THURSDAY 2ND JULY - COPENHAGEN
Our Swedish holiday started by flying to Denmark to visit Copenhagen. From the airport we took a train to Central Station which is a very impressive building. Our hotel "Good Morning" just around the corner.
We walked, past many beautiful buildings enroute to the Nyhavn Harbour with it's famous colourful buildings just in time for the rain to stop! The dramatic sky proved to be a wonderful backdrop bringing out the colours even more.
Not a great meal of some fishcakes which tasted like they were out of a box.... but with someone playing his guitar along the waterside, it was a pleasant place to sit.
FRIDAY 3RD JULY - TRAIN TO SWEDEN
Woke up to rain and decided to do a canal trip on a covered boat. 30 min walk to where we hoped to board, only to find out that it was an open boat so continued to walk further to the Nyhavn harbour..... only to discover the next covered boat wasn't leaving until an hour later, but also found out out that high water levels meant that it wouldn't be able to get under the smaller bridges, into the more interesting areas. So, didn't seem worth it.... no boat trip!
Walked all the way back to hotel (21,000 steps today), collected our luggage and walked to the station. Seemed like we didn't see much of Copenhagen, but the bits we did see we saw several times 😂.
We couldn't work out how to buy tickets to Sweden, and ended up in a long queue at the ticket office, where it seemed everyone else was taking forever. (Turned out they were all getting refunds or changing to a new season tickets system.)
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| Waiting for our ticket number to appear to get help buying a ticket to Sweden. Took over 30 mins! |
We nearly missed our train and were told that although it normally departs from platform 7, this one was using platform 6, where it was literally due to depart. We jumped aboard. It was after a couple of stops, and John now tracking the journey, that he announced that we were heading further into Denmark. The wrong direction.😖😖😖
Couldn't quite believe it, but a fellow passenger confirmed the train was not heading over the causeway to Sweden, and we should get off at the next stop, and head back to Copenhagen. At which point the train sped up and whizzed through several stations! Enough of this story. Suffice to say we hate train travel in a foreign country.
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| On the right train now, whizzing across the causeway under the road bridge from Denmark to Sweden. |
We eventually arrived in Helsingborg late afternoon. We literally almost got blown to our hotel, the wind was absolutely MAD with 42 mph gusts.
A walk to see some of the town and found that a music festival was starting not far from our hotel with thousands of teenagers and young people queuing up down the streets. At 5pm on the dot, we heard screams of delight as the first band took to the stage.
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| Helsingburg |
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| Our hotel the White building on the left with the "ball" trying to hide a street food pop up area right in front of our beautiful hotel. (which looked awful). |
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| Views at the top of the steps, to see the ferries coming in to Helsingburg. |
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| The wind was unbelievably strong, in excess of 40 mph officially, but on the coast a lot more. Look at those flags! |
Drinks in the hotel bar then out for dinner in a French Restaurant, a delicious meal and the company of 2 locals at the next table, sisters on their late 70s. We had a nice chat, but suspect the 79 year old was quite drunk by the time she ordered her Calvados.😉
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| Hotel staircase. |
SATURDAY 4TH JULY - CYCLE HELSINGBORG TO ANGELHOLM 40 miles
(pronounced Englehome)
Our first day, with 5 more days to follow to reach Gottenburg.
Thankfully the music festival finished before midnight so a decent sleep, 7.30 breakfast and cases ready for collection. We collected our hire bikes just near the station. They are Cube bikes, with enormous tyres, and would prove to be fine on the flat but very heavy on any inclines, especially with a pannier with cameras, locks, and all the spare bits for day rides.
The KATTEGATTLDEN route (named after the sea), starts at the station and the cycle paths are signposted at every turn. Hardly even need a Garmin but nice to confirm what's coming up. The wind was just as bad as yesterday so it was tough going from the outset, as we followed the coast of the Kattegatt sea. A climb after 5 miles to arrive at 10am at Sofiero Palace Gardens as they opened.
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| Leaving the bike rental. The planting here typical of many beautifullly planted public areas. |
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| Here we are, with 390 km to go to reach Gottenburg. Jackets on. Quite chilly with the wind! |
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| Following the coast out of Helsingburg. |
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| 5 miles in, and a steep climb away from the coast we reached Sofiero Palace gardens just as they opened at 10. |
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Views to the sea from the gardens show how we had climbed. |
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| We saw lots of thatched homes all week, with this unusual roof of cut timbers. |
Continuing along the coast we had a coffee stop at a beautiful harbour in Viken, where we had our first Cinnamon bun of the week.
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| Viken harbour. |
Regularly dropping down to seaside villages, only to climb out again, we undulated all morning into wind as far as Lerham, where the route finally turned inland away from the headwind, phew 😕.
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| Introducing the film. |
A drop down after lunch to face our only proper climb of the day which was very gradual, alongside beautiful crops, and used the drone just for one low follow shot in a fairly sheltered road.
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| Looking forward to the downhill soon! |
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| Town signage in every town. |
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| Unusual house. |
The final 5 miles into Angelholm was a bit dull alongside a road to arrive at Best Western hotel, where our bikes were stored indoors in a conference room.
A good day. 40 miles but felt a lot more with the wind still gusting over 40mph. Italian meal tonight owned by a couple from SriLanka. (The hotel restaurant full due to 2 coach parties! Busy at breakfast too, but they had eaten early.)
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| John's Tirimasu. |
A few shots from our walk back to the hotel in evening light. There was often a park in the towns we stayed in, all with beautiful planting.
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SUNDAY 5TH JULY ANGELHOLM TO BASTAD then train to HALMSTAD - 37 miles (At least that was the plan.)
VERY windy again, and a bit grey to start, but a beautiful route along the coast with lots of video and photos. The wild flowers are gorgeous. Found a tiny cafe mid morning just off the route, and another Cinnamon bun. Two drinks and buns were just £6.
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| Rough , noisy seas! |
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| Flowers completely out of focus of course thanks to the wind. |
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| The grasses almost flat at times. |
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Then back to the coast. |
Battled into wind again all morning when, similar to yesterday, we finally turned inland this time at Torekon harbour. A delicious fish soup for lunch behind some perspex wind shields.
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| A very tasty fish soup, with a glass of white wine.😋 |
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| Torekon Harbour. Shelter at the restaurant. |
Uphill for several miles after lunch but mostly 5% but also a tougher 9% gradient. My bike almost ground to halt at times!
Then a huge downhill, stopping part way down at Boarp, to the Norrviken Gardens. More lovely gardens but we didn't have time to see it all, since we had a train to catch at 4.30 in Bastad, still 7 miles away. (alternative today was to peddle another 26 miles)
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Busy Sunday family outings, as we wiggled through a coastal town, but got to the station with 15 mins to spare. Ticket machine! Agghh. Managed to buy tickets, but couldn't work out how to buy bike tickets.
Whist waiting for the train, chatted to locals getting advise on where to board with our bikes, and for this journey they reassured us that no bike tickets was needed. Another cyclist, an elderly lady, was on her bike but getting the train all the way to Gottenberg. She explained only 6 bikes per bike carriage, and obviously she was here first..... fingers crossed no more bikes already on the the train!
The train was absolutely packed, and the guard told us all "no space for bikes..... maybe the next train?" That was another hour, with no guarantee it would be any different. What to do?
1. Wait an hour and hope for a space, but unlikely.
2. Cycle another 26 miles along the coast directly into the head wind. My legs just couldn't.
3. Get a taxi.
I dashed off the platform to just 3 waiting taxis. One car, one estate car, one van. The van agreed to take us. I was soooo relieved, but it cost just short of SKR2000, £180! We did wonder what happened to the other cyclist who needed to get to Gottenburg.
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| An empty Bastad Station platform, so expecting no difficulty getting on the train... WRONG!😟😡 |
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| Our £180 taxi ride, since the train was full. Only other option was ride another 26 miles into a head wind. 💨💨💨😢 |
Finally arrived at our Halmstad hotel at about 5.30, our room on the 7th floor. Walked into town to a Bistro, where I had a burger. Unheard of. It was actually a very tasty burger. We were both pretty shattered.
MONDAY 6TH JULY - HALMSTAD TO FALKENBURG -37 miles
A cool grey start again with a safe, but very dull ride mile after mile on cycle lanes, alongside traffic. Just the occasional golf club and some architect designed homes. Highlight of the morning was a cafe at an old windmill. We had a chat in a gallery with landscape photographer Patrick Leonardsson, a professional of 30 years.
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| Fiddleneck crop or Phacelia, the green manure crop. |
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| Just behind the Windmill cafe, this idyllic view. |
After 20 miles, a "piece to camera" when the route became more interesting.
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| Piece to camera here today. |
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| Gardens were all so neat and tidy! |
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| Coast changing to rocky here. |
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| the pink Roses were a daily feature along the coast and often we picked up a beautiful scent. |
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| Another common site was letterboxes, sometimes a lot more than here. |
Thanks to google, we found a nice lunch at a cafe, just off the route. A toasted sourdough sandwich with local ingredients of salami and cheese and pickled cucumber, and also the bread. Also chatted to a cyclist who explained about the large CROSS with dead foliage. I had seen a few of these already. A tradition to celebrate the arrival of summer on June 20th, when decorated with fresh foliage and colourful flowers.
Spent a few minutes photographing at a rocky beach. Sent the drone up only to get a strong wind land immediately warning.
Later , we passed a beautiful blue crop field of Phalacea. The elderly farmer stopped on his ancient bike to chat. His wife also joined us. He showed us a QRcode explaining about his seed mix supported by EEC. A sign of the times. His ancient bike... with one peddle missing.... was one he pulled out of a skip. He and his wife watch Clarkson's farm. 😅
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| The old farm building, damaged by a storm the farm explained. |
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| We saw a few blue fields after this one. Seeds provided by the EEC. |
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| We saw a few clumps of wild Lupins, but they would have been at their peak in late May. |
A huge amount of mobile home parks and summer chalets as we arrived close to Falkenberg. The Swedes all seem to have a summer home.
Over an old bridge, to arrive at the Grand Hotel. Bikes stored in separate building. Our room smelt of smoke so we were moved immediately to another.
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| Impressive view of Falkenburg bridge from our "first room", which unfortunately smelt of smoke. So we asked to be moved. |
A wander around town so the see the older houses, then dinner at a nice restaurant next door, where our Polish Waitress was very friendly. Salmon starter with Roe ( a Danish dish), then Cod Loin with creamy sauce. Yum.
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| Old Timber houses. |
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| Fisherman in the river, (right side) |
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| the restaurant building was very old, but with a modern glass frontage. |
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| Delicious main course. |
TUESDAY 7TH July - FALKENBURG TO VARBERG - 25 miles
Heavy rain this morning, and since our route today was just 25 miles, we stayed at our hotel until 11 by which time rain had stopped. We met a British couple checking in with bikes who are travelling a day behind us but this morning with the rain, they just skipped the ride and got the train!
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| A grim view this morning in heavy rain, but forecast to stop around 11ish. |
Our route left town via the old part which had some beautiful coloured timber homes, some of which we saw last night, but there were more. The cycle lane took us past this enormous factory too. We checked it on Google and it is for flour production.
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| the flour factory. HUGE! |
A few straight miles alongside roads again today, and it poured. The wind just as strong this morning. That was hard work. Needed to just dig deep.
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| Getting soaked. |
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| Which way is the cloud going? |
As the rain started to ease we spotted a sign for "Kafe, and Applecake" down a track. It's was very quirky with collections of all sorts. The owner's mother had lived there, and he took on the property when she died, adding some rooms for rent. He started collecting "collectibles" whilst his girlfriend started baking apple cake 10 years ago...... and so the Kafe was born.
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| Warm apple cake. |
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| Another old thatch roof. |
We spotted a lighthouse in the distance, but it was just so windy that we decided not to go visit. Pressed on to our destination hoping to make it before we got wet again. But the sky turned black. We found shelter and met a French couple who were taking a year out to cycle Europe. Their bikes were LADEN with panniers.
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| Seconds later it poured once more, but we managed to find shelter. |
Continuing to Varberg, now next to the sea, where wind surfers and kite surfers were riding the mad waves. Stopped for a pizza along the beach at 3pm with huge stormy skies gathering. The light on the sea was very dramatic.
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| It's a bit choppy, and soon we came to a windsurfer's paradise. |
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| These surfers must have VERY strong arms! I had enough trouble staying up upright on tarmac!! |
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| Think it's raining over there. |
The last couple of miles on a raised path next to the sea, almost brought us to a standstill into the wind, but a dramatic end to our ride.
Staying at Varberg Stadhotel tonight.
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| Our hotel in the central square. |
The hotel Restaurant was fully booked so went to a Tapas restaurant called Pinchos. That would prove to be a bad choice! But once more some stunning buildings on our short walk.
Had to download a app even to order wine. John ordered 1 not 2. Then since the food order seem to hang, he ordered it all twice. What a ridiculous way to experience a relaxing meal. Constantly checking an app to let you know to collect your drink and your food order has been received.... or received twice! Even paid without any staff being involved. What's happened to customer service? Do you want to leave a tip? Yes... scrap everything and resume with customer service!!)
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| A beautiful evening. |
WEDNESDAY 8TH JULY - VARBERG TO KUNGSBACKA - 46 miles
The retractable handle on my case got damaged a couple of days ago, by the luggage transfer handlers, and now won't retract. I emailed the the tour company to complain, and this morning a temporary case was supplied for me to transfer everything into. The plan is that it will be taken today to Gottenberg to be fixed, and returned to me in time to swap over again before our flight home. (I was thankfully using packing cubes, so it wasn't a major problem to switch over to another case. )
With 46 miles to do today, we set off at 9am, in glorious sunshine and 20 degrees. The first day it felt more like summer. The start of our route was much more interesting to start than the previous 2 days, when we had to peddle alongside roads. But the big news today is that the 40mph wind is now only 25mph! Still very evident at times but more bearable. Phew.
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| not a cloud in site this morning. |
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| Tiny yellow flowers and grasses which enjoy damp conditions. |
Across a stretch of causeway (with strong side breeze), the sea to our left and lake with lots of birds to the right. We rode inland for several miles next with quite a few short climbs, but a bit of freewheeling of course. Lovely old farm buildings in the traditional red, green and white colours.
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| tradition farm building colours seem to include some green and white as well as the rust colour paint. |
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| Looks like the white paint is due for a fresh coat. |
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A few undulations this morning, and a climb to another farm with an old red tractor, then a downhill to the coast once more.
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| BUA harbour for Elevenses. ( A big mobile home park here, with residents sitting looking at other mobile homes! Why?) |
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| A few sections on old rail tracks today and the drone was used. |
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A bit of climb passing this Windmill conversion. |
Later, stopped at an OK Cafe along the route through Asa. It was convenient, but not great. Fresh cooked "Caesar salad chicken burgers", but with way too much mayo!
Not long before we spotted a beautiful tall church in the middle of nowhere, where we stopped for "piece to camera", with the church in the distance.
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| Wind blowing at only 25mph today. My mini microphone did a good job of the audio which would otherwise have been a distaster. |
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| Amazing scent in the air from this tiny white flowering crop which I am sure was Babies Breath (Gypsophilia) |
We ate a very tasty Tai Fushion tonight, whilst a live band played in the very busy street outside. It's definitely summer music season.
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| Some interesting buildings once more, and clouds too! |
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| Weird clouds in Kungsbacka in the evening. |
THURSDAY 8TH JULY - KUNGSBACKA TO GOTTENBURG - 33 MILES
Whilst the UK is basking in another heat wave, our weather today was perfect for our final day cycling 33 miles to Gottenberg. A very varied & interesting route as we set out in 20 degrees, with almost no wind! (My legs at the end of today were not nearly as tired as the last 5 days, so that goes to show how much more effort is required against a headwind. We finished in 28 degrees).
We cycled through the very exclusive Kungsbacka golf course and soon around a nature reserve. I got the chance to use the drone a few times today at last.
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| Through the golf course. |
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| After the golf course, a nature reserve. |
The coastline was also beautiful with some very expensive homes.
A loop from Saro around Saro Vasterscog, then generally headed north, using a few miles of old railway.
10.58 coffee stop at a bakery which was just about to open. The baker told us that he has only just got power back, and the cinnamon buns were in the oven.😂 Nice choice of cakes and a view to the sea out the back deck.
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| Getting near the end! 15km to go. |
Lots of small islands off the coast, and as we stopped for some photos, we chatted to an 80 year old man, who was posing just for a laugh. He was quite a character and told us that one of the homes, clearly costing millions, had belonged to the owner of Stenna Lines (shipping).
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| would love to have used the drone here, but a few people, so didn't. |
The next few miles, not so interesting, through residential areas to a point at Vassungso where we hoped to have lunch next to the sea. Turned out to be a busy ferry port with only takeaways. Annoyingly the route then doubled back before we continued in search of lunch.
Found nothing to eat until arriving with views of Gottenburg shipping, and a HUGE tall bridge close to Gottenberg centre. But a good lunch in a Sommer Cafe.
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| Very tall bridge, for shipping. |
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| Lunch stop on the edge of Gottenburg. |
Interesting arriving in Gottenberg which was impressive with some beautiful buildings.... views only spoiled by inevitable construction and roadworks!
A busy hotel check in at Comfort Hotel, and where we had to take our bikes in a lift to a conference room on the first floor. Very strange arrangement! My suitcase returned with it's retractable handle removed... but not repaired. At least I can now get it checked in.
A few photos from our evening wander around Gottenburg, another very impressive city. But so many cafes and bars were playing loud music and were packed! We found a quite Swedish restaurant which was almost empty 😂
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| We had momentarily thought a nice place for a drink. It was mobbed! And loud music, so not all relaxing. |
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| An impressive park in the center, with lots of people just sitting enjoying the fact that summer had arrived TODAY. |
We made it. 218 miles (which felt like 500 with the wind.) 😉
A great introduction to Sweden, where everyone has been so friendly and welcoming. The cycle lanes amazingly well signposted, and not a single pothole. Every home and garden we passed was spotless and we didn't see a single piece of litter all week.