Swimming in a vast, icy Swedish lake, surrounded by a bright
green forest is something I don't get to do very often. But it was
the kind of experience I had been hoping for when a friend and I
talked about an autumn cycling tour in Europe.
Our trip began at the heel of Norway in late September and ended
up a week later up at the top of Denmark. Our tour took in long
stretches of the west coast of Sweden and loosely followed the
North Sea Cycle Route.
Lush green valleys
We rode about 25 kilometres per day through lush countryside and
stayed at youth hostels or with people we had met on
couchsurfing.com, a community site for travellers who want to stay
with locals. We began our first day from the Norwegian capital
city, Oslo. Setting off into the expansive greenery, pedalling
southwards along big, virtually empty, roads, we reached our first
night's destination - the HI Tuneheimen Hostel in Sarpsborg.
Leisurely days
Cycling 25km a day was just right for our level of fitness. And
it meant we could set off at a leisurely pace after breakfast, stop
for lunch and arrive at our destination in plenty of time before
dusk. Apart from a number of unsightly out-of-town developments,
the scenery throughout the week was stunning. We spun past
beautifully painted traditional Norwegian homes, miles of inviting
lakes and oxygen-buzzing forests. And, in Denmark, countless rows
of wind turbines.
Even the bigger roads usually had good cycle
paths with plenty of views running alongside them. But, on the two
occasions that we found ourselves faced with 110km/h freeways, with
no obviously safe way across, we ended up hitchhiking. This wasn't
our original intention, but we hadn't planned sufficiently and
decided hitching was the lesser of two evils.
Sleeping and surfing
Each night we slept at a brand new destination. After Sarpsborg
- the home town of Roald Dahl's dad Harold - we rested in the
lovely seaside resort of Stromstad, at a quaint Cath Kidston-esque
hostel called the Crusellska Hemmet.
The next night we found
ourselves in Uddevalla, staying at KomBo Logi hostel. The town
itself was quite ugly, but we were more than happy to relax at the
KomBo, which came complete with a sauna, piano and two friendly
cats. After that, we tried some couch surfing. We stayed with Anna,
a 41-year-old artist, and her family, who lived in a part-converted
shop in Svinesund. After falling asleep early most evenings, our
fourth night ended up being much more sociable.
As is good practice
for couch surfing guests, we cooked our hosts a meal. And,
unexpectedly, they provided wine, freshly baked bread and biscuits
as accompaniments. They even gave us their bed - most couch
surfers don't, in fact, end up on couches. The next morning I took
my exhilarating and memorable swim in Lake Hällungen, which was
five minutes from Anna's house. My ears were numb from cold for
hours afterwards, but I didn't care.
Going out in Gothenburg
Our second couch surf was in Gothenburg city on our penultimate
night. We were given the keys to a flat in the centre by
28-year-old Karolin. She left us in her home at 6pm to go to her
night shift and asked us to put the keys through the letterbox the
next day!
On her advice, we found ourselves at a cutting-edge
vegetarian pub named Kelly's (Andra Långgatan 28) for dinner that
evening. The next day, we enjoyed whiling away a few hours at the
fantastic Condeco - a huge fair trade organic cafe in the
heart of the city.
Visiting Varberg
That evening, we took a train to the coastal town of Varberg for
our final night's accommodation - a former prison called Varberg
Fästning, housed inside a 14th century fortress. The place had been
converted into a youth hostel with fresh white walls and comfy
beds. It was a gloomy night, made all the more eerie by the fact
that the hostel seemed deserted - there were no staff. We resorted
to letting ourselves in, finding the first empty room and locking
the door for the night. By the time we reached our final
destination of Aarhus the next day, I felt fitter, greener and
happier. Cycling is the perfect way to be close to nature and the
couch surfing is great for meeting locals. It suited us that the
couch surfing community, rather than just being populated by gap
year students, also has an eclectic mix of older, environmentally
aware types. My only wish, at some points, was that we had planned
our route a little better. But then, too much planning doesn't
normally equal adventure and that was what we wanted most of
all.
Essential information
- Cycling charity Sustrans
was useful for maps, equipment and info.
- We mainly stayed at HI hostels for about £20 each night, not
including sheets. They're individual and well-maintained, with
recycling and composting facilities. See hihostels.com.
- All the countries were fine to have our bikes public transport
- often for a few pounds extra.
- Bikeforums.net was superb for general
advice
- Northsea-cycle.com for route planning