and had a great time with them! The next day we did a cycle trip around the city recommended by Wout which was amazing! Especially the Christiania district! Copenhagen! Great place!Les mer

  • Sweden: Wild Camping at Östra Frölunda

    2. august 2023, Sverige ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We left Copenhagen and entered into Sweden...what a country! Rolling forested mountains with countless lakes and cute red and white houses...reminiscent of Virginia. We left Copenhagen without having a set place to stay as Sweden has numerous of these 'shelters' scattered about which are mostly free, so we decided to try it out. What an amazing place! Our best place so far! A little romantic shelter next to the creek where we could have a fire as well. And it cost only £8 total!Les mer

  • Sweden: Sandaholm Campsite

    5. august 2023, Sverige

    After sadly just 1 night at our secluded forest spot, we headed to a fixed camping area called Sandaholm camping in SW Sweden. Also a really nice campsite with nice facilities. It seems some of the Europeans take their holidaying seriously with a lot of semi permanent caravans present (people even had their own lawn mowers, stoeps etc) This campsite was right on the edge of a lake which provided for some great sunsets. We mostly relaxed here and were not too active. We did do a 10km run through the forest which was a amazing! This place was also plagued with some really intense thunderstorms, so we reverted back to the trusty Scrabble board...I won by 10 points☺️Les mer

  • Norway: Oslo

    6. august 2023, Norge ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    It was a short trip from our campsite to Oslo, Norway...our first time in Norway!😁 But sadly we were a bit disappointed with Oslo...we stayed in our worst accommodation so far (a cheap, shared flat of which the fridge smelt strongly of off fish. Oslo itself didn't improve on this either. A very hilly city, but very little charm to it. Mostly blocks of flats and not much architecture or green spaces of note. Also expensive! Not our favourite stop and glad it was only for a night!Les mer

  • Haglebu cabin

    8. august 2023, Norge ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    We were on our way to Hardangervidda NP to do some hiking when we found out Norway was having one of its worst storms in 25 years!😳 The government even sent us alerts to our phones about possible flooding/landslides etc. So we had to change plans and hole up in this cute little cabin for 2 nights to wait out the storm instead of hiking! We barely left the cabin...so another intense, tight game of Scrabble ensued...I won by 27 points with my last word ('Malted' onto a triple word score for those wondering😏). 2nd time in the last 3 games that it's been decided on the last word!Les mer

  • Hiking Hardangervidda National Park

    9. august 2023, Norge ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    So one of the biggest reasons for coming to Norway was for the epic hiking. Now they're pretty kitted out for this with all these cool cabins scattered across the country and trails in between, but planning the hikes ended up being trickier than we initially first thought. It's also difficult to gauge how intense the hike is going to be... especially when 1 has to factor in a heavy backpack.😬 Anyways, we probably bit off a bit more than we could chew for our first hike! It ended up being a gruelling 92km hike over 4 and a bit days with an elevation gain of 3800m! We averaged about 20km a day over VERY rough terrain ie post glacial boulder fields, glaciers, bogs, steep rock faces etc. It really pushed us both physically and mentally this hike, but it was cool to be able to say we managed to do it and we definitely learnt A LOT of lessons from this about packing light!😅 The hike had some incredible views though and was spectacular in every other regard!Les mer

  • Driving in Norway

    13. august 2023, Norge ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    So this gets its own post! Driving in Norway is an experience...firstly, the speed limit is 80km/hr for most of the country, so it takes aaaaaages just to go relatively short distances eg it'll take 3hrs to go 150km with all the tunnels and ferries etc. That brings me onto the next point. Tunnels. God do they love a tunnel here! Including having circles in the tunnels which is interesting (see the video)!We also went through the longest tunnel I've ever (and probably will ever) go through...25km long! Emz and I almost passed out from holding our breath for that long!😉Les mer

  • Norway: Bergen

    14. august 2023, Norge ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    So after the hectic hiking in Hardangervidda, it was on to Bergen we went! What a picturesque city and faaaaar better in this regard than Oslo (although this wasn't difficult!🤦🏻‍♂️). Quite a touristy place, but there's definitely a reason for it! Beautiful, narrow cobbled streets with cute wooden houses, all built on these little islands and peninsulas created by the fjords. There was also a bustling fish market where they even had WHALE meat on offer. Norway is one of the few countries where whale hunting is still practiced, but we avoided trying the meat due to the ethical implications of whale hunting. Instead we settled for a Norwegian beer bar which had an impressive array of Norwegian beers and finally we ended the night with our first try of Norwegian cuisine at one of their fine dining restaurants. Emz and myself weren't overly impressed. The food was okay, but nothing special for the price. Still, Bergen is a place to be visited if going to Norway and we had a good time here!Les mer

  • Norway: Lom

    15. august 2023, Norge ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    After leaving Bergen, it was back to the mountains for more....yep....hiking! But first for a night near our intended hiking spot in a cute little cabin of which by far the biggest highlight was seeing our first bit of Norwegian wildlife...we saw a MOOSE!!!🫎😁 Finally the binos came in handy in this relatively desolate environment!Les mer

  • Norway:Hiking& she said YES!😁🥳💍

    17. august 2023, Norge ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    So as the title suggests, this was the BIG hike where Emz said YES to marrying me!😁 But it wasn't all as plain sailing as it would seem. Initially the plan was to do this on the previous hike, but a combination of having to write a poem in a card in a long drop (the only time I could get away from Emz) and us being so exhausted that mere survival held stronger sentiment than proposals, things never really materialised in the 'grazing a knee' department. So onto hike no. 2 in Reinheimen NP. A less challenging hike and one where surely nothing else could go wrong, right? Besides, Emz had already passed her final test with flying colours of doing 145km hiking across the Norwegian mtns with 5000m elevation gain in 10 days.😉 Anyways, the weather was set fair for our day 2 of hiking and this was D-day...the planned day! But things quickly didn't seem so rosy when poor Emz put on her hiking boots and was in absolute agony from them. Emz being Emz, wanted to attempt to hike on and thought that us not hiking that day would ruin our already amazing 3 month holiday. I managed to convince her through her tears that it was okay for us not to hike - especially if one was in pain - ; us not hiking wouldn't ruin the holiday and we could just chill at the cabin (by far the best cabin we'd stayed at as well) on the lake and have a picnic. Emz eventually came around to the idea and it was at this picnic on the rocks beside the lake where this amazing girl said YES! We both couldn't be happier!😁🥳💍

    We celebrated with a little bottle of prosecco I'd carried around for 145km, a bottle of nice french wine and some Norwegian people in the cabin made us blueberry pancakes for dessert which was lovely! We also met a girl named Live (pronounced 'lever') who joined us for the last 2 days of the hike and Emz and myself were both very impressed. I can't say I've met many 18yr olds that go hiking for 4 nights in the mountains by themselves and even have their own rifle!😳 Anyways, she kept us both entertained with her stories. All in all though, a great 4 day hike and Emz and myself think it's probably one of the best in Norway😏😉😁
    Les mer